Results 7,261-7,280 of 50,064 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Minister has been very focused on this issue. He announced a scheme related to defective apartments, with a timeline that has a long duration back. It is a very comprehensive measure. The Government supported that recommendation from the Minister in a decision. The issue now is to work through that decision in terms of providing a structured way of getting apartments refurbished and...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: The option of taking it into public ownership is not on the agenda. Our major concern is with the impact on staff and their families. This includes 650 staff who are employed directly by the company in Navan, but also staff in companies impacted that have contracts with Tara Mines. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, met the management team from Tara Mines last week. The Department of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: So long as the Minister does not fly any herself.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: I take it that the Deputy has asked the gentleman to refer this to An Garda.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: Has it been referred to An Garda?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is not his own business. The Deputy has raised it in the House and if fraud is alleged----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----and if interference with Revenue is alleged, it should go to An Garda. I say that generally because the key to the future of the country is that our institutions that are charged with properly investigating issues do their job and then we will have less need for inquiries that go on for six or seven years and cost an enormous amount. Project Eagle and the Siteserv investigation went on...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Government has allocated exceptional resources to increase staffing at An Bord Pleanála. Recruitment is under way and, in fact, quite a number of people have been recruited. The challenge will be to recruit a sufficient number of specialists in different areas into An Bord Pleanála. As the Deputy is aware, an interim board was put in place, with Oonagh Buckley appointed as...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: The rate of closures was down this year. It was the lowest this year compared with previous years. This is a fact that we need to take on board. The other side of this equation is parents paying very high fees. Part of the core funding model is to have management of fees in return for an allocation of additional funding. The results have been fairly significant for many parents in terms...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: We need balance and perspective in all debates. Thousands of people had free school transport, which Deputy Clarke described as a shambles. For thousands of people who received free school transport it was not a shambles. I believe 115,000 received free school transport as a result of the Minister's interim initiative in the context of the crisis we were going through. It was innovative...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is not about me. It is about the Palestinian people and what actions we take that are most impactful and effective for the Palestinian people. That is what will guide our response on these issues. We are working with other countries to see whether we can get a critical mass of a number of countries together to pursue this agenda. There is a commitment in the programme for Government...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Deputy's points, although I hope the Croí Cónaithe funds - the towns fund, in particular, now provides a grant of up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties, and that has been increased recently - will help with vacancy in towns and villages. If the property is derelict, you can get a grant of up to €70,000. There are the help-to-buy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy loves the phrase "common sense", as do his colleagues.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is as if we are all devoid of it but those in the Opposition. I know what the Deputy is saying and I take it on board.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because tending to the early developmental needs of our children is perhaps the most important thing we can do in terms of the development of our society and country. I am a great believer in resourcing early childhood education and childcare. Our brains learn more between zero and three than we do for the rest of our lives. I said that to a more...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is an important point because traditionally and historically we did not see it that way, and primary school started at four years old and so on. Children learn vicariously and they learn in different ways but structured childcare and development can be powerful for children. The Government has invested strongly in early learning and childcare. The budget in 2015 was €260 million...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am conscious that I am before Dáil Éireann. I was hopeful I would be in a position to communicate my intentions to the Women of Honour group today. I am minded to recommend to the Government a public tribunal of inquiry. It is a matter of trying to tease through the mechanisms by which we would try to protect certain people who might wish to come forward but not be in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: It would be behind closed doors, and people feel that the whole disciplinary process historically has been behind closed doors, hence the lack of transparency. I am jumping ahead because I have not got to the Government yet, but that is my view and I was going to communicate that today to Women of Honour and then have further discussions with them. There is only one genuine motivation here....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: Which strategy?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Jul 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the context of planning and its obvious relationship to housing. As the Deputy will know, 30,000 houses were completed last year, in 2022. That is a 45% increase on 2021. Our target for this year, the end of 2023, was 29,000. We hope to hit that, if not exceed it. In the year to April 2023 some 50,000 homes were purchased by households. Of...