Results 12,441-12,460 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: These are political and not personal points I am making.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I want solutions from the Deputy-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----that meet the realities of housebuilding and house supply. We are determined going to go on. We will spend €4 billion this year and will continue on a prolonged and consistent social housebuilding programme, the likes of which have not been seen before. We are not going to be deflected from that and we are also going to work on our affordability.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: In the first instance, I am somewhat taken aback by the commentary on auto-enrolment. Surely everyone in this House agrees we should as a State and society deal with poor pension provision for workers in this country, both those who own homes and those who do not own homes. The auto-enrolment scheme does not discriminate when it comes to home ownership and pension provision is not good...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have repeatedly said in this House and since I became Taoiseach that housing remains the most serious social issue and crisis facing our country. Clearly, as the Deputy has acknowledged, the past two years have been very difficult in house construction because of two significant lockdowns. Putting that to one side, however, from our perspective access to housing is fundamental - social...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: The help-to-buy scheme benefited 29,000 people. Sinn Féin has opposed it resolutely since its inception. On shared equity, Sinn Féin plays a double game. It actually sneakily voted for it in the end despite all the ranting and raving about it by Deputy Ó Broin and so on. He opposes shared equity, allegedly, but ended up voting for it when it came before the House. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----because every time a proposal comes for a mixed type of housing, be it private, public or whatever, Sinn Féin opposes it on the grounds it has to be 100% public on public lands and nothing else. Everything else gets pushed out. I do not know how Sinn Féin thinks we will get houses built without builders or finance. The Government is putting up €4 billion but we will...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: We support a referendum in that regard. It is important to note that we need more supply. Given the current crisis, not just in respect of housing but also in respect of immigration, including the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, which presents a big challenge to us all, I am still struck by the fact that, as a society, we take an inordinate amount of time to get projects through the planning...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Is it nonsense? I do not agree with the Deputy. I know I annoy people when I keep on saying that when we oppose projects with 1,100 units or 500 units-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: ----along with that, we still say there is a crisis. I did not mention Deputy Ó Broin at all but he interrupted. I am just saying that, generally, as a society-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy's party is a serial objector. He knows that. That is just the bottom line.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: The point is that we have a crisis in housing.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: The fallback position of the Deputy's party is to say everything is Government policy. It is more than just a question of the Government.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is more than just the Government. The Deputy did not ask a question so I respectfully ask him to respect the norms of the House. I am answering Deputy Boyd Barrett-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----who did raise a question about homelessness.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Family homelessness is down 34%. I am simply saying there are too many objections to too many housing projects.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is about time people got real about the housing crisis.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I make no apology for saying that. The Deputy has form in this matter. I am making a general point because I believe we are in a housing crisis. Twenty thousand houses per year is not good enough. Covid was an issue last year. We want to get the number up but will not do so if we do not have more supply, get more planning permissions through and get the houses built in this country.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: We need to do that. We are aiming to have 12,000 provided this year. Again, we have given the local authorities and approved social housing bodies the resources to build social houses. On family homelessness and Housing First, we are 34% below the peak recorded in July 2018. However, we need to do much more. We want all children housed. That is my objective.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Official Apology (29 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are not going to do that, however, if we do not ramp up housing supply. We need to prioritise what we want as politicians and as a society. People want more housing, particularly for younger people, who need access to affordable rent and affordable houses. We are not going to give them that access if we object collectively, and if various parties object at council level, to various...