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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“Capital funding of over €140 million has been used since that date - one is current and the other is capital - to provide state-of-the-art radiation oncology facilities in Cork and Galway and to establish a national cervical screening laboratory, and then to update cancer infrastructure and chemotherapy wards and lab facilities. In the past six years, the radiology training programme has grown by 32% and more than 20 additional radiology specialty training posts have been established in the last three years. New radiology posts will enhance the specialist care of many specialties, including cancer care. Budget 2025 included funding for five additional training specialist registrar posts along with four additional training posts.”
“First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I take the Deputy's overall point that there are challenges in terms of the European-wide supply chain issues here but also personnel. Globally, radiologists and radiation oncologists are in short supply and in high demand and that creates challenges. This may not be consolation but if you look at where we were ten years ago or 20 years ago as compared to where we are today, we have significantly improved but I do not in any way understate the challenges that lie ahead. Since 2017, approximately €105 million has been invested in the national cancer strategy.”
“We are part of the European Commission. We are part of the European Union. The big row and argument between the US and Europe is that the US thinks we are over-regulating. I do not think we are but that is the US's assertion, that Europe is over regulating in the digital space. The Commission has been very strong.”
“We will be examining all aspects of this, including the impacts and use of algorithms to direct people to certain areas. That clearly is an issue. In terms of legislation, that is already in place in the powers Coimisiún na Meán has. In terms Digital Services Act, in particular, we are in a position to hold platforms to account. The European Commission has launched investigations into the influence of these powerful algorithms, especially on young users online. The European Commission is already working on that aspect.”
“Oide technology in education provides professional learning for teachers and Webwise continues to lead on national awareness training, classroom resources on cyberbullying, image sharing, social media and emerging online risks. We have also acted to reduce mobile phone distraction and support student well-being during school day. We have introduced the full ban on personal phone use in primary schools and strict restrictions at post-primary level. I remember last year when the pouches were introduced, they were ridiculed in here. It was a classic Opposition response.”
“The digital age of majority must be considered across all member states to ensure harmonised protections under the Digital Services Act. We are also developing a secure privacy-focused approach to age verification and we are working to include age verification functionality in Ireland's digital wallet under the EU eIDAS project. That is about giving parents and young people a robust Government-backed mechanism to protect privacy. A large-scale pilot is planned for early next year. We are strengthening digital well-being and online safety supports in schools. We have updated our child protection procedures. There is a lot happening in education, to be fair. There is a digital strategy for schools up to 2027.”
“We have had to do this in the past to varying degrees in respect of other issues, be it drug addiction, alcohol addiction and so on. The most fundamental way of assisting society to cope is through very good policies at an early age and programmes from a psychological level which increase the self esteem of children to withstand and be resilient in the face of whatever comes at them in life subsequently. Of course, we can do much more than that. Curricular reform is happening. There are school level policies and so on. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, with Coimisiún na Meán, now have stronger powers. There are obligations around harmful content. Stronger age verification for adult material is very important and risk mitigation requirements are designed to protect children. At EU level, we are engaging.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. The Government is talking a whole-of-society and a whole-of-government approach to online safety, recognising the rapid pace of change in the digital world and also the need for very co-ordinated, robust and rights-respecting responses. That response spans regulation, education, parental supports, age verification measures, curriculum reforms and school-level policies. I am aware of that case yesterday and I heard reports in the media in relation to it. It does illustrate the enormous challenge and dangers here. Overall, we have to, through our education system, create a culture of strong self esteem and self respect among children from the earliest of ages.”
“People should not be shooting from the hip all the time. The current system is not fit for purpose. Many children will present with special needs from the earliest diagnosis, when it is very clear they have special needs. They do not need to go through elaborate further assessments of need before being allocated a school place. We do need to streamline this. Therapists need to be freed up to provide services, to engage. That is what we want here, not endless long lists of people stuck for six or 12 months. We have to do this. No matter what political perspective one holds the system has to be unblocked.”
“Fine. I welcome Deputy Kenny's turnaround and reverse within five minutes. As for the question, I did say that there will be assessment teams. Teachers will not be assessing. I would appreciate, if the INTO has issues, that it would engage with us and engage with the Department of education. Do not be shooting from the hip.”
