Results 101-120 of 51,889 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: Absolutely. I agree that we should be constantly creating a heightened level of awareness in terms of online fraud and in fairness, An Garda Síochána is doing that. Just last week I heard on a morning radio programme about the impact of online fraud. There is advertising highlighting the dangers and what to watch out for and so forth. It is a very serious issue which is...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: There are various regulatory frameworks governing food products, both on the price side but also in terms of standards. We have a regulator to protect the consumer. These issues should be raised, first and foremost, with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, because there are issues that need to be monitored on a constant basis in terms of shrinking the volume of a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: I know.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: There has been fairly significant expansion in the rural transport programme from 2022 to 2025. Some €84 million has been invested in the rural transport programme, and €116 million has been allocated to regular rural services and almost €40 million has been allocated to new services, including Connecting Ireland, new town services and BusConnects. In Carlow, Kilkenny...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue for many people. Ensuring that the enduring power of attorney application process is a user-centric and accessible one is a priority for the Department and the Decision Support Service. The Minister has informed me that there is ongoing engagement between the Decision Support Service and the Law Society to ensure the smooth...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: That money would have to be replaced from somewhere.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: Yes, it is funny money; it is magical tree money.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: Services can be seen. I have seen the correlation between proper application and ringfencing of local property tax revenue to services.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: If you have a proactive council and public representatives, people will see the benefits of it. We are constantly being told that we need a broad revenue base to sustain public services. For example, this budget expanded public services very significantly, over and above what was a high base over the past number of years.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: There are challenges in certain areas but the bottom line is that for well over two decades now it has been advocated that we need a broader base in terms of raising tax.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Social Protection is examining the proposal and will work with a range of groups and organisations in respect of it. The free travel scheme, more generally, has expanded very significantly since its conception and has very wide coverage. The Government is not opposed to this but the Government wants to work through the implications.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: From an overall perspective, the allocation and commitment in terms of the defective blocks scheme is unprecedented in scale and cost to the State in respect of that. My understanding is there is further legislation on the way in respect of defective apartments, so I will talk to the Minister again in respect of the issue that the Deputy has raised.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: The recent budget did provide significant supports for quite a number of sectors in the agricultural industry. Obviously, there are still concerns in relation to tillage and I will take on board what the Deputy has said in respect of the pig industry, although I was in north Cork recently and met with a number of people and it was not quite raised with me on that occasion. Certainly, I will...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is an important issue, particularly in terms of smaller schools and smaller denominational schools of particular churches. The late Martin Mansergh was actually very attentive to the needs of smaller schools in rural Ireland and the Border areas, in particular those that were Protestant or Presbyterian, and where the numbers were low in terms of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: We did take very significant measures in the budget to support families, particularly working families and families on low incomes. The Deputy has failed to acknowledge that in all her commentary. The child support payment had a permanent increase of over €16 for those over 12 and a permanent increase of €8 for children under 12. The extension of the fuel allowance to the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is a fact. That is from the Central Bank-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: By any objective yardstick, one would have to acknowledge that the last five years has seen extraordinary, exponential growth in the provision of social housing in this country compared with any decade going back to the seventies. A total of 50,684 social homes have been added to the social housing stock between July 2020 and quarter 2 of 2025, more than 13,700 homes were brought back into...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue in a responsible and fair way. I acknowledge that. People are worried and anxious. The Deputy made a fair point at the outset that he is not criticising migration generally or the fact that we now have a country and society that have evolved, with many people of different ethnic origins living in the State who are as Irish as sure as the next man...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: Sorry, it is about 38%. There can be different factors responsible for that. We need fast, firm procedures in managing the migration issue. That has to be consistent and sustained. This Government took the decision to bring all this back within the Department of justice, which was the correct decision, in my view, and progress has been seen in that respect. I agree that there would be no...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2025)

Micheál Martin: All those seeking asylum are fingerprinted when they come into the country under the Eurodac system. In 2024, 67% of completed appeals were rejected, and so far in 2025, more than 80% of applications have been rejected at first instance. I accept the Deputy's point if people are here. It is neither fair to the person nor to the country if this system is allowed to drag out for years and...