Results 14,081-14,100 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I did not say that. Will you calm it, Deputy? I am saying that, overall, they did a good job.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: For the first, second and current dose, the ambulance service teams did a lot of work. We are in the middle of a very difficult situation in the acute services as well, so there have been challenges in that respect. If Deputy Carey gives me the details, I will follow it up.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Will the Deputy repeat the start of her question?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Parents of children in such situations should first contact their local school. Is the Deputy suggesting that anybody who is a close contact and who is staying at home should be provided with homeschooling?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is what they are going to do. I think they will take on board what the Deputy says.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has already committed in that regard, particularly in terms of students and so forth. He is very actively considering that and, I think, he already has proposals developed in regard to helping people, in the first instance, not to have commit too much in advance and to get their deposits back.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Again, as has been announced, the rate of payment of the PUP will be linked to prior earnings. All individuals, including the self-employed and students, who lose their employment on or after Tuesday, 7 December because of the effects of the new public health restrictions are eligible. The PUP will be available for self-employed workers, such as taxi drivers, if they lose their jobs as a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: Real progress has been made on resourcing home care hours. As the Deputy will know, about 5 million additional hours were provided in 2021-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----and these will be maintained in 2022. There is an issue with securing workers. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is working on this with the sector. In the medium term, the issue is improving conditions and so forth but, in the immediate term, it is how we can make it more amenable for people to come into the sector. It is not an issue of resources any more; it is about securing...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, does have a moral compass. I do not think the Deputy should suggest anything to the contrary. The number of people waiting for home support across different categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to approximately 5,300 at the end of September 2021. The issue is recruitment of additional home support workers. That is the issue....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: There is no lack of urgency and no lack of empathy in terms of the situation that certain sectors of our economy find themselves in because of the restrictions relating to Covid-19 and the impact of Covid-19 on their particular sectors. It makes a lot of sense, however, as we move from wave to wave and different phases of this pandemic, to adjust the mechanisms we have at our disposal to...

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

Micheál Martin: We talk about spin and we all have our own perceptions of spin. The Deputy just did a bit of spinning when she said I was putting more responsibility on children. I did nothing of the sort. I acknowledged the challenges that faced children, what they have done to date and how difficult it has been for them.

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

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is no exception in the House either, in terms of having the capacity to spin. I did not interrupt her. The point I was making was that children and young people have gone through an awful lot in this pandemic. Their quality of life has been in many ways reduced by the pandemic. It is the Covid-19 pandemic that is driving all of this. Those in the engine room have to keep going...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: As I said yesterday, this was robustly debated at the time for a considerable length of time in terms of issues leading up to awarding of the contract, the best way to do it and so on. It was done transparently. The Deputy referenced yesterday the memo from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that was published at the time. It was weighed up at the time and we had our view. I...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Dec 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his comment. His point is valid. The advice from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, is that it strongly recommends that children aged five to 11 years with an underlying condition, living with a younger child with complex medical needs or living with an immunocompromised adult should receive the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. This...

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

Micheál Martin: First, it is not possible to have prelegislative scrutiny. Prelegislative scrutiny in the Dáil is now taking up to six months in some cases----

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

Micheál Martin: In some cases, it is taking up to six months. There is no way one can deal with a pandemic, going through the luxury of-----

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

Micheál Martin: It is. It is very rational.

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

Micheál Martin: It is taking six months for prelegislation on many key Bills, never mind a public health emergency. Is the Deputy seriously suggesting we could do it?