Results 1,961-1,980 of 50,909 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: People would be shocked by the idea that their TDs do not have the right to speak or ask questions-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----whether they are in a political party or not. We are not going to be railroaded, browbeaten or intimidated by the Opposition in terms of its tactics. I will be very happy to facilitate a debate on the issue of flooding in Cork. The Deputy asked last week for a debate on the Housing Commission and there will be statements on it on Thursday. If we can do it this week, we will.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: No, it is not.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I have listened to quite a lot. I have observed with some interest the growing alliance between the Labour Party and the Sinn Féin Party in this House.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Opposition keeps using the phrase that the Government is trying to ram this through. It seems to me that the Opposition has been trying to ram through a new order in the House and a new precedent.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: This is an important matter.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: It seems that in the new order Deputies McDonald and Bacik will dictate who forms the groups in this House.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: We have freedom of association.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is a fundamental, basic principle that people are allowed to associate with whom they like. That is the first point. That is being denied here for the first time. I have never seen this before, since I became a Member of Dáil Éireann. There has been a bit of a herd-like attitude to this debate among the Opposition and some commentators. People have not looked at the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----that the Deputy should just neatly try to bundle cyberattacks and the cost of them into the broader-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----legitimate issue of value for money in public expenditure, which has to be at the core of everything we do.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I reject that entirely. By the way, I do not accept his analysis of the private sector and accountability. That is a well-worn trope in this House, but, as far as I can see, anyone who looks at the private sector-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----will see that anyone who is ever in difficulty somehow gets sidelined with a huge sweetheart deal in the private sector. That seems to be the norm. The Deputy should not, therefore, try to make a false comparison between private sector accountability and public sector accountability. I have never bought into it or accepted it. What I will accept, though, is that there absolutely has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is legitimate and proper. That is why we have the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts. That is also why we do have the checks and balances. I looked at a list of the codes of practices and various circulars that have issued to every Department and agency. They are all there. We do need better delivery and implementation by people on the ground...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: Either do that or abolish every single agency in the country and we certainly are not going to do that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is what the Deputy is trying to say in here if we take that approach to its logical conclusion.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: That is what the Deputy is saying.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: By the way, through the Chair, I think the Oireachtas needs to reflect on itself as well.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: Behaviour in this House has cost the taxpayer a lot of money as well.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Feb 2025)

Micheál Martin: I saw that programme last week in respect of what happened to Angela Kerins on foot of this House, which cost the taxpayer a lot of money.