Results 13,981-14,000 of 50,151 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government has prioritised housing as the key social issue that needs to be addressed. In that context, it produced Housing for All, which is the very opposite to the so-called deafening silence on the part of the Government to which the Deputy referred. I have listened to her for quite a long time on housing but I see very little substance. I see a lot of sloganeering, sound bites and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I would say to Deputy Cullinane that if Sinn Féin had voted for the proposals relating to the Oscar Traynor Road site, I would believe a bit more in its credibility. Sinn Féin needs to explain.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I do not understand how Deputy McDonald can stand up and rant on in the sound-bite manner in which she does and sit down without explaining to anybody why Sinn Féin voted against 853 social, affordable and cost-rental homes at the Oscar Traynor Road site. The latter was the latest in a series of deliberate decisions by Sinn Féin to oppose substantial housing proposals for Dublin....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: It voted against 1,200 social, affordable and private homes in Donabate. It voted against them. How can we declare something a crisis in that light? I have said this to all, but Sinn Féin in particular has been opposing projects across the board that involve social and affordable housing. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has committed to 4,000 new affordable...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is like Tommy Cooper long ago, it is a case of just like that. "Just like that, we will make it 20,000". The Minister says there will be 4,000 affordable and, just like that, Sinn Féin will say "We will make it 8,000". There is no substance behind it. It is just empty rhetoric as far as I can see. The Sinn Féin approach to housing is to exploit the housing crisis to suit its...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald raised the issue of an Irish language Act which we understand will be introduced in Westminster. I do not know if it will be done before the recess but certainly it will be done early in the new year. It is a pity it was not done in the Assembly, as agreed last year. The package of language and identity legislation agreed under New Decade, New Approach was detailed,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: We need to encourage people to join the police force. I do not think it is happening to the same extent as it did before. I was involved in the devolution of justice at the time, when I was Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was hard negotiated and worked for. The Patten reforms were transformational. We should work to ensure we can build on them. If we keep using language that to me is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: There was a fair bit of momentum there for quite some time but then people started resiling from encouraging people to join the PSNI. We need to get the balance right across communities so they are represented in the composition and so on.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is essential and I do not want to see it deteriorating. Deputy Haughey raised the issue of what transpired at the British-Irish Council. He made a very good point on Brexit. The First Minister of Wales was very clear on the negative impact of Brexit on Wales, in particular the decline in the volume of goods going through Welsh ports. The Welsh are very worried about the long-term...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----because people are not getting closure. That would help to change the moral of the argument in terms of the British.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I may engage with Deputy Tóibín directly afterwards with regard to Emma Reilly. If I can get some communications going on that, I certainly will. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised Sudan. I share his concerns on this. We are not sure about the agreement on 21 November between Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the coup leader, Lt. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. We do not think that...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: The mere waiving of a waiver does no do that. We need to be fair and honest with people in terms of what we are doing. It means building up capacity and licensing agreements but also distribution networks within certain countries, governance-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: No, the US, to be frank, came out supporting it while it had export bans. Work that out. It had export bans at the time.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: We are not.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: No, we are not.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: The European Union is the only continent that is giving-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: No, that is just slogans again.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: My apologies.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 24, inclusive, together. I attended the 36th summit meeting of the British-Irish Council hosted by the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, in Cardiff on 18 and 19 November. The council explored approaches to the acquisition of indigenous, minority and lesser used languages in early years settings. I welcomed the opportunity to provide an...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (7 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Smith raised the issue of my conversations with President Biden on the Good Friday Agreement. The President has been very consistent, in all my conversations with him, on the imperative of protecting the Good Friday Agreement and also on the importance of the protocol in the context of the trade agreement between the UK and EU. Deputy Smith referenced the idea of restoring the post...