Micheál Martin
Cork South-Central · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“At the beginning of April, the Government approved the establishment of the Cork city futures group to guide development of Cork city for the future.”
“We have to have a budget that reflects the need to sustain that level of work in our economy so that people will have access to jobs. The AI issue is causing a lot of concern. I take heart from the investment announced by Intel this week, which will be AI-propelled, actually.”
“Dublin City Council is progressing the establishment of this new legal entity, in line with the timelines laid out in the roadmap; a ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre to optimise funding and investment and tackle vacancy and dereliction; and accelerated delivery of landmark capital projects in the city centre throug…”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 30, inclusive, together. This will be a long answer because there is one task group and one futures group.”
“I think Deputy Hayes was being a bit petty, if that is the word I am looking for, in what he said about Spain. Well, using the word "petty" might be a bit uncharitable today. It is more a Spain is more vociferous than us kind of thing. We have worked very well together on the Middle East. It is a very serious issue.”
“A dedicated body, to be known as The Cork City Futures Group, will work to unlock the city’s full economic, cultural and academic potential, alongside further investment, innovation and infrastructure. I think people are familiar with the terms of reference.”
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“Neither did the unions, for that matter, and correctly so. Fantastic work is being done on the front line. We affirm it. We want to get this resolved. There is only way to resolve it, and that is through mediation and dialogue. I am confident that it can be resolved, the issues can be netted out and we can get to a conclusion. There have been tremendous strides made, despite what the Deputy has said, in this area in my lifetime, and certainly over the past two decades, because of decisions to change policy and professionalise emergency medical technicians and the entire service. That has been very effective because it complements and supports the acute hospital service. In other words, the first responder is the key person to anyone whose life is in danger or who has been in an accident.”
“The bottom line is this: genuine negotiations went on between the HSE and the unions. The unions agreed to put the proposals and recommended the proposals, which all of the Opposition Members ignore. They seem to be saying that no matter what is sought, just agree it please. There are always negotiations in situations like this. We want to modernise. We accept it even further. We want to invest more. There is more funding on the table for investment. There has been very significant investment. Now, there are pressures on workers in that sector. Of that there is no doubt. Reforms are important in public expenditure as well. We can always do things better and more efficiently and effectively, but the Deputy seems to be saying for us to forget all about reform. I do not think that is a sustainable position.”
“Again, it was successive Governments that invested and took the policy decisions to change the whole nature of the first responder sector. The Deputy just made a comment that no previous Government ever did anything about this. It is such an outrageous comment to make and there is no reality attached to it at all. However, the Deputy thinks that she come in and just say it and that is grand. How does the Deputy think it happened? How does she think the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council was established? How was the first responder system and the professionalisation of the whole area developed? Yes, all involved were fantastic in going with it and having the ambition to do it but let us not make throwaway statements that no one cared a damn about it until now when the Deputy got up to speak. That is ridiculous.”
“-----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-----”
“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 the haulage industry, to farmers, to contractors, and-----”
“We then add onto that four to five major global seismic shocks, from Brexit to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, tariffs from America and the war in the Middle East. Yet, the Irish economy is staying resilient. Employment is staying very resilient in terms of the number of people who are employed in our economy - over 2.8 million, which is a record in the history of the State. I accept that there are challenges and many issues, the most important one being housing in terms of enabling young people to buy houses that they can afford and rent, and that we can provide social housing for those who cannot do that.”
“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 services. I would acknowledge that. The overall size of the economy is growing significantly. Our GDP, GNI*, whichever way you want to measure it, has grown substantially over the last decade. The population has grown with it and, therefore, the challenge to meet public services is also growing with that in terms of education, health, policing, and so on. That brings its own challenges.”
“-----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.”
“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, and the HSE is as well. There is a way to resolve it, which has to be through the industrial relations machinery of the State. I would urge all involved to engage in dialogue to resolve this. Deputy Bacik referred to the 1980s. For God's sake, there was 17.5% unemployment in the 1980s. It was shocking. Do not compare the 1980s to now. It does not-----”
“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 far as she is concerned-----”
“This is all part of what was negotiated with the unions, as was wider geographic and 24-7 coverage. Modern clinical roles were also to be recognised and grading and pay structures were to be updated to reflect the evolution of paramedic and specialist paramedic roles into autonomous, degree-qualified and professionally regulated positions. That was all negotiated by Government in good faith.”
