We write the cheque, but when it comes to health and safety and the protection of children, there are balances. The buck stops with the company, if we are honest. I hope that this initial breakthrough, whereby up to eight children can be driven by people up to 72 years of age, will be expanded. Perhaps we will learn lessons from this and see how it works, with a view to being in a position to expand it.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
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686,628 as a minister, 2,138 as a TD
197
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Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 23 January 2025 to now
First of all, I introduced SouthDoc to west Cork, so I am a great believer in SouthDoc and that whole model. I thank Dr. Fiona O'Reilly for the work that she is doing. We are not responsible here in the Dáil for every management decision at local level or in the various co-ops. This is the first time that the Deputy has brought this to my attention. The Minister is here as well and she will follow up on the case.
We…
It gives licence to people to do things. We need to watch our language when we are talking about public servants.
That is all I would say now.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is interesting that more and more people now want to continue their careers into their 60s. That is a positive story about lifespan. We are living more healthily with a better quality of life. As the Deputy is aware, the legislation allowed it to 62 years. He is ahead. He has all the detail. As he said, 112 gardaí have availed of the opportunity to continue working since t…
For the fire services, we have had 629 new recruits since the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, agreement of 2023, but-----
-----I am generally in favour.
We have to reflect the-----
-----increased lifespan with increased working time and give that option to people.
First of all, it is 32 cent on diesel that the Government has reduced prices by, and 27 cent on petrol. If the fuel package scheme is taken along with the green diesel reduction, you are up to 20-plus-----
The Deputy described it as 10 cent. It is 32 cent. If we can have factual analysis, that would be fine. If we did not do it, petrol prices would be 32 cent higher now. Sinn Féin has voted against reductions twice now. The key is that we have to-----
-----provide measures, as we did in the budget, to try to cushion, first of all, low-income groups. We felt we had to target prices there. The child support payments and so on were significantly increased, and we will in the forthcoming budget have a very strong focus on the cost of living. We will try to do it in an embedded way, not as just a one-off, but we will examine all options.
The Deputy mentioned third lev…
The Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has done a lot in terms of access.
First of all, I thank the Deputy for her long-standing advocacy and work on this project. It is a large-scale project involving both refurbishment and extension of Boyne Community College. It is actively progressing through stage 2A, with work ongoing. As the Deputy knows, stage 2A involves a design team, developing designs, full cost planning of the campus project, and preparing documentation to facilitate the lodgi…
To be fair, the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, alerted all of us to the ferry companies operating to the islands when we were discussing the package at the weekend. It will be covered under the transport package. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will ensure the ferry companies operating to the islands are covered.
I appreciate the Deputy raising the question because it is an i…
It is a specific school project. Obviously, it has grown very fast from what the Deputy is saying. Has it gone from a three-teacher school to a ten-teacher school?
There are special classes and so on. We have a very large school expansion programme on the way. Huge funding has been allocated to it. I will alert the Minister to the fact the Deputy raised it here this morning.
First of all, I will engage with the Minister in respect of this issue. I have in the past. It was increased, I believe, two or three years ago.
I am sympathetic to an increase in the threshold because there is a cohort of people working whose income limits are not high enough to sustain a mortgage or cannot get a mortgage and who would like the opportunity to access social housing. We need to try to seek ways to accommodate people in that cohort. I will talk to the Minister about that. We have an open view on it.
We actually did do targeted measures. The fuel allowance in the first package-----
Sorry, it is not less than 10%, actually.
No. The bulk of the last measure is for the general reduction of excise on diesel and petrol, which will impact on everybody. That is far greater than the €100 million package for agriculture and €120 million for transport. By the way, transport is the lifeblood of everybody. We are not doing haulage for the sake of hauliers alone. We are doing it because we want to get goods and services across the country. We want …
We are working on the cost of disability issue in terms of the budget.
I will talk to the Minister concerned. We are looking at an additional €700 million increase in the current budget of the Department of education. It is largely around increased teacher allocation. That is over and above the budget that was passed only in October last. School transport costs will increase very substantially because the numbers are increasing all of the time but I will talk to the Minister. I will tal…
I do not believe the main street of the capital should be shut down for a week. I do not believe motorways should be blockaded for a week because it is an infringement on a basic human right - the right of free movement.
It is a very basic right. I have problems with that form of protest. I have articulated that from the very beginning. It is regrettable that others in the House cannot accept that the right to free …