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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“It did exceptional work there on an interim basis to protect houses and households. This is coming quickly. It is a very rapidly evolving situation. If we look at the climate change projections, the seas are going to rise, so we need stronger coastal protection, and we need to do it on a systemic and structured basis, with agencies clearly in charge and directing operations.”
“Many people were leaving it to the local authorities, but I think that if we leave it to the local authorities on a local authority-by-local authority basis, that may not be sustainable. Adaptation, including ring-fenced funding for adaptation, is critical. I will be examining this further in terms of a more centralised approach to coastal erosion that is far more proactive than what we have had to date. We know that, unfortunately, some local authorities are more proactive than others. There is inertia in others, and that is not sustainable, in my view. There has to be a far more direct approach from the centre to make sure that some of these works get done. To be fair, the OPW has done a lot of work, and I know the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, was in Donabate recently.”
“To date, in essence, the OPW has allocated funding of about €650,000 for coastal protection works at Seaview, for example, including strengthening rock armour to counter ongoing erosion. Further moneys of about €300,000 were allocated before that, in 2024, making some €2 million overall in that area. The more fundamental point that the Deputy makes is the need for two things. I agree with him that climate change is causing this. We need a more co-ordinated structure. I had a meeting recently in the context of the recent storms. I raised this issue at the climate meeting on coastal erosion. I am not satisfied that we have the necessary infrastructure from a structural point of view in terms of decision-making within the Government.”
“First, I thank the Deputy for raising what is the very important and pressing issue of coastal erosion across the country, but specifically in the south east. The Government is committed to progressing a co-ordinated, long-term approach to managing coastal change. I know there have been a variety of coastal works and funding at specific points, particularly in Wexford, in terms of the coastal protection scheme and minor flood mitigation, which is done by the OPW. As the Deputy knows, a report was published in 2023 by the interdepartmental group on the national coastal change management strategy. It establishes the strategic framework and identifies the priority actions required to underpin a national coastal change management strategy.”
“It can be done, and it is being done. On the competition issue, the Deputy is saying that it is going to be reduced to four. We have the competition and consumer authority. Its job is to make sure there is competition in the market. If there are any complaints or if people have concerns about any unsavoury practices developing, then please submit that to the competition authority.”
“The Deputy did not even let me finish, or begin, actually. Prior to the London Olympics, I was Minister for enterprise when many construction companies in Ireland wanted to see if they could submit, tender and so on. The objective was up to 80% or 90% recycling for all the demolition and everything in respect of that. That was not law. That was their objective and their vision. Recycling is very important.”
“The balance has to be struck between a responsible approach to sustainability and a pragmatic one as well, and best practice from observing what is going on in other jurisdictions close to us as well to make sure we are doing it in a balanced and effective way. I have not had a submission from the quarry industry. Perhaps others in different Departments have but I would gladly receive one and engage with the industry to discuss it.”
“They can be judicially reviewed at any time and they can be contested. The role of the planning authority is to make sure that when decisions are taken, both at local authority level and at An Coimisiún Pleanála level, they are robust, resilient decisions that can stand the test of any potential legal challenge. That is a reality. You cannot take shortcuts in respect of the EU directives. The European Union is looking at simplification of those directives and of the environmental obligations. It is examining those. I have made the case to Europe that we need to be far more pragmatic in terms of how some of these apply.”
“The biggest cause of the inflationary pressures of the past number of years was the post-Covid period where supply chains had broken down and there was an inflationary surge, and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis that emerged. We had very significant inflationary pressures which then impacted the construction industry in particular. We have resourced An Coimisiún Pleanála very significantly and it would acknowledge that. It has now created timelines for any planning applications. In many cases, it is now beginning to get close to meeting those timelines. We have also substantially resourced the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, in respect of its obligations. The European Union directives on the habitats directive and on environmental law generally and consents are there. They are real.”
“Coming out of the weeds, or the mud, maybe, what the Deputy is talking about is the overarching planning framework that governs development in the country, the extraction of stone from quarries or the creation of quarries, or indeed other environmental legislation, but I am not quite clear on the specifics of what he is actually seeking. Let us start from the fundamental premise that we do need a planning framework. We need a sustainable planning framework and we need sustainability. That is the basic position we come from. We then have to be pragmatic, balanced, efficient and effective in the deployment of those planning laws. There has to be timely consideration of planning applications and we have to do everything we possibly can to reduce costs.”
