Results 9,341-9,360 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am very clear about this and I have a clear view that this has been going on for quite some time. There have been attempted character assassinations of many politicians in this House and of many political parties if they are not of the same political orientation of those who back The Ditch, who are good friends of the Deputy in terms of their political philosophy and political ideology.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is no question about that. The selective and distorted way that stories originate and are presented leaves an awful lot to be desired. This is a political organisation - that is my point - and the whole agenda is to create a campaign, get to the paid adds, get it trending, attack media if they do not cover it and then get it into the Dáil for questions and answers. We will make...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy made a comment about the planning application that Deputy Niall Collins made. That point was never made in the original story and I said that my impression when I first read the story in The Ditchwas that it was quite shocking. However, when I read the documentation it transpired that it was in his name, that he fulfilled all the criteria for the planning and that the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----you would never have thought that from the article that was first published by The Ditch.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Over the past 12 months and before that, the Government has introduced unprecedented cost-of-living measures worth billions in order to put money back into the pockets of households----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----with a view to reducing the impact of cost-of-living increases. I remember Sinn Féin's response to the energy crisis. Thanks be to God we did not follow it, because the same proposal the party put forward was adopted by-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----the Liz Truss Cabinet, which caused a huge crisis in the UK. The bottom line is that we are very conscious of the pressures on people in respect of mortgage interest rate increases.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have intervened across the board on a whole range of fronts to reduce costs, in the first instance, for people availing of public services, be it with hospital inpatient charges or the free book scheme coming in at primary level from September. Mortgage holders will also benefit from the measures we have introduced. However, we are looking at a taxation measure. In the past, the Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: That has been a consensual view for quite some time, but I have no doubt Sinn Féin will always develop an ad hocpolicy in respect of topic of the day. We will have to deal-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Sinn Féin will stand up for everybody.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As she said, my colleague, the Minster of State, Deputy Niall Collins, will make a statement to the Dáil later today. He has already clarified the sequence of events around this issue.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: As he has pointed out, it was in September 2008 at a statutory meeting of Limerick County Council that the sale of a property in Patrickswell was approved and sold following a transparent and open sales process that was open to all and advertised in the local press, like any other land for sale. The Minister of State was not a member of the council in 2008 because he had been elected to this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----organised by platforms. I do not see The Ditchas an independent media platform at all. Paddy Cosgrave does. He is a backer. Chay Bowes was a founding member of The Ditch. Chay Bowes is quoted on Russia Today. The Russian ambassador is full of praise for Chay Bowes for his characterisation of the Russian war on Ukraine as a war organised by NATO and the EU. I am a fair person. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have issues with that and it is why I genuinely say that the political world has changed. As far as I can see, and I can give various quotations from those who back The Ditch, this was a political campaign.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have given the Deputy the political context. She referred to public confidence in our political system. To me, that is the purpose of the various campaigns that have happened in recent times. They are orchestrated and organised.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am answering the question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am saying that the political context has changed. This is a political organisation attacking Government and wanting to undermine confidence in it. That is what is going on here so we are entitled to respond. I am fully cognisant of what is going on here-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil rátaí morgáiste ag ardú ó thosach na bliana agus níos luaithe. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil sé sin ag cur brú ar dhaoine agus ar theaghlaigh. Tá a fhios againn faoi sin. Mar aon leis sin, is léir go ndearna an Rialtas an-chuid sa bhliain seo caite ó thaobh an chostais mhaireachtála. Ó...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have had regular interactions with the British Government in respect of the legacy Bill, especially in the context of the Good Friday Agreement. As outlined earlier, I attended the Queen's University events and so forth. I met the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, in person at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February. We have made very clear, as I did in my speech in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: President Zelenskyy described his talks with President Xi Jinping as being meaningful and I believe they lasted well over an hour. As to the degree to which China can influence Russia, that level of engagement could have positive outcomes but we must wait and see. Any influence that can be exercised over Russia to withdraw and to cease the war is important. Russia started this war...