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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Every one of 5,818 lines we hold for Micheál Martin, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 23 of 117.
“She says she is interested in national conversations and then lambastes Deputy O'Connor for initiating a national conversation. Where is the consistency in that approach or the logic in what she is saying? France is a good example where there is a combination of sources, with nuclear being one. It will take time but we have to have these serious conversations and examinations. I made it very clear last weekend that our main focus was on offshore wind, and we have made substantial progress on onshore wind. The reason for the high cost of electricity in Ireland is, yes, an isolated grid with a lack of interconnection. We have two gas interconnectors to Britain and we are on the cusp of completing an interconnector with France.”
“The Deputy mentioned that Spain was at 50% renewables for electricity generation. Last February, 50% of our electricity generation was renewable. I believe the Deputy is misleading the House in her political characterisation of the Government in respect of renewables. We have been driving renewables for quite some time over successive Governments. In terms of offshore wind, I established a clearing house in my Department that meets with the industry, Departments and regulators to remove systemic potential barriers to offshore wind delivery. We have had a series of auctions. We have a number of offshore wind farms in the planning process. Surely the Deputy must know that. While she exaggerates and makes silly statements about Don Quixote and all that nonsense, it is far too serious for that.”
“If we had introduced the measures she advocates from last October, we would be looking at an inflation rate of close to 5%. That is by any yardstick or formula. That is the reality. We have already acted and the Deputy knows that. Some €750 million is not spoof; it is real funding that we have budgeted for and allocated in terms of the food production sector, farmers, contractors and the haulage industry. We have hundreds of thousands of people working in all of those sectors. It might be spoof to the Deputy because she is a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to the farming world-----”
“That was a really significant and targeted message. The way the Deputy wants it is that she wants not to do that. She wants us to move away from that sort of targeting approach. Then, in the context of the October budget, we will have available to us other mechanisms like tax and other measures that we can introduce that can benefit people to get them over the winter period, which is going to be a crucial period for all.”
“-----on those services. If you keep spending billions now, you will not have the money for education, special education, childcare reductions and health services. You will not have the funding for all of that at the next budget or, indeed, for next year. On what we have done so far, we extended and increased the fuel allowance and we expanded it in terms of the number of people it covers, particularly those on the working family payment. The minimum wage has increased significantly. We have deferred the carbon tax increases and we have a variety of packages for a range of sectors. Our social welfare payments went up €10 in the last budget. It has come under huge pressure since then, and I acknowledge that. We also put in record increases to child income support payments - the highest on record.”
“Also, as we were doing that, we have increased expenditure on education by €646 million additional to the budget. We have choices here. You cannot have it each way and every way. We are keeping a focus-----”
“You can keep spending more and more money every month but it will have an inflationary impact and we will be chasing inflation. That will not alleviate pressures on working families because when inflation gets higher, it is those on the lowest incomes who will suffer the most. We have to be extremely targeted in how we do things, both sectorally and in terms of low-income groups. Remember we have reduced VAT already in terms of electricity charges down to 9% and we are going to maintain that out to 2030. That just gets ignored when the Deputy lists everything. We announced a €755 million to €770 million package recently to alleviate the pressures on the public and, indeed, on crucial sectors around food production and around haulage, and on many thousands of workers working in those sectors.”
“We acknowledge that there are significant pressures on people because of a range of issues, not least the impact on fuel prices arising from the Middle Eastern war, which follows the tariff issue and which follows the situation with the invasion in Ukraine, and the post-Covid inflationary cycle that occurred then, which was at 10%. One of the challenges here is how to respond properly, sensitively and in a targeted way that also maintains economic balance and proportion. What I mean by that is that if we were to take the Sinn Féin budgetary package that it put forward at the last budget, and if we were to add the €3 billion and more, we would be looking at inflation rates of about 5% or 6% in our economy. That is the reality of it. You have got to be careful.”
“Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Tá an-chuid déanta ag an Rialtas go dtí seo, idir an cháinaisnéis a bhí againn agus an pacáiste a d’fhoilsigh muid coicís ó shín, chun an brú atá gan dabht ar theaghlaigh agus ar mhuintir na hÉireann a ísliú agus a laghdú. Mar aon leis sin, tá an-chuid infheistíochta curtha isteach againn i seirbhísí oideachais, sláinte agus i go leor seirbhísí eile. I just want to say at the outset that the Government from the budget onwards has focused on investment in services and alleviating pressures on families, and will continue to do so.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I have spoken to the Minister for housing about this matter, which is under active consideration in the context of raising the income thresholds. It was raised a number of years ago, but the Minister is examining it. I hope to be back to the Deputy before long.”
