Results 13,701-13,720 of 51,015 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is eager and he always has been.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 18, inclusive, together. My Department’s Strategy Statement 2021-2023, which was published last year, reflects the role of the Department to support me, as Taoiseach, and the Government in order to ensure a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland’s interests abroad, to implement the Government programme and to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is exactly what it is.

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. In the first instance, I support NESC's work with regard to the shared island unit and the work it has done in terms of greater potential for cross-Border co-operation projects, particularly in respect of health, which has been one of the more effective cross-Border areas over a long time and, in particular, in respect of paediatric health...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and quite effective in terms of European wild bison, for example. A programme is being led from the wildlife park in terms of various species of toads. We need to be funding organisations like Fota Wildlife Park, Dublin Zoo and those which are involved in global interbreeding, breeding programmes around wildlife and protecting endangered species. That is what we need to be doing more...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am not generalising. These are not-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am just making the point. The Deputy specifically spoke about performance and productivity-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and he specifically spoke about the Irish public service and the issues he had with it. I wanted to give the Deputy the other side of that story. The vast majority of salaries and so forth are centrally negotiated with trade unions-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----throughout the public service, whether it is the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants or other unions, through national wage agreements. The most effective way to tackle high salaries is the income tax system, which is progressive in this country. It basically means that when one gets to a certain level, approximately 50% is taxed. That rarely gets said in the debate but it...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 11, inclusive, together. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable economic, social and environmental development in Ireland. The NESC work programme in 2022 includes five main areas. It will carry out a major piece of research and consultation on climate, biodiversity and how to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: On the points Deputy Tóibín raised, I will make the general point that Ireland has the most progressive taxation system in Europe and the world. The point of that is that those on high wages pay the highest amount of tax in this country-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----which is how it should be. It is objectively regarded as a progressive taxation system. The Deputy referred to performance and productivity and I am a strong admirer of the Irish public service and have been for a long time. That is notwithstanding weaknesses, flaws and uneven performance at times but if one looks at the evolution of the Irish State over the last 50 or 60 years or...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----so there has been a lot of systemic good work done in recent decades by the Irish public service. In more recent times, that has been manifested in our performance during Covid again notwithstanding flaws and mistakes that could have been made. Overall, however,Irish public servants put all hands on deck in responding to a one-in-100-year event.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: On mortality, in our hospital system and more critically, in terms of our broader societal response, the Irish public service stands up alongside its peers across Europe and globally. While there is no doubt but that lessons can be learned from that, if one looks at the vaccination programme alone, it was one of the best vaccination programmes administered in the world, which dramatically...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am agreeable to the line the Deputy is taking. We should not complicate these issues. God knows that to get a health facility built takes an ordinate length of time, as we know from the various hospitals under construction, at planning or where there is a row before they even get off the ground. My view on elective hospitals is that where we have State land, we should get on with it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: First, in terms of the planning for the ceremony, the families of the bereaved, regardless of setting and whether from Covid-19 or not, will be represented at the ceremony, along with front-line workers from all sectors. It is difficult to specify a particular sector but all those who were bereaved will be represented in a proportional way at the ceremony. In terms of the wider issue, a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am taking a broader look at the situation in terms of communities more generally because different communities are coming forward now with real issues around drug abuse, infiltration by drug gangs in certain areas and the undermining of social infrastructure and the quality of life of many families. We cannot just go on taking one community after another. There has to be a more...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is a broader issue in respect of the ongoing negotiations between the Department of Health and the Irish Dental Association regarding the provision of dentists. A total of €10 million has been made available through the Estimates for allocation to dental services. Obviously, that would include, in particular, the provision of dental services for people with autism, which...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: There are processes for applications to the European Union, which have been going on for quite a long time. In my view, there has been a lot of meddling and manipulation going on in the geopolitical world. We saw that, for instance, with vaccines. It is interesting that Russia was offering Sputnik to various countries in the western Balkans, notwithstanding that it had not vaccinated its...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Likewise, given what is now happening in Ukraine, we need to accelerate its prospect as an EU candidate country.