Micheál Martin

We should acknowledge that we have made a lot of progress on this. In the previous Government, we went from 55 to 62 across all the uniform grades. That was significant. We will keep all of this under review. I cannot make any specific commitment to go to 65 today or anything like that.

There are issues we have to take on board in terms of the nature of these professions and the work that is involved. We have come a long way from 55 to 62. That simply has to be acknowledged. It is and will have an impact on the Defence Forces and the Garda. While I did not catch his name, I appreciate the public service the gentleman-----

I appreciate the public service John has given to the country. That is accepted. These are issues that we will continue to keep under review.

I thank Deputy O’Meara for raising this issue. Clearly, he has assembled a formidable Tipperary team for that public information meeting that will involve both Tipperary and north Kilkenny. I anticipate it will be this year. Hopefully, we will be in a position to open for applications in the next month or two. It is a vital scheme that reaches into communities. Across the length and breadth of the…

When I was Lord Mayor of Cork, one of the great privileges I had was to give a half day and give the homework off. Unfortunately, the Department of education came down on that practice after I left my job as Lord Mayor of Cork. As the Minister for education, I repeated the act. To be more serious, education and learning have evolved a lot. We know that children learn more through play in many ins…

The students asked that question to me as Taoiseach rather than as a teacher, however.

We have evolved a lot.

The homework is off.

Is that for me too?

I must say that is a very dishonest portrayal and presentation of the situation. In her heart of hearts, Deputy McDonald must know that. It is very dishonest and a distortion of what has actually happened. Surely she realises that the HSE has been engaged with the trade unions on this issue for quite some time. By the way, for well over two decades now, the State has invested very significantly in…

Negotiations happened-----

Negotiations happened and there was an agreed outcome. The two unions recommended the agreement to their members. The members were entitled to vote against it. I accept that point but the Deputy's portrayal of this is clearly dishonest when set against the facts. This is not something we should play politics with. People need the services of first responders. The HSE, the Government and I are all …

The Deputy again ignored the core reality that the HSE negotiated this with the unions. The unions recommended what was negotiated to the membership.

The Deputy has ignored that reality.

That is not festering. That is not delaying. That is not letting things drift. There was substantive agreement which would modernise it even further and draw in a lot more resources and investment, and there is an increase of between 3% and 14% on top of the 9.5% increase. That is substantial by any yardstick in terms of public service pay and increases. However, the Deputy ignores all of that. As…

The Deputy should agree with me in saying that they should get back into talks. It is the only way to do this. There have to be discussions and dialogue.

It is the only way we can resolve any disputes-----

-----in the public service or in the private sector for that matter. We have good industrial relations machinery, and it should be used properly.

I believe it can be-----

Regarding the National Ambulance Service and the dispute, I already outlined how the Government entered into good faith negotiations and agreed a very comprehensive outcome. The unions recommended that outcome to their members. It was defeated by the members. No one can charge the Government with acting in bad faith in respect of this. We acted in good faith and will continue to act in good faith,…

I lived through it. There is no comparison. It was depression after depression-----

-----because of decisions that were made at the time. There is no comparison to the current day. We need to have a sense of perspective in how we debate things. Yet, young people do leave the country for different reasons. The housing issue is similar all over the world. It is far more difficult to buy a house in Canada or Australia, for example, than in Ireland.

It is. I have talked to young people who have been to Australia and Canada. In 2025, about 31,000 Irish came back into the country and 35,000 went out. Our population has grown exponentially over the last two to three decades. The Deputy must know that. Employment went up by 8.5% between 2020 and 2025. It went up 52% between 1995 and 2025. Therein lies the challenge to public expenditure and servi…

Ní aontaím leis an Teachta. Tá an Rialtas ag déanamh gach aon dícheall cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine agus do theaghlaigh atá faoi bhrú. Níl aon amhras faoi sin. Bhí pacáiste mór againn le déanaí de luach €750 milliún. Sin a bhí i gceist againn chun an brú sin a ísliú. We have not exacerbated the global situation. This is a ridiculous assertion. How is allocating €750 million to th…

-----to PAYE workers, yes, in terms of the reduction in diesel and petrol, which is universal across the board, exacerbating a global crisis? There are challenges and pressures on families and certainly the global situation is overwhelmingly responsible for that. Everybody knows that. There is a war in the Middle East that is resulting in a 20% contraction-----