“I thank Deputy Gould for raising the issue. He is correct in that this is not an issue that anybody wants to have a dispute over. Deputy Paudie O'Sullivan raised it this morning. I spoke to the Minister about the case last week. My understanding is that there are ongoing interactions with the company involved. There has been a health technology assessment and so on. This has proven problematic. My heart goes out to the Coady family. They have lost their son Rory. The situation is very challenging for Paudie unless he can get access to this drug. I will work with the Minister to see what we can do to try and help the family. I appreciate the Deputy raising the matter in the manner in which he has raised it.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this. Arklow certainly needs that sort of focus in terms of eliminating dereliction. The Deputy's observations are exactly correct and conform with those of the Government. The Minister has produced data in respect of this matter. Some local authorities do far more than others., which motivated the decision in the recent budget to move enforcement in respect of dereliction to Revenue . The view is that this will, in its own way, bring consistency. A lot of mapping, etc., has to happen. I hope the process in that regard accelerates as quickly as possible. The view would be that Revenue being involved might concentrate minds a bit more and bring about a greater level of performance across the board. Local authorities should still be actively pursuing this issue. Limerick did very well on dereliction.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. His colleague Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised it a number of weeks ago as well. Obviously, it is a pressing issue for Deputy Brennan and his colleagues in Wexford and in Gorey in particular. The Department has stated that site at Gorey provides a good location for expanding capacity in the form of a permanent modular extension for the school. That modular accommodation will be delivered under the Department's devolved special education needs reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which involves the use of project management supports. I will ask the Minister to engage with the Deputies in the first instance. There has been engagement with the patrons of both schools, An Foras Pátrúnachta and Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board.”
“The Department of Health has agreed the scope of the RSV infant immunisation pathfinder programme for 2026-27, which will involve the same eligibility criteria in place for the 2025-26 season. A health technology assessment on RSV immunisation for infants and adults was undertaken by HIQA and was published on 28 April. HIQA stated that the assessment provides robust evidence that RSV immunisation, particularly for infants, can deliver significant health benefits and reduce winter pressures on the health service. I am in favour of vaccination programmes. The position in terms of the adjuvanted flu vaccine was not as clear-cut. Nonetheless, the Minister is examining that as well in terms of the next winter period. We will continue to work with HIQA and the HSE to look at the findings, the options and, obviously, the budgetary impacts.”
“I do not have the background to the specifics of the case, but I will inquire with the HSE and the National Ambulance Service in respect of what the Deputy has said about omissions in clinical care and a failure of the ambulance service to get there within the allocated timeline. Investment in the National Ambulance Service continues to be made and has increased year on year. Personnel are coming through on an ongoing basis. If the Deputy can send a note, I can forward it to the Minister and ask her to maybe to engage with the Deputy on the matter.”
“In the context of the agriculture sector, a significant amount of money goes to farmers under the agri-climate rural environment scheme. That scheme costs about €1.5 billion. Sixty per cent of that money comes from the Exchequer. The Deputy wants an each-way bet on everything. Is he against the carbon tax revenue going to farmers?”
“The Minister has had regular engagement with the hospital because it needs two fundamental approaches. One is reform of the management of the hospital and how it is run, both of which have happened,. The second is investment, which is also happening. Funding of €47 million is involved. In any event, the new location in Raheen is a huge boost to the future of tertiary healthcare in Limerick.”
“The Minister is very committed to the surgical hub concept. The previous Minister, Stephen Donnelly, did a lot of work on that. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has engaged with the hospital, and the funding support will not be there for the surgical hub.”
“I thank the Deputy very much. It is a great school. I was there many years ago in my capacity as Minister for Education and so forth. My understanding is that the Department of education is awaiting the submission of stage 2b material from Cork ETB in respect of this project. When that is received, it will be looked at from a technical and cost perspective. Obviously, as the Deputy said, there is an issue about the overall prioritisation of the project in terms of the school capital programme. The issue relating to Irish Water is also a factor. The note I have states that it is expected that the stage 2b material will be submitted in quarter 3. That needs to happen as quickly as possible.”