“Again, the Deputy is interrupting. When he does not like the answer, he interrupts. That is what Deputy Murphy is saying because, according to him, we should stand alone in isolation, talk to nobody - talk to nobody at all, apparently - and we will be able to procure, we will have all the in-house expertise and so on. The truth is, Deputy Murphy does not believe in having an army at all. That is actually the truth. I asked him that some time back here and he was silent in response to it. His concept of militarisation is that we do not need armies. That is his view.”
“We have been involved in peacekeeping in Lebanon with Poland. Poland is a member of NATO, by the way. Is the Deputy saying we should not be involved in peacekeeping in Lebanon with Poland, and PolBatt? Interoperability is key.”
“When we say that we want to protect critical undersea infrastructure, if anything happened to cables or the gas connectors with Britain, we would not have an economy in ten days, in terms of the gas interconnection. Is the Deputy saying we should not co-operate with Britain to protect the gas interconnectors with the United Kingdom and we should just ignore it? Is he saying we should ignore all of our European partners in protecting critical undersea infrastructure such as subsea cables and the interconnector with France, which will be completed in the next year or two and will guarantee energy security for our people?”
“-----like Ford and Dunlop closing, the Verolme dockyard closing and the Sunbeam-Wolsey plant closing. Thousands of jobs were lost. It was a very difficult decade. I have never lost the memory of what it was like in the city of Cork and many cities across the country. Part of the renovation and rejuvenation of this country - even if the Deputy might not like it - was the fact the likes of Microsoft came to this country in 1985. It has been here more than 40 years. Apple came in 1980 and it has grown. It is workers who have benefited. Ordinary people, who have career opportunities, have benefited from that. We can be critical, and we have to stand back and analyse the agendas, etc., but these are the basic facts for the ordinary people that the Deputy is supposed to represent.”
“-----to protect itself and to protect vital economic infrastructure. I do not know what the Deputy has against big tech in terms of its employment content. He seems to hate companies that employ thousands of people in this country. He seems to have an agenda against major companies that employ thousands of people. I do not agree with him. Last week, I was at Apple in Cork. It employs 6,000 people. I was a student in Cork in the 1980s when there was 17% unemployment. I witnessed all the companies-----”
“The ESRI was very clear that the two lowest deciles in income terms benefited most from the recent budget. In terms of the supports for children and those with disabilities, embedded policies and allocations in the social protection budget and investment in disability services, education and health were all designed for the long term to support those with disabilities. The idea that there is no money, as the Deputy said, is a complete untruth. Some €13 billion has been invested in education alone this year. This idea that there is no money for children and people with disabilities and that we are now going into full-scale funding for the arms industry is hyperbole and exaggeration beyond belief. The Deputy needs to cop on with this kind of nonsense and propagandising on what are very basic necessities for an island nation-----”
“There will be huge challenges because of the exponential rise in children this year, compared to last year or previous years, in the data that has come in, both for those who went before the deadline date and those after.”
“He did make a false assertion in terms of Government policy. I wanted to make it very clear to him and to the public that our story has been one of expansion in special education. Earlier this year, we brought forward the application date for schools and parents who require special education places for their children. The numbers have increased exponentially this year. Perhaps it is because of the earlier date or there may be other factors. It is over and above anything that was contemplated and, in particular, many more have come in post the October deadline. There is a constitutional right for every child to have a place in education. Our objective and obligation as a Government is to provide that place. There will be a need for more special classes.”
“Again, the Deputy is interrupting. The Government did not sign off on any memo or memorandum or any note saying that "X" hundred SNAs are going to be cut off. That is the reality. I established the system of SNAs and, yes, when I brought it in, the SNA was allocated to the child. The system grew and we brought in school-based allocations. I know all about that, but the school-based allocation is based on the need and particularly the special education need. It is based on the number of children that require a need and then there is a decision on the number of SNAs that a given school will get.”
“In the census of 2022, close to 11% - 10.8% - of children in Ireland were reported as having a disability. That compares to 6.4% in 2016. Those are significant factors and we acknowledge those. There is a lot of pressure on the system and we need to expand. When I said we did not sign off on this, no memo came before the Government saying we were going to cut SNAs in individual or specific schools. No memo came to the Government. None. It did not. Those are the facts.”
