Results 10,001-10,020 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy referenced my geographic origins earlier. I did acquire that land for Waterford Institute of Technology back in the late 1990s. This was the land that made all the development on the campus possible in Carriganore. At the time, a lot of people questioned the wisdom of that but in the long term, it proved to be a fairly far-sighted measure that facilitated the expansion of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I also thank him for his initial kind comments, although I felt a sting was going to come at some stage towards the latter end of his contribution. I will make it very clear that the Government is absolutely committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all our citizens, regardless of geography or where people live. We are particularly...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy knows well that, every year, every Department carries over 10% of its budget because schemes are not completed before the end of the December deadline. In addition, there will obviously be money allocated towards the end of the year again in terms of housing initiatives. The housing in situscheme is one the Minister himself initiated. It is up to 600 houses now that have been or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have repeatedly made it clear in this House that housing is the single most urgent and important social issue facing our country. The Government has brought in a range of actions in terms of increasing housing supply, and it is about housing supply. The targets this year will be exceeded but we need to do far more. The Deputy used the phrase, and I will take her up on it because I have...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald herself has opposed more than 1,600 homes on Clonliffe Road, about 177 apartments in Cabra and about 79 apartments on Moore Street as part of the broader Moore Street development. I am finding it increasingly difficult to understand how Sinn Féin reconciles its track record in this House and elsewhere in opposing such good initiatives that are now leading to cost rental...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have limited rent increases to 2% in every rent pressure zone. We brought in a rent credit this year. Will the Deputy put down her documents and stop trying to create propaganda?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: An award-winning journalist, Sam McBride, wrote a very good article recently on Sinn Féin's housing performance in the North. It is entitled "Housing Crisis will not be solved by Sinn Féin's cynical populism". In the last paragraph, he writes that Sinn Féin's Stormont record suggests that party populism is more fervently held than its grasp of the detail of what would...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: The difference between the Sinn Féin Party which simply wants to exploit the issue and the Government side is that we have taken a range of initiatives and actions. The help to buy scheme, for example, has helped 35,000 people to own their own home.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: Sinn Féin would have abolished that scheme. I referenced-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----how a person felt the first home scheme was the best service they had ever got. Sinn Féin opposed that scheme and proposed its abolition.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: Sinn Féin also opposed the grants for restoring housing in rural areas. I do not understand why as between 700 and 800 people have availed or are availing of that scheme.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: All of those people would lose out if Sinn Féin had its way.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I do not want to engage in semantics with the Deputy but she has seized on the word "emergency" in the past two weeks as if it is some sort of magic word that will transform our housing output. She is not the first to come up with the term "emergency". At the launch of Housing for All in September 2021, I made it clear that when I talked about and referenced a whole-of-government approach...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Cabinet Committee on Europe oversees implementation of Programme for Government commitments in relation to the European Union and related issues. It generally meets in advance of regular meetings of the European Council. It last met on 13 October ahead of the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 20/21 October.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: As co-Chair Deputy Brendan Smith organised an excellent British Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Cavan on Monday 24 October. The Assembly’s work to promote co-operation between representatives in Britain and Ireland is extremely valuable. As I outlined in my address on the day, it helps to build understanding and, crucially, to build relationships that will endure into the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Northern Ireland (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 48 to 52, inclusive, together. On Wednesday 26 October I congratulated the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on his appointment and we discussed a number of issues of mutual interest including the NI Protocol. We then had a formal bilateral meeting on 10 November in advance of the British Irish Council in Blackpool. This was a positive and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Climate Change Negotiations (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 to 53, inclusive, together. I participated in the World Leaders Summit at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh on 7-8 November. On 8 November, I delivered Ireland’s National Statement to the plenary session, taking the opportunity to set out Ireland’s climate ambition and the Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I met with Prime Minister Sunak on 10 November on the margins of the British-Irish Council Summit in Blackpool. We discussed the war in Ukraine, climate change, energy costs and inflation, the EU-UK protocol negotiations, and formation of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I participated in the World Leaders Summit at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh on 7-8 November. On 8 November, I delivered Ireland’s National Statement to the plenary session, taking the opportunity to set out Ireland’s climate ambition and the Government’s commitment to supporting vulnerable countries who, despite having...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Official Travel (22 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I participated in the World Leaders Summit at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh on 7-8 November, where I delivered Ireland’s National Statement. I was accompanied by six officials from my Department and to date costs of €4,441.14 have been incurred for the Dublin to Sharm el-Sheikh outbound flights and recommended vaccinations. ...