“We extended the free fuel allowance for a month. Obviously, the Government, as a collective, will address this. Every party in government will have to work collectively to prioritise things for the budget in terms of having a targeted approach and how, in general, we alleviate the impact of the undoubted pressure that those in society who are most vulnerable are feeling as a result of the war. We increased the State pension last year by about €10, which was a high increase relative to the rate of inflation. We have been doing that successfully over the years. We have also put in place other supports for pensioners. This is an issue we will certainly be focusing on in the context of the budget. In passing, I wish to extend a particular welcome to the students from Fermoy. You come from a very good county. Take care.”
“I will receive it. Obviously, when people seek meetings, I do my very best to meet with them. My understanding is that, generally speaking as opposed to in just this case, An Garda Síochána does everything it possibly can to get to the bottom of murders of this kind, which are reprehensible, and to try to bring the culprits to justice. I certainly will examine the situation.”
“I remember well when all of that happened. In fairness, the county council entered into all of that in very good faith with the FAI. My understanding is that a local soccer club, Riverstown, is on the cusp of entering a lease agreement, and the council will go out to public consultation on all of it to engage with all of the interested parties in terms of the utilisation of the land.”
“I thank Deputy Crowe for raising this issue. I fully understand his desire for the location of an air ambulance service for the mid-west. I do not know what the response was from the National Ambulance Service but a lot of work has to go into such a proposal, in terms of researching it and making sure we have the human personnel, the expertise and the evaluation of how it is working across the country, with a lessons-learned approach. I will ask the Minister for Health and make some inquiries in terms of where we are in respect of this proposal.”
“I salute the achievements of Katie Taylor. She has been an outstanding boxer and an outstanding representative of people, dignified in her approach. Certainly I hope her dream of boxing in Croke Park can come to reality. No proposal has come to the Government or has been proffered by anybody to the Government in respect of this. Any proposal generally that seeks public funding for a major sports event is considered by the Department of communication, which is the Department of sport essentially. There is a division in the Department that examines major international sports events and it has a policy and framework to deal with it. Some of it deals with tourism potential and some deals with sports legacy. Without question, Katie is an exceptional talent and has been an outstanding ambassador for Irish sport and for Irish women in sport.”
“There are already substantial measures and a lot of people are availing of them. There were huge increases in the numbers in the first three months.”
“To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, he has already brought forward substantial improvements to retrofitting measures. The heat pump system grant, for example, now totals €12,500. He expanded this grant and increased it substantially by up to €6,500 for a heat pump. He did that last February. He also introduced measures on central heating upgrades and a new €2,000 grant. There are increased grants for attic and cavity wall insulation and attic insulation top-up grants for first-time buyers. There is the windows and doors measure in particular. By the way, the take-up has been quite significant with regard to the numbers in the first quarter availing of the attic and cavity wall insulation of up to 80% of median cost and up to 100% for first-time buyers.”
“We have increased the fuel allowance. We have substantial provision for pensioners in our social protection frameworks. We allocated an additional €2 billion. There is a sense in the House that we can literally allocate billions more to everybody. We do need some conversation around targeting. I think targeting is important for pensioners as well, which we have done and which we will do more of. In terms of child poverty as well, we targeted it in the budget and it gets ignored because people want universality left, right and centre. As Deputy Hayes knows, there was a €16 increase in the child support payment for children aged over 12, bringing it to €78. There is a danger in the House that we are going to lose the importance of targeting in the political debate about the cost of living.”
“I was out knocking on doors and I did meet pensioners. We had very good conversations. In the last budget we increased the pension by €10. That was significantly above the going rate of inflation at that particular time.”
“I agree 100% with the Deputy in the sense that this is an existential crisis. I have noticed that, in the House, there seems to have been a drop in the contributions on climate in terms of political discourse. That may be due to other events. Ireland now has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. It is important to point that out when you look at the extraordinary increase in population. There has been a concurrent increase of about 1.5 million people over that 35 years. There has been more than 1 million new homes and over 1 million extra vehicles on our roads, and we still have the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. This suggests that we can have economic growth and reduce emissions. This is the direction of travel and we have to rededicate ourselves to the issue.”