“Staffing is up 28%, bringing total numbers to 2,655. About €126 million has been invested in the ambulance fleet. A further investment of €20 million is planned for 2026, with additional recruitment expected to bring the total workforce up by a further 263. There are also plans to deliver 21 extra crewed ambulances operating at peak demand, four additional intermediate care vehicles and the continued development of clinical hubs and alternative care pathways. With regard to reforms, strengthening workforce availability and supporting new models of care, including the expanded use of special paramedics in community and urgent care settings, formed part of what was negotiated. Workforce availability measures related to night-time and weekend services and so on. Critical care retrieval and air ambulance services were also to be expanded.”
“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 saying that the only way to resolve this is through dialogue and exhausting the well-established industrial relations machinery of the State, whether the WRC or the Labour Court. It is very clear that the HSE remains available to meet and engage with the unions. There will have to be discussions on this. The investment has been significant. Overall funding has increased 41%, to €285 million, between 2022 and 2025. A 41% increase is significant.”
“With regard to this current dispute, the State has always accepted that pay structures need to be modernised. Previous engagements at the WRC actually concluded in very significant outcomes. In particular, the State offered pay increases of between 3% and 14%, depending on the grade and so on, linked to reform. That was on top of the 9.25% increase under the current public service pay agreement. Union leadership recommended this proposal to their members. How then can the Deputy say that we refused to resolve the issue, forced them to fight and let this fester for six years?”
“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 the modernisation and transformation of our National Ambulance Service, pre-emergency hospital care and the first responder area. That has been a continuing reality for well over two decades. To be fair to all involved, including those working on the front line, they have participated in that transformation. They sought it. In the early part of the 2000s, I was involved in establishing the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council.”
“I do not accept that five years on the Deputy can casually, at such remove, make such statements as he just made. If we did not get vaccination, and I presume the Deputy supports vaccination, we would have been in deep trouble and continuing trouble as a country, and more and more lives would have been lost.”
“Covid was an emergency. Before we got vaccination, people were dying and the fundamental objective of Government was to protect life and then to protect livelihoods. That was it, and all the stops had to be pulled out to enable us to do that.”
“I think Deputy Malcolm Byrne would have been on about this as well as the Deputy. It is in Gorey. I do appreciate the work the Gaelscoil did in facilitating the location of the special school there. I certainly will talk to the Minister for education and see how we can progress this further. The Deputy is saying that the amenities and playing pitches the Gaelscoil has been enjoying are now under pressure because of the expansion of the special school. I presume there are plans afoot to provide a permanent premises for the special school. I will engage with the Minister in that regard.”
“Over the years there has been significant expansion of bus services. I will have to talk to the Minister. There could be a resourcing issue. There are set budgets for all Departments. That was agreed at budget time in terms of the degree of expansion that could be entered into across the board. I will check what the position is in terms of the 132 bus service and the 199.”
“The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing identified members of criminal gangs from conducting criminal activities while in custody and also to preventing them exerting inappropriate influence on other persons.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I know he will have a particular focus on Portlaoise as well as it is in his constituency. We do have a challenge with overcrowding in our prisons. There is very significant and good work going on in the areas of rehabilitation and youth justice programmes aimed at keeping people out of prison but the fact remains that some crimes must attract a prison sentence and some criminals need to go to jail. The Government and the Minister are acutely aware of the capacity constraints in our prisons and the resulting challenge faced by those who work and live in our prisons. The Minister is pursuing a dual approach to address the issue of capacity by increasing prison spaces and then pursuing further measures to support non-custodial sanctions.”