“The manifestation of that policy is that there were 16,420 SNAs in 2020, 17,921 in 2021, and this went up to 18,831 in 2022, 20,805 in 2023, 22,000 in 2024, 23,870 in 2025, and to over 25,000 in 2026. That is Government policy. That is what I signed off on. That is what all of us in Government signed off on in the Estimate that was agreed. In addition to that, staffing overall has gone up by about 27%. There are now 22,465 special education teachers in our system. In the past five years, we have provided an extra 16 special schools when there were none for the seven years prior to 2020. The story is one of expansion. The Deputy should at least acknowledge that. That is the point. Equally, the population identifying with a disability is growing. We need to expand to deal with the growing need.”
“Government policy has been to increase investment in special needs education and increase the number of SNAs. That is the policy. The manifestation of that policy is as follows: in 2020, 16,420 special needs-----”
“It has to be noted that the Deputy has objected to 3,000 apartments in the past while. That is her contribution to renters in this country and people who need housing. She has objected to 3,000 apartments.”
“-----to extend the existing permissions, to legislate to prevent issues and, of course, promising the sun. It is like the meeting with Davy Stockbrokers a year or two ago. Supply is the key. I am sure the Deputy would agree that supply is the key.”
“It is interesting. What were the matters discussed in his meeting with IBEC on behalf of the property industry? They were the introduction of incentives for investors to capitalise apartment construction-----”
“The Deputy's party has had a fair degree of engagement with the property industry over the past while. Deputy Ó Broin has been very active in meeting with IBEC, on behalf of Property Industry Ireland, with Hines real estate Ireland, the Construction Industry Federation, Glenveagh Homes, Vulcan Consulting and so on, and Property Industry Ireland.”
“I would have thought everyone in this House was agreeable to greater investment. Is é atá i gceist againn ná i bhfad níos mó tithe a thógáil sa tír seo agus tacaíocht agus cosaint a thabhairt do thionóntaí na tíre.”
“The State, which is allocating about €9 billion, is the main actor in the market at the moment, through supporting cost-rental and affordable housing and the building of public housing. The State is the main player in house building at the moment. The Department of Finance estimates that we need to spend about €20 billion per annum, between public and private sector investment, to get to that figure of 50,000 houses that the ESRI says we need. Some say we need even more. We have to have a balanced approach to protecting renters, particularly those in existing tenancies, and giving them greater protection in terms of security of tenure, but also then facilitating a far greater degree of construction, particularly in cities, of apartments because our density is not where it should be, in brownfield sites in particular.”
“There has been a lot of disquiet among many representing landlords around these changes. That has been articulated on quite a number of occasions. About 513,000 are people renting now in different categories, from the public to the private sector, but the tenancies of the more than 290,000 people who are currently renting will not be affected, and the Deputy knows that. That is the key element of this. Yes, we want to bring investment back into the market because we have not been building enough apartments to date. Supply is the key instrument we have to moderate rents in the medium term. Let us be under no illusion; we need more apartments and more housing. We got 36,000 houses built last year and we need to get to 50,000 per year.”
“There is security of tenure and the national regulation extending RPZs to the entire nation. Those involved in social policy and the academic world have acknowledged and articulated that this is a significant increase in rental protection. The Housing Commission called for this. The ESRI called for this. It was looking for a 4% cap on rents. That is what they recommended. We said no, and that we would go for 2% on that. This Bill will give far more legal protection to renters than they have ever had in the history of the State. That is the bottom line. It was interesting that quite a number of people representing property interests threatened constitutional action with regard to this Bill. They do not like the security of tenure and protections that are provided to renters.”
“All those renters in existing tenancies will have their rents increased by 2%, not 25%. Existing tenancies will not be impacted negatively as a result of the changes. The changes arose out of an analysis undertaken by the Housing Finance Agency. Why did it do an analysis? It did an analysis because the Housing Commission said we needed to create certainty, clarity and stability in the rental market for the long term and that there would be clarity around that. That is the fundamental issue. However, the Minister has balanced that with greater security of tenure for tenants with the six years, essentially ending no-fault eviction where a landlord can end a tenancy without the tenant having done anything wrong. That is a significant protection for tenants.”
“Overall, we have constraints but there has been a tremendous flourishing of writers and in the worlds of drama, film and music. We need to maintain, sustain and celebrate that. Britain has always created wonderful opportunities for Irish artists. I hate using the word "market" but it provides a very important opportunity for our creative people. It is very often a testing ground before we go further afield. Our relationship with the US is also important as regards the arts.”
