Results 621-640 of 3,577 for speaker:Martin Heydon

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regulatory Bodies (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I am going to start by thanking Senator Seery Kearney for raising what is a really important issue. I will respond on behalf of our colleague, Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, who unfortunately cannot be here today. Last December, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, announced the opening of the interim remediation scheme as the Senator outlined,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regulatory Bodies (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I will bring the very important points the Senator raised back to the Ministers. I do note from the wording of her motion, it was an interim OMC regulator. Maybe that was perceived as non-statutory. I take the very serious points the Senator raised on board. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has also been advancing the steps to put the remediation scheme on a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defence Forces (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for raising this important and topical point, considering recent cases in the media. I am responding on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, who unfortunately cannot be present today. I convey his apologies to the House. First, I unreservedly state my unequivocal condemnation of assaults. I add my voice to those who have commended the courage and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defence Forces (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I feel the gravity of the points raised by Senator Clonan. I read exactly the response I received from the Tánaiste in the first response. In regard to the very specific point the Senator raised about the serving member who, under the regulation, is being asked to go in, and how that could be misconstrued as a character reference, by a skilled legal team, that is a valid point that I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Schemes (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senator Byrne for raising this today. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, who cannot be with us today. The basic income for the arts is a once-in-a-generation policy intervention which has the potential to transform the lives of artists. The scheme is part of a suite of measures that the Minister, Deputy Martin, has introduced to support...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Schemes (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: The Senator raises very valid points which I will bring back to the Minister, Deputy Martin. While the Minister is optimistic that the basic income payment is having a positive impact on those receiving it, she is very cognisant of the data which is emerging about the difficult conditions in which artists find themselves more generally. Therefore, she held the status of the artist...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Sports Funding (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. A fundamental aim of the Government’s national sports policy is to increase the levels of participation in sport and physical activity across the population, with a specific focus on less represented groups, including women and girls. A great deal of good progress is being made, not just in increasing participation by women and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Sports Funding (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I hear the Senator's points and will bring them back to the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. From the response I have from them, their argument would be that every euro going into a sports organisation or club, whether large scale or sports capital, is being done. To avail of any grant, clubs have to confirm they are providing equal access. The approach is,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Road Network (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Senator for his question on the important matter of good transport connectivity in the Border area. I am delivering this response on behalf of the Minister for Transport who unfortunately could not be here today. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding relating to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Road Network (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: The Minister for Transport has allocated national road funding for 2024 in a manner that seeks to achieve the following key outcomes: protection and renewal of the existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction; progressing major projects that are pre-construction but well advanced in the development pipeline; and prioritising any remaining funds for major...

Ábhair Shaincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Matters: Flood Relief Schemes (25 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy again for raising this. I do not underestimate the stress for everyone involved in this in the Midleton area. As outlined in my initial response, discussions are ongoing between the OPW and Cork County Council. The OPW expects those discussions to conclude within weeks. An assessment of advance works in Midleton is progressing. Advance works involve the delivery of...

International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: The EU migration and asylum pact will shape European migration policy for the next decade. Across the world, there are more people on the move than ever before. This is been driven primarily by war, famine and persecution. As a result, we have seen an increase in the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland. This is not a situation unique to Ireland. It is reflected...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jun 2024)

Martin Heydon: I can reassure Deputy Kerrane the Department of agriculture takes the issue of animal welfare, for which it has responsibility for, extremely seriously. While we cannot reference or specifically refer to individual cases that may be before the courts or are likely to be before the courts in the future, in terms of the overall approach to welfare, we are all horrified by the scenes we saw on...

Road Safety and Maintenance: Motion [Private Members] (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all the Deputies for their contributions to the debate on road safety, the maintenance of transport infrastructure and other issues. I thank the Labour Party for tabling the motion. I welcome the opportunity to debate this important topic on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, who addressed the House earlier. In...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Air Traffic Control Services (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senator Clonan for raising this matter. I answer this on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, who is unable to attend the Seanad today. As the Senator stated, the Department of Transport, has long exempted certain classes of airspace uses for the payment of en route air navigation charges. This arrangement derives from the exclusion of state aircraft from the scope of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Air Traffic Control Services (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank Senator Clonan again for raising this important point. The exemption of certain classes of flights from en route air navigation charges is a long-standing pratice, notwithstanding the specific points the Senator has made, which I will come back to. It is a long-standing practice set down in the Eurocontrol multilateral agreement, of which Ireland is a party. Ireland, in common with...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Teacher Training (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this important issue. Under section 38 of the Teaching Council Act, all initial teacher education programmes must be accredited by the Teaching Council for registration purposes. There are two standard routes recognised by the Teaching Council to become a primary teacher. These are a four-year undergraduate bachelor of education programme and a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Teacher Training (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy. In answering on behalf of the Minister for Education, I apologise for not specifically referring to Cork, which was mentioned in the Deputy's question. In fairness, the answer outlined the rationale for the situation as it has existed to date. It sets out what will inform future plans for provision at primary level, as the Deputy highlighted. The key point is that the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Industry (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: I thank the Deputy for raising a very important topic. At any meeting with farmers the length and breadth of the country, they raise over-regulation, red tape, bureaucracy and all of the other work that takes them out of their fields and sheds and into their offices and kitchens, and all of the paperwork that goes with that. As a farmer, with my neighbours in Kildare, I know this is a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Industry (15 May 2024)

Martin Heydon: Deputy O'Sullivan raises valid points. The thing that strikes me when he is talking is that farmers are no different from any other business people. Anybody in business will tell us they can take difficult conditions once they have certainty. If they have certainty, they know where they are at. When things change it is a source of great frustration. It is important when we talk about...