Results 1,261-1,280 of 49,960 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: There is no precedent. I do not think it is appropriate for internal party issues to be Government issues. It is not a Government issue-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: If I could just clarify-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Member of the other House, not this House, that the Deputies refer to-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: Will the Deputy let me finish? He is heckling non-stop. The issue relates to a Member of the other House. It is a matter for the party concerned in terms of its internal disciplinary procedure. He is not an officer of the Government. He is not in office. He is not a member of Government. Under the Constitution, Government is accountable to the House so-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----this is all very straightforward by the way but I understand what the Deputy is doing and why she is doing it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for again very strongly and correctly highlighting an issue that is of huge concern to homeowners in the areas he has mentioned and which he represents. There is a big issue here, particularly where flood relief schemes have been introduced and where remedial measures have happened because of Government intervention and investment. Over the past number of years, we have...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I would argue that the scheme the previous Government introduced was extremely comprehensive. It was far better than the scheme Sinn Féin endorsed in 2019. A lot was done by the previous Government to try to dramatically and significantly improve the scheme. Implementation is the key and delivering on the grounds.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is a fair scheme. We can review aspects of it. The State has committed up €1 billion, maybe €2 billion eventually, to that scheme. That is what is involved. It is a huge commitment by the State, and rightly so because homeowners suffered grievously and in a shocking way in terms of the defective blocks reality and experience so many people have gone through particularly...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy. He has been a long-standing advocate for the case of Jimmy Lai. I appreciate his sincere commitment to the issue and to that of human rights more generally. I have met with the foreign minister, Wang Yi, on two previous occasions and we discussed a wide spectrum of issues, including human rights issues. He, and indeed the Chinese Government, would respond fairly...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue for Tipperary town and more generally. I think he is correct in his recollections that the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, indicated that he was positively disposed to the bypass and that he preferred bypasses as opposed to lengthy motorways, but progress has not been made so far to the degree people would want. We will certainly be...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: First, in terms of reading classes within mainstream schools, is the Deputy talking about-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I introduced the first language classes within mainstream education a long time ago - they have had a great impact - with a view, by the way, to integrating a child back into the mainstream after perhaps a year of very focused work in a language class where a child was experiencing language difficulties. In more recent times, education thinking has moved towards integration, integration,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: This is a very serious issue and the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, to be fair, is acting promptly on it. He briefed Cabinet in on to this IT project. There are issues in terms of the governance of that project and the eventual outcome. There has been huge expenditure on a product that has not emerged. There is not a new system in place. There are very serious issues. The...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I am not familiar with the background to this but I presume this has been considered for quite some time. It cannot have come as a bolt of out the blue. I will talk to the Minister for Education and alert her that the Deputy has raised this issue in the House today. I am not clear on the rationale as to why it is moving from Donegal town to Letterkenny because education centres are very...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: It would be a very boring Cabinet. I do not mean that in any disrespect to diplomats. We are fortunate in Ireland that we have superb diplomats. We have tremendous diplomats who represent us very well, professionally, all over the world, including in the Middle East, United States, Africa and Asia.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: We are all elected so you get what you have. We are all elected by the people. We all have different talents, different nuances and different approaches - that is the beauty of political life itself.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: Comments get made and comments get retracted. By the way, I am not sure the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, snubbed anybody. I do not know whether he was a Minister or the Taoiseach when the Deputy says he snubbed people.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy very much for her comprehensive presentation of the issues. I will come back to her with the timeline for the review and I will speak to the Minister on that issue. We intend to pursue it vigorously and in a timely manner.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: St. Patrick's Day has for many years been a substantive opportunity and occasion for Ireland, globally and in the United States, to engage with decision-makers, communities and the diaspora. We have a substantial diaspora in the United States. It is extremely important that we continue to work with our diaspora and also on our relationship with the United States. President Trump was...