Results 18,081-18,100 of 50,297 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Minister is doing everything possible to deal with the concessionary ticket situation and also late payments by those eligible for school transport. The overriding consideration has been the implementation of the NPHET recommendation to reduce numbers by 50%. That was given some time ago but it has involved additional expenditure of between €100 million and €120 million....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. We are moving to level 5 at midnight for six weeks. Many sectors are already identifying themselves as being capable of operating safely. This will be a difficult and tough six weeks. There was an oversight meeting of Departments this morning to make it clear to many Departments that we want level 5 work. The capacity to create exemptions in...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am making a general point. To be fair, I appreciate that Deputy McNamara has his own views on level 5. We come from different perspectives.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am simply making the point that we have been given advice. I accept the advice fully in terms of moving to level 5 for six weeks.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: It will be tough and difficult but the key objective is to get our numbers and incidence rate down so we can reopen. Many sectors, retail and others, are saying that they could operate safely.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Which hospital in Cork?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: He went to get tested in CUH.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: There are a wide range of questions. First, regarding the original question asked by Deputy Ó Murchú about antigen testing, HIQA produced a major study on this. It has been clinically validated now. I asked again for a report from it through the oversight committee which asked this morning if it could have the report next week in terms of how that is progressing. I am being...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----to get the tribunal established and do things in a non-adversarial way. I will talk to the Minister. If there are issues, they can be dealt with and resolved.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: To put a context on what I said yesterday and what I have been saying for the past while about the Bill, it is caused by, and necessary to deal with, the very pressing deadline for the winding up of the commission itself, which could allow for the destruction or non-availability of the documents in question.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Gannon asked a question. I would like an opportunity to reply without the ongoing heckling from the Deputy opposite, which is not constructive. There could be further legislation. There has been an ongoing issue, apart from this issue, with access to records, which was debated in the previous Dáil with the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and which was not quite...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: In my view, the action taken this morning is not necessary and should not happen right now, but calling in KPMG on its own will not solve this. In the first phase, when efforts were made to resolve this by some parties, €1 million emerged on the table out of the process. How do the Deputies think that €1 million would be realised?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We can keep looking for declarations of this and declarations of that. That will not resolve the problem. The Government has to make sure that whatever happens does not create new precedents elsewhere or allow certain employments and certain rogue employers, for want of a better term, in the future to just land everything on the State. That cannot happen either. I am not saying that is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: My view is-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I discussed this earlier. Essentially, the plan is to build up a permanent workforce of contact tracers, close to 800, whose sole function will be contact tracing. In the intervening period, as of this week, the HSE said it has restructured its call system to make sure that its contact tracers can deal with 1,500 positive cases a day. On the swabbing side, 1,000 swabbers will be the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Resourcing has been made available through the HSE to the service providers to make sure they can continue restoring services for adults with disabilities. Notwithstanding going to level 5, it is our view that these services should be maintained to enable these adults to avail of the services. I agree with the Deputy on Scoil Chormaic. I have fond memories of visiting the school, both as...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Notwithstanding other issues, I have been engaged with, and in regular contact with, workers. On Debenhams, I am concerned about the situation and would like to have it resolved without any further pressures on the workers, given that they have been picketing for quite a long time in trying conditions and in adverse weather. There have been constraints on the degree to which the Government...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is not the way to proceed either. I have no difficulty asking the Minister to meet the Deputy because he has met the 221+ group. His understanding was that he could proceed with the tribunal because a lot of people were complaining about the delay in getting it up and running. That has been a complaint for a number of months. That was the original, understandable and justifiable...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not have the specific unit cost of each of the deals. It is not as high as one might have thought or as might conventionally be the case. One has to be cúramach about what one says publicly about it, but there is a genuine effort being made here. That said, the difference here has been the advanced purchase process. In the US, the government there has been doing it. There has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The testing has been dramatically scaled up recently. Contact tracing is coming under tremendous pressure because of the high level of community transmission of the virus and the number of positive cases that have emerged. The HSE is saying it has reconfigured the call structure to enable it to deal with 1,500 positive cases per day this week. That is what the HSE is saying as of now....