Results 13,441-13,460 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: The implication of what the Deputy has said is that this country should ignore climate change, should let other countries deal with it, that we that should paddle our own canoe and to hell with the consequences and that we should play no part like. Ireland from the foundation of the State believes in the international community. We believe in a rules-based order. We believe in playing our part.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: Climate change is existential. I know that the Deputy does not agree with it. He denies that it is happening at all. I think that is his position which he has put forward in the House. I disagree with him. It is existential and we have a duty to the younger generations, to our children and to our children’s children not to stand still now, not to deflect and not to postpone. We...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is nothing to do with Deputy Eamon Ryan. It is nothing to do with the Greens.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: It should be the concern of every Deputy in this House and of every Senator.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: It should be the concern of everybody.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: We must act to protect this planet for our children and our children's children.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is what should matter in this House.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: Hopefully, by the end of April, there will be a further return to this, with a fuller reform of the market by the end of May.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is no point in tackling this with one measure alone. Pay policy is important. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has invited social partners to discuss extending the existing national pay agreement. It should be possible for us, as a society, to work through the different strands of income policy, pay, tax and welfare. The question is whether we can get agreement on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: I know. There will be significant expenditure from here until the end of the year and beyond that. It is necessary and right. With the number of Ukrainians coming into the country, there will be expenditure on education, health and housing, of a significant nature. We have to get the balance right and not just react from week to week and month to month. I think the Deputy accepts that we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: To be clear, that will not be solved today but we need to engage with the social partners.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I salute and commend all those volunteers who are doing so much to help Ukrainian refugees to settle in this country. As I said this morning, "our home is your home". The initial focus of our response has been on accommodation. To date, 19,283 people have arrived from Ukraine. Of these, 11,800 have sought accommodation. There has been...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: The way the carbon tax was structured benefits those on the lowest incomes, as the Deputy knows. That is the factual position and the research shows that but I know that evidence-based research is not the Deputy's forte in matters of this kind. That is what the research shows.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: That said, we are conscious of the impacts of the carbon tax. That is why the fuel allowance has risen so dramatically-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and we have extended it significantly. It is also why we want to enable people to retrofit their homes, to develop energy efficiency to reduce costs

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: The approach I suggest is a broader one which has to involve engagement with our social partners. It is not just about one single measure every week as we move along. That cannot be the way we react. We reacted intelligently, effectively and fast as a country to deal with the pandemic's impact on the economy. The pandemic brought about the greatest decline in our economy since 1939 in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: We bounced back because of intelligent policies.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: With the greatest of respect, the Deputy is about-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----the electoral and political exploitation of this, rather than looking at it from a point of view of substance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising those points. Members are looking for initiatives every week and I understand that. We have to stand back, however, and take a more considered view on how we respond to this fairly unique crisis, which has been caused by the combination of a pandemic, emerging from that pandemic and the imbalance of supply and demand which that created and a terrible war, the...