Results 81-100 of 47,563 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I will engage with the Minister for Education in respect of the Delvin situation which the Deputy mentioned and also more broadly on introducing the practical measures contained in the school transport review as effectively as possible within the funding framework. It is the largest review of the school transport scheme since it was established in 1967. About 135,000 children are now...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I do believe there is a very serious issue here in relation to children’s access to therapy. There are recruitment issues within the HSE but in my view we must look at other mechanisms and initiatives to deal with this. We are dealing with this at Cabinet subcommittee level at the moment and will be pursuing alternative approaches. However, that length of time is not acceptable.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her help and co-operation and all of the ushers in the Dáil as well for all their support, and the staff in general.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----in exiting people out of emergency accommodation more quickly than would have been the case before. We have built more houses in the past four years than were built in the previous ten. We intend to continue to build more houses, particularly social houses, to deal with the social housing crisis and the issue of homelessness. Homelessness is a multifaceted and complex issue. I would...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I would hate to think that there are any public servants counting the days until the Deputy leaves to go to the European Parliament.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: It would shock me that there would be people counting the days, although not everyone has the Deputy's uniquely creative approach to issues. I mean that as a compliment. Compliance is taken seriously by the Minister for children and his Department. There is no doubt that there has been an unprecedented increase. Some 31,000 people, of whom some 8,000 are children, are now living in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I hope it will be factual. The word "collation"-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy. I have no doubt that he read the report from cover to cover. During my time as Minister for Education, the Deputy was my Opposition counterpart. I know from his diligence and his work that he would read every report that was ever published. I take his point that the retrofit programme has been a success. However, he makes a fair point about the 250,000 houses using...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: That does not mean the Deputy read it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: That is not the case. I will not take lectures from the Deputy in terms of how to communicate with grieving families. and how his party has communicated with grieving families down through the decades.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: No, it is not. I am just making the point. The scoping inquiry and the publication of Judge Haugton's report into-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy made assertions. After the Dáil resolution of a number of years ago calling for a public inquiry, the scoping inquiry was established.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: It took much longer than anyone anticipated - about three to four years - for the report to emerge. It was a comprehensive inquiry. The Government has now decided to refer it to the justice committee. Two weeks ago, other Deputies raised the matter during Questions on Policy or Legislation. I suggested that I would like to talk to members of other parties to see if there is a way through...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Ceann Comhairle said he would be interested in convening meetings of party representatives to see if we can find a route through. I would now have ethical issues about another inquiry going on for four or five years or maybe longer. There have been lots of inquiries that did not give victims their-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am willing to work with the Ceann Comhairle and other parties to find a route through here and to facilitate the airing of some of the issues that people are perhaps not happy with in respect of the scoping inquiry.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy's motion came in between that process. That is his business; that is what he is entitled to do, but I think there is a better way of dealing with this.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate that Deputy Mac Lochlainn referred to me as the Taoiseach. I clearly made a lasting impact on him.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, met with SNAP, which is the parent representative body. Obviously, as regard to decisions that are required for a new school, it does not happen overnight, as Deputy Smyth will know. I refer to decisions about the type of school and the range and spectrum of additional needs which would be catered for....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, the Government provided this cross-Border healthcare programme to substitute for the older-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----European programme. Brexit put paid to that programme. Therefore, the Government intervened to create a bespoke cross-Border mechanism in respect of cross-Border services, particularly in the area of cataracts. As for the cost and so on, a lot depends on how much private operators are charging in the North. Obviously, the HSE reviews this on an ongoing basis. I will get further...