Results 1-20 of 29 for other and baby speaker:Micheál Martin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Chair and the committee for the invitation and am delighted to take up the opportunity. Gender equality is a key priority for this Government and if we are to make meaningful advances in gender equality, it will require a broad and inclusive approach. The catalyst for inviting me today is of course the admirable work carried out by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Commissions of Investigation (12 Jul 2022)

Micheál Martin: The report is still working on the mechanism in terms of Cabinet confidentiality and more general Cabinet documents and also the degree to which, in the modern era, many documents or many proposals are aired well in advance. There is, therefore, a fairly complex piece of work required to come up to pace with where we are today in terms of what happens with the briefing of a whole variety of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Jun 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Richmond raised the issue of the level of my commitment to Northern Ireland. I appreciate his kind comments. In respect of the UK Prime Minister, both of us agree on the necessity to convene the assembly and the Executive and get them formed. That said, the intention of the UK Government to introduce unilateral legislation to circumvent the protocol is undermining political...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 to 20, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy, including sport, equality, arts and culture, as well as children and youth affairs and public services, including matters relating to justice, policing reform and community...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should go back to the person in question and tell them to go back to the council because the funding is there. I do not know the specifics about the house but that is not on. Very significant capital funding has been given to local authorities to repair housing and vacant properties. Due to a very strong initiative taken by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (16 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: ...questions in respect of the meetings I had with Northern party leaders. Deputy Richmond raised a number of points relating to the prospectus of the unionist parties in regard to the protocol and so on. I think it is fair to say that all parties, although I do not want to go through each individual conversation, favour continued access to the European Single Market as beneficial to jobs,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: ...na Dála chomh maith agus foilsíodh é go luath sa bhliain. In the context of the restorative recognition scheme, I can say to the Deputy that the interdepartmental group set up to develop detailed proposals for the scheme, taking into account the recommendations of the commission and going beyond that, has made recommendations. It was informed by consultation with...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (15 Sep 2021)

Micheál Martin: The general point the Deputies have made is valid, in regard to the protection of documentation and information. The storage and dissemination of such information has to be protected. I have asked for new mechanisms to be brought into play to ensure the protection of material that comes before the Government. The entire response of the Government to the Commission of Investigation into...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Micheál Martin: First of all, my understanding is that this has not come to a conclusion and I have not seen the outcome of that investigation yet. I understand and accept that the article caused a great deal of hurt at the time. That work is still under way and my understanding is that it has not been concluded. Meanwhile, the Government is working to try to deal with the issues that emerged from the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Mar 2021)

Micheál Martin: ...to air this evening will focus on the St. Patrick's Guild illegal birth registrations. The illegality of what took place is shocking, particularly for those affected. I refer to the trauma, anguish and hurt that people are now experiencing as a result of this unacceptable practice. What happened was wrong, plain and simple, and completely unacceptable. Enormous trauma has been placed...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Priorities (20 Jan 2021)

Micheál Martin: Following its formation, the Government established ten Cabinet committees reflecting the full range of policy areas it will work on during its lifetime, and which are set out in the programme for Government. Cabinet committees meet regularly to help formulate and implement Government policy particularly where cross-government collaboration is critical. Alongside the State's response to...

Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Statements (13 Jan 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is the duty of a republic to be willing to hold itself to account, to be willing to confront hard truths and to accept parts of our history which are deeply uncomfortable. This detailed and highly painful report is a moment for us as a society to recognise a profound failure of empathy, understanding and basic humanity over a lengthy period. Its production has been possible because of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: First of all, I do not insult people. I do not go about trying to insult people. The Deputy referred to the cases raised by him, Deputy Paul Murphy and others yesterday. I told him he should send details of those cases to the HSE in the form of complaints that require investigation. It was stated here yesterday that a student nurse had to console a mother at the bedside of her dead baby....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I know the Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, has met with the survivors in this case. I met with the survivors as well and the campaign group around Bessborough prior to this planning application going in, and my office has been in contact with them subsequent to the planning application going in. Obviously, it is a matter for An Bord Pleanála to decide on the application. 3...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Data Protection (17 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: In regard to Deputy Boyd Barrett's point, they were met at the time. I was Minister for Education and Science during that period and became Minister for Health and Children in 2000. I established the inquiries in question and was the first Minister to open up the dark chapter in our history relating to industrial schools. We put historians into the Department of Education and Science and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (4 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: ...Many people did not expect that would happen. I was the first to do it despite many survivors having gone to successive Governments before that without any satisfaction. Likewise, we introduced and started inquiries into the church in relation to sexual abuse. I initiated the inquiry into Ferns, for example. The then Minister, Senator McDowell, initiated an inquiry about Dublin and the...

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

Micheál Martin: ..., some time ago in the context of the significant impact on women, particularly those on maternity leave, that Covid-19 has had, especially with regard to access to the normal supports such as childcare, baby groups and so on that was denied to mothers during this critical period. Admhaím go bhfuil agus go raibh brú ar na mná sin filleadh i gcomhthéacs an...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Family Support Services (20 Nov 2019)

Micheál Martin: I welcome the children and teachers of Our Lady of Lourdes national school in Ballinlough who are in the Visitors Gallery. It is pure coincidence that I happen to be in Chamber at this time. It is appropriate that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is also here to welcome them. This important issue involves the Bessborough Centre, previously the Bessborough Mother and Baby...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Micheál Martin: The housing crisis continues to deepen and to impact on many people across the country. The annual report from Threshold published today makes for depressing reading and illustrates how existing Government policies and initiatives have failed, particularly in relation to security of tenure, substandard accommodation and ongoing homelessness. Threshold has seen a dramatic rise in the number...

Pathway to Redress for Victims of Convicted Child Sexual Abusers: Motion [Private Members] (4 Jul 2018)

Micheál Martin: ...the motion we have tabled on behalf of the survivors of child sexual abuse in primary schools. I have raised this issue in recent years with the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny; the Taoiseach and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton. I have met the Minister on several occasions to discuss this specific issue. I acknowledge that previous Governments, of which...