Results 13,721-13,740 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is very unfair.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the topical issue of the cost of living. In the earlier part of his contribution, the Deputy referred to the impact that rising costs have had on a particular company in his county. I acknowledge that. Inflation has risen significantly around the world in recent months, mainly driven by higher energy prices. Because of the Ukraine-Russia war, costs are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I do not overestimate the diplomatic leverage the Deputy has just alluded to in terms of the expulsion of any diplomat. We have expelled diplomats in the past. The Deputy did not find favour with that in the past, as she knows. She took the view that it was contrary to military neutrality at the time, in the teeth of Russian aggression. I readily acknowledge that when that happens there...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I hold very little time for the Russian ambassador and his performance to date in his presentations and what he has articulated on public television-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----or for the Russian leadership. I have made that very clear in this House. I understand fully people's anger towards Russia, the leadership and the Russian ambassador. My primary concern is with Irish citizens and vulnerable Irish citizens. Earlier, Deputy McDonald made the point about diplomacy and so forth. A Chargé d'Affaires located here or somewhere else will not do a whole...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Is dochreidte an méid atá ag tarlú san Úcráin. Is uafásach an scéal é gan amhras. Is ionsaí mídhleathach gan réasún atá faoi chaibidil ag an Rúis. Is olc an scéal ar fad é agus tá muintir na tíre seo go hiomlán i gcoinne an ionsaithe seo. We are less than a week into this horrific war against...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: If I could, it is very important that I make this point genuinely in the face of the war that we are facing on our Continent. The European Union, working together as a unified body with the United States and Canada, packs a powerful punch. We have seen that in terms of the sanctions that have been agreed. We were very clear at the EU Council meeting - we wanted the widest set of sanctions....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Ireland needs to work with other European countries in terms of collectively responding to cybersecurity attacks that have the capacity to paralyse nations. Last evening, I read some reports coming back to us from our missions in Germany. There is significant alarm and anxiety - this was in advance of the war - about potential cyberattacks on German infrastructure. We had it last year in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: In response to Deputy McDonald, there is an increased Garda presence in the area of the north-east inner city, strong support for the pilot north inner city local community safety partnership, an educational bursary for local gardaí, a community agency to enhance skills and, as she will be aware, the completion of the refurbishment of Fitzgibbon Garda Station. There is much more in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Never has the European Union been more united and ensured a more speedier response-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----with great determination to apply unprecedented levels of sanctions in the areas of finance and banking that no one comprehended a week ago. We do not need permission to do anything, other than what we said to the House. In the interests of Irish citizens in Russia or Ukraine, we believe keeping channels open matters in terms of helping those who could be in jeopardy. It also helps in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is why we have to proceed carefully in relation to that matter. In response to Deputy Barry, obviously, we neither support nor have any evidence of the application of any racist approach to facilitating migration into Poland.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: What we have evidence of is 100,000 people so far have been facilitated by the Polish authorities in coming into Poland. That is important.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: In terms of Deputy Devlin's point of view, I support Ukraine's application to be a member of the European Union. There is a process there but, I believe, it should be a candidate country. I am consistently of the view that the European perspective represents perhaps the most strategic approach that the European Union can take, not only in the eastern neighbourhood but in the Western Balkans...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for raising those issues. To respond to Deputy Boyd Barrett in respect of what Ireland's place in Europe means, it means that from the outset of this crisis we have decided to take a proactive role in supporting a unified response from the 27 member states of the European Union to Vladimir Putin's assault on the Ukrainian people. As I said at the European Council...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: I will tell the Deputy why. Every country-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Every country in Europe, irrespective of whether it is a member of NATO, did not want the war and did everything possible to prevent the war, such as the German Chancellor at the eleventh hour going again to Russia. Anyone who knows the German-Russian relationship knows that Germany has tried everything, including the diplomatic channel and every other channel available to it. Germany has...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: France has tried everything. Emmanuel Macron, with his country’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, has tried everything, and the Deputy does not give credit for that or even acknowledge it. He calls those leaders warmongers on the same level as Putin. I think that is nonsense.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Boyd Barrett’s approach is all wrong and it undermines the broader unity of purpose here. In respect of the wider issue, for 20 years, irrespective of what the Deputy says, the western presence in Afghanistan gave some light to the women of Afghanistan through access to education and so on. Now they have nothing-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is no question that it was better to free Afghanistan from the clutches of the Taliban and other extremists who are now back.