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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“On industrial renewal and innovation, it is clear that the current geopolitical environment requires a new focus on strategically important investments in the technologies of tomorrow, reducing strategic vulnerabilities, while maintaining the deepest possible co-operation with like-minded global partners. Priority measures will include a mapping of dependencies in strategic sectors to be completed by the Commission this year, in co-operation with member states, as well as targeted and proportionate European preference in select strategic technologies. Leaders also called for agreement this year on the industrial accelerator Act proposals presented by the Commission last month, along with further proposals to be presented shortly on strengthening Europe’s capabilities in chip and cloud computing technologies.”
“Leaders invited the Commission to present a set of temporary and targeted measures, taking into account the differing situations of member states, and the need to address the particular vulnerability of energy-intensive sectors, including reducing risk of relocation and protecting jobs. Consideration of these measures by leaders will continue at the informal meeting of the European Council, which I will attend in Cyprus from tomorrow. I have also written to President von der Leyen to set out the need for Ireland to retain the flexibility to introduce specific, temporary and targeted emergency measures to support the most affected sectors of our economy during this crisis.”
“A key lesson of the past few weeks and the impact of the conflict in the Gulf is that Europe must become more self-reliant when it comes to energy and we must break our strategic dependence on imported fossil fuels. Europe must deliver the clean and abundant energy needed to power the economy of the future. Priority actions include agreement this year on the European grids package, including faster permitting procedures, to enable the injection of more renewable energy into the system. At the same time, targeted solutions are needed to protect our citizens and businesses from the recent and very significant spike in fuel prices.”
“Work will also be undertaken to improve mutual recognition of professional qualifications and skills as well as addressing fragmented product labelling and packaging requirements. Leaders called for agreement this year on all omnibus simplification packages tabled by the Commission, including an ambitious AI omnibus to be presented by the end of July. This work will reduce administrative burdens for businesses. Leaders also called on the Commission to undertake an in-depth regulatory review of the current EU body of law, to eliminate outdated provisions, overlaps, and inconsistencies, while ensuring that all new initiatives are in line with simple-by-design principles and better regulation principles. Access to affordable energy is vital for our competitiveness.”
“We will advance priority actions across five specific areas: deepening and integrating the Single Market; further simplifying rules and reducing regulatory and administrative burdens; accelerating decarbonisation while ensuring affordable energy; fostering industrial innovation and renewal in strategically important technology sectors; and mobilising necessary public and private investments. On the Single Market, priority measures will include a new 28th regime for company law, called EU Inc. This will make it easier to set up businesses across the EU, providing instant access to the Single Market. It will be digital-by-default to help innovative start-ups scale and grow.”
“I will begin with competitiveness, a crucial issue for Ireland and Europe and one that is now firmly at the top of the European Council agenda. Supercharging Europe's competitiveness will also be a main priority for Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. The March European Council took further decisive action on strengthening Europe's competitiveness and unlocking the full potential of its Single Market. Leaders established the highest level of ambition for a new One Europe, One market agenda to be implemented during the course of 2026 where possible, and by the end of 2027 at the latest. As I said, this comprehensive agenda of concrete measures with ambitious deadlines will also provide the key strategic focus for Ireland's upcoming Presidency of the European Union Council in the second half of the year.”
“I attended a meeting of the European Council on 19 March in Brussels. Once again, leaders dealt with a very full and important agenda against the backdrop of a very challenging and volatile international environment. The substantial items discussed included Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and European competitiveness. There was also a Euro Summit, which assessed the state of the European Union's economy. Other items on the agenda were European security and defence, migration, the Democracy Shield, multilateralism and child protection online. I will set out the main results of the European Council with regard to support for Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, multilateralism and European competitiveness. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, will speak later to the other issues.”
“I did not quite get the specifics of Deputy Ward's contribution, but the mica scheme is progressing fairly significantly now. Hundreds of millions of euro have now been successfully allocated and invested. The Deputy says in respect of children but-----”
“I thank the Deputy for raising a very fair question. I would be equally intolerant of overly lengthy periods for paying contractors, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises, which need to be paid in a timely manner. I know that in the recent discussions with the Irish Road Haulage Association in which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, were engaged, issues around payments and rebates, and the timeliness of those, were raised. Undertakings have been given to try to speed up some of those repayments, rebates and so on. It is a very fair question, and the State should act honourably and reasonably in these circumstances.”
