Results 61-80 of 49,824 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: The new school in Carrignavar will be open. It may not be ready for September - it has been announced already that there will be a contingency plan for students who will be in a temporary building in Fermoy - but the works are progressing on Carrignavar. The site is an old primary school, as the Deputy knows.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is agreed and is progressing. Again, the number of special classes provided in the past four years has doubled and the number of students attending special classes has gone from-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----9,000 to 19,000. The population is increasing, as are the numbers identifying with special needs. Our job and obligation is to provide every child with a place and that is the objective. I am now informed - as of the latest this morning - that up to 4,000 additional places will be provided this year from the beginning of September. The aim is for every child in the coming weeks to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: What is the name of the school?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I will bring this to the attention of the Minister of State for special education, Deputy Moynihan. He is working flat out with schools, as is Minister McEntee, with a view to getting solutions on the ground in given locations where the need is greatest. If the Deputy sends me the details, I will forward them to the Minister of State to pursue the case. If there is a blockage, we will see...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Easpa uisce, an ea?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Sewage, gabh mo leithscéal. Níl an t-eolas sonrach agam ach déanfaidh mé fiosrú ar an gceist. Is olc an scéal é nach bhfuilimid in ann dul ar aghaidh leis na seomraí breise. Déanfaidh mé fiosrú leis an mbardas agus leis an Aire féachaint an féidir linn rud éigin a dhéanamh go gearrthéarmach chun...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I was there on the day we announced the €50,000, which was warmly welcomed by the Deputy and by everybody else. Fair play to the Deputy, he has doubled his bet now in terms of the request. It was the first time ever a response of this kind came from Government and it was part of wider financial supports that were allocated to cancer centres across the country. Yes, Cancer Connects...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: The State is not being forced here; it is being very responsive. There are other factors afoot that have frustrated the State's endeavour to bring this to a conclusion. I have to put that on record. The State is wide open and wants to get this resolved. We have established a mediation process. There have been two mediation processes and we have a judge appointed. Apart from all of that,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: There is a process there that hopefully we can bring to a conclusion. I can talk to the Deputy if he wishes and bring him up to speed on it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We have about 3,000 schools in this country. When schools find themselves in financial difficulty, there is a structure and system in the Department of Education to respond to such schools. I will refer the matter to the Minister for Education. I ask the schools involved to engage with the section in the Department that deals with schools that...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is very disappointing-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----that only two orders have made any sort of meaningful responses, one being the €12.5 million from the Bon Secours order, which has been accepted. This is what was recommended by the Nunan committee. I pay tribute to Sheila Nunan for the work she has done. The other response concerned a building. I will have to get greater clarity in terms of its value and so on. The Minister...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: My understanding is that significant resources were put into the schools through that programme. This may not have been in the capitation category, but in terms of curriculum supports and other supports in the general area for young people in particular, including therapeutic supports for children and multidisciplinary teams. I think that has worked very well. Again, I will refer this...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: There is no need for a vote. We are going to set up the committees as quick as we can.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I will indeed. I might discuss it with the Deputy if he has case studies that he can bring to our attention. I will also talk to the Minister for Finance, who I think will be happy to engage, because it is awful for this to happen to anybody. There is the old adage that if it is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true, in terms of potential returns from investments. That said,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Collins very much for raising the issue, which is of grave concern to those who have been depleted of their resources. Towards the end of his contribution Deputy Collins, in some respect, provided the answer. The Central Bank is responsible for the regulation of financial advisers. I do not know whether this person was registered with the Central Bank in the first instance....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I will make three points in response to what Deputy O'Callaghan made reference to earlier. On overflights, there are set regulations and legislation governing that. I will ask the Minister for Transport to again pursue the issue the Deputy has raised with regard to Lufthansa. We cannot physically stop planes but we can certainly take actions subsequently. There are no planes landing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: Whatever we do has to be financially sustainable over the long term. It is just far too early to be venturing anything on that front just yet. This is not the same as Covid-19, as the Deputy has acknowledged. Therefore, our response has to be one that is sustainable, but also we must have some sense of where this is going to settle, if indeed it settles at all. I believe it will in time...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Apr 2025)

Micheál Martin: I condemn without reservation the attacks by the IDF on Gaza, the bombing and the continuing slaughter within Gaza, in particular the murder of emergency responders that the Deputy has referenced. That has been confirmed, essentially, in terms of what happened on 23 March, in terms of 15 emergency responders being murdered. I say that without hesitation. It is quite shocking that something...