Results 14,641-14,660 of 50,213 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Anglo-Irish Relations (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. I participated in the world leaders' summit at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, COP26, in Glasgow on 1 and 2 November. I had an opportunity to engage briefly with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Johnson, during the summit, and we agreed to meet in the near future. I also attended a number of events hosted...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: We are doing everything we can to try to deal with the backlog and to get licences issued and as the Deputy knows the House passed legislation to that effect. Progress is being made but we need to make faster and more accelerated progress and implement all the reforms that have been indicated with the agreement of the Minister. We are also looking at other measures to try to ensure a faster...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Last year's fifth years faced challenges due to Covid-19. We want to evolve from where we were and from the measures we had to take because of Covid-19 and we would like to think that next year's leaving certificate exams will be taking place in a different environment because of the vaccination programme and the ongoing successful impact of that programme in being able to reopen society and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: A range of people and families have been facilitated in access to medicinal cannabis through the imported licence arrangement. As to the precise reasons why people have not been able to access this programme, I will follow up with the Minister for Health to get an understanding of that. I have not looked at the parliamentary question response the Deputy got and I do not know whether that...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I answered Deputy Paul Murphy's question yesterday. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is meeting the unions and there is an established industrial relations process involving those groups which has been under way since 2018 as a result of a resolution of some of the larger organisations. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan was prophetic in his comments last week about the local property tax...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: There is no excuse for that. There should be nobody waiting. No child with special needs should be waiting for equipment in the health service. That is my view. There is plenty of capital money there. They have come back in now towards the end of the year and there will be underspends in some capital areas. As a bottom line, there is no excuse for it. I will again engage with the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I will tell the Deputy which it is. Look at those two appointments and contrast them with the appointments the Deputy’s party has made.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Just look at it. Dr. Cara Augustenborg has been appointed among four new members. She is an environmental scientist, a senior fellow in environmental policy at University College Dublin and possesses-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is not just an old pal. Someone with substance in the area has been appointed in terms of-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: She has a PhD in environmental science and engineering from the University of California. I could go on.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Dr. Morgan Bazilian is a director of the Payne Institute and professor of public policy at the Colorado School of Mines.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: He has two master's degrees and a PhD in areas related to energy systems and markets.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Unlike, of course, Jarlath Kearney, the former Sinn Féin special adviser who is on the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. I do not know the expertise.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: There is Joe O'Donnell, a Sinn Féin donor and former councillor who is on the Maze/Long Kesh Development Corporation.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I could go on. The contrast is that there is expertise behind these appointments and they went through the proper format.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Yes, they did. They were appointed by the Government. They did indeed.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The contrast is stark between the how the Deputy’s party approaches it and how this Government approaches these particular appointments.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: There needs to be a balance in this debate as well. The fundamental transformation that took place in terms of pre-hospital emergency care-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Again, there is constant interrupting all of the time. The Deputies either want an answer or they do not want an answer. My view is that the professionalisation of pre-hospital ambulance care was one of the best things we did in this country. We professionalised emergency technicians and that whole area.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Yesterday, when I had a substantive question from Deputy Lowry on the issue on Leaders’ Questions, I made the point that both the Health Information and Quality Authority and those who are professionals in this field believe the framework that has been developed over the years is the optimal one. I said that in the light of what has been articulated by people on the ground and by...