“The Deputy will have to acknowledge that a very substantial part of those reforms was about protecting tenants. That should at least be acknowledged. I will speak to the Minister in respect of this practice, which was not intended in any shape or form, to see how we can deal with that.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising that. That is an innovative approach and it is positive to develop a bus-tracking system. The Deputy is saying that not only should it be applied to Bus Éireann but to Go Ahead Ireland as well. I will speak to the Minister to ascertain from him the background to this and how it is going to evolve. I presume that, in the fullness of time, it will have to apply to all providers.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. These are very significant centres and they do great work. About €3.5 million in recurrent funding is provided to about ten care homes in the south-east supported care homes. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, enhanced that in 2024 with a €1.7 million increase in recurrent funding. A lot of work has been done in respect of it. We acknowledge the very significant role they play and, in fact, the role model they also represent in terms of different stages of care that people may require. We will keep that under review.”
“To be fair to Government, we have invested hugely in teaching and the teacher training colleges. Numbers have increased exponentially over the past number of years in teaching in Ireland. I understand the issue in terms of returning and not receiving incremental credit. On the other hand, the issue needs to be examined more but we do not want to create scenarios where we incentivise too many leaving the system immediately. In education, we have, had a stronger position historically than we have had in health in terms of professionals staying within our system, generally speaking but I get the sense of unfairness if someone has taught for four or five years in the United Arab Emirates and then comes back and does not get any incremental credit. I will ask the Minister to examine that.”
“-----and for agriculture, fishers and farmers. In terms of the ESB, it obviously continues to invest in our energy system and so on but we will see what we can do. We can take back a dividend from the ESB and so on. It is open to Government to do that.”
“First, as I discussed earlier, the Government did take measures in the budget to try to protect people from increasing prices. If we look at the core payments alone in social protection, the increase in core payments, child support payments and the fuel allowance, we are looking at about €2,300 additionally provided out of the budget to a two-adult household, or indeed €1,800 to a lone-parent family. People are definitely, without question, under pressure and we are going to do everything we can to try to continue, as we did in the recent package two weeks ago, which is on top of the budge, to alleviate pressure in terms of fuel costs, including diesel and petrol-----”
“Again, I will engage with the Minister for housing on that. I presume the Deputy has been engaging with the Minister, so he must have a fair idea as to what his and the Department's perspective is. I do not see any issue with sharing data or material evidence with the homeowner.”
“On the specifics of Oliver Bond House, the Deputy said just today something happened with communication between the Department and the residents or the city council. I will engage with the Minister for housing on the matter.”
“As the Deputy will know, there are a range of responses to this. Apart from the fact that about 6,000 assessment reports were completed in 2025, which was a 45% increase on the previous year, nonetheless, current waiting lists are too high. The model and framework governing this is also wrong. We need a legislative change, which we are going to do, and we need operational change, workforce reforms, increased capacity and recruitment of the therapists, and the development of the school-based multidisciplinary teams, which are now going into the special schools in the first instance. All of those are a more effective way of deploying the therapy resources we have within the HSE and our education system.”
“The Government is absolutely committed to supporting regeneration projects submitted by Dublin City Council, including deep retrofit remedial works at older flat complexes. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is actively supporting viable regeneration proposals from Dublin City Council and will continue to do so. We are also continuing to invest heavily in regeneration across the capital city, particularly social housing flat complexes and estates, in a timely manner. I will raise the issue with the Minister as well.”
“We are providing very substantial resources to An Garda Síochána. There has been substantial change in terms of the recruitment processes. We have increased recruitment age and training allowance, shortened recruitment timeframes, reform of the physical competency test and the introduction of the assessment-centred approach to elements of recruitment. We had two recruitment campaigns in 2025, and likewise again in 2026. The numbers are increasing, but they need to increase more. We need to be very consistent in the allocation of resources to the Garda recruitment programme, but also more broadly in terms of equipment and supports to An Garda Síochána, which we are doing.”
“I agree we need more numbers in Tipperary and we will allocate as soon as numbers come out of Templemore in line with the operational and strategic planning of the Garda Commissioner. We have also been working on freeing up gardaí. There has been a significant increase in Garda civilian staff, which has freed up about 900 gardaí for front-line duties as a result of that particular initiative. We will continue to work with communities, the chambers of commerce across the country and business groups with a view to supporting them in protecting their goods and their services from crime, and also in working collectively with communities on what is the best overall planning approach to reducing crime and protecting people.”
