Results 14,481-14,500 of 50,213 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: We do. NIAC is constantly reviewing all of these things. I have to say what I said there.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: We do, and we need to accept public health advice on keeping our schools open. The constant thread and consistency from Government in keeping our schools open is accept the public health advice. It has worked, actually. The public health advice was received in respect of contact tracing. It has not been disastrous either way.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I put it to the Deputy that he cannot have it both ways. His party took the correct approach from the outset of the pandemic. I agreed with his party leader, Deputy Shortall, who said, at the time, that we must be guided by public health advice, no matter what, because if we jettison that, we will end up with a very inappropriate and wrong response to the pandemic. If we look at countries...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: To be honest, the number of PUP recipients has been coming down steadily as we have reopened the economy. The number of recipients has gone from somewhere well over half a million down to 60,000. That has been the direction of travel, because we have reopened so many sectors of the economy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Which the Deputy supported, I think. Or did she? I thought she supported what we did last night.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Some day I might get an answer from her.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: As they say, you run with the hare and you hunt with the hound. It was Deputy Kenny's question, to be fair. It is our view, and there is consistent feedback from Members and people across society, that one of the significant difficulties employers have faced since the economy reopened is getting staff. There is a balance somewhere between the two. The number of recipients of PUP has come...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I accept the sincerity of the Deputy's presentation. I value her raising the issue, even though the recruitment of staff is an operational issue for the HSE. The Deputy has suggested because the post is part time, it is not getting the attention from people who could fill that position. I will engage with the HSE on that. The recruitment processes need to be speeded up, accelerated and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: First, there has been a dramatic expansion of resources for home care hours. I think the Deputy would have to acknowledge that. There were 5 million hours last year in respect of-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: It had a huge impact last year in terms of reducing the number of people waiting for home care packages. There is a critical skills and ineligible occupations list review of sectors of the economy that we need to liberalise in terms of getting work permits and so on. The review has not so far recommended the removal of the occupation of care workers or home carers from the ineligible...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: First, 75% of those working in the home care support sector are working part time. As I stated, last year the Minister secured additional funding of €150 million for home support and the HSE national service plan sets a target to provide 24 million hours of home support.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is throughout 2022. At the end of September, some 15 million home support hours had been provided to more than 53,000 people. There is an enormous programme in place that is being resourced by the Government through the HSE and it has grown significantly beyond previous years. However, that, in turn, has created pressures in terms of availability of people to provide the home...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: First, the Deputy made a statement that is simply not true in terms of the commission. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Government have gone well beyond the recommendations of the commission in respect of the payment scheme. Surely the Deputy has to acknowledge that. Not everybody will be satisfied with the entirety of the scheme but it has gone well beyond the commission. Indeed,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is being populist-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----in saying the boosters should be given to everybody.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Keep your voice down and calm it down. Cool it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The bottom line is this: NIAC has advised as to the cohort that should get the booster. Why? Who is in the ICU departments at the moment? Those in the ICU departments are the immunocompromised, the unvaccinated, people with underlying conditions and those in older age cohorts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Who are most at risk? They include those in older age cohorts, the immunocompromised-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----and people with underlying conditions. The advice is that they need the booster before anybody else. We have been through this before. I have heard it suggested in this House that the booster should be given to this group, that group or the next group. It is all popular stuff; it courts the group and it courts the sector but-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----the most effective thing we can do is proceed in accordance with the medical advice, public health advice and advice of those who advise on immunisation, which is to give the booster to those who need it most first. I thought we were all in agreement on that. On private hospital capacity, 1,100 to 1,200 beds are already being used on a continuing basis by the HSE in this respect....