Results 15,261-15,280 of 50,294 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank all the Deputies who put questions to me in respect of housing issues. I will first deal with rents generally, which covers a number of the questions. On the issue of a rent freeze, the Government has been advised in the strongest possible manner that it is unconstitutional to introduce a three-year freeze. I remember years ago, before an election, Opposition Members put forward a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am not paranoid at all about it. What I will say is that a lot of people across this House were involved in trying to bring this to a conclusion, along with a lot of people, across the party divides, in the council.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: Many people worked to get the project to where it is at now. If we go back again, there is no guarantee of a conclusion. It could take another ten to 15 years. That is a realistic perspective on it. The key issue Deputy Conway-Walsh raised in terms of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme is provided for, as I understand it, in terms of people who are divorced or separated. I will...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: There is a commitment to doing it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 to 28, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments in regard to health, receives detailed reports on identified policy areas, and considers the implementation of health reforms, including Sláintecare. The committee last met on Monday, 14 December and is expected to meet again...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 20, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing has met seven times to date in 2021, most recently on Monday, 30 August. The next Cabinet committee on housing is yet to be scheduled. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: There are a lot of questions there.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: Sure, I am multitasking all the time. Deputy Ó Ríordáin raised the issue of free schoolbooks. I would need to talk more about this, to be honest. Targeting of resources is still very important in terms of children who need additional supports in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. It is the old argument about universality of provision versus targeted provision to those...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I was just testing Deputy Lahart. He is alert.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Conway-Walsh spoke on open access to college. She needs to think that through. I do not agree with it. It would create mayhem overnight. We do not have the capacity to do that, nor is it necessarily the right thing to do. We need to have a wide provision over time so people can access courses, modules and so on to take the urgency out of the leaving cert and to remove the idea...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: On Deputy Crowe's point, I am not sure whether the schools have applied to the Department, but he should engage with the Minister for Education. He has made a fair point on the broader issue in the town and the two schools needing expansion or a new plan for post-primary provision in Shannon. I will work with Deputy O'Sullivan. We have already opened two new special schools this year,...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer, following those next set down to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence: ...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on education oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the area of education, including preparing for post-Covid education. The Cabinet committee last met on 13 May and discussed topics including special education policy in schools and increased demand for places at third...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I accept the Deputy's point. There is without question an issue with work permits, visas and ensuring we have an adequate labour supply in the market right now. One dimension of it was discussed earlier in terms of upskilling and providing a range of skills, which is being done to an unprecedented degree. The other aspect we have to urgently review, and this is now under way in the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Christian Brothers should not be selling off those playing fields. They should be made available to the people, clubs and young people in the area. That is the proper thing to do. Do I have the legal power to enforce that? I do not believe I do. I will certainly follow this matter up with the Minister for Education to see what persuasion can be applied but in situations like that,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: I cannot. We do not run a dictatorship.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government remains focused, calm, flexible and in solution mode on the protocol and on the relationship between the EU and UK. There must be political will on all sides. There cannot be unilateralism, which is the opposite perspective to that of the Good Friday Agreement. Unilateralism is the opposite type of impulse than that represented by the Good Friday Agreement. My sense, until...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: Bank of Ireland is a private institution and it makes its own decisions. The Government has decided to focus its work through An Post and through other initiatives such as the remote working hubs and enterprise centres, plus the Housing for All and Town Centre First strategies. We are using our mechanisms on a number of fronts to revitalise towns and to get investment back into towns. When...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: This issue is not acceptable but it will need change. That is being pursued on a number of fronts, not just in the context of the case the Deputy has identified but it has wider implications for other cases as well and that has to be corrected.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: The NDP is fundamentally about the allocation of capital funding, which dovetails and aligns with current policies and programmes that individual Departments and the Government collectively have identified and prioritised. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, in particular, has identified the requirements for childcare into the future in terms of the...