Results 17,021-17,040 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: On foot of recommendations from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the intention is to legislatively provide for no more new exploratory licences in respect of fossil fuel. That is a groundbreaking and significant decision, the first of its kind. I do not in any way question the credentials of the Minister when it comes to dealing with this...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: In Deputy Boyd Barrett's land, everything is simple and straightforward.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Without question this is a significant milestone in policy terms and a welcome one. Deputy Boyd Barrett should welcome it and not seek to undermine the Minister's objectives in this regard.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is deliberately distorting what I said. I was responding to Deputy Mac Lochlainn, who legitimately raised issues around the sitting of Parliament and so on. I was not justifying anything in regard to the number of days here and so on. I get the impression that Deputy Boyd Barrett wants to create opportunities to hog the debate himself, to the detriment of many other backbenchers...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy asked for it, but unless the House sits for 24 hours on the trot, I do not see how he will get everything in. That is just the reality. Next, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is coming in to discuss the impact of Covid on childcare. There are also 100 minutes fixed for that debate.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I did not raise these issues, Deputy McGrath. Others did, and I am entitled to respond to the assertions that were made by Deputy Boyd Barrett. I am simply saying that the bulk of Thursday's business is to do with Covid issues relating to mental health, children and childcare. After those debates will be the resumed Second Stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences)...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: No, I am not speaking about China or Korea. I am speaking about closer to the home in terms of presence and attendance at Parliament. In the Dáil, it has been a long-standing feature that taoisigh spend more time in the Chamber answering questions than do their counterparts in other European Parliaments. That is all I am saying.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The problem right now is the variant. There is genuine concern regarding the degree to which the variant can transmit more easily. There is concern that we could be plateauing at the level we are at now because of the impact of the variant. That concern is a genuine one. We need to monitor what is going on more generally in various workplaces. That said, every week the Minister for...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Again, the bulk of those have been administered within time. That was dealt with in questions last week and in the previous week. This week, what is envisaged is statements and questions on mental health and Covid. Some 100 minutes fixed debate is provided. That is very important. Many Deputies have raised issues about mental health and Covid and we need to debate that issue. It needs...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: My understanding is that that second hospital in Cork was announced about five or six years ago and was included in some reconfiguration report. It took some time even for a working committee to be established to consider it. I can tell the Deputy one thing: the cath lab will be built before any movement is made on that hospital. The real point here is that for years people have...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Throughout my political life I have been a very strong supporter of Parliament and accountability in Parliament, whether in opposition or in government. I am in here every week. In this country, taoisigh are in Parliament far more than their counterparts in other jurisdictions across Europe. That is a good thing. It is a fact that does not get-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The two situations are not comparable at all. No ex gratiapayments were made by the Government in respect of the liquidation of IBRC.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: None was made by the State at all. The Deputy knows that the Debenhams liquidation is a court-supervised liquidation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is one with which the Government could not interfere. The Oireachtas liquidated the IBRC in an all-night sitting. The Oireachtas did not liquidate Debenhams. There are fundamental differences and the Deputy knows it, but he is being populist in his presentation of the issues.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is what he is doing and has been doing, with others, since the commencement of this dispute. I do not doubt the Deputy's sincerity about looking after the workers, but he also creates platforms to increase support for his movement. That is in a lot of the approaches he adopts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy seeks to apportion blame. The State is not a guilty a party to this. It has upheld its obligations to the workers and, believe me, we tried everything we could within the law to support the workers in terms of facilitating arbitration and so forth. That is our position.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Unprecedented resources have been allocated to the health services this year, including in Waterford. That will continue, in the context of both Covid-19 and non-Covid health services. There are unprecedented resources across the board, including in University Hospital Waterford. The Waterford catheterisation laboratory project is happening in terms of the tendering process and so forth,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: How do we police someone in his or her bedroom?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I ask the Deputy to answer that question in the context of common sense and practicality around enforcement. That said, the public health advice on the specific circumstances of cases will apply to people as they apply across the board. They are very clear issues. There is a balance to be struck in us getting it right around personal freedoms, legal enforceability and sanctions. We are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: In response to the issues, I have outlined that this will be a very severe regime for the quarantining of people. It involves the quarantining in hotels of people from certain countries where there is a particular concern around the importation of the variant and home quarantining of Irish citizens and people more generally, with follow up in terms of enforcement.