Results 10,861-10,880 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----and the firepower-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----to purchase houses from people who could rendered homeless as a result. The councils have been told that they can-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----buy the houses where someone could be rendered homeless if-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: There are in some cases where they are.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: However there is an issue to reflect on as well. There is no point in saying "buy every single house". These kinds of simplistic answers to everything are not the way to solve the housing crisis-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----because we need people to let existing housing stock. Many people do not feel it is worth their while and yes, because of the value now, they feel it is timely to get out. That is not good enough for the housing-supply issue because we need the supply at present. Many approved housing bodies are saying this to us. They want us to take action to encourage landlords to stay in the system.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: To respond to Members generally, the State is the biggest actor in housing now. One would not think that from the contributions made regularly in the House and some public commentary and analysis. The State is the biggest actor in housing, be it social housing, affordable housing, cost rental, Croí Cónaithe, the town centre first policy and trying to bridge the gap in viability on...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: I have been in discussions with the Minister on this. On the defects in housing, the Minister established the working group in 2021 under Mr. Seamus Neely, former chief executive of Donegal County Council. He received the report and published it. As Deputies will be aware, the working group estimates the average cost of undertaking the remediation of defects is likely to be...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: Many people do not feel it is worth their while to be landlords anymore. They may have purchased a house or two in the past with a view to renting them out. They are now selling.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Housing Policy (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 14, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing has met six times to date in 2022. The last meeting took place on Thursday, 15 September, with the next meeting planned for Monday, 10 October. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and the delivery of programme for Government...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Ukraine War (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 8, inclusive, together. I made an official visit to Ukraine on 6 July at the invitation of President Zelenskyy. I was honoured to be the first Taoiseach to do so. During my visit I visited the towns of Borodyanka, Bucha and Irpin, north of Kyiv, where I heard about and saw at first hand the abuses and destruction inflicted by Russian troops. As...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Ukraine War (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Durkan raised the first question. What was interesting about the three towns just outside Kyiv that I visited was that none was a military town and, therefore, there was no militarism there. There was no need to undertake the atrocities carried out by Russian forces on the people of those towns. I went to the town of Bucha and to the church there. I met with the priest and the...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Durkan was the first to raise this matter. It was interesting that after the immoral invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which was an unprovoked and savage attack on the people of Ukraine with missiles hitting civilian targets and killing innocent people, including children, Finland and Sweden, which had a different position prior to this war, decided to join NATO. It was their decision....
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: I said that over the past 40 years we have not militarised as a country. We should stop pretending that we have because we have not.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: That is not what we are trying to do now. I would point out that the defence commission has made recommendations. The Government has accepted those recommendations, not in their entirety but in terms of the middle tier of ambition which by any yardstick is not militarisation, but getting the bare essentials in place that we can protect vital assets, protect our seas and protect ourselves...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: What is extremely insightful in the contributions that I have heard today is that it is all about NATO. NATO did not start this war on Ukraine. The reason for the EuroAtlantic EU-NATO dinner and engagement was because of the war on Ukraine. NATO did not start that war. Most of the leaders of NATO who I know did everything they possibly could to stop the war from ever starting. They spoke...
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: It is all about NATO. It is all about NATO's aggression, allegedly, and NATO's militarisation when actually it is Russian aggression that has created this world crisis that we are in. No one wants to be in this. The members of NATO want their economies to work.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: We favour nuclear non-proliferation and we work at the United Nations to try to achieve that. We have been one of the most consistent member states of the UN to advocate for nuclear non-proliferation and are perceived as such.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Paul Murphy-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (20 Sep 2022)
Micheál Martin: I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics.