Results 21-40 of 49,824 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Yesterday, in response to a similar question, I condemned unreservedly the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. There has to be an independent, prompt and thorough investigation into the killings of 15 emergency responders. As far as I am concerned, they were murdered. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, tweeted about the matter...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is the ESRI, figure, as Deputy Hearne well knows. All Members will be aware that a figure of 50,000 homes a year was identified as being required over the next five years. Very few of the Opposition Members identified how to get there. The tenant in situ scheme does not build houses.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Yes, but it does not build houses. Let us not conflate the two. It is important to prevent homelessness but that scheme does not build houses. The focus has to be on how we get houses built faster and as quickly as we possibly can. I note that Deputy Hearne is quoting Sherry FitzGerald. When the Government used similar private sector bodies last year to identify projections, his party...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I am absolutely focused, however. As far as I am concerned, it is a crisis. Young people need to be able to afford to buy houses and be able to rent houses at affordable prices. That is the Government's agenda and we have already allocated an additional €800 million in the first two months of this Government over and above what the provision was for housing.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: First of all, I listened to that interview from Kate this morning on "Morning Ireland". It was absolutely horrific what Kate had to go through. The behaviour of those involved was beyond any comprehension that such violence and violation of a young woman could happen in modern society. We have to deal with that on a whole-of-society level, through programmes in education, through the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I want to pay tribute to the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee, who did a lot of work in this area over the past number of years. The current Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, is absolutely focused on this and will be hosting a national forum on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence at the end of March.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I will ask the Minister and I will engage with the Deputy on that.

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Aontaím leis an Teachta go bhfuil géarghá ann i bhfad níos mó infheistíochta maidir le huisce a dhéanamh sna bailte beaga ar fud na tíre, go háirithe sna háiteanna iargúlta. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil easpa infheistíochta sna bailte beaga ag an mbabhta seo agus tá drochthionchar aici sin ar chúrsaí...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I refer to our engagement with Uisce Éireann, and I will be meeting with it. Given the scale of what is required in the country, we have to be a bit more innovative as well. It is not on that 132 houses cannot get built or are waiting for years for connection. I know there has been a resistance to the private sector developing some of these systems and I understand why, by the way,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I pay tribute to the family of Sean Browne for their advocacy and for pursuing this case to seek justice and full transparency and truth surrounding it. In my engagements with the British Government, both as foreign Minister and now as Taoiseach, I have already sought an inquiry. The Court of Appeal has ruled and I think that the British Government has to respond to that ruling. I hope...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: We will meet and the Minister is open to meeting and engaging with the advocacy group. We would like to work through these issues with the advocacy groups and give our perspective as to what would lead to more immediate and quicker results that everybody wants in relation to all the issues the Deputy outlined in the question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which is very serious. I would make the overall point, and I do not want to go into the history of provision, that there has been dramatic exponential growth in the level of investment and provision both on the education side, in terms of special needs, and on the health side. On the education side, it is much more clearly to be seen in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I do not disagree with the Deputy at all. I agree with him that there is an issue with the budget going in and the services coming out. That needs to be constantly interrogated. There is no question about that. I am chairing a Cabinet subcommittee meeting on disability and we are establishing a disability unit in the Department of An Taoiseach to work hands-on with all the various...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Nobody is happy with this. I am certainly not happy with it and I know the Minister is not happy with it. The Minister is meeting with the board and the HSE regarding these issues. The two further reports, one of which is about dysplasia, need to come in. The three reports will be assessed in totality. We need - over time because we do not want to create any further disruption - to get...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: A lot of progress has been made and that does not get acknowledged. The HIQA report is a good report insofar as it clearly lays out what happened. What happened was wrong. It was incomprehensible. I said that yesterday. It is beyond belief that one would insert devices into a child that are not CE approved. It is very hard to comprehend that. That is unacceptable. In terms of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: First, we will implement the recommendations of the HIQA report. Second, there is a task force on the broader issue of paediatric spinal surgery headed by Mark Connaughton with which the Minister will meet tomorrow. In terms of governance issues, we will engage with those from now on. Instead of waiting for further investigations we will proactively look at the structures and governance...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: There has been significant progress in this area. That has to be acknowledged. More than 200 new patients were seen in Cork's endometriosis service from May to December last year. About 94% of women on the waiting list in that region are now seen within six months. As I said, more generally we are seeing improvement in terms of the Tallaght centre also. The Government is listening. In...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is important to get the framework.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: There are a number of issues there and I thank the Deputy for raising them. I fully understand the trauma that the family of Daniel Collins is going through in respect of the delay in getting surgery carried out. I do not want to go into the background of every individual case in terms of complexity of the case and so forth. My understanding is that there has been engagement. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: First, I thank Deputy McDonald for raising the issue and for reading out Nikita's letter to her, which clearly illustrates the very debilitating impact endometriosis can have on women. It is extremely debilitating, painful and the span of impacts are very wide. Regarding a phased response, this can be at GP, gynaecology or indeed specialist centre level. There has been progress for...