Results 12,621-12,640 of 50,151 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: We are not all as intelligent as the Deputy is, clearly, based on what she is saying.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: The point is that we cannot do it. I am going to be honest in saying that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: I am not going to pretend to the public that I can solve this-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----given what is happening internationally.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: It is a reality that people understand. We need to make decisions and choices about how we use people's money to alleviate pressures. A month ago, we took a decision to use €500 million to particularly help those on fuel allowance and on low incomes.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: All people can expect the €200 cut to the electricity bill.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: Other expenditures will also arise from this war.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: Yes, there will be and we are being honest with people in saying that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----but there are regulations and frameworks under EU law that do not facilitate such measures right now. We are working with our European Union colleagues to see whether we can introduce greater flexibility in that area. The same applies to VAT. Home heating oil is not subject to excise duty but is subject to VAT at 13.5%. If we reduced that rate, we would run the risk of having to move...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: That is in the context of €400. The Deputy is the very guy who will be looking for retrofitting grants for people all over Kerry. He will be up here roaring and shouting about additional expenditure for this, that and the other.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: Core Government expenditure has gone up by 5.5% this year. We have allocated approximately €80 billion in the budget. With this package and the package announced a month ago, we are already looking at an additional €800 million and we are only in March. This is funding to respond to this international crisis-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----which has driven oil and gas prices to exorbitant levels. We are going to continue to work to protect people, particularly those on the lowest incomes.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: You cannot do that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: The problem is that Deputy McDonald operates on sound bites and not on substance and that she does not do her homework. That is the problem.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: She comes in here every day and just announces what should happen, as she did yesterday. She said it should happen now but it could not. You just cannot bring it down by more than 15 cent.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: That is just an illustration of how ill-prepared she was and the lack of homework she did on the subject.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: However, we will do everything we can to alleviate these pressures. Since we came into office, we have increased the payments to those with low incomes on the fuel allowance by €1,239 a year.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: We have doubled those payments from approximately €630 to €1,239, if you take the €200 electricity rebate into account. What we have been doing to try to help people has been very progressive. I accept that, as the Deputy has said, we cannot cushion the entire blow to the public but we will do everything we can, right across the board. In the package announced a month...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----we provided a once-off grant of €125 to those on fuel allowance, we cut electricity bills by €200, we reduced the threshold for the drugs payment scheme to €80 and so on. The measures are significant but we understand fully that given the scale of what has occurred, it will not be possible to cover everything that has occurred so far.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2022)
Micheál Martin: These issues will be kept under constant review by the Government. The measures we have announced today will cost approximately €320 million. That is on top of the €550 million package we announced just one month ago. The €125 fuel allowance payment will occur next week and that one specific decision will benefit approximately 390,000 recipients. On the broader...