Results 4,121-4,140 of 50,909 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: I am not saying it is the Deputy's intention at all. I said it is out there in terms of representations that have been made on this issue.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: The whole train of thought has been around the idea that if the Secretary General is on it, the Chief of Staff should be on it, or the representative bodies should be on it.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: That is not the way I look at it. It is as if the Department is at loggerheads with the Defence Forces and it should not be. That should not be the frame around which the debate happens. There is an element of that happening in this context. This has been a relentless campaign about undermining the Secretary General's role on the oversight body. I regret that it has come to this. We have...
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: However, no one did mention them.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: No, it is not.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: Not individually.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy does not have to. I will explain it later.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Boyd Barrett does not know what is in the Bill, as he acknowledged.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: The process. It deals with the grievance process, not individual complaints.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: That is what I am trying to clarify. It is not individual complaints. I will come back to it.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: It is because it is exasperating to listen to this nonsense. To me, that is just an instance of how there is a problem because, surely, an external oversight body should be precisely something that does not have that sort of cosy relationship or potential conflict of interest where it might not really be in its interest to admit there is a problem or something being done wrong and,...
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: The existing wording is "without prejudice to the purpose of an association of representing members".
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: It is very clear.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: I did not say they would.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: What are we trying to do here? We are trying to facilitate association membership of ICTU for the representative associations.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: It is positive. This legislation is positive. It is an advance on 1990. It is an advance on the legislation that gave rise to the representative associations. A bit more positivity here is called for. What we are speaking about is being in uniform. That is what the Bill says.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Cronin took issue with me using the phrase "in uniform". That is what the Bill says. We are not saying people cannot have views as citizens of the country. Of course they can have views as citizens of the country.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: We are not. If you read the Bill it is very clear with regard to being in uniform or people otherwise making themselves identifiable as members of the permanent Defence Forces. We are trying to preserve the apolitical nature of the Defence Forces. That is what we are trying to do. It is already in Defence Forces regulations, as Deputy Cronin has acknowledged.
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: The idea that we are insulting anybody is outrageous. There is no intention to do that. We are protecting people from potential embroilment in all sorts of issues. We are maintaining the framework within which the Defence Forces operate. We are advancing it insofar as they will now enjoy statutory underpinning of association membership with ICTU. This is an advance. To respond to...
- Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)
Micheál Martin: No, that would not be right. That would not be correct. For example, the conciliation and arbitration mechanism is well used by the representative associations on a range of issues. We have come a long way since 1990.