“More generally, my understanding is that the Minister for justice has powers, and the Deputy should raise the case with the Minister because the Minister for justice has the capacity to deport people who have been convicted by the criminal justice system of crimes. I understand quite a number of deportations have happened in respect of others, but, again, that is all subject to clarity. That is my understanding, and I encourage the Deputy to raise the specific issue with the Minister for justice.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this. That sounds like an excessive journey across. I do not know whether he has engaged with An Post on this, but perhaps he should. I certainly will alert An Post to the fact that he has raised it here and get its plans and background. Normally it does not do stuff that would result in a deterioration of a service. We had similar issues in another location and it worked out okay. I do not have the full background to this but we will raise it with An Post.”
“I recall that about two years ago we looked seriously at tax relief for gym membership. As part of the budget preparations, I will discuss what suite of taxation measures we will adopt to try to alleviate pressures on people. There had also been tax relief in respect of philanthropic donations to clubs and so on, but that all sporting organisations would be covered by a tax relief is a new one. Some charge low enough fees; some charge high fees. I do accept that in the current climate, with fuel costs and everything else, there are a lot of pressures on people, and inflation is at elevated levels because of what happened following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It had been coming down before that war. We will examine this in the context of the budget.”
“We also need an enforcement and policing response to protect people in communities from unacceptable behaviour or any violence that may result from certain people behaving badly.”
“That is not the panacea for this issue, but there is an issue here. Of that there is no doubt. I have been in touch with the Garda on the specifics of the areas the Deputy has identified because there is a lot of concern and anxiety among residents. It is not because of Government failure on drug policy, by the way. There is individual responsibility here too. There are bad actors as well in terms of the drug pushing and so on. I am fully in favour of a health-led approach to addiction. That is what we have in essence. There have been different manifestations of that over the past number of decades but we essentially have a health-led approach and will continue to have that.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister of State responsible for the OPW is solid citizen. When he says things, he generally means them. I will discuss the issue with him and try to get clarity. In all of these developments, site acquisition is always the key enabler and sometimes the absence of a site can be the cause of a project not developing. I will ask him and come back to the Deputy.”
“For the first time the State is moving beyond funding alone and directly supporting the creation of childcare places. Under the early learning and childcare capital programme, up to eight facilities will be delivered this year, providing about 800 additional places, focusing on under threes as well as rural and disadvantaged areas. There are very significant planning frameworks governing the development of childcare more generally. Budget 2026 marked the highest ever level of State investment. It is now at €1.5 billion, which is a 12% year-on-year increase but there are still significant issues. There is significant demand on places and we will continue to work on those. I encourage the Deputy to talk to the Minister for children in respect of this.”
“I appreciate that the Deputy raised this issue of the impact of the war and increased fuel prices on farmers and agri-contractors more generally. I welcome the people of Fermoy, who are right in agricultural country as well. The need for a detailed package to be announced quickly is accepted. My understanding is that within the next week or so a package will be outlined by the Department of agriculture in respect of farming and contractors. Then we may have to look at the construction sector. Some will be covered by the haulier and transport provisions but others may be outside. We will see if we can close that gap.”
“We will deal with electricity costs. Three tankers were attacked this morning in the Strait of Hormuz. This is a very serious war. The Deputy keeps talking as if the war did not exist. We do not know where this might lead to. We were all hoping, two or three days ago, that we were heading for a peaceful resolution of this war. Three ships were attacked this morning in the Strait of Hormuz so nothing can get through. Imagine the impact that will have on prices. The Deputy's view is to spend everything now. We want to support families. We have to make sure we can support families and support them substantially in the latter part of the year as well.”
“The Deputy said he was concerned about a growing divide. His solution would actually widen that divide for those on the lowest incomes. We have taken measures. The excise duty reductions help everybody by definition.”
