Results 1,521-1,540 of 49,960 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am in a state of shock at the Deputy's description of Cork politics and psychology.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I must invite the Deputy to Cork. He has had an obsession with Cork, which is quite interesting. I do not know who he has been working with on that but-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I think it is a bit much to describe as conservative and gossipy the politics of the city of Cork. Many Cork people would be offended by that. The modern city is broadminded. It is a great maritime city. It is open and inclusive and successful culturally. Cillian Murphy's win at the Oscars is the latest manifestation of the cultural richness of the city. I know the Deputy wants to talk...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: This Government has invested very significantly in Waterford. The €170 million for the North Quays' development is transformative in the heart of the city. I am delighted with that. The Deputy has to acknowledge the establishment of the South East Technological University, SETU. Lately, there has been great news about the veterinary college at Kildalton, the pharmacy school now...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has to acknowledge that in all of these matters of cardiac care and so on, the clinicians set the standards. This was agreed by most parties about 20-odd years ago, when there were political rows all over the place about where various services were to be located. The idea of national strategies in cancer and cardiovascular were developed, which have had the kind of huge impacts I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am doing so. I am trying to make the point that we have gone back to clinicians to say that we need to do this differently in Waterford, with the result that 90% coverage will be achieved with the provision of the second CAT lab and the extra staffing that will facilitate the weekend cover, which will be key. The clinicians tell us this will give us 90% coverage. Compared to where we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: There has been recruitment and there will be further recruitment to the facility. I appreciate the Deputy's advocacy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I acknowledge and I am acutely aware that the Government and the country are facing significant challenges in respect of housing, which we discussed earlier, the cost of living, health, climate change and many other important issues, and I look forward to getting out about the country to debate these issues in the time ahead. However, it is important to meet head-on the narrative that the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: Just more than 50% of the population has completed higher level education and that has doubled in just 20 years. More pupils than at any point in the past century are being taught as Gaeilge. We are living much longer now, with an average life expectancy of 82 years. We are healthier than we have ever been and, for example, smoking is at the lowest level in 50 years. Deputy Smith may not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: We have made a lot of progress in this country. It is wrong that Deputy Smith does not at least have the good grace to acknowledge the extraordinary progress the country has made, notwithstanding the challenges that we have. We have made progress as a country.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am the son of a busman.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I came from a working-class community.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt the Deputy. I will tell her "So what?"

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am the son of a busman who was a founding member of the NBRU.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I was the first to get to second level education in our family and we were the first generation to get to third level.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I do not need lectures from the far left, and many from the far left who were educated in far more luxurious schools than I was ever educated in.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I had the good grace to let the Deputy speak but she does not have the good grace to allow me to speak. I am a product of the Fianna Fáil-Donogh O’Malley revolution of free education.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I participated in it. It was not “God help us” because it brought on a lot of us. It gave me a passion for education. That is why I became Minister for Education, and to make sure every child in this country had an opportunity to participate in education. I do not trade figures across the House. When I mentioned school completion, I mentioned it because I took part in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: It is because it matters to me. It is why I am in politics. The Deputy does not have a monopoly on care or compassion on her side of the House. Where she fails is in her understanding. She declared she is a socialist and she is entitled to be, but she has never embraced the Irish economic model that has created enterprise and the opportunity for people to grow and develop in this country....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Nov 2024)

Micheál Martin: I believe the Deputy and others want to bring down that economic model and want to destroy enterprise in this country, which would make more people unemployed, create more poverty and make us all much poorer.