Results 21-40 of 46,387 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I accept the Deputy's overall point. It is not good enough. This is a very serious discipline.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am wondering if this is the same engineer who spoke to Deputies Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth as well. I take the point. The constituency of Cavan-Monaghan has been very strong in advocating for increased supports in terms of road maintenance. The point has been well made that inflation has eaten into the cost of repairs. We have raised this issue. We are hoping to be able to secure...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy. It is yet another example of the detailed issues he brings. I will follow it up and will talk to the Minister about the status of that recommendation. I will revert to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I do not have the specifics of the case the Deputy raised in respect of the water supply issues within Clonmel. I understand Irish Water holds clinics for Deputies and to engage with local public representatives. I will investigate the matter, talk to the Minister and get an update.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I will talk to the Minister for children about this very serious issue. I would be somewhat surprised if the recommendations were not being followed through. I will get a report back from the Department of children in respect of this and forward it to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy. I fundamentally agree. We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer. I have always given great credit to the former Minister, Noel Dempsey, who took on a lot of opposition in the House when he brought in some fundamental measures...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Department is working on this. As the Deputy said, the key recommendation of Judge Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's independent review report on the handling of past complaints of abuse in St. John Ambulance was the appointment of a national safeguarding officer by the St. John Ambulance Ireland organisation. The national safeguarding lead is to work with the organisation for an agreed, specified...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am not aware of the situation pertaining to the appointment of any county manager and I do not think it is appropriate that we cast aspersions on it. That was quite some time ago, I would say. I did not pick up on the vanity project that Deputy McGrath mentioned earlier. Was it the transformation of a car park into a venue?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I do not know what the broader view in Clonmel is on that so I will not comment specifically on it. On the borough council - and I do not want to be mischievous as the Ceann Comhairle is looking at me very sharply - I think it was a Labour Party policy at the time-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: It came forward with the idea. It has changed many years later.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: It was Deputy Howlin at the time when he was the Minister-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----possessed with the idea of urban councils.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: It is very hard to bring something back that has been abolished but we should not rule it out. As Deputy McGrath knows, there was a compromise eventually in the form of the municipal groups that have been established. They have begun to assert themselves in respect of a district but it is not the same thing in terms of a town. I also believe in democracy and I believe that people should...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: As Deputy Doherty knows, budget 2024 introduced a series of cost-of-living measures, including income tax, energy credits, increases in social protection payments as well as an increase in the bank levy to €200 million. It also provided for a mortgage interest relief measure to help some borrowers with the increase in interest rates. That took place. It did not cover every situation...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: Markets expect the ECB to cut policy interest rates several times this year, with the first cuts-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: Generally, our cost-of-living measures-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin. I know of his long-term commitment to this area. I have looked at the north-east area where there is a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language across ten primary schools.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am a passionate believer in multidisciplinary teams in education. Things have happened over the past decade which, in my view, have gone against that with regard to progressing disability services. I will speak to the Minister in respect of this, particularly with regard to children who have been subject to significant background trauma. They need a variety of engagements and supports....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am very much aware of it. I heard the Ceann Comhairle this morning on "Morning Ireland" very articulately and trenchantly putting the case and saying society as a whole must address this issue in the interests of democracy. Some of the cases we have heard about and read about recently are shocking. The very negative misogynistic focus in particular is a worry and for women who wish to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I just want to say it because I am passionate about democracy and I do not want people to say we cannot knock on doors. We can. We do need to address it, and collectively the House should look at supports we can provide to public representatives in terms of protection, particularly at their homes.