Results 15,381-15,400 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I will tell you now. As you know well, we have supported industry and businesses throughout the pandemic to an unprecedented scale. We will continue to engage with the night-time economy, in this case, in respect of the supports such as the Covid-19 restrictions support scheme, CRSS, that we have made available. People in any sector will acknowledge that although, of course, the Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Antigen testing has been extended to meat plants, nursing homes and close contacts. Antigen tests are now being sent out free to close contacts of Covid cases. The Deputy knows that. The same situation applies in third level education. They will be deployed more widely. That must be done in the proper way in accordance with the public health advice we have received.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I said to the Deputy that we will continue to work with the sectors and support them. In respect of the PUP, the most consistent message we are hearing is that businesses cannot get people to work in different sectors and are short of staff. We will engage with the sector through the various schemes we have had so far to keep enterprises together. Where Government decisions affect those...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have been in the House longer than the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: You learn something every day. I learned something about the Deputy yesterday-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----that I will not forget.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: What I learned will govern our relationship from here onwards in terms of the nature of the engagements we will have.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have never before seen the likes of what transpired. As I was engaged here, the Deputy came along over here. I will refer him to what he asked me on the record of the House immediately before our exchange. The Deputy asked, "Given the complication RSV causes, will the Government consider prioritising front-line workers such as gardaí, retail workers, transport workers and, most of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I just want to put that on the record. The Deputy came over to me for a 30-second or 40-second engagement. He scampered off and told his education spokesperson who tweeted something that was then reported as fact. It is extraordinary.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am putting it straight. I have learned some things about the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am. I never said those words.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I never said what the Deputy construed I said. I rang you afterwards to make it very clear to you how I regarded the interchange. You cannot do things like that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: If I may say, the issue is that we have 4,500 cases a day. We have expanded the use of antigen testing. The Deputy knows that public health advice has not been very enthusiastic about the wider deployment of antigen testing. Progress has been made. Antigen testing is being used in meat processing plants, nursing homes and third level education and for close contacts. Those tests are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: It has always been a source of regret for me that since this Government was elected and officially nominated that the Deputy and her party have taken a divisive approach to Covid-19. She has always sought to exploit the pandemic for political and electoral ends. I regret having to say that, but it is absolutely clear.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The hallmark of her position from the outset has been one of running with the hare and hunting with the hound. She has undermined NPHET advice at different stages of the pandemic, with calls for pubs to be opened in advance of any advice, then rushing to get the airports closed and then rushing to get them opened again. It has been the classic presentation from the Deputy from the get-go. ...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Carthy is not the leader of the Sinn Féin Party yet.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I would appreciate it if the Deputy would allow me to answer the questions without being interrupted, which is again a further tactical parliamentary device that he is prone to use.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is where our booster campaign stands and we will drive it forward, just as we drove the primary vaccination programme forward. What is crucial now is that we have to reduce socialisation. I did not do anything with a switch. Deputy McDonald talked about planning, but two weeks ago her party’s spokesperson on health was saying that the time had come when the powers under the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Equally, Sinn Féin did not support vaccination certificates. The party opposed them as well. It has been so behind the curve on Covid-19, and the only reason it has been behind the curve is that it has suited it to be so politically, because it has only sought to exploit it at each and every turn.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: They do not. We are ahead of many other countries on the booster programme, and quite significantly.