Results 19,421-19,440 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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

Micheál Martin: I think that is what is going on here and we need to cop on.

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

Micheál Martin: This is the national parliament. This is the Oireachtas. We need to stand behind public health personnel, who are doing their jobs to prevent the spread of the disease or virus. This is pandering to base politics. The Deputy is trying to win votes from different sectors. That is what is going on here. I think we have had enough of it and wider society has had enough of it.

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

Micheál Martin: I welcome the fact that enterprises are reopened but there is a limit now to what is going on in terms of trying to pick and undermine everything that people are doing to try to protect broader public health.

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

Micheál Martin: Sports Ireland is available to all of the sports organisations. They have a direct line to Sports Ireland to discuss the application of the public health measures in respect of sport. Sport is and has been a great factor in terms of morale, mental well-being and facilitating people who are engaged in sport to get through Covid-19. Obviously, there are limits, limitations and constraints...

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

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I accept the extraordinary challenges that are facing the Debenhams workers and the fact that they have been campaigning and on strike for so long in the pursuit of the realisation of their collective agreement. The Tánaiste and others have been seeking to see what we can do with the trade unions to try to assist in some alleviation of the...

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

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his question. There is no doubt the early childcare providers have challenges in the context of Covid-19, especially in the recruitment of staffing and staffing difficulties. The Government has given, and continues to give, significant financial support to providers through the wage subsidy scheme to assist in recruiting and retaining staff. I know that the...

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

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his point. Deputy MacSharry-----

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

Micheál Martin: Deputy Marc MacSharry raised this with me last evening as well at our parliamentary party meeting. It is a serious issue. There are legal issues, as the Deputies have pointed out. I am waiting on a report back from the Minister to see how best we can approach it and deal with it.

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

Micheál Martin: I support the Housing First strategy. I also note the initiatives taken by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to date, particularly with regard to the 2,500 voids which will be brought back into use as a result of an initiative under the July stimulus package. Although I do not have the exact figure with me, a significant number of these properties will go to homeless...

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

Micheál Martin: My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who has responsibility for the postal sector, has met both An Post management and the Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU, and will consider the content of the IPU's report as matter of urgency. As the Deputy knows, An Post has a strategic plan for the medium and long-term future. This covers the period from 2017 to 2021. In order to...

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

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Deputy's question. The HSE has already commenced a recruitment campaign for 700 swabbers and 500 contact tracers as part of its plans to expand and increase permanent capacity within the testing and tracing system. The call initiative which the Deputy referenced yielded some results but perhaps not what had originally been expected. Of those who came forward, not all were...

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

Micheál Martin: It is not a sham and it is not shambolic. The Deputy should not say that.

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...