Results 36,821-36,840 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: No. We are not agreeing to anything today. The Tánaiste can play politics and all the games he wants, but the bottom line is that we have until 2 p.m. to debate the Social Welfare Bill. There is no urgency attaching to dealing with the Bill. We can deal with it next week. Instead of dealing with the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill, we could use the time allowed to discuss the Social...

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: That is irrelevant. That is a red herring.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: On a point of Order-----

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: On a point of order-----

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Tánaiste has seriously misled the House in what will go down-----

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: -----as one of the most cynical, dishonest remarks he has made. Our party participated fully in the debate last evening. What everybody in this House wants is more time to discuss the Social Welfare Bill. Do not throw in any more red herrings or comments about other debates last Friday or Monday. It is dishonest and cynical and the Tánaiste's credibility is in shreds given the...

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: With all that has gone on here about democratic reform, the Tánaiste meant nothing of it.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: It has been politically fraudulent behaviour by the Tánaiste for the last couple of years. He is a political fraud.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: It is not agreed. We oppose the proposal as it makes a farce of the House. It is now almost 11.30 a.m., yet the proposal is to ram through and guillotine Committee and Remaining Stages of the Social Welfare Bill by 2.30 p.m. This allows but two and a half hours for meaningful discussion on the cut to the respite care grant, which is having a heavy impact, the cut to child benefit and the...

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The proposal before the House is that every one of these items should be subject to meaningful discussion. These are the issues about which people outside the House are most concerned right now. They are the issues on which Labour Party and Fine Gael Deputies have been suggesting counter-proposals and alternatives in the media.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: They were telling their Ministers they wanted the proposed measures changed in favour of alternatives. Nobody is getting an opportunity in this House to discuss the measures.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Let me make this point, because it goes to the heart of what this House is meant to be about.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: People came into government saying there would be a democratic revolution, no less. That is what the Tánaiste said.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The reason this is happening is that the Government does not want a discussion on these items.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: It does not want the Dáil to have any meaningful discussion, cut by cut. It wants to suppress dissent in its own ranks and ram the legislation through as quickly as it possibly can without regard to the public, who would actually like to hear from Deputies on the cuts. The public will not get that chance.

Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Is including social welfare recipients the way to broaden it? That is a new concept.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: I agree 100% with Deputy McDonald. We made the point last week that €1 billion worth of Supplementary Estimates have been put through the House with no discussion during plenary session. It is evident that last year's health Estimate was both fraudulent and flawed.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Yes, it was fraudulent.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Spring had better suck it up, because that is what happened.

Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The point is that last year's health Estimate contained figures which no one had any intention of ever realising. Those figures related to drug pricing, the income from private health insurance - which has disappeared from this year's budget - and agency nursing, in respect of which a 50% cut was proposed. They were included in last year's health Estimate but nothing was done until August...