Results 16,921-16,940 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I said an appointment will be made very quickly. The Minister will revert to the Deputy in that regard. On the issue raised by Deputy Mattie McGrath, stopping a project in midstream does not make a whole lot of sense either. The overall objective-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government is coming up to eight months in office. It has to deal with this project, which has been under way for several years. The objective of everybody involved with the project was to provide a state-of-the-art facility for the children of the nation now and into the future. Without question, it has dragged on too long and it has incurred excessive costs as well. The Government...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have missed no deadlines. I said this week that we want to bring clarity for the leaving certificate cohort of 2021 and that is the priority. I recall the Deputy and her spokesman on education calling for consultation with all the partners in education on related issues as far back as January. The Deputy cannot have it both ways. She talked of the Government dithering and so on. The...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have no difficulty with facilitating a centre in Drogheda, none at all. The Health Service Executive has facilitated this. Different HSE regions have presumably sent in their submissions from different locations. The bulk of people, by the way, will be vaccinated in their GPs' surgeries when we get to the mass vaccination stage. Obviously the vaccination centres will augment and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: There has not been and there does not need to be. Again, what is the objective here? The objective is for Government, through the national task force and the Health Service Executive-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----to ensure we get out as many vaccines as quickly as we possibly can to as many people as possible. There is no mystery here.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is about doing the right thing for the people.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Let us get people vaccinated. Let us do it with a unity of purpose and that is the spirit in which I will pursue this. Deputy Nash has raised an issue in respect of Drogheda and I will put it to the HSE that there is a concern about Drogheda.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The legal representative has made that assertion. The Deputy is correct in saying that everything we can do must be done to bring closure, if at all possible, to the families of those who died horrifically in what was the worst and most horrific event in my living memory as far as the number of people who died is concerned. I remember well it happening, as a young person, and the sense of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government is committed to giving choice to students. Some students would like the option of sitting the traditional leaving certificate or as close to it as possible. The Deputy has his views on the best model of assessment in educational terms but an emergency like this should not be used just to throw out a particular model. We believe choice should be given and that is the basis...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am in here every week answering questions and Deputy Boyd Barrett knows that. I have no issue with coming in here to answer questions on a whole range of issues. Deputy Boyd Barrett should not be accusing the Government side or myself of trying to avoid answering questions or dealing with issues. I am in here every single week and that is the way it should be. I will always hold myself...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have long suspected that the agenda from the Deputy's perspective is to deprive other Deputies in the House from an opportunity to get their chance to speak.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: That has always been his position.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is why that Bill is tabled for deliberation and consideration. I met with the leader of the Sinn Féin Party last evening and I said we were open to consideration for debates in regard to Northern Ireland, for example, next week, if that is what it desires. We are open to constructive engagement with the Opposition in terms of how debates are developed, but the Business...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Health will be in tomorrow morning.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Sorry, the Department of Health is in tomorrow morning.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am answering the question. Every week, we have had nearly a day, in effect, devoted to Covid. It is not just all about vaccinations either, because the other issues need to be dealt with and debated also. That is fair to say.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have to reject that. Deputy Shortall has a habit of consistently and continually asserting something which is not true in terms of consultation. It is just not true.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am very surprised by the commentary and assertions of Deputies Mac Lochlainn, Duncan Smith, Cian O'Callaghan, Boyd Barrett, Tóibín and Mattie McGrath that somehow Government is invoking Covid-19 as a basis for the two-day sessions in terms of the Dáil. That is not the case. Some of those Deputies would be very quick to attack Government for ignoring public health advice and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government has not ordained this or imposed this.