Results 39,921-39,940 of 50,916 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Every school will feel the pressure, but schools in severely disadvantaged communities desperately need career counselling.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Their pupils depend on expert advice to help them make the critical move from school to higher education. It is not a joking matter. Ministers are displaying classic arrogance and cockiness. This is a serious issue that will impact on young people in our schools.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: If we are talking about jobs and the economy, career guidance is an important link between school and the world of work and society.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: The schools are not in a position to absorb this cut in their staffing or to fund it in some other way. The decision is deeply regressive and short-sighted and it should be reversed. The issue that has served to expose the cynicism of the Government parties' election campaigns more than any other is student charges. The solemn pledge not to increase them which the Tánaiste and Deputy Quinn...

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: That advice was clear 12 months ago, before and after the election.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: This commitment was not just in the Labour and Fine Gael manifestoes, it was also in the programme for Government, so certain was the Taoiseach that the law could be changed.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: The law has not changed since the promise was made. Either the Taoiseach did not check whether it could be implemented or he made the promise regardless of advice. Retail Excellence Ireland has criticised what it described as "the scandalous Government U-turn". It said "the Government has lied to every commercial tenant and retail employee in the country". That is what Retail Excellence...

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: That is a disgraceful way to treat an industry that has lost over 50,000 jobs in the past four years. As the Taoiseach has said many times in the Dáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party do not really feel bound by their election manifestoes. No matter what commitments were made, be it on the back of a lorry in Roscommon or in front of Trinity College, they are not to be held to them.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Never before did parties have such detailed access to public finances before an election. In April, the Taoiseach tried to claim that things were much worse than expected, but he was undercut by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, when he said that the books were "better than on target". This was confirmed again yesterday.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: This week and for the past nine months, there has been a steady escalation in the amount of praise which the Government has lavished on itself. In this process we are getting to the stage where words such as "reform"', "radical"', "fairness"' and "job creation" are being reduced to a level of Orwellian news speak. In area after area, supposed "proof" of the Government's effectiveness is...

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach is getting better. We have heard a series of speeches this week with claims that the Government had "negotiated" a €10 billion reduction in interest payments while the facts show that it was a pan-European deal which was over four times the size of what Ministers were actually negotiating for. Tomorrow the Taoiseach will attend a European summit which will take decisions...

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: This crisis was not caused by national governments breaking fiscal rules.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: It has been caused by market concerns that the ECB might be willing to see a country fail to refinance its debts. The Taoiseach is so blinded by his partisan agenda in domestic politics that he cannot see the reality that is now accepted by most experts, that the Irish and Portuguese bailouts were required by a policy which has failed and which Europe is trying to find a way of abandoning.

Financial Resolutions 2012: Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Under the targets agreed before the bailout and supported now by both Government parties, Ireland's debt is due to peak at a level below many countries that have no problem raising funds in the markets. The same applies for Portugal and other countries which are facing problems. Investors have fled the bond market because they believe that the ECB will not help countries to raise new...

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: There were conflicting signals emanating from the Dáil yesterday on promised legislation and it seems the Minister for Finance may have brought a definitive conclusion to the issue. Retail Excellence Ireland is outraged by what has happened and has criticised the Minister's decision yesterday which it has described as "the scandalous Government U-turn". It went on to state about upward...

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: There were constitutional and legal difficulties that prevented the Bill from being introduced. I know the Taoiseach knows what is going on in government, that he is fully au fait with everything that is happening.

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Will the Taoiseach confirm that there will be a Bill dealing with upward only rent reviews and that we will have it before the Christmas recess?

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: Yesterday the Taoiseach said it would be brought forward before Christmas.

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach clearly said it would be brought forward. He has been saying this for months. He said it would be brought forward on 15 December.

Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Micheál Martin: No, it was the landlord and tenants Bill. The Dublin Central Deputy for Fine Gael, whose name escapes me, asked about it. Deputy Pascal Donohoe raised the issue.