“Absolutely not. If you take Iarnród Éireann, for example, it has been extremely efficient, on budget and on time with all its rail projects. This is unacceptable. The agencies involved here should not have allowed that to happen. Across the board with public transport, some very significant investments have happened within budget and on time.”
“By the way, if you look across the board and take out just rates, the Government has been increasing contributions to local authorities on a whole load of fronts in the past number of years. On total funding overall, if you take the €46 million allocated in 2021, the Government is now allocating €64 million to Offaly County Council. That is a big increase.”
“Absolutely. What I would like to see happening with the energy transformation that is occurring is the resetting of the investment profile for the midlands in terms of foreign direct investment coming to the midlands in greater numbers than it has heretofore. There are some significant plants around the midlands but there is potential for more. Given the link between energy, industry and investment, some significant companies are looking at the midlands. That is very positive news all around. There is a lot of untapped potential. Notwithstanding all of the global turbulence and challenges, I am reasonably confident we can continue the momentum. I take the Deputy's point. We want to maintain existing services.”
“Commercial rates income has now increased in 2025 and 2026 because of the new wind farms entering the rates base. I pay tribute to Bord na Móna, which itself has transformed as an organisation to become a climate-enabling organisation. It has been a tremendous transformation and that does not ever get acknowledged because people are either saying we are not doing enough on climate change or others in the House are against any notion that climate change is even happening. Bord na Móna has been a very commendable-----”
“Government remains committed to ensuring financial stability and service continuity in affected local authorities. I can go through the various figures and there is a breakdown there year after year but it is important that we avoid a cliff edge. We should try to marry the growth in the rate base because of additional investments with the decline from the historic power stations that were important. My understanding is officials are engaging with both local authorities and are liaising with the Department of public expenditure also to deal with the post-2026 period to ensure a reasonable wind-down of supports. For the benefit of the House, Shannonbridge power station represented 18.5% of Offaly's rate base at the time. That is very significant and needed an exceptional response.”
“Shannonbridge power station and Lanesborough power station had been expected to close in 2027 but ceased operations seven years earlier. At the time, the just transition commissioner stated it would be extremely unfair for the local authorities to bear a sudden loss of commercial rates due to a decision beyond their control. He recommended emergency support arrangements for 2021 to 2026 to offset the unexpected loss. That has happened. A total of €15 million has been provided to date with €3 million committed for 2026. Engagement is under way to manage the post-2026 transition responsibly and reasonably. The good news is that Offaly's rates base is now strengthening significantly, particularly through renewable energy investment.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will pass on his good comments in respect of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about what is happening in the midlands and the energy transformation that is occurring. Recently, I was in Shannonbridge myself with Hanwha Energy to launch the battery storage and the condenser, which is a very novel proposal. There is no doubt that the midlands is going through a very exciting transformation. It will have very significant potential for jobs and a modern economy for the midlands that will be quite telling in terms of its impact. There is no doubt that early plant closures created an unforeseen financial shock for both Offaly and Longford county councils. These closures happened earlier than planned.”
“The legislation has changed, expert advice has changed and the science has changed. The Government's commitment is absolutely 100% in terms of delivering this scheme, and 3,000 people are not trapped in the scheme.”
“It is important. The scale and pace of this is growing enormously. I will talk to the Minister and ask him to engage with the Deputy to get clarity on that specific point, particularly for families that are under pressure either with disabilities or a wider range of issues.”
“I think what the Deputy is suggesting is that a house would be built adjacent while the existing house is being repaired.”
“The data is clear, too, that many are availing of it and that the grant rates, which were set and increased in 2024 and are based on expert advice, are at a level to ensure homeowners will get the money they need to put their homes right. That the grant scheme follows the most up-to-date science is particularly important and changes were made to the scheme late in 2024 to take account of the most recent research. A forthcoming Bill will make amendments to the grant scheme to allow changes to be implemented by the administrators of the grant scheme. That will allow grant rates and payments under the scheme to increase by up to 10%. In relation to the Deputy's specific question, I will engage with the Minister regarding what is the latest position on that.”
“The sum of €293 million has been provided this year alone for the remediation of homes affected by defects including pyrite, apartment defects and defective concrete blocks. The pace has accelerated, in particular over the past two years. There was €155 million spent in 2025, compared with just under €60 million in 2024. As the scheme ramps up, more sufficient additional funding will be provided as required. As the Deputy knows, the overall cost is estimated at about €2.2 billion. The scheme is designed, as per the Government's commitment, and delivered in a manner that meets the real needs of homeowners in an efficient and effective manner. Currently more than 3,000 homeowners are at various stages of the scheme.”
