Results 13,061-13,080 of 50,151 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am just making the point that it is not closed. We are not finished with this yet because it is a very serious case and a very serious issue. Speaking more generally, there has to be balance here. To return to the previous question, our existing agencies have to be able to do the work. Increasingly, almost daily now, it is an independent review for this and an independent review for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Hear me out. We have GSOC in respect of the Garda-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: No. Into the future, we are going to have make sure that agencies such as HIQA and GSOC do their work like all of the other bodies that are there to regulate and to enforce regulation, otherwise we will have commissions being established every two months, with all of the implications that that brings with it. The Deputy will be aware that there are commissions of inquiry still going on six...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I would have to disagree with the Deputy. Let us deal with 2022, not 2008, which is a long time ago and there was a different economic situation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The bottom line is this. We all know the current cause of the inflationary cycle is global. Oil and gas prices have risen dramatically. Two and a half months ago, on 1 December, the cost of the barrel of oil was $68. Do you agree?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It now costs $93 or $94. That clearly is a dramatic increase in a number of months, which the Central Bank and Europe are saying is a pandemic-related cycle of inflation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Natural gas costs £1.65 per therm on international markets, compared with 42 pence per therm last February. Higher gas prices have pushed up electricity costs as gas was used to generate half of this country's electricity last year. The latest CSO data on wages shows that average weekly earnings rose 5.4% in quarter 3 of 2021 from a year earlier and were up to 8.9% from their...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: To suggest that it is just carbon tax is simply not the truth. The story with the carbon tax is that we are giving the money back to the public in the form of the retrofitting scheme, where we will enable people to retrofit their homes which will lead to cheaper fuel costs into the future. We are giving money from the carbon tax to farmers for environmentally friendly farming programmes.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Additional income streams for farmers will arise from the distribution of carbon tax revenues. To protect against fuel poverty for those on low incomes and those depending on the fuel allowance, it enables us to make more generous provision in those areas, as we have done in the last budget and in the most recent package in terms of those in receipt of the fuel allowance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The reality is that over the next decade or so, we will be moving more towards renewables. We will always need gas for the foreseeable future as a transitional fuel, but we will have to increase our renewable capacities into the future. Of that, there is no doubt. The current Ukrainian-Russian crisis illustrates that for Europe, not just for Ireland, more than anything else. It has caused...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I 100% agree with the Deputy. Of course, people should not be moved. What happened was very wrong and it should not happen. It is incomprehensible that it happened as recently as some years ago, which is my understanding in respect of the Brandon case. Accountability is built into systems, but people contest who is or is not accountable. People will argue and will say it is not them but...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising these issues, which are very serious and are taken very seriously by the Government. As the Deputy said, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has worked with him in respect of the Brandon report, which is a shocking and very disturbing report. What happened in that instance has caused enormous distress and hurt to the families involved. A national...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Does Deputy McDonald just say anything? Did she read the Secretary General's speech to the Oireachtas committee this morning? Where in that speech did she pick up-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----that he was not committed to Sláintecare? The presentations today reflect that commitment to Sláintecare but Deputy McDonald simply thinks she can come in and say anything and it does not matter whether it is true or not. She just comes in and says it-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and throws it out there. If you throw enough mud, it will stick seems to be her approach to what are very serious issues. Yesterday's progress report on Sláintecare shows very dramatic progress in a whole range of areas in respect of that plan. I referenced one, namely, GP access to diagnostics. The whole chronic disease management has resulted in about 220,000 consultations as...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----there is the reduction in regard to medical card prescriptions and there is improvement in access. There are challenges and legacies arising out of Covid that Deputy McDonald should accept because it is obvious. It is obvious to anybody watching the situation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There has to be, and should be, accountability. I am not clear what the Deputy is proposing. These are very serious scandals in themselves, in terms of the Grace case and the case of Brandon and what transpired there. The Deputy referenced the south Kerry CAMHS. At this initial stage, I would put a question mark after the word "rogue". I think that is judgmental of the individual because...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Without question that there have been record attendances in our emergency departments over the last month. The situation is very challenging in many emergency departments across the country with those record attendances. What is more worrying is the preponderance or majority of those over 75 years are presenting to emergency departments with more...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Data (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: As Taoiseach, I regularly travel to participate in formal and informal meetings of the European Council, in Brussels and elsewhere. In keeping with the Government’s Global Ireland 2025 strategy, I also place a high importance on engaging actively with fellow Heads of State and Government, both within the EU and more widely. I also use international visits to promote Ireland’s...