Results 39,661-39,680 of 50,917 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Question 9: To ask the Taoiseach if he has had any meetings recently to discuss ongoing implementation of the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39757/11]

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Question 12: To ask the Taoiseach the way the Government proposes to intensify its relations with the British Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1914/12]

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Question 13: To ask the Taoiseach if he had a bilateral with Prime Minister Cameron on the margins of the EU meeting on 9 December and if so the matters that were discussed; if he plans to have one in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1915/12]

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: I object to the way these questions have been grouped. Linking questions about the European Union summit with a question on the Good Friday Agreement is unacceptable and it stops us from asking questions in a proper way. With the Ceann Comhairle's permission, I will begin by asking questions on the summit and ask a supplementary question on the Good Friday Agreement. The Taoiseach indicated...

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: That is extraordinary given the enormity of the issues that were before that summit. There is no point in crying over spilled milk.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: I just want to ask the question.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The point I am making is that the UK was outside that treaty. It was a serious and profound moment for the future of the European Union. The comments of President Sarkozy afterwards were clear in this regard. He saw this as a new departure for Europe, without Britain. Those were the comments he made. What context was there before the incredibly damaging outcome of the summit? Did the...

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: I agree with much of what the Taoiseach said about the importance of the extraordinary relationship between Britain and Ireland, particularly the economic and trade relationship. For that reason it is almost incomprehensible that he did not have a meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, before the summit. All the indications in advance of the summit were that it would be a...

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: However, it occurred.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Dutch did not want the break up either.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Does the Taoiseach agree that President Sarkozy does not run Europe? President Sarkozy proclaimed after that summit that we had got rid of the British and that this was great. He said the way forward is to leave the British behind.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Somebody must stand up to President Sarkozy and tell him he does not run Europe.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach signed up without it.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: And for domestic French politics.

Official Engagements (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: I asked four of the questions in the group, two on the European Union and two on the Good Friday Agreement. On the latter, as the Taoiseach will agree, we are entering into a new and important phase in which the institutions of the Agreement have to be more fully entrenched. I have been struck by independent commentary recently - by which I mean independent of the political system - which...

Order of Business (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: A debate has ensued following the publication of the national health service plan by the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly. Let us make no mistake about it, taking €750 million out of the health service will have an enormous impact. There is also significant uncertainty about the fair deal scheme. Are the 1,200 new places being provided under the scheme net of the 900 places which will...

Order of Business (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: Will the Taoiseach instruct the Whips to organise a debate fairly quickly?

Order of Business (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The plan has been published and it has been announced that 3,000 staff will leave the health service. A large number of other issues arise from the plan. It makes the House irrelevant if it does not have the capacity or an opportunity to discuss the plan shortly after its publication.

Order of Business (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach is already pushing back the debate.

Human Rights Issues (17 Jan 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is trying to afford the House a reasonable opportunity to interrogate the Taoiseach. That is appreciated.