Results 10,861-10,880 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald raised the issue of the long Covid clinic at the Mater. I do not have the reasons here but the Deputy is suggesting it is closing. I will make inquiries with the HSE on what is happening there and what the background to the situation is. In the notes I received earlier, the indication was that this clinic is still operating. On the transfer, I have spoken to the relevant...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Risk Assessment (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: A consultant's report should be sufficient or a GP should be able to give a confirmation in those circumstances. It seems to me that certain local authorities might have different approaches. The Deputy said a man had been moved seven times over the past nine years.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Risk Assessment (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have to build more social houses, and we are building them. We are getting far more social houses built now, but there is room for local authorities to house people with medical conditions of that kind. Particularly in the situation the Deputy outlined, one would have thought a solution would be found by now for that individual.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Risk Assessment (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I will do so. Deputy Murphy raised an issue in respect of adult education tutors. My understanding is that this would come under the remit of the education and training boards and it would take responsibility for it. The issue must ultimately be determined through the labour relations procedures and processes we have. Deputy Bríd Smith raised the issue of tenants in Liberty Lane...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 29, inclusive, together. The Covid-19 and health unit of my Department supports me and the Government in developing and implementing health policy and related matters and co-ordinating the Government's response to Covid-19. This includes supporting the work of the Cabinet committee on health, the Cabinet committee on Covid-19 and the associated...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Risk Assessment (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald raised the issue of poverty, and Social Justice Ireland also raised the same point. Overall, the national risk assessment deals with strategic risks facing the country from external sources, including hybrid threats, terrorism, armed conflict and war. These were identified for the period 2021 to 2022. Risks referred to include the rise of a multipolar world; the future...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: In response to Deputy Daly, I mentioned the significant increase in Garda numbers since 2015 and that funding had been put aside to recruit a further 1,000 gardaí in the 2023 budget. That impacts on the pilot schemes Deputy Daly wants extended, particularly the relationship with mental health, dealing with mental health call-outs and so on. The overall aim of the Government is to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: This Parliament is the last bastion of democracy and free speech. The Deputies opposite feel free to make all sorts of assertions and allegations against Government Members on a consistent basis, whether we are puppets of oil and gas or of NATO, which is a constant assertion of Deputy Murphy and others. I will always retain the right to speak freely in this House. The far left does not get...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Risk Assessment (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 11 to 18, inclusive, together. The national risk assessment has been prepared since 2014 and provides an opportunity to identify and discuss significant risks which may arise for Ireland. The national risk assessment 2021-22 was published last December. The experience of recent years has brought home the importance of work in the area of risk...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill was published in August. The Government asked the Minister for Justice for more information on the potential inclusion of facial recognition technology, FRT, by means of amendments on Committee Stage. A report has been prepared for the Cabinet and will be published in the near future. The...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2022)

Micheál Martin: In recent years there has been a substantial increase in resources for recruitment of gardaí. That will continue. I accept that there are challenges, particularly in the context of antisocial behaviour and in rural Ireland. We want to strengthen and support An Garda Síochána. Funding for 1,000 gardaí to be recruited next year was provided in the budget. I am informed...