“I will take on board what the Deputy has said, particularly about any gaps for any particular group that might be unwittingly or unintentionally excluded.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Material hauliers are covered but I accept some contractors in specific sectors may not be. I will engage and ask Ministers to engage with the relevant groups there because we want the packages either for transport or for the agricultural contractor area to be inclusive. We do not want people excluded. The proposals have been worked up in the Department of Transport and they are being worked up in the Department of agriculture. We are very conscious of the need to get this formulated as quickly as possible so that people can benefit from the rebate, which will be quite significant going back to March for the agricultural areas and for contractors more generally.”
“The retirement age was 55 and it is now 62. We actually have made very significant progress on extending the age at which somebody retires in the Garda, the Army, the fire services and across the board in emergency services. The original reason was the nature of the work. Obviously, because of the investment in health services over the past two decades and better lifestyles and so on, people are living much longer, people's quality of life is much better and people are fitter at older ages than they would have historically been. That is why the age limits have increased and we will continue to keep all of that under review. However, there will always be an age of retirement in emergency response services. That is clear. Obviously, the authorities concerned specifically with this area will do their research, analysis and assessment.”
“The Deputy knows the answer to it. She has made assertions that are false about the Minister for justice. He is going far as the Constitution allows in terms of access to counselling notes. The Deputy knows that.”
“Personally, I think what happened is reprehensible. I have never understood it. What happened in earlier eras is that the poor homes evolved into the county homes, which evolved into the mother and baby homes. Some people-----”
“I take a different perspective in terms of how the Deputy put it. I do not think the State today or the Government today is complicit in anything that happened over 50 years ago and right throughout that period. I actually do not. It is easy language to throw out there or to say that we are ignoring-----”
“I will discuss it with the Minister for justice again. I also received a very late request to meet, when I was in Washington. It was very late in the day that I received that request. People said I did not bother meeting. I will say no more. I can talk to the Deputy about this but the Government has no files. To our knowledge, there is nothing in the Department of justice and so on. I will discuss with the Deputy what mechanisms there are to do this.”
“I know the Deputy has raised this on a number of occasions and I commend the survivors on the work they are doing. It is very courageous. We do not have access to the State Department files at all but we would encourage the full release of all documentation and files in relation to Jeffrey Epstein and, if there are files referencing Ireland, that those would be released.”
“As I said earlier to Deputy Bacik, who raised this issue on Leaders' Questions, we are extremely concerned about this issue of forged letters, which is completely unacceptable and very serious for the care of young people who are taken into care. The numbers referred to Tusla have expanded to an extraordinary degree, which reflects wider issues within society of different kinds. We have substantially increased the current and capital funding, doubling capital funding and so forth. The recruitment of qualified staff is key. A lot of work has happened in that area in terms of investment in additional grades, improvements and so on, and we are going to have to do more on that front. I would pay tribute to a lot of Tusla staff out there who do an awful lot of good work looking after a lot of people who need that care and assistance.”
“Certainly, and as the Deputy said, help-to-buy is probably the most significant intervention we have taken in the last number of years. We will, at Government level, give consideration to this issue, and to whether there is anything further we can do to help alleviate the pressures on first-time buyers, particularly in terms of the application of stamp duty.”
“We will - and we will engage on this at Government level - give consideration to that, along with other supports for first-time buyers. I understand the motivation here. We want to enable young people to be in a position to buy houses and affordability is obviously a key factor in that decision. I would not rule anything out and it is certainly something we will give consideration to.”
“The level of support under the help-to-buy scheme is the lesser of €30,000 or 10% of the purchase price of the new property or the amount of income tax and deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, paid in the four years before the application of the relief. That has proven to be a substantial support for first-time buyers. Then we have a whole range of other provisions, such as the local authority purchase and renovation loan. There are about 6,000 availing of the first home scheme. The vacant property refurbishment grants are also quite substantial in respect of vacant or derelict properties. I think the Minister is looking at extending the first home scheme. In regard to the taxation treatment of it and the stamp duty, that obviously falls for a budgetary consideration.”
