Results 161-180 of 45,809 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Government did not lack any ambition during the Covid period.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: There are international assessments of that. On the specific issue of an evaluation of how this country did during Covid-19, that is nearing completion. There has been a change, as the Deputy referenced, with Deputy Varadkar retiring as Taoiseach and Deputy Harris coming in as the new Taoiseach. The three party leaders will bring this to a conclusion very quickly.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: The most effective way to do anything about this is to try to implement, as quickly as we can, the policy position adopted recently by the Government in respect of direct construction of State-owned centres in parallel with the private sector, which is providing the majority of accommodation to date. The problem, as we just discussed with respect to the EU asylum pact, is that there are...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very serious issue for us as a country. After decades of the numbers of road fatalities and injuries going down, there has been a significant increase in recent years, with 188 road fatalities in 2023. As of 11 April 2024, 61 people have lost their lives in 56 collisions on our roads. That is an increase of 13 on this time last year. Clearly, we...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I know the Deputy is an avid follower of Fine Gael Ard-Fheiseanna down through the years-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----and that is commendable in terms of his broader interest in politics. I am not responsible for anything said at the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: What the Taoiseach indicated in the House the other day was that he would establish a task force in respect of Dublin. I think Deputy Gannon has called for one, has he?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I think he will probably welcome it so.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: The details of that and the consultations will follow, and I am sure the Taoiseach will be in a position to apprise the Deputy of the detailed-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I would not accept those descriptions of the EU asylum pact. We do need a stronger system across the European Union in terms of those seeking asylum in respect of the efficiency of the system in terms of those who may not be entitled to asylum such that the cases are dealt with more quickly and, if people are not entitled to asylum, they are returned to where they came from and that there...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: The role will be very similar, the same as for the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, now and the Minister of State, Jack Chambers. For years, I think people wanted a senior Minister in the Department of Defence. I am the senior Minister in the Department of Defence as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs because for years people felt that having just a Minister of State dealing with...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I share the concern of the farming community at the incessant rain we have experienced now since last July. Bar maybe a few weeks in August, it has been raining. Our food production system is being undermined as a result of that weather - there is no doubt about that - which, on another day, we should also reflect on in terms of broader debates about the changing weather patterns. As...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: There is a context to all this. I will always recall, when I was leaving Kyiv, that there is an exhibition in the train station which recalls the horror facing the population of Ukraine at the time. There were desperate photographs of mothers with their children looking out the windows at their husbands, in-laws, grandparents - frightened children. That was the scene.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: Roscommon County Council made a judgment. It was a matter for it, on legal advice, to make a judgment on whether to pursue the pipe, essentially. It took a decision to withdraw. There might need to be some reflection on that. I know Roscommon County Council is now working with the OPW to identity a viable engineering solution to the flood risk. I am told the timeline is this quarter in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I understand that can be done but the issue will be whether that will be a temporary emergency which is reversible or something else. The people need something more sustainable and long term to resolve this issue. The water levels are extremely high because of the weather over the past six months, which means the issue has been exacerbated. The OPW has been engaging with the National Parks...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: It was based on the commentary of the court and so on that the council took its decision. We can get advice from officials here, there and everywhere, but when people are in the heat of the kitchen or courtroom and sense it might not be going in their direction, they take actions. We have to be cognisant of what we can legally do. I would argue anywhere that the protection of people's...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: Whatever we can do to prevent flooding and protect that village, we will do. I do not know whether the Deputy has produced legislation or whether the legal advice he is getting-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: It is an important point. Sometimes Deputies present us with Bills and say "Here is the answer". It has to be about the people the Deputy represents. We cannot just say there is a panacea of emergency legislation. That can be judicially reviewed and we could end up with one. There is an engineering solution on the table, I understand. I would have thought we should get that engineering...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: That will be faster. We still have to provide the engineering solution, no matter what laws we pass in here. We will engage with Deputy Fitzmaurice and the other Deputies on this issue and with the Senators who have raised this with us. I am up for whatever is the most effective, efficient and timely way of dealing with this for the people whose livelihoods are involved.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2024)

Micheál Martin: I will.