“Over the past five years, we have invested very significantly in the creative industries and in the arts. This Government will continue to do that. I believe passionately in the arts. The arts have a central and civilising role within society. They create opportunities for analysis, reflection, critical inquiry and diversity. It is wonderful to witness the flowering of talent and ability from generation to generation. A new generation is coming on the scene. It was fantastic to see Jessie Buckley recently being awarded a BAFTA. I also think of the success of Cillian Murphy. I am sorry; I did not mean to knock over Deputy Dooley's notes. It was just a creative flourish. The basic income scheme is a first. It has not happened in every sector but it has happened in the arts sector.”
“The shared island initiative is the most substantive initiative in 50 or 60 years in terms of investment in Northern Ireland by a Government in the Republic. Those are facts. I get on with the pragmatic connecting of people in every aspect of life. It is not just about building roads, which we are doing, building bridges, which we are doing with the Narrow Water Bridge, or the Ulster Canal. It is about the investment in research. It is about the investment in Cuilcagh, for example, and geopark. It is about investment in Irish language in terms of different traditions of music. The musical archive has been a wonderful, funded project from the shared island initiative. A lot of people are responding very positively to it, without any prejudice to the constitutional future of the island, which is well laid out-----”
“The Department of Finance is working on it. It is meant to be developing a paper for us. I will pursue that with it. It is a fair point. On Deputy O'Hara's point, what I said as Gaeilge was that there was a lot more substance in the shared island project than the Sinn Féin platform. For decades, I have been listening to Sinn Féin saying that Government must do this and Government must do that. It has not even produced a paper. It has not produced a single paper on its vision other than slogans. The shared island-----”
“I do not think it is an either-or all the time. From an educational perspective, there are pluses and merits. In Cork, we have quite a number of full immersion and we have aonaid that have worked extremely well also. There is a strong tradition in our part of the country in the whole Gaelscolaíocht area and Gaelcholáistí. It has made a lot of progress. On Deputy Ó Murchú's point on taxation and remote working, it is an issue that we discussed recently in the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, group, which is the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, group of unions, IBEC and the Government. We meet regularly on labour market issues but we discussed this. This is an ongoing issue - the taxation treatment of workers North and South - and I am concerned about it. If I am honest, we have not made a whole of progress on it.”
“There is an application in for support. That is designed to capture exactly what the Deputy articulated regarding the story of Omeath, the Irish language and the migratory pathway to west Belfast. That would be very interesting. I presume the county council or somebody has submitted this and it can be covered. We will keep an eye out for that. That is exactly what was envisaged by the Shared Home Place initiative out of the shared island initiative. On Deputy Moynihan's point, the Welsh approach to the rejuvenation of the Welsh language is the gold standard template that we should all endeavour to emulate. We have, as a country, in terms of TG4, which was really inspired by Welsh TV. There is Raidió na Gaeltachta and the other initiatives we have taken. I fully support full immersion Gaelcholáistí but the aonaid have a place too.”
“Deputy McGreehan point was very interesting even though she did not get enough time to elaborate on it. I refer her to a shared island initiative called Shared Home Place.”
“Regarding Deputy Murphy's case, in many ways what that reveals too are the checks and balances within every political system and democracies. The authoritarian governments have been long established. There is increasing authoritarianism. In the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court ruled, so the checks and balances worked at the end of the day. That does not happen in every other country. There is a growth and increase in authoritarianism in countries like Hungary, Russia, Belarus and some African countries including the Sahel, where Russia has intervened and established essentially puppet governments. There have been coups d'état in these places, getting rid of democratically elected governments. The increase in authoritarianism is a worry.”
“It was young women as well, and children. The Deputy does not have a monopoly of horror on what happened. I will simply say that the law must take its course. There should be thorough and comprehensive investigations before we arrive at conclusions in terms of anyone else named in that. That is what is happening in the United Kingdom, although it is on a different issue in terms of material that emerged in respect of the former Prince Andrew and the former UK ambassador to the US and former Minister, Peter Mandelson, who have been arrested. It is a matter for the police forces to pursue that. In our view, that is what has to happen. There is no doubt that people are shocked about what has been revealed. There are more files to be revealed. The sooner that they are released in a wholly transparent manner the better.”
“On Deputy Coppinger's contribution, the one person who was convicted was Jeffrey Epstein, and rightly so in terms of the horrific crimes he was found guilty of. With others, such as Ghislaine Maxwell, it seems he ran a very depraved criminal network trafficking young women. The law must take its course on that.”
