Results 10,541-10,560 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The winter moratorium on disconnections for all domestic customers for non-payment has been extended to three months, from 1 December 2022 to 28 February 2023. Furthermore, the moratorium on disconnections of registered vulnerable customers for non-payment has been extended to six months, from 1 October 2022 until 31 March 2023. The Commission for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are not trying to make it look as if we are going after somebody, which is what the Deputy is saying we should do.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: He is saying we should try to make it look like we are going after the industry. That is not what we are at.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are not trying to make it look like anything.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: No, we are not going after the people.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I know that there are campaigns, and political representatives will say things to ensure they are in tandem with those campaigns, but the Government has provided €2.8 billion.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: Through the Chair, we have provided €2.8 billion to deal with this. That decision has been taken. The money has been bookended and financially provided for in the Government accounts and so on, so that is not rhetoric; it is real. As for the design of the scheme, the guidance documentation is substantial with respect to how the Housing Finance Agency, local authorities and all the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: What I would say through the Chair is-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have one final point. No matter how you apply any levy, and regardless of what the Deputy says about profits, nothing stops it from ending up on the very people he is saying would suffer.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy knows that too. He must know that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: He must know that is the truth.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: We need honesty in the debate.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is not two years ago. This is a new scheme that was introduced, as the Deputy has just said, via legislation in this House. It is a new scheme because homeowners and representative groups did not believe the previous scheme, which was welcomed by the Deputies in the House at the time, went far enough. We met residents and representative groups and dramatically improved the scheme with...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is difficult. The agencies involved, and all State agencies, have to be very conscious of the predicament families find themselves in when someone makes a declaration that a house will be purchased via CPO or taken over. It causes genuine stress and anxiety. It can also put people into a state of limbo for many years whereby they are not in a position to do anything. That is not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is the only way we can do it. At the moment, Europe is saying it takes an average of eight years from concept to a wind farm being in position. There has to be an overall public good that triumphs over our individual perspectives and considerations. We have not achieved consensus in this House or society more generally, if we are honest.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I understand the genuine disappointment with the latest developments in this project. I was in Galway on Friday and all the engagements regarding the economic development of Galway, including the expansion of Genesys, the expansion of the Galway Technology Centre and the launch of the Irish clinical academic training programme, were very positive....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: The HAP scheme and the RAS have been there for a long time. If we did not spend the money on the HAP, there would be far more people homeless. It is not a simple matter of saying we should get rid of HAP and start building.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I know. I am articulating a basic principle around this. We will build more houses and more social homes, as we are doing and will be doing consistently. I have seen no mechanism from any other party. Some parties say we should be building 20,000 social homes. There is no capacity at present to build 20,000 social homes. It is not there. We all need to be honest. It is all good for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am making this point generally. This is what gets said. To deal with the HAP-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am doing so. I am speaking about the HAP. The only way to deal with it is to build more social houses but that will be over time. As we build more social houses, we will reduce our reliance on the HAP and the RAS.