Results 19,461-19,480 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Good Friday Agreement is an excellent agreement. It is about time a lot of people worked the agreement. I am prepared to work the agreement in all its aspects. The problem is that too many people for far too long were not prepared to work the agreement.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not. That is an outrageous assertion.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: No. You are wrong again.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do endorse-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am speaking through the Chair.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am answering the question. I did not interrupt any other Deputies when they spoke. I have been heckled since I began to speak and there have been efforts to interfere. With the greatest respect, I would appreciate the protection of the Chair when I have the floor. Regarding the questions around the shared island unit, it is a noble objective to work with all sides to enable people to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am all for discussion. I have engaged in discussion on all fronts with all people involved in the North. The shared island unit can do a lot of useful work in the areas we have mentioned, including health, the range of issues concerning justice, education, including a shared approach to history within the curricula, and commemoration, notwithstanding people's different perspectives. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The approach Sinn Féin has put forward will only divide people more, both in the manner it has been put forward and the very partisan approach taken by Deputies opposite. I do not share that approach. I do not need lectures about Irish unity or republicanism.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: The essence of my party has been to unite Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter. We are of the Wolfe Tone persuasion. We are constitutional republicans who believe in the European Union.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am delighted that the Deputies opposite came around to the European Union after opposing it for decades, as it opposed this State and its institutions for decades.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Broadcasting Sector (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 25 together. 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. Professor Brian MacCraith, former president of Dublin City University, was appointed as chair of the commission. The programme for Government has...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy knows, it is a Fine Gael vacancy.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I did not talk down the clock. The Deputy had as much time as I had.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I say again to the Deputy that it is not fair to say the Government does not care about drug recovery or addiction. I have been involved in that work as a former Minister with responsibility for health. I worked very strongly at that and we made much progress in our time with a multidisciplinary response and the creation of new approaches. The momentum must continue, and it will. What I...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 8, inclusive, together. The programme for Government sets out the Government’s commitment to working with all communities and traditions on the island to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. A shared island unit has been established in my Department in support of this commitment and its work is now...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: There is a difficulty with the citizens' assemblies in terms of timing, organisation and logistics because of Covid-19 and that has to be acknowledged. The existing Citizens' Assembly on gender issues has been delayed but it is meeting and engaging. I am open to working out the logistics of the range of issues that we want to put before citizens' assemblies, but we have to be realistic as...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: They should not be dismissed by the company and I will pursue it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. Under the programme for Government, the Government is committed to establishing a citizens’ assembly in 2021 to consider the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin. The work of the current Citizens’ Assembly on gender equality has been interrupted and delayed by the impact of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: As I said earlier, the European Banking Authority, which is the European-wide regulatory authority, has essentially made the six-month timeframe in terms of payments being deferred. The position is that the Government met the banks yesterday and more tailor-made responses to individuals from here on is the more appropriate response. It is not a cliff edge although as and from the end of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2020)

Micheál Martin: First, I thank the teachers and SNAs throughout the country for their commitment and for making it possible for schools at primary and post-primary level to reopen. It has been the number one objective of our society collectively that our children would be back in a learning environment, because their life chances and development depend on it. That said, in terms of the primary school...