Results 17,421-17,440 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I will pursue that issue to see if what the Deputy is saying stands up. I will check that out. The cost should not be prohibitive to the participants who are anxious to get work and the wherewithal to enable them to work on sites and so on. That sounds prohibitive.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Let us get the context clear here. The first point is that we are dealing with a virus that has killed people all over the world, and it continues to kill people. Approximately 1.5 million people have died globally as a result of Covid-19. Governments themselves do not produce vaccines or medicines. There are no state pharmaceutical factories anywhere that I am aware of. Some states may...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The key point, where families are in these situations, is that we provide services so they do not have to go to moneylenders, and provide alternative mechanisms such as MABS, utilising credit unions and our social protection services to eliminate the necessity at all to be going to moneylenders. We do this also through some of the initiatives that were brought in in the recent budget,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: It will have to be under the aegis of the State and the authority of the State because, first, the allocation to various vulnerable groupings is key, and that would be jeopardised if people were going off, doing their own thing. As to the national procurement of the vaccine, the State is procuring the vaccine, in the first instance, as part of the European procurement initiative and,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I know the Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, has met with the survivors in this case. I met with the survivors as well and the campaign group around Bessborough prior to this planning application going in, and my office has been in contact with them subsequent to the planning application going in. Obviously, it is a matter for An Bord Pleanála to decide on the application. 3...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I will be in Brussels on Friday.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Minister is adamant that no one should be turned away. He is of the view that there is capacity and that no one should be turned away just because they are from one district and have moved to another district, particularly during the Christmas period. There is no confusion on the Minister's part. He is very well up to speed on the homelessness issue and is in constant contact with all...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Minister either has written or is writing to every local authority-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----to ensure that local connection criteria are not a barrier to people accessing services. The Minister has said that nobody who needs shelter this winter should be left without it because of bureaucratic hurdles.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: We live in a democracy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I kind of think it does somehow.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I would say they have their own version of democracy in Kerry.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for raising the issue. The necessity for a debate on Brexit preparedness is a fair point. We must be honest too. We did have a good debate in the context of the Brexit omnibus Bill that went through the House two weeks ago. Various Ministers took that Bill in respect of their various areas of responsibility in terms of preparations and decisions we have taken for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have only been in office for six months. I will engage with the Minister to see where those guidelines are. My own view is that where there has been a history of habitation, there should be continued facilitation of habitation. The Deputy talked about 16 people living on one road.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have walked the boreens and seen dilapidated houses, with bigger and better houses built adjacent to them. I often wonder why a dilapidated house was not retained. Someone should take those houses over, even if it is the county council, and get them back into a reasonable state for somebody to live in. I am into practical solutions but the highest environmental standards have to be...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: That makes sense. To take up the Deputy's point, we need to build infrastructure in towns, in terms of sewage treatment plants and other facilities, that would render the situation a more enjoyable one.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. At one level, I can understand the Deputy's point in terms of rural life, rural populations and young people on their own land not being in a position to get permission. At that level, one can empathise, particularly given the cost of housing today, that they are finding it very difficult to secure planning permissions. On the other hand, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: From the State's perspective, the best economic use of resources is to build up the infrastructure in the towns. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae's point is valid that where towns do not have sewage treatment facilities, that presents an additional difficulty. We considered the EPA report yesterday, for example, at the climate change Cabinet sub-committee. We are down to approximately 20 clean...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: In the first instance, we should draw a differential between a screening programme and diagnostic procedures in themselves. That is very important, and in some respects, the original cervical screening programme gave a sense that if one had come through the screening programme, one was okay, whereas we know that is not the case. All screening programmes are general population screening...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Where there is a problem and where negligence has been established, of course the laboratories are negligent in that respect. The laboratories gave an indemnity to the State in respect of that, which is why they are still, in the context of the tribunal and of the courts, joined as third parties. In the broader sense, each case can be different. I do not think we can make generalisations...