“We will have specific policies for the Gaeltacht areas. Tá siad tábhachtach. Tá na hAirí, na Teachtaí Calleary agus Browne, i dteagmháil maidir leis na Gaeltachtaí. Admhaím go bhfuil cás faoi leith ann ó thaobh lucht na Gaeltachta a labhraíonn an teanga go rialta agus gur cóir go mbeadh seans acu tithe a cheannach nó a thógáil ina n-áit dúchais féin.”
“Absolutely, and that is what we are doing. We are legislating in terms of Airbnbs in any area above 20,000 people. That is a very significant change, and rightly so because the priority is housing. Our priority is housing and will remain housing. There is an issue of balance here in terms of the proposal and this would be a major step forward when we bring in this legislation-----”
“The vast majority of what the Government has proposed over the last number of years on housing has been opposed by the Social Democrats and others. The Social Democrats oppose any private sector involvement. We have a lot of workers working in Ireland. There are a lot of people out there who would avail of these kinds of units and take pressure off the more conventional rental market. It is about supply and we make no apology for it. Next week, we will look at rural planning guidelines for housing as well, which the Deputy will probably oppose, but we have to produce more supply.”
“Talk to people. She says she has spoken to people in her constituency. A lot of people in west Cork approve of the planning exemption proposal around units at the back of their houses and so on. They actually approve of it. Some people will be paying up to €80,000 for those, if they are modular units, for example. They may use them for their family members but family members will not be there forever. We have a housing supply crisis and it makes sense to free up the planning permitting situation for units of that kind. We will keep it under review. I am in favour of anything that increases supply. I am not really interested in rhetoric. I am not interested in opposing everything that everybody proposes.”
“There has been a reaction against it - not from any one TD, but from people on the ground. Yesterday, I was answering this question from a different perspective from the Deputy's colleague Deputy Collins, who is completely against any ending of the short-term lets and so on. We have decided on the figure of 20,000. We think it is a reasonable balance. If we can get the short-term lets back to housing in the cities and the large towns, that will be a good day's work. It is not simple either, in terms of planning laws and the frameworks around that, to make sure that we get it right. The Government will introduce this. We will be doing it and are nearly there, to be quite frank, in terms of completing the process. It is a measure in addition to all the other measures. The Deputy is derisive about what she calls "sheds". They are not sheds.”
“First of all, the short-term letting and tourism Bill will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register of all short-term lets in Ireland. That will be accompanied by a planning statement from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, governing that entire framework. That will broadly restrict the approval of new planning permissions for short-term lets in cities and large towns. All of this is aligned with the European directive and the European approach to this. Bear in mind that even in Deputy Cairns's area there has been a lot of pushback, not from any particular Deputies, but generally from people who have been operating Airbnbs in west Cork, Kerry, along the western seaboard and in the south-eastern areas from a tourism point of view.”
“I am not missing anything here. That is significant because it means the measures we have introduced are helping first-time buyers, albeit at prices that are still too high, but the only way we will deal with that price issue is by having more supply. We need a more collective approach to housing supply and not to oppose every single thing that the Government brings in. In terms of the reforms, the Deputy knows well that some smaller landlords did not like the reforms because they gave additional protections to tenants, not the other way round. That is the impact. We did protect tenants-----”
“It is significant that 60% of all mortgages drawn down now are first-time buyers. That matters. I would not dismiss it like the Deputy tried to in her opening remarks.”
“We need that war to end. We have built about 170,000 houses since 2020 and 50,000 apartments have been built. There were 8,000 permissions in quarter 4 of 2025, up 20%, and 20,000 houses were granted permission in 2025, which is the highest number since 2009. Commencement notices were up 184% in quarter 1 of 2026. Real dwelling investment was up by close to 20% in the first three quarters of 2025. Construction employment was at 191,000 at the end of 2025. That is up 30% since 2019 and 12% year on year. The Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, loan book has grown by 25% to €3.2 billion. We have announced the €1 billion housing infrastructure investment fund, which is also doing very well. I can go through all of the various investments that the State is putting into this. Nearly 59,000 social houses have been added since July 2020.”