Results 19,281-19,300 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am sorry, the virus is not an exact science.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: It has not been since the beginning. The point I would make is that the winter initiative is a large and significant initiative and we have to get that delivered and implemented in terms of acute capacity and additional private bed capacity. I agree with the Deputy that the precise procurement and approach to that is an issue. I refer to intermediate care beds, additional access to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: One of the big problems for the hospitals, as the Deputy and I know, has been that too many people who are finished their acute phase of hospital treatment have had to stay in hospital for far too long, with backlogs the whole way down the line. I will ask the agency to give the Deputy any specific information he requires in terms of specifics around particular diseases and conditions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I received the Deputy's letter on 5 October, which I thought was a constructive letter, and I noted the points she made in it, particularly in terms of having a multidisciplinary approach to the pandemic, her sense that we cannot just respond to every upsurge with a severe lockdown, that other aspects had to be taken on board and the need to achieve maximum buy-in. There is a strategy. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am trying to organise a meeting with the party leaders. It looks like it might be Monday at this stage and I will work with leaders in that regard. It is to have a fuller briefing in respect of all aspects of it. On the travel issue, we are now working on and looking at the European framework that has been published-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----and we are engaging with the European authorities. The health authorities have been consistently negative about checks and testing at airports. The public health authorities have a different view-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----to what the lay view might be in respect of that. I just had to put that on the record. We are dealing with that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The public health authorities have been very reluctant to embrace antigen testing or rapid testing. They have had a view, and the engagement is continuing, that testing at airports would not be the wisest use of resources in terms of isolating and contact tracing. They have fears about it and believe it could lead to multiple false trails involving huge numbers.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am determined to do what is required to provide for disability services for all ages. There are very substantial challenges. The new Government has been in office for three months. When I was a Minister in previous Governments, I made it my business to go above and beyond and to do something specific and extra for disability services, particularly in the areas of education and health. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: No, I am not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Let there be no doubt that Covid-19 had a significant impact on non-Covid illness and disease. In my view, it resulted in delayed diagnoses across cancer and coronary care and in other areas. That happened because at the time of the lockdown many elective procedures and diagnostics were cancelled and significant backlogs built up. I accept and agree with the Deputy that some people are now...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We will get the figures, but it will take a reasonable period of time to so do. No one is denying the reality of the impact of Covid on non-Covid care. That is why the winter initiative and what we are trying to do right now aim to manage Covid and resume services, including screening services. As the Deputy is aware, three of the four screening services have resumed screening using a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: People would not go into hospital because there was a fear of so doing at the time. People were genuinely afraid of the virus. What we wish to do now is to procure private hospitals for elective procedures, diagnostics and general services. I take the Deputy's point. Whatever happens now in terms of the pandemic, part of the challenge is to maintain these services.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: First, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I accept that many families and many people with special needs and disabilities have had an extremely stressful and tough time during this pandemic with the withdrawal of services and the curtailment of services because specific Covid-19 health requirements have made the circumstances and conditions very stressful. I acknowledge that it is...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Social Partnership Meetings (7 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) has facilitated dialogue between Government, employers and trade unions during the COVID-19 crisis. Engagement with members of LEEF has taken place in a number of formats in recent months. I have held separate introductory meetings with LEEF members, ICTU and IBEC. The LEEF Consultative Forum on the Return to Work Protocol has met on a number of...

Ceisteanna – Questions: Cabinet Committees (6 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I know that. We have a set of criteria in the plan that we discussed with NPHET. They are broad criteria; I accept that. The bottom line is that everyone had an expectation of a graduated response.

Ceisteanna – Questions: Cabinet Committees (6 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Once there is a lockdown, there are unintended consequences. There is no point pretending it would not have a serious effect on many ordinary self-employed people who have grasped the period from the last lockdown to now to try and create viability in their business. They might employ four or five people. A lockdown on Sunday night could have spelled the end for them. These are the hard...

Ceisteanna – Questions: Cabinet Committees (6 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Our reality is to protect people as much as we can, including lives and livelihoods. They are intertwined because a range of health consequences can emanate from people losing jobs or being unsure about their future. Their mental health can be undermined. We have to take that on board.

Ceisteanna – Questions: Cabinet Committees (6 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We may not. We still have it within our responsibility as people. We can impact on this, collectively and individually, if we pull together to try to get the numbers stabilised. If we do not, we may have to move to another level.

Ceisteanna – Questions: Cabinet Committees (6 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We may have to do that. As I said last week, the decision was at this stage not to move to level 5. I have no guarantees, just as there were no guarantees that had we moved to level 5, it would all be fine in four weeks' time. On the New Zealand strategy, we are not New Zealand, either geographically or in terms of economic construct. We are different from New Zealand. No other...