Results 9,681-9,700 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: The Deputies did so on repeated occasions. In any event-----
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: I know the implications. They have associated us with all sorts of killings and so on. By the way, I do not deny the Deputies' right to say things. I have never attempted to interfere with their right to say things. I cherish the right to free speech---
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: ---and I think the Parliament is a bastion of that. We need to be careful now of going too far in trying to suppress a legitimate debate in the Chamber-----
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----and that would be my assertion of what Deputy Paul Murphy is doing.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: In Deputy Tóibín's case, we raised the issue of the proposed amnesty in terms of the legislation and we will continue to do that. There is engagement going on between the two Governments.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: In terms of the Executive, the current election has to be vindicated. People have voted so the structure should stay. Then, if it is restored, we should certainly consider reform for the next one.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: That is correct.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: The context of the meeting, for all Deputies, related very much to Northern Ireland, the Brexit issue and the protocol, and their commitment to underpinning the Good Friday Agreement and making sure that the United Kingdom gets an understanding from us and also from politicians in Northern Ireland as to the issues relating to the protocol itself. We never lose the need to continue to raise...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: Yes. We have been very forthright with all interlocutors on the UN Security Council. António Guterres stopped me two years ago and thanked me for Ireland's role on the UN Security Council regarding Palestine. We are known internationally for always raising the issue of Palestinians on the international stage. I have been consistent in my condemnation of any attacks on Palestinians...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: In respect of Deputy Paul Murphy, I again make the point that he and others have constantly made all sorts of allegations and assertions against me and against others in the Government and he seems to have no issue with them at all. In the context of debate within the Chamber, it is important we do not try to suppress debate-----
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: The Deputies accused me of being a puppet of NATO, essentially-----
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: I note what Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan says. It does not augur well if people are coming in knowing the solution to the problem they raise. What he is saying is that he clearly has it in writing that the HSE has already organised interim GP arrangements for the catchment area. Deputy Gould raised it earlier. I thought the implication was that it had not but it is clear now that it...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: I will follow that up with the Minister for Health and come back to Deputy Tóibín on it. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of student nurses. Again, the €1,000 has been paid to healthcare staff.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: My understanding is that it has been allocated by the HSE, which stated that all healthcare staff have been paid. I do not know the specifics of the case. If the person was working in the service in the past two years, albeit as a student, my understanding is that the payment would have applied to her. Again, the degree programme-----
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----involves placement. That is part of the programme, which I launched in 2003 when we moved from an apprenticeship model to a degree programme. It has been transformative in terms of the nursing profession more generally.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: I do not think we will be able to give the full time to the next set of questions. Deputy Bríd Smith raised the trolley crisis and bed capacity. We have improved bed capacity by close to 1,000 beds in the past two years, which is quite significant in itself, but we need to expand more. Post Covid, we have increased ICU beds and critical care beds significantly. Recruitment is the big...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: We are recruiting more people – nurses and doctors.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: The number of nurses has gone up significantly in the past two to three years.
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Paul Murphy raised a health-led approach to drug addiction, which I do support. I have not examined Deputy Gino Kenny's Bill in detail, but the relevant Minister will, and the Minister will then come back to the Government in respect of a recommendation on it. The broader point is that from a healthcare perspective, treatment and treating addiction is a core issue for those who are...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Nov 2022)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 36, inclusive, together. On 10 November, I welcomed a delegation from the US House of Representatives for a courtesy meeting at Government Buildings. The delegation was led by Congressman Bill Keating, a member of the Congressional Friends of Ireland Caucus and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and...