Results 14,581-14,600 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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....

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

Micheál Martin: -----under agreements that have already been arrived at and planned for in respect of growing numbers of cases and pressures on the health system.

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

Micheál Martin: There is a need, as we emerge from Covid, to restructure the economy. That is why the economic recovery plan and national development plan focus so strongly on the digitalisation and digital transformation that are occurring and will occur here and globally. There is also a focus on the green economy, through significant investments in areas such as public transport and retrofitting, and on...

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

Micheál Martin: In my initial reply, I did not deal with the issue of childcare. As the Deputy knows, we are making very substantial funding available in the budget, and we will do so next year, to ensure the existence of proper income supports for workers in the childcare sector and to create a career pathway. Employers and unions can work in the knowledge that there is a financial envelope to deal with...

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

Micheál Martin: Last night, I thought you supported the decisions we took. Which way is it? Do you support what we decided? You might confirm that in the fullness of time.

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

Micheál Martin: I will tell you now. As you know well, we have supported industry and businesses throughout the pandemic to an unprecedented scale. We will continue to engage with the night-time economy, in this case, in respect of the supports such as the Covid-19 restrictions support scheme, CRSS, that we have made available. People in any sector will acknowledge that although, of course, the Deputy...

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

Micheál Martin: Antigen testing has been extended to meat plants, nursing homes and close contacts. Antigen tests are now being sent out free to close contacts of Covid cases. The Deputy knows that. The same situation applies in third level education. They will be deployed more widely. That must be done in the proper way in accordance with the public health advice we have received.

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

Micheál Martin: I said to the Deputy that we will continue to work with the sectors and support them. In respect of the PUP, the most consistent message we are hearing is that businesses cannot get people to work in different sectors and are short of staff. We will engage with the sector through the various schemes we have had so far to keep enterprises together. Where Government decisions affect those...

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

Micheál Martin: I have been in the House longer than the Deputy.

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

Micheál Martin: You learn something every day. I learned something about the Deputy yesterday-----

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

Micheál Martin: -----that I will not forget.

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

Micheál Martin: What I learned will govern our relationship from here onwards in terms of the nature of the engagements we will have.

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

Micheál Martin: I have never before seen the likes of what transpired. As I was engaged here, the Deputy came along over here. I will refer him to what he asked me on the record of the House immediately before our exchange. The Deputy asked, "Given the complication RSV causes, will the Government consider prioritising front-line workers such as gardaí, retail workers, transport workers and, most of...

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

Micheál Martin: I just want to put that on the record. The Deputy came over to me for a 30-second or 40-second engagement. He scampered off and told his education spokesperson who tweeted something that was then reported as fact. It is extraordinary.

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

Micheál Martin: I am putting it straight. I have learned some things about the Deputy.

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

Micheál Martin: I am. I never said those words.

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

Micheál Martin: I never said what the Deputy construed I said. I rang you afterwards to make it very clear to you how I regarded the interchange. You cannot do things like that.