“We brought in measures to prevent or disincentivise the investment funds and others from buying up blocks of new houses so as to make sure the supply of new houses would be there for individual buyers, and particularly first-time buyers. The Deputy is correct; in 2010, a decision was taken to streamline the stamp duty rate structure for both first-timers and those acquiring their second or subsequent residential property. On what we have done in the last number of years, a suite of measures has been brought in, most notably the help-to-buy scheme, which is quite significant, the affordable purchase schemes and, of course, the first home scheme. They have been very effective in the market.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue for first-time buyers. The entire focus of this Government and the last Government is and was very much on alleviating pressures on first-time buyers but also enabling them to be in a position to buy houses at an affordable level. The positive news is that as a result of measures we have taken, the numbers of first-time buyers drawing down mortgages have increased very significantly as a percentage of overall mortgages over the past five years. It is quite significant. The Deputy is correct in saying that 1% stamp duty on a house value up to €1 million is what is currently there. As he knows, there was a move in the taxation system towards simplification and to keep it very simple and straightforward.”
“Finally, through the Chair, I have worked with the Deputy before. He is doing a lot of shouting and roaring here today in the Chamber. He has asked me about different things in the past, plenty of times, as a Dáil Deputy, and I have responded to him. I treated him courteously. All I am saying is that I have no difficulty discussing with the Deputy at any time.”
“It is an important point. We have put forward a very significant package to get down the cost; there is no question about that. The figures are there in terms of how substantial the reduction is compared to what the tax component was. We will work out the package for farmers and contractors, and we will be in a position to outline those shortly. We have also provided a range of other supports to people more generally across other sectors of the economy.”
“People will be able to benefit from it. The Deputy has not set out with precision why he believes the vast majority will not be entitled to it. I would like him to explain why he thinks the vast majority will not be entitled to it.”
“We think it should be specific fuel support packages for farmers and contractors. The Deputy is automatically assuming that most people will not benefit from the package, and he sort of said that was because of arrears. I was not quite clear what he was saying. I accept that people have to be tax compliant, but I would argue that the vast majority are tax compliant. Indeed, if they work with Revenue, Revenue has already said it is going to be flexible and so on. If people have arrears with others, that does not mean they are not entitled to the package. They will be entitled to the package. It is a substantial package. Particularly in road haulage, the sector was quite satisfied with the nature of the package. The package for contractors and farmers is quite extensive at over €100 million, with a very significant reduction in the costs.”
“First, let us deal with that issue. The spin all along has been that we have taken in more from the VAT increase than we have given in reductions. That is not true. The bottom line is that because of the measures we took on 13 April, the percentage of the taxation component of the price of a litre of Euro-Super 95 petrol is set to fall to 44% compared with 58% at the end of March. The measures we have brought in have de facto significantly reduced the tax component of the price of fuel. Our overall package was about €750 million. The cost of that package, I acknowledge, is €670 million because we would gain about €82 million in the VAT component of it. That deals with this idea that we are getting more back. On a cap, we do not favour capping the price of diesel or petrol.”
“It has been dramatic compared to what we had historically but I accept the Deputy's point that there are legitimate issues that need to be examined by the HSE and the National Ambulance and I will ask the Minister to do that.”
“Regarding the spring-October statement, the general Government balance is in surplus but all of that money is being used. There is an Exchequer deficit of €1.1 billion. The rest goes into the funds, which we have provided for. Nobody is commenting on that. That €10 million is not hanging around somewhere to be used. The bulk of it has been allocated to the funds and it is being invested in the economy, housing, infrastructure, wind energy and so on. If we look at the ambulance service over a ten, 15 or 20-year period, a revolution in emergency care has happened, for example, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council and emergency medical technicians. The professionalisation of the entire area has been quite remarkable and has led to very significant outcomes in terms of responses to patients and first responders.”
“I will speak to the Minister about the emergency response vehicle for Laois and will ask her to reflect on and engage with the National Ambulance Service in terms of the model it uses.”
