Results 40,381-40,400 of 50,916 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Question 28: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria applied in selecting the head offices for the proposed new vocational education committee entities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34773/11]

Written Answers — Public Capital Programme: Public Capital Programme (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Question 142: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress of the National Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32724/11]

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: It is not agreed. We are extremely concerned that sufficient time is not being provided for a debate on the infrastructure and capital investment programme. We are surprised at the degree to which the Government has been resisting our calls for a wider, more expansive debate on these very important issues and on which many Members wish to contribute. A tendency and a pattern has been...

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: -----under the comprehensive spending review which will be announced outside the Dáil. We want more time to discuss the capital programme and Members want more time and we do not want a guillotine.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: On a point of order, we agreed with the Government amendment to Standing Orders, but it was never intended that the time taken for votes would count towards the 30 minutes allowed under Standing Orders. I ask the Government to examine that situation as a matter of urgency.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: It is not acceptable that Taoiseach's questions are being taken just once a week and that the Order of Business is being curtailed if a vote is called on it, as is the legitimate right of parliamentarians.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: If Dáil reform is to mean anything, at least 30 minutes should be allowed for the Order of Business.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: I think it is a fair request.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: The Ceann Comhairle is as interested in this Parliament as anybody else. That is not what was intended and it should be changed immediately.

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Do Standing Orders state that-----

Order of Business (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Does that includes votes?

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Thousands of students and their families are marching to Leinster House today. Those students are deeply concerned about their future, about the Government's plans, its commitments and promises. They need answers and they need clarity. In advance of the general election the Tánaiste and his party made many commitments. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, brazenly...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Does the Tánaiste agree it would be a very negative and retrograde step if the Government were to increase those charges, given the centrality of participation in third level education? What we witnessed in the last decade was a dramatic and significant expansion of third level participation and a transformation of the research landscape. If we are to achieve recovery we must maintain...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Fundamentally, the economic challenges facing the country are the same now as they were then. There is no difference, as the Government's fiscal plan of last Friday reveals. Will the Tánaiste honour his promise to decrease the registration fee? Will he, once and for all, state openly and honestly whether the registration fee will be further increased and whether third level fees will be...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: The troika report has allegedly been renegotiated twice by the Tánaiste and his Government. When our spokespeople met recently with the troika leaders, they informed us that the detail is a matter for the Government; their concern is that the bottom line remains intact.

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: The Tánaiste is correct in saying that the fiscal situation has improved somewhat. That is because we took the tough decisions.

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: I asked the Tánaiste a simple question, namely, whether the Government intends to reverse the increase in the registration charge and to reintroduce third level fees. A simple "Yes" or "No" would be appreciated. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, said recently that he has no regrets in regard to he pledge he signed, which was done not on behalf of the new coalition Government but on behalf of the...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: It amounts to cheating students to win votes before an election. The Tánaiste has neither the guts nor the honesty to say on the floor of the House what he intends to do in the budget.

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: Will he tell the students who are marching today whether the Government will decrease the student charge and whether fees will be returned? A straight answer would be appreciated.

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2011)

Micheál Martin: We are not getting an answer.