Results 17,281-17,300 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Government is disposed, especially with the option in the fair deal scheme, to people having the option of home care-based supports. As the Deputy knows, in the recent budget there was a record allocation to home care packages and interventions in the community. It appears that is having an impact with a better flow in the hospital system and reduced waiting times for people on trolleys...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, the murder of two young innocent people in Belturbet in 1972. The victims were two teenagers, Geraldine O'Reilly and Patrick Stanley. It was a reprehensible crime. Deputies Smith and Smyth have been pursuing the matter for quite some time and the Garda investigation remains open. I will pursue the matter with the British authorities and the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy McDonald for raising the issue. I agree that the news last week of a conclusion to the negotiations on the protocol and the withdrawal agreement was very good news. Both sides deserve commendation in terms of the constructive way that they engaged. The indications were good prior to signing off on that agreement which was important in terms of the experience on the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Yes, we may very well be. It depends on what happens on 21 December. The European Council discussed the matter last week. We made it very clear that there would be no pressure on the European Medicines Agency in making its decision, although we were conscious that the FDA's decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was coming sooner. Then there are the logistics of transporting the vaccine....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: First of all, I point out to the House that at no stage have I got personal on this issue.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I certainly have not. Through the Chair, I did not interrupt anybody.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The least Deputies are entitled to is the courtesy of being allowed to make our points. Perhaps the most important thing we could do today is to agree to de-politicise the entire vaccine issue. Brian MacCraith, the chairman of the high-level task force in relation to the vaccination programme, will appear tomorrow before the Joint Committee on Health. The central theme of the strategy that...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: What other agenda could there be but to do that? In terms of holding a debate, as I stated, tomorrow the Joint Committee on Health will be dealing with the issue of vaccination. It is now expected that the European Medicines Agency will have an extraordinary general meeting on 21 December. That may bring forward the conditional market authorisation of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Yes. On Brexit, I have to point out that there was a fairly extensive debate on Brexit in the context of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020. That involved various Departments and areas and several Ministers came before the House over a two-week period.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have just said that we considered and adopted the Meenan report and we are working on a vaccine compensation scheme. I said also to the Deputy that the advance purchase agreements, which the European Commission entered into on behalf of member states, and the indemnifications and liabilities are open-ended.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: They require member states to provide legal support, costs and payments of claims arising from any damages associated with administration of the vaccine. It should be remembered that we are trying to get vaccines to people. As to what has been achieved, there are two ways of looking at this. We can always undermine and seek to pick holes in this, or we can say this is far better than...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I know that Deputy Connolly wants me to say what I am not supposed to say, as if I am not allowed say these things.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: No. I just have to say that. As for the six advance purchase agreements, and as I have said before, there is Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, BioNTech-Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur and CureVac. Those are the ones in respect of which the Commission has approved contracts. A seventh may also come along, but balanced decisions have to be taken in that regard. What was the prioritisation? It was to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: It is Christmastime.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I certainly will. As yet, there has been no indication of a correlation between the location of testing centres and a higher incidence of Covid-19. I will ask the Chief Medical Officer to consider this and I will check with the HSE about facilities for visitors at the site itself. People generally tend to arrive and leave again, but I will ask the HSE to take the Deputy's concerns about...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Government considered the Meenan report and the law of tort around medical negligence today. The report recommends that we pursue a vaccine compensation scheme, the development and production of which the Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice are working on. Regarding indemnity, the content of advance purchase agreements, including provisions relating to liability and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has just summed it up. His role is to blame Government, full stop. Ignore all the realities, ignore all the legal frameworks and all the challenges. His job is to blame Government and, perhaps, to undermine the trade union involved as well. There is a bit of that in his operation as well. I have picked that up during the course of this. Very often, the Deputy is not very...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. First of all, it is a phenomenon we have not come across that there is a higher incidence of Covid-19 in close proximity to testing centres, but I will ask the Chief Medical Officer to investigate this and give his comments and his perspectives on it, and those of the HSE personnel involved. Testing and contact tracing is a key component of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is an extraordinary statement to make. The Deputy is an extraordinary propagandist and a populist. He has led people up the hill without levelling with them about the facts and what they could expect. The Deputy's behaviour in this dispute has not been great either because he knows the facts and the legal realities. The only party which has stood up to the plate here are those in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The nursing degree programme, nurse education and the quality of it is not a tangent. It is at the very core of this issue and Deputy McDonald has steadfastly refused to address it because she knows the truth. The truth is that one cannot have both systems.