“Quite substantial numbers have gone into cities and they have made a big difference. It is the intention of the Commissioner to substantially increase the number of gardaí in given towns like Clonmel and elsewhere as the gardaí continue to come through. People were talking earlier about Government expenditure and so on. To keep this at a very high level, we need to maintain and ring-fence the expenditure for that. I think that is something everybody wants. Operation Thor, which is dealing with rural crime, has been operating since 2015, and I understand burglaries have come down 75% since 2016. An Garda Síochána is making a lot of progress and does enjoy the confidence of the public.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Government are very strong in terms of increasing the number of gardaí. We have committed very substantial resources and we want to maintain those resources to continue to increase the number of gardaí going into Templemore for training. The cohorts of over 200 trainees are now entering Templemore regularly. In the first intake of this year, 215 recruits entered Templemore and 209 trainees entered the college on Monday, 4 May 2026. As of the end of March, there is a total of nearly 14,500 thousand gardaí across the State. That is up 13% since 2015. The numbers are coming in. I understand the Deputy's concern in terms of those numbers then translating into County Tipperary, and into Clonmel, but we will get around.”
“I thank the Deputy for his commentary. I am consistent. We should examine the issue of the potential of nuclear power given the changing technologies and how technology has advanced. However, our first priority in the here and now is renewables, including wind, solar and anaerobic digestion. We have made a lot of progress on those fronts, in particular solar latterly. Industry, in particular, has adopted solar, be it rooftop or in farms adjacent to major factories. There has been a very successful outcome. On the accelerated EU proposals for greater EU level co-ordination, the EU grids package is key. That means connecting to Europe more and more and Europe developing strong grid connection to give it energy security and independence. The biggest negative impact on Europe is this energy question.”
“Not quite as long as Barryroe, although I do travel the length and breath of the Barryroe parish. The oil issue has been around for a long time. Successive companies - this is the only point I will make in respect of it - did not feel the capacity was there or were not in a position to bring it to the surface and so on. It did not appear at any stage to be economical through its a long history. I am not an expert on that. We are very clearly focused on the renewable agenda and have made huge progress in this country. If we are honest, fossil fuels have impacted negatively on the world for a long time.”
“There have been advances in technology in the smaller reactors and so on, and I am all for that. Barryroe has been around a long time.”
“-----or was somehow portrayed as rowing back when, in fact, it was the very strong advice in the Department in respect of our vulnerability to anything happening to those gas interconnectors. We are not connected yet to France so we are not yet importing nuclear. That has been delayed a bit, through no fault of the Government or anything like that. I take the Deputy's point that once that connection happens, we will, to all intents and purposes, be importing energy generated through France's nuclear capacity. If we connect to Spain in the fullness of time, it would more likely be renewable of one sort or another, given the prevalence of renewable in the Iberian Peninsula. I believe we should have a serious examination of nuclear because we need to work out costs and timelines.”
“If anything were to happen to gas interconnectors through malign third-party actors, we would need a fallback. That got attacked as an anti-climate measure-----”
“When the Deputy asked that question last month, I stressed the importance of renewable energy. In Armenia, I made it very clear that our immediate focus is on offshore wind. I pointed out the very significant progress we have made in respect of onshore wind and, indeed, solar. Solar is moving at pace in Ireland and I trust the Deputy is supportive of that. Deputy James O'Connor is introducing legislation which the Government will examine, along with the question of a legislative response in respect of nuclear, but we understand that it will take time. It is not going to immediately alleviate the pressures that people are under. One of the reasons we announced investment in a strategic reserve of liquefied natural gas, LNG, for example, was to deal with the security issue of energy supply.”
“We have to be very careful too of the inflationary impact of Government spending. If Government just allocates another €4 billion or €5 billion, that sounds great but it simply brings us to a 5% or 6% inflation rate, which would not be sustainable.”
