Results 48,921-48,940 of 51,072 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Wage Levels. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: Yes, but wage levels generally have increased across the economy.

Wage Levels. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: I just made the point in the context of the construction industry, that they went up approximately 6.8%. Likewise the AIB analysis, published today, states the case remains to be proven or is not proven in terms of the issue.

Wage Levels. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: That does not mean of course that we do not have to be vigilant about this. We must be vigilant because the Government's position is not to undermine living standards or drive down the earnings of people because we worked too hard to build the economy and to build the living standards and quality of life for all concerned. There are approximately 300 amendments tabled for the services...

Wage Levels. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: Much Irish employment is dependent on access to European markets.

Wage Levels. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: Only last week I was with a company announcing an extra 50 jobs. It employs 250 already. It is in the services side of the economy and is looking for markets overseas. It is looking to break down barriers and regulations to get into other markets. We cannot have it both ways but our agenda is to achieve liberalisation of the market whilst protecting our basic standards.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: My policy and that of the Government is to provide that both consumer and competition law operate in such a way that the economic well-being of the consumer is maximised. The objective of consumer policy is to provide consumers with the knowledge required to make informed choices, to provide protection from unscrupulous traders and to guarantee that consumer interests are reflected in the...

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: That is somewhat unfair.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: I have some difficulty with the Deputy's presentation on prices generally. The National Competitiveness Council produced a clear analysis of where we are strong and weak in terms of competitiveness. It made clear that there was a lack of intense competition in the domestic markets, that the most productive side of the economy was the foreign direct investment side, and yet when we move to do...

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: This is despite its identification by all concerned — those on the consumer and competition side and who advise us——

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: All of them say this will have a beneficial effect on price and will not lead to artificially——

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——high prices. What does the Deputy do? He comes in and opposes it, tooth and nail, for electoral gain or to deal with certain vested interests. The Deputy has been straddling both sides of the equation.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am talking about prices. The Deputy cannot come in every day asking questions of the Government, like "What will it do about prices?"

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: When we do something about prices, the Deputy uses his legislative muscle to frustrate and thwart an initiative that can have a beneficial impact on prices.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: No, he did not. I am stating in the House that the Deputy needs to realise that producing websites is not the panacea for bringing prices down, that one must make concrete, substantive legislative change to make an impact.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: In that respect, the Deputy is not giving due credit to our attempts, particularly in the context of the amendment of the Competition Act, to make a beneficial impact on prices.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: We all know what has been happening internationally on energy prices.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: We know we depend significantly on imported energy. We have some structural issues that other countries do not have, for example, a strong reliance on fossil fuel energy which has cost implications.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: The only reason I mentioned the impact of energy prices on our inflation was that if one removes the importation of energy, Irish inflation shows a good performance in the degree to which it is converging with the EU average inflation rate of 2.5%.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: Rubbish.

Economic Competitiveness. (7 Feb 2006)

Micheál Martin: When Government establishes a regulatory regime and regulators the last thing it should do is interfere, intervene or try to undermine them. The idea behind developing a liberal and competitive market is that it should be regulated independently of Government. It is facile and over-simplistic of the Deputy to label all sectors as filtering back to Government through local authorities and...