“As we continue preparations for the upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we are committed to working with all concerned to advance European Union-United Kingdom relations as set out in the common understanding agreed last May, recognising, in particular, the benefits that an sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, agreement will have for businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland. We further welcome the agreement of the EU security and defence partnership. We welcome the joint statement by the European Commission and the UK in December signalling their intention to reach agreement on SPS, emissions trading systems linkage and an EU-UK youth experience scheme by the time of the next EU-UK summit, which is due to be held later this year.”
“At the UK-Ireland summit held in Liverpool last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and I agreed a wide-ranging programme of new and enhanced strategic co-operation entitled UK-Ireland 2030, to be taken forward by both Governments through to 2030. At our meeting at Chequers in September, the Prime Minister and I discussed progress under UK-Ireland 2030 six months on from the summit. We discussed infrastructure delivery, protection of subsea infrastructure, emergency planning, cultural partnerships and achieving renewable energy targets including across this island, North and South, as areas of shared interest. The next UK-Ireland summit due to be held in Ireland next month will be a key opportunity to take stock of our bilateral relations and to identify areas for greater co-operation to benefit people across these islands.”
“British-Irish Council work sector groups are structured around three pillars, namely climate and decarbonisation, culture and heritage and economic and social inclusion, encompassing ten individual work sectors. Ministerial meetings in 2025 included one on transport in Belfast in April, an environmental ministerial in London in May and an early years ministerial in November. An energy work sector ministerial meeting hosted by the UK Government took place in London on 12 February. The meeting was co-chaired by the UK and Scottish Governments. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, represented the Government at that event. I look forward to attending the next British-Irish Council summit to be hosted in Guernsey later this year.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 31, inclusive, together. On 5 December, I attended the 44th British-Irish Council summit hosted by the Welsh Government in Hensol in Wales. The theme of the summit was a creative future and unlocking the potential of the creative industries across these island, with a particular focus on the screen sector. I was joined at the plenary by a number of Ministers. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I updated council members on latest political developments, including in regard to Ukraine and the Middle East. On the margins of the summit, I had bilateral meetings with United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, and deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, and Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, Alfred Cannan.”
“I will discuss that with the Minister for Health in order to see what we can do. Developmental checks are very important in terms of early diagnosis. We can prevent a lot if developmental checks are done earlier.”
“The idea is to take all of that out of the acute then. It is not to be an acute hospital; it is to be an elective hospital. Not all but much of the work will be day-case procedures. Deputy Heneghan welcomed a lot. Inevitably, however, when there is a welcome, there is a but. The Deputy wants a timeline - so the narrative goes on. I will follow through on that. We are committed to all of those projects. I will check with the Minister for Health about the matter raised by Deputy Mark Ward regarding developmental checks in Dublin Mid-West more generally. He said a lot of children are not getting them until many months later.”
“It took a bit longer than people anticipated in terms of getting the finances right, be it private sector capital or public sector capital or a marriage of the two, but now we have about 180 primary care centres, I think, as I outlined in my opening remarks, plus other forms of community centres and of healthcare. That is something we will continue to do. I am not clear as to the mixed messages regarding Merlin Park to which Deputy O'Hara referred. My understanding is that the elective unit is going ahead. The Government committed to elective units in Galway and in Cork. They are at various stages. I am keeping a bit of pressure on for both, as well as the two earmarked for Dublin. These are commitments I want to see honoured. The sites are there. They are State owned, which should facilitate the development of the elective hospitals.”
“We were talking about food and other stuff, and medicine has to go through the FDA and all sorts of other food safety authorities. This stuff gets on shelves very readily. It is doing terrible damage to our young people. The Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, is bringing forward legislation to ban the use of vapes for young people under 18 and other measures. We need to re-examine the whole area, because it is creeping back in. Deputy Geoghegan referred to the primary care centre in Rathmines. He is right; it will have a significant impact on that community. We will continue to invest in primary care centres. As I said earlier, there has been somewhat of a transformation.”
“We have to get tough again on tobacco. In the manifestation of all these new technologies, we are witnessing the revenge of tobacco following the smoking ban and other smoking cessation initiatives. The Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2002 was comprehensive. It was not just about the smoking ban; it was about getting rid of ten-packs and the sale of single cigarettes and putting cigarettes out of sight in shops in order that they were not next to confectionary items or children's sweets. In other words, it came down to denormalising tobacco. Vapes and other products constitute a counter-move aimed at renormalising tobacco. The health impacts are significant, serious and bad according to health experts. It bewilders me that products of this kind can get on the market without due diligence.”