Results 15,081-15,100 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I do not have information in regard to the specific issue with me and I am not in a position, obviously, as the Deputy said, to dictate the timelines of the court. Certainly, I will inquire as to where this is at the moment and I will see if I can get further information.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I understand there is legislation in train in respect of the mandatory reporting issue under the patient safety Bill. I will come back to the Deputy in terms of the timelines around that. It is beyond comprehension what has occurred here, from what I have read. My understanding is the Garda is still pursuing the matter, and that takes precedence over decisions that Ministers or the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is very difficult to answer both in 30 seconds. It is a fairly complex lacuna that Deputy Kenny was outlining. I will certainly pursue the issue between the two Departments and talk to both Ministers in respect of the legislative requirement. There is an issue that needs to be developed and explored to see if we can do this in a proper, regulated way. With regard to Deputy...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, responded by providing the scheme following Brexit as, unfortunately, the decision on Brexit invalidated the cross-border directive. That was outside of our control. We are very anxious to ensure that the €350 million available under the waiting list initiative is being spent and every effort will be made to procure treatments for people in...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I will raise the concerns of the Deputy with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and will revert back to her with respect to the Department's assessment of the situation.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Education is dealing with this issue in terms of recruitment, retention and substitution. We do not want to disadvantage children with special needs either in terms of losing their provision to substitute teachers and the banking of hours. This is something that must be worked out and worked through. There is a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio due to the increase of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I support the Deputy's motivation on the protection of citizens' rights and the proper application of GDPR. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has emerged as a strong enough institution. The additional resources will help to resource the office. It does need to be consistently resourced over time and to build up its capacity to enable it to deal with the wide range of issues...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The decisions today facilitate a change in direction. The Minister for Education will want to consult with the education partners on the operationalisation of that, and what is in the best interests of the young people involved. Given the high vaccination rates for the over-12s, the Minister will take all of that into consideration and she will inform the education partners shortly in that...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: Additional funding of €10 million has been provided in the budget on top of the existing level of service provision of €56 million. The additional allocation should enable progress to be made in addressing issues concerning service provision for medical card patients in 2022. The national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, was published in 2019. The future...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I do not have time to go into further detail.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I accept the basic premise that we do not want children waiting for operations, surgery and assessments unduly. We want surgery to happen in a timely matter, particularly for scoliosis and other conditions. There has been an increase in capacity, an extra surgeon in Temple Street and so forth, but we need to do more. Children's Health Ireland is in discussions with the HSE and the Minister...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government decision was to implement the decisions with immediate effect on budget night. The two key decisions were the amount of €5, which was to be implemented immediately, and the increase in the threshold. I will review that and talk to the Minister. It could be an administrative issue. I will pursue it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The whole aviation package is about the country. It not about individual airports but about facilitating travel and getting our capacity back up. The number of people travelling into Ireland is a fraction of what it was before the pandemic. The airports and airlines have sought a meaningful aviation package and Deputies from all sides of the House have asked us to do more for aviation. We...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: The survey by the Alliance for Insurance Reform was published this morning. I understand it shows that the average business insurance renewal price was over 15% despite the new personal injury guidelines. The work of the PIAB demonstrates that the cost of the awards has decreased significantly as a result of the guidelines introduced. The Government continues to have good engagements with...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: We accept that some businesses' premiums are going up. They should be going down in light of the PIAB report.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am sure that the Deputy will agree that the administration of vaccines has to be a clinical issue. We are not experts in this House. I know what we would like. I have concerns about the healthcare workers. I would like them to get boosters but I have to defer to the expert advice of NIAC. We have done this throughout various vaccination programmes before the pandemic. If you stand...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: If I understand it correctly, Deputy Tóibín wants a debate on Covid-19 and what he describes as "a disaster and a failure of government". That language is completely wrong and inappropriate. We were designated number one in the world for resilience in respect of Covid in the Bloomberg report. It is for it to determine that we are number one.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: That report was on our entire handling of Covid-19 and places to live during Covid in terms of the resilience of society. It had a whole range of factors, from the economy to vaccination. I know enough about a global pandemic to know that it can come back to bite at any time. We have noticed that different countries have different phases of the pandemic, which manifests itself differently....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----was virulently against - and in terms of masks and other issues where appropriate and practical. By the way, I do not have an issue with a debate. All Members agreed to the Order of Business and the schedule for the week.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Micheál Martin: I know. The trajectory went kind of wrong over the last two weeks. As I said earlier, the timelines are not of the Government’s creation. Covid-19 does not respect our parliamentary schedule. That is the point and because it does not respect our parliamentary schedule, the Government is open to facilitating a debate, although not today. Thursday could be an opportunity if the...