Results 14,041-14,060 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: He wants to destroy the economic model to get elected and he would use every mechanism to do that. That is the raison d'êtreof how he operates. That is fair enough in one sense but people need to know it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We provided €650 million in the budget to reduce the USC and tax, a move which the Deputy opposed. I would also make the point that he is against property tax. He is against carbon tax. He is against the USC. He is meant to be left wing. How are we going to fund the services?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: How are we going to invest in education, health and housing? How are we going to do that? The Deputy is far more populist than he is left wing. His is in one of the few left-wing groups in Europe that opposes all of those taxes and that does not believe that we need to broaden our tax revenue base to support workers-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and people on low incomes and to invest in housing, health, education and childcare. We cannot do it. Some €4.5 billion comes in through the USC. If we just simply abolish it, we will not have the resources to invest in childcare, to invest in education and health and so on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I genuinely put that to Deputy Boyd Barrett. I just do not understand where he is going to generate the revenue base that would create those billions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Wages will rise in the next number of years. The Central Bank is predicting that wage rises will outpace price increases over the next three years, despite the spike in inflation this year. From the public service perspective, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, arrived at an agreement with the public service unions last year on the national pay...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We acknowledge that. This is because the Government cannot cover everything. There have been two years where the Government has invested to an unprecedented extent into our economy. It was unprecedented that the Government would underpin what had to be done. It was right that we did it because of the pandemic. However, this cannot go on forever; we cannot continue to fund every...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: First, in terms of the transcript that was published, I was not there and do not understand the context, tone or whatever. Not all the material in it was accurate. Politicians did not set recruitment figures at all.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We did not set any recruitment figures.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Will the Deputy let me answer the question? The transcript, or contributions within the transcript, suggested we did.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I will answer if the Deputy lets me answer.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: For example, the HSE came forward last year, not politicians, with a figure of 16,000. It was presented to a health committee meeting: the HSE said it would recruit 16,000 in 2021. This year, when it initially made its bid, it said it would recruit 10,000. Its HR team is now saying that, given the current labour market situation, it could be 5,500 net but it will try to trump that....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The HSE looked for approximately €35 million, including €24 million for new developments and €13 million for existing level of service, ELS, provision.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It got €37 million. An additional €10 million was added because everybody in this House was saying we need to do something in regard to the mental health impacts of Covid-19.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We responded to that and allocated a further €10 million, which should be within the capacity of the health service and the HSE to spend and distribute.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I just gave the Deputy the figure the HSE is saying.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I did.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The article to which he refers relates to a secretly recorded transcript of a meeting-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----which has its own issues attached to it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I believe that public servants and people more generally are entitled to brainstorm and hold meetings without being secretly recorded. That is a very basic right and entitlement of people. In terms of the relationship between the Department of Health and the HSE, the Minister holds biweekly meetings with the CEO of the HSE, the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the chairman...