Results 15,341-15,360 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I have raised this issue myself with the Minister for Education and others. It is an easy issue to raise but it will be more challenging to fulfil. I would not start from Covid; I would start from climate change. With regard to tearing up the rule book, the way we should approach school transport into the future is through the prism of climate change. The Deputy is correct that if we want...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I will engage with the Minister for Justice on this with regard to the reforms that are required and I will revert to the Deputy.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: We certainly do not. The Deputy should look into his own party
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Context is everything. I do not think anyone is glorifying organised crime. It is not on that the Deputy has suggested Deputy Cowen or anybody was glorifying organised crime. That is just not on. For whatever cheap political points the Deputy wants to score, it is just not on to be suggesting that. We could all throw things back with regard to glorifying criminality, murder and mayhem....
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Drug crime is one of the worst horrors to visit an individual, community or society. We have to deal with drug abuse, drug trafficking and criminality around drugs in a multidimensional way, first, with regard to those who suffer from addiction with a healthcare-based approach. With regard to criminals we should take a very strong justice approach involving the Special Criminal Court and...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I accept the points the Deputy has made on the need for widespread coverage of the National Ambulance Service. Other Deputies have raised this in the House. The facts of the matter are, as the Deputy has said, overall investment is now €200 million. This is up from €170 million in 2019. Approximately 2,000 people are employed in the National Ambulance Service, which is up...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am responding to Deputy McDonald. There is an action plan containing 22 actions. From my exchange and engagement with people down through the years, I understand that the most important action is access to information and tracing. We published legislation, which is groundbreaking legislation. No other Government before this Government has produced legislation of this groundbreaking nature.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: No, it is an important point. The legislation has been at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage for six months, then the Government gets attacked for delaying. The suggestion and implication there was that we deliberately produced the scheme yesterday. I hope the Deputy is not suggesting that. Last week, we were being asked when the scheme would be published.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy mentioned those younger than 60-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The target and expectation of the HSE is that those aged 60 to 69 will receive boosters by the end of December-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I know, but we have engaged regularly with NIAC on the need-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: -----to review this. NIAC provides the advice. There is a balance here, and I must be honest with everyone in the House. People ask if the Government will do this or that. The Government acts on the advice of NIAC. I do not want to put the committee under the spotlight unduly either, which really is the implication of what the question is about.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am answering it. My point is that the committee ultimately has to answer for any advice that it gives about the administration of a vaccine to people. Roughly 93% of people took up the first vaccines, which in many ways is a vote of confidence in the system that we have.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I respectfully suggest that we could jeopardise all of that. It is easy for me and it would be very populist of me to say-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am giving the Deputy the answer.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy knows that is the answer.
- 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.