Results 9,461-9,480 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Coillte is not selling land. The Deputy referred to a massive sell-off. That type of language creates polemics around this. There is no sell-off of Coillte land, and I said that in an earlier response. As I said earlier, it has entered into a partnership with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is an Irish State fund, with a view to purchasing land or existing forest. My...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy. The matter is very serious. There were further revelations this morning about Deputies in the House, in particular Deputy Cairns. This behaviour is becoming more frequent. The Ceann Comhairle has endeavoured to raise this issue in terms of a fund and so on. I will speak to my Government colleagues in respect of this in terms of wraparound supports. I understand...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----on a cross-party basis to work up a comprehensive approach to this issue. I am venturing this as an idea. I am as guilty as anyone else who has been here in that I have absorbed a lot, but things have reached a new level. Collectively, we need to come to grips with this issue in a comprehensive way.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy. What is going on is shocking and its impacts are very damaging. It should not be happening. We have to await the outcome of the High Court case, not least to inform the best direction of travel in terms of legislation and the policy that prohibits this.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I know. In my view, and I have spoken to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine about this, it is too long. It has gone on for a long time - too long, from our perspective. I will engage with the Minister to see if there is anything we can do in the interim, given the legal context.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----and that occasioned a change in direction, which I thought reflected the basic humanity of people in our communities. I understand the challenges, and the Government does as well, in terms of tourism and the pressure on accommodation. That is why a €50 million fund has been established and will be allocated to communities that have taken in a lot of migrants and asylum seekers,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Putin is gambling on this exact debate happening in every parliament across the European Union. That is what he wants. I know Deputy Healy-Rae does not mean it that way. I accept his bona fides in terms of the pressures in his constituency, but essentially that is what Putin wants. Europe needs to hold its nerve for the next 12 months because what Putin is doing is attacking the values of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, along with Deputy Cairns, because it is an important one. The Government's policy, as the Deputy states, is to increase afforestation from the current level of 11%, or 808,848 ha, to 18% by 2050. This will require an additional 450,000 ha of new forests by 2050. Coillte, in its strategic vision, has committed to enabling 100,000 ha of new forests...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The more fundamental part of the Government's strategy is the premiums and the large increase in that regard, which is a very significant incentive for farmers to use more of their land for afforestation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The size of the fund will be about €200 million. The fund aims ultimately to own a total of 12,000 ha of forest. This is what I have been informed. This equates to roughly 1.5% of our total existing forest estate. Of those 12,000 ha of forests, roughly 3,500 ha will be new forests, which the fund hopes to plant over the next five years. That is an average of 700 ha of new forests...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: We can change that mandate but that is the mandate. The Government does not run every semi-State organisation and if it did there would be problems. The first people in the House complaining about Government interference in semi-States, and correctly too, would be, guess who? The Opposition. That is an ongoing challenge. As to the basic point, farmers will benefit the most from the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----and there will be no privatisation of public land. I have made that clear in my original statement. There will be no privatisation of public land. That is the point. In fact, I would favour more State acquisition of land for forestry. That is the position the leaders of the Government have discussed with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Again, we have to be...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The first point I make is that we have international obligations under international law. What has distinguished Ireland on the global stage is the fact that we are a rules-based country that believes in the international rule of law and that we adhere to that. One aspect of that is the Geneva Convention and European laws in respect of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: We should also acknowledge the support, goodwill and solidarity of many communities the length and breadth of the country, including in Kerry, displayed towards those who have sought shelter on our shores, particularly to those fleeing the war in Ukraine. There was a strong response in Killarney, for example, when there was an attempt to move Ukrainians out of Killarney. People at the grass...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: First of all, the Minister spoke to me on Sunday and outlined what had transpired. He gave an account and apologised to me for the omission and the mistake he had made in respect of this. He did raise those issues with me. He has also offered to come before the House again at the earliest opportunity in respect of the issues the Deputy raised. I am struck by the language the Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, and the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, are meeting Coillte today, and they will discuss Coillte's role in the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund and how Coillte should work closely with farmers and local contractors to achieve positive outcomes for the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Government does not run Coillte. Coillte is a separate-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes, it is a semi-State, but with a mandate underpinned by legislation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Is é mo thuairim agus is é an taithí atá agam ó bheith ag obair leis an Aire, an Teachta Donohoe, ná gur fearr ionraic macánta atá ann. Déanann sé a dhícheall gach aon lá ar son na tíre. Oibríonn sé ar son mhuintir na tíre go macánta. Caithfidh mé é sin a rá. Is é sin an taithí...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: That has been my experience in my engagement with him. He has the country’s interests at heart in the discharge of his duties as a Minister. Second, I offer the viewpoint that in a legitimate controversy and issue of this kind we need balance and perspective in how we approach these issues. I make that point in terms of the issue at stake here. It is essential that Members...