“As the Deputy knows, a new helicopter emergency medical service has been established in the west and the north west. That does not affect Laois. There is further investment this year as a result of the budget, with €34 million for renewal and expansion of the fleet. This is €34 million for emergency ambulances and other response vehicles. The investment is continuing. We are looking at about €291 million being spent on the National Ambulance Service in 2026, with about 2,503 employees. That is up again on the same period last year. Further investment is planned this year, with 21 extra crewed ambulances at peak demand, four intermediate care vehicles and the continued development of clinical hubs and alternative care pathways.”
“We will engage with the National Ambulance Service but the investment has continued apace. I take the point made by Deputy Bacik earlier that it is not just about investment. I accept that. It is about how the investment is deployed and allocated and what the productivity outcome is from moneys we allocate. Since about 2022, the HSE has invested about an additional €75 million in the National Ambulance Service, with staff numbers increasing by 761 in the same period. Over 85% of National Ambulance Service staff work in direct patient-facing roles. That does help improve ambulance response performance, with additional emergency ambulances, immediate care services and developing alternative care pathways, including community paramedic services.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue, particularly for his constituents in County Laois. We have a National Ambulance Service. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate I cannot run the National Ambulance Service from here but I will engage with the issues he raised and I will talk to the Minister for Health about them. The National Ambulance Service will always defend the model it has, and it has consistently defended it over time. Notwithstanding that, we have heard illustrations, observations or commentary from different parts of the House about how that service has not been optimal in terms delays attending particular accidents, events or locations. I heard about one yesterday from Deputy McAuliffe, involving an elderly woman in Dublin waiting four hours.”
“I disagree. It was a decision to bring forward the date so parents and schools would have ample time. It has transpired that parents of many children who were in mainstream classes have applied for special classes. The Deputy is now acknowledging that we are spending money but some weeks ago she was saying we were cutting back on SNAs.”
“The numbers are growing very significantly, as is the overall budget for special education. The Cabinet has approved €650 million extra in current funding for education, with a significant amount of it directed towards accommodating special education. I can go through all the various classes and special schools that have been established. We will meet what is required.”
“We have more work to do in this area in terms of full therapeutic supports for children in care. In terms of special education, the bottom line is that we brought forward a portal with an early date for applications for special classes and so forth. This has resulted in a significant increase compared with last year. That dramatic increase has seen us end up with 6,000 pupils. We will be providing for children for next September. We are now looking at over 26,000 special needs assistants. The Deputy said they will not be getting support but they will be. The new inclusive special-class approach will ensure one teacher and two SNAs for every six pupils. That will result in a very significant enhancement over and above what had already been provided for in terms of SNAs.”
“The Government takes that with the utmost seriousness. There has been considerable investment, structural reform and a very determined effort to eliminate inappropriate placements but demand for services is increasing at a very rapid rate. Demand for Tusla services has more than doubled since the agency’s establishment in 2014. In 2025 alone, 106,000 referrals to Tusla were received. That is a 10% increase on previous years. Clearly, there are complex societal pressures, including domestic violence, homelessness and addiction. About 5,900 children are in foster or residential care. Close to 3,000 young people are in aftercare. We will continue to invest, to increase investment and to try to enhance services. Recruitment is not necessarily a funding issue alone; it is also about getting people of the right quality.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is an extremely important issue. There is a child poverty unit within my Department which actually had a significant impact on the last budget but everybody attacked it because it just targeted those most in need. I hope the Deputy will agree with me that what was done with the child support payment was going in the right direction to deal with poverty among children. It is. Others want universality everywhere but we do need to target and make choices if we do want to reduce consistent poverty among children, and I am determined to do it. With the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, in the last budget, we took significant steps in that direction. On the RTÉ documentary on special care, the care of young children and children coming into care, the experiences described are extremely disturbing.”
“Tá cogadh ar siúl. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta é sin. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil brú faoi leith ar theaghlaigh ar fud na tíre agus ar mhuintir na tíre de dheasca an chogaidh atá ar siúl agus ardú praghsanna de dheasca an chogaidh sin. The Deputy has ignored and failed to mention the fact that the war in the Middle East has been a significant factor in the increase in fuel prices. Everybody knows that except her. Equally, she attacked measures in the budget that targeted the poorest working families and the poorest in society. She did not believe in targeting. She wants universality across the board.”