Results 18,581-18,600 of 50,453 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not know about the individual case the Deputy has spoken about. I can check it out for him. If he sends me the details we and the HSE can track down what went wrong or find the explanation.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: If the Deputy watched the RTÉ bulletins last evening, he would have seen that the amount of testing going on is far-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: RTÉ cannot be turned off.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should not advocate for that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The volume of testing being carried out is far in excess of the volume carried out in the earlier period of the pandemic. The capacity has expanded and grown to try to meet the increasing demand. The testing system is meeting demand, unlike other systems in Europe. Covid is very challenging.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: We need to avoid the kind of language the Deputy has used in condemning the people involved.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: Admhaím go bhfuil an-chuid gheallúintí tugtha maidir leis an mBille seo. Is é an tuiscint atá agam ná go mbeidh leasuithe don Bhille ag teacht os comhair an Rialtais an tseachtain seo chugainn. Mar is eol don Teachta, ba mhaith leis an Rialtas an Bille a threisiú. Le cúnamh Dé, beimid in ann an Bille a fhoilsiú agus a thabhairt os comhair...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy in terms of the appalling impact illegal dumping has on our community, our landscape and the environment, and it needs to be dealt with in an uncompromising way. However, the laws are strong enough in that area, for example, under current waste legislation vehicles involved in the carrying out of suspected unlawful waste activity can be seized and, if it is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: First, as I said yesterday, this act was wrong, in my view. I am very clearly of the view that such iconic historic buildings and locations should be preserved or, at a minimum, incorporated in whatever developments are taking place. I instanced the Moore Street development and the discussions that took quite considerable time and involved Deputies from all sides of this House, including...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: Yes, the Department of Education and Skills has, I understand, found two errors in the leaving certificate 2020 calculated grades. My understanding is that the Minister for Education and Skills will be making a comprehensive statement today on what has occurred, the measures taken to rectify that, the re-checking of that process and bringing in independent external evaluation. Above all, we...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: Our priority has to be the students themselves in terms of how they receive this information. Students may receive grade upgrades for some of their grades as a result of these errors, and they have to be communicated with first.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The commission has a very wide agenda already and it would not have been correct to include defamation as well. Defamation in itself can be complex and needs a separate process involving the Department of Justice and Equality, the Minister with responsibility for media, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Government as a whole. Defamation needs to be reviewed and we will follow through on the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: Yes but I just wanted to say that the commission deals with that. It also deals with the financial underpinning of media into the future and the changing media landscape. Public service broadcasting is still a very important part of that, as is local radio. We have seen the best of the media during the pandemic itself, which should reinforce our commitment to do something about the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have the photographs here that the Deputy sent to my office during the week. They are quite shocking in terms of the appalling levels of dumping in which people are engaging. Illegal dumping is an attack on our society, our communities and our pristine landscape and there should be zero tolerance for that type of behaviour. The fines are quite...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Kelly for his question and the issues he has raised. There is no doubt that the impact of Covid-19 on the economy has been very severe in 2020, and especially on the domestic side of the economy. Regarding the multinational sector, it is worth saying this, and the Deputy will acknowledge it and get it, but a lot of people in the House do not get it, that Sinn Féin and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: That will be considered. The scheme referred to by Deputy Kelly is being looked at. There is also the broader issue of how we sustain our hospitality sector over the medium term, acknowledging and accepting that Covid-19 will have a significant impact on our economy for the full 12 months of 2021. If we accept that it has a specific impact on the food, accommodation, beverage and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issues. A strong, vibrant and independent media on all platforms is central to our parliamentary democracy and to freedom of speech. The Future of Media Commission is platform agnostic in that sense. It is not taking a preferential view of one platform over another. It is being asked to look at public service broadcasting into the future and how that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has a lot of talk and her party colleagues talk a lot, but what is absent, in my view, is any coherent plan in terms of employment, affordability or housing. They talk a lot about those things but, in my view, much of it is without substance. If one reads the ESRI report comprehensively, it uses the phrase "extraordinary fiscal interventions" in reference to the Government's...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: First, I think it is a good report by the ESRI. I want to say that, contrary to the pandemic increasing affordability issues in the sector, the ESRI is actually saying that, in the short term, affordability may have actually improved over recent months because of, to use its own phrase, "extraordinary fiscal measures [introduced by the Government] in the form of the Pandemic Unemployment...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Broadcasting Sector (30 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: In December 2019 the Government agreed the terms of reference for the Commission on the Future of Irish Public Service Broadcasting to be established by the Department of the Taoiseach. The former President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian Mac Craith was appointed as Chair of the Commission. The Programme for Government has expanded the remit of the Public Service Broadcasting...