Results 541-560 of 50,683 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: On Deputy Conway-Walsh's question, I too welcome the students from Coláiste Pobail Acla. Cuirim fáilte faoi leith rompu chuig Teach Laighean. On the facilities for young people, working with the LEADER programme, county councils and the State, we can provide good quality youth centres. I have been in different parts of the country where some have done it better than others. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I hear what the Deputy is saying. I will talk to the Minister and get her to respond to the Deputy in respect of the issue.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is a beautiful part of the country.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Again, our bathing water continues to improve because of the provision of additional wastewater capacity. I note that the Minister is also from the sunny south east. I will certainly talk to him about the wastewater requirements there. We are looking at capital for Irish Water. Additional capital will be provided. We will endeavour to progress that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I absolutely agree. Reflecting on the last number of years, there is a perception that urban environments are not as safe as they once were. I refer to the centres of different cities. That is the perception in Cork, although it is a beautiful city with a beautiful city centre and there are continuous improvements to the public realm. I believe people are specifically talking about the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for the interesting point he has raised. I was the one to introduce the threshold of six for a special class with two SNAs and a teacher back in 1998 when we took a very significant decision in a Government memorandum. It is fair to make that point about a model for rural schools and schools whose numbers are quite low. I will talk to the Minister for Education, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Would that report come from the HSE?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: We will let the HSE know that the Deputy has raised the issue and ask that a serious incident report be completed. I do not know the background of the case. I extend my sympathies to the family of Jimmy Loughlin on what transpired here. I do not know if it was referred to the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, which could be one way of-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Well, it depends. It may be for the Mental Health Commission in respect of mental health issues but there may be broader issues. That should be the direction of travel rather than a full public inquiry, which could take a very long period of time. It is a serious issue the Deputy has raised and I will follow up on it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Over the last number of years, the Government has allocated significant investment to pubs. The investment during the Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented and enabled many rural pubs to develop good outdoor facilities and so on. That is a good thing and very positive. I do take the Deputy's point about socialisation being good for you. Professor Luke O'Neill has written in his Sunday...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----the comments of that particular individual the Deputy has referenced, I think-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----that is not the core of this. The important part here is that we continue to evaluate-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----and productivity seems to have increased.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I heard the Deputy. The Deputy may be aware that the Minister has brought the heads of the Bill in respect of the issue of counselling notes.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has raised the issue. The Minister has brought legislation. It will go to pre-legislative scrutiny and people will have an opportunity to input into the Bill. The Minister is acting on it, and has acted on it, and no person in this country is above the law.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I have experience. I know what is going on here. The Deputy calls for clarity but what he wants is confusion. What the Deputy wants is to be able to say that it is incoherent, it is drip-drip, it is bit by bit whereas I am asking can we not wait for the audit to be completed and given to the Minister, with the Minister to share it with the Oireachtas, the public and, above all, the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I would accept that. Obviously, there is some degree of uncertainty. Most artists on that scheme, by the way, were very positive about the impact of the scheme on artists, and particularly those on the lower income spectrum of earning artists. I will talk to the Minister for arts and culture to get more information in terms of the reviews but also future plans.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: My understanding is, while the Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme, it is Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, that is responsible for the delivery of the national roads programme. It has informed the Department that Wicklow County Council has just completed the option selection phase for the N11-M11...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I will do everything I can. I will raise the issue with the Minister.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy can send me the detail. I will forward this to the Minister concerned and we will come back to the Deputy with a reply.