Results 13,761-13,780 of 50,294 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: The figure I was quoting was 3.8% in the third quarter of 2021 from a year earlier. That was the rise in earnings then. Wages were up 7.6% from their pre-pandemic levels in Q3. The average inflation for that period was about 2.4% and actually was -0.3% throughout 2020. However, the Deputy is correct. We all accept that the CPI prices were up by about 5.5% in December. Electricity prices...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I would point out that close to €10 billion in total between European Union and Exchequer funding will support over 120,000 farm families over the next Common Agricultural Policy period between 2023 and 2027. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue has worked very hard on behalf of Irish farmers to get the best package possible in the context of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am open to discussions with the Deputy and others regarding the best way forward here. I have a sense that over the last ten to 15 years there has been investment in child and adult mental health and that certain services developed in certain areas. From just observing, it seems to have never reached the optimum levels that we would all have understood would be the case when we started...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: Yes, that aspect will be pursued. That is what I mean by "end-to-end".

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: Again, people at different times can distort what gets said. I warned against a wage-price inflationary cycle, but not against wage increases, which have occurred in the Irish economy and that have been linked with productivity and other factors. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that average hourly earnings rose 3.8% in the third quarter of 2021, from a year...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and will do so much earlier than was anticipated last year. Everything that can possibly be done will be done. The Deputy's proposals lack depth and substance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is absolutely no evidence that they would result in any reduction in rents.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy's legacy is one of rubbishing every person who provides housing for rent.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: They are all leaving the market-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----because of the narrative that he has been putting forward. We are going to address this issue on all fronts. It is a very serious issue. We need to provide for it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: I respectfully suggest that this endless opposition to housing projects will not help renters or the construction of houses in this country.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy says that I will finally get it. She paints a narrative that I am divorced from reality and all of that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: Okay. I just want to say that my background - where I grew up and what we had to put up with - was far different to yours.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: I just want to make that point. I did not interrupt you. Do not dare to lecture me. I understand the realities of life as well anybody else in this House.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: I do not intend to understand it more. I know a thing or two about people being in difficulty and facing challenges in their early lives with regard to the cost of living and their backgrounds.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: The most comprehensive solutions that have ever been adopted have been adopted by this Government in Housing for All.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: We need co-operation across the board at every level. If politicians really believe this is a crisis, they should behave accordingly-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and stop serially objecting to housing project after housing project because it does not fit some ideological framework.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: You cannot have it both ways. You cannot talk to the private sector privately, as Deputy Ó Broin does, and say that you are all for private investment, that the guff and sloganeering Sinn Féin goes on with should not be listened to, and that there will be a warm house for the private sector when Sinn Féin gets into power.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is the sort of talking out of both sides of one's mouth that has been going on. I am willing to work with all parties in this House because this crisis is too big for politics. It is not enough for parties to exploit a crisis for their own electoral gain.