Results 13,601-13,620 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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

Micheál Martin: I am not hearing the Deputy's solutions to it. Is she suggesting that we do not build thousands more houses? Of course, we must build thousands.

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

Micheál Martin: Yes, affordable. We are developing schemes to make houses more affordable. It is very challenging because of the fact there were 20,000 houses per year in 2020 and 2021. That is not going to make the inroads we need. That is why we have to get to 33,000 to 35,000 per annum, if not more. On the delivery side, and I know I annoy people when I say this, we need to get real in terms of...

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

Micheál Martin: We want to deliver houses much faster than currently is the case, and we need co-operation across the board to enable us to do that. On auto-enrolment, that is a comprehensive piece of work in which the Department of Social Protection and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, have been involved.

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

Micheál Martin: All I will say is that the fundamental rationale underpinning it is to give pension coverage to workers in our society that supplements the State pension and that will enable them to have a quality of life in their later years. That is it.

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

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Deputy raising this issue. She referred to the transfer of disability policy and functions from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. That was a deliberate decision. In fact, before the last general election there was much commentary on disability services and there was a view that for the medium term it would...

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

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is wrong in that she is not meeting the realities. Housing for All is a very substantive, well-researched, evidence-based approach to dealing with housing challenges over the next number of years. I have seen nothing in comparison from the Deputy’s party in response to it and nothing by way of solutions. We all know the reality. I have accepted that housing is the biggest...

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

Micheál Martin: -----and we are determined to deal with the reality of that. That is why I have said consistently and all of the time to people of all parties, including the Deputy’s, to stop objecting to the O'Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road projects of this world if they are sincere about meeting realities. The Deputy’s party lacks sincerity when it has that sort whole-scale...

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

Micheál Martin: Deputy Ó Broin ends up voting for it sneakily at the end of the process but he does that anyway.

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

Micheál Martin: That is the hypocrisy that has become his hallmark on housing policy.

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.