Results 49,001-49,020 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is against it.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is going against the consumer.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is time for Fine Gael to sort itself out.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: From the——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am listening and I am taking notes.

EU Services Directive: Motion (Resumed). (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: Health services are not included in this directive.

EU Services Directive: Motion (Resumed). (26 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: No.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is not. According to the amendment, services are important as a component of GDP and employment in the EU. It is worth noting that Ireland is the 14th largest per capita exporter of services in the world, that its share of world services increased significantly from 0.38% in 1993 to 2.2% in 2004 and that its employment and export growth in high value added internationally traded services...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: That was not the first indication that there would be change, and to suggest that is somewhat pathetic. There is much rhetoric taking place. In the motion tabled by the Deputies——

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——there are some sentiments with which we could agree but overall it lacks balance.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: It inadequately and inaccurately reflects the position of the Government on a number of important issues and it inadequately reflects what is in the draft directive. That is the reason I tabled the Government amendment. I regret it has been so difficult to have a reasoned and rational discussion around the services directive. There are some legitimate concerns to be raised about it. Using...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: They have happened without a services directive being in place.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: Let us move away from the rational approach to trying to lump everything in, in the context of debating the directive. Let us debate the substance of the directive and work towards achieving a consensus and the changes we want to bring about in the directive that best suits the Irish position overall. At the very least what the directive is trying to do is to put a legal framework around the...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am not but other Members have raised it wrongly. There are other issues to deal with that but let us not blame the services directive.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: Turkey is not in the European Union.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: There has been a disposition on the part of some people to try to confuse issues around immigration policy on the one hand and the services directive on the other.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: Both are lumped together implicitly or explicitly as generating what is being referred to as a "race to the bottom". The irony is that this is happening at a time when the economy was never more successful. On the one hand migratory inflows have been an essential ingredient in meeting our labour supply needs which has helped generate the levels of economic growth we have been achieving. Every...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am not saying there should be no liberalisation of trade. This is what DeputyHarkin has put on the record. The distance between Deputy Harkin's position and the Government's position is by no means significant.

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: If one strips away the rhetoric that is what one will find in terms of the analysis of the debate so far. While the focus of public and political debate on the economy is often on manufacturing, most economic activity in Ireland revolves around the production of services, which includes everything from lawyers to libraries and software to stockbrokers. The services sector generates...

EU Services Directive: Motion. (25 Jan 2006)

Micheál Martin: The legacy of 25 different regulatory regimes from 25 different legal systems has prevented this being achieved, despite the fact that the free provision of services and the freedom of establishment are enshrined in the Treaty of Rome of 1957. For large companies which can afford in-house legal teams, this is problematic but manageable. For small and medium size companies and enterprises,...