“We invested an additional 20%, up to €500 million extra, in disability services. That is systemic, sustainable and something that will happen year on year. We increased the domiciliary care allowance for a second year in a row by an additional €20. We will do more in the forthcoming budget. If you look at the changes we have made to the fuel allowance scheme, a two adult household will benefit by about €2,300 per annum as a result of that. A lone parent family will benefit by up to €1,800. These are significant measures we are taking. We extended it because of the impact of the war in the Middle East, which has undoubtedly created huge pressures all round. The biggest issue is uncertainty about how long this crisis will last and the direction it will take in terms of the impact on fuel prices, which will then impact everything else.”
“We also want to make sure we can reduce the cost of childcare and look again at what we can do in healthcare. Can we add to measures we have taken previously with HRT, free contraception and so on? If the Deputy wants to blow everything today and spend €2 billion or €3 billion now, she might come back in July and say let us spend another €2 billion. By the time we get to October, there will be €5 billion or €6 billion spent. That is no way to run a country either.”
“We do not know where this crisis is going or, indeed, the more medium-term consequences of it. We need to hold some resources in reserve for the winter period, at a minimum, and work out how best to systemically cushion the lowest income groups and those who need our support the most. I support the Deputy's broad principle of targeting. I have challenged others in the House who do not support it but I do. In the budget, we have a far better range of measures so we can arrive at a balanced approach where we can give working people relief but where we can also target measures. We did that in the previous budget with child support payments, which were the highest on record, in terms of what we did there to try to eat into the issue of child poverty. We want to do that consistently over time.”
“If it was not, their costs would be significantly higher. We have also provided packages for the transport sector of about €40 million per month. There is a €100 million worth of a fuel scheme for farmers, contractors and fishers. Of course, the diesel rebate increased to 12 cent per litre. We expanded the fuel allowance and increased it to €38 per week. We expanded eligibility and brought in those on the working family payment. Now about 470,000 households benefit from that. The Deputy cannot ignore all that. She does not get to choose which measures Government has introduced to ignore, and just articulate a banal assertion that Government has done nothing. Just because the Deputy keeps saying Government has done nothing does not mean that is true. Clearly, Government has done a lot. The reality is we have a budget in October.”
“First of all, the Government has provided targeted support. The evidence is there in terms of the free school books at primary and secondary levels. That is a significant measure we have brought in, which this year again will assist many families with what was a major cost for those with children attending primary and secondary school. We have expanded the free hot school meals programme. We have expanded childcare and we need to do more on the childcare front. We have the €280 new baby grant, for example. Hospital inpatient charges were abolished. We have expanded free GP care significantly, particularly for children. In the most recent package, we have significantly provided for a reduction in diesel and petrol that will affect ordinary people. That is immediate and that is happening.”
“It is a deliberate misrepresentation for political purposes, and that is all, but it is false and it is untrue. Since this Government was formed we have established a clearing house, which my good colleague, the former Minister Eamon Ryan, refused to do, although industry wanted to engage. The one difference we have made here is to facilitate the engagement of industry to stop the them-and-us approach and work systemically on the barriers to successfully deploying offshore wind farms. We are making progress. There are significant challenges globally in that respect, with supply chain issues and the United States approach to wind. We are in a good position in terms of the auctions we have already held and the submissions to An Coimisiún Pleanála that have already occurred. We have had engagements with MARA and with An Coimisiún Pleanála.”
“The Deputy scoffed at the idea of subsidies for fossil fuels. At the moment, people need supports. I am surprised. Is the Deputy now against what we did in subsidising the costs for people out there motoring or involved in our trade, or in farming and agricultural matters?”
“We have also initiated discussions with Spain about an interconnector with it because Europe needs a comprehensive grids package to reduce our historic dependence on imported fossil fuels. We rely substantially on imported gas, which increases and exacerbates the price situation in Ireland vis-à-vis other countries. In purchasing power parity in the European Union, we are the fifth highest, which is too high. Structural reform is the way to deal with that but that will take time. There is no point in pretending it will not. We have our offshore wind targets to 2030 and 2040 of up to 20 GW and I believe we can achieve that. If the Deputy talks to those in the industry, they acknowledge that Government is engaging proactively on that topic. However, we also have to alleviate pressure.”