“A new single point of access model from 2026 is being established - Bernard of Gloster and the HSE have led out on this - giving families one consistent entry route to primary care, CAMHS or the children's disability network teams. The Deputy knows that we are rolling out the education therapy service in 45 special schools from the new year, and then, for the 2026-27 academic year, all special schools will have an education therapy service.”
“There will be a new autism assessment and intervention pathways protocol from 5 February 2026, ensuring consistent practice across primary care, CAMHS and CDNTs, and removing the requirement for an assessment of need to access non-health supports, such as special classes and school places. We do not want children waiting to get into a special class or a school place where the need is obvious. We do not want delays. We want to get the child access to facilities and therapies immediately. There will be 11 new in-reach teams, with four staff in each team, to provide expert clinical guidance to the assessment staff.”
“There will be proportionate assessments based on each child's circumstances, including the use of existing diagnostic information or reports, allowing for streamlined, desk-based reviews, where appropriate; and faster delivery of assessment reports provided at the earliest possible point, without affecting anyone's right to an assessment of need and without changing the statutory timeframes set out in the Act itself. We will be doing a wider review of the Disability Act in early 2026 to ensure it reflects modern, rights-based child and adult-focused supports. A dedicated autism diagnostic assessment panel will be established.”
“We can go on here for another two years, with people coming in and complaining about this list and that waiting list, and they will keep on doing that - it is great stuff, wonderful - as the lists keep going up. The system is completely not fit for purpose. We want to utilise therapists to provide services to children, and we are going to do it. Bottom-line legislation is the first step, but there is a whole series of other measures that we are taking as well. That basically means we are creating statutory guidelines to support assessment officers in making earlier determinations of disability, reducing the need for unnecessary or repeated clinical assessments.”
“First, I reject completely the assertions made by the Deputy in respect of this. I think he is missing the fundamental point. The assessment of need framework as it currently stands is not fit for purpose, and recent High Court decisions have made it less fit for purpose. The objective of the legislation, along with a whole series of other measures, is to prioritise and increase timely access to therapies for children. That is the fundamental point: to free up therapists in providing services and treatment. The Department of education was intimately involved with the Department of children and other Departments under the Cabinet subcommittee on disability regarding this legislative change. We made a very clear decision early on in this Government that we were going to do this, and grasp the nettle in respect of it.”
“There needs to be an engagement between the Irish Pharmacy Union and the HSE on this, but it cannot be the case that every new system or modification of a system or approach is just agreed. That cannot be it either.”
“Hold on. I am not sure either that the State should be ponying up for everything here. There is no analysis by Deputy Doherty of both sides of this engagement. That is my point. There is too much of that in the House. The easy thing to go for is that the Government must pay for everything, no matter how it is presented or manifested. Deputy Doherty, even though he is finance spokesman, just casts aside any sense of controls whatsoever – “just let it rip” is his approach. We want to look after people with Alzheimer's and dementia, and we have done in this Government. We have done far more in the last number of years for dementia patients than was done in the previous decade or more. That is a fact.”
“I am sorry, this is the issue. Invariably Sinn Féin will come in another day and question Government about how the costs got out of control, value for money and so on. There has to be an engagement between the pharmacy sector and the HSE on these matters. Unfortunately in the Oireachtas from time to time, the Deputies opposite just blow all that out of the water and do not even allow interrogation of the issues. Government will interrogate this again with the HSE and others-----”
“Monitored dosing systems are ordinarily provided in one visit and packaged to indicate when a medication should be taken. The State had never agreed to monitored dosing systems and that was the context-----”
“Where a phased dispensing claim is submitted the current requirement is an item must be dispensed in the pharmacy across multiple supply occasions. Community pharmacies receive additional payments for phased dispensing. Monitored dosing systems, sometimes referred to as blister packs or compliance aids, are systems that enable the individual medicine doses to be organised according to the prescribed dose schedule. The HSE's contention is that monitored dosing systems and phased dispensing are two separate processes and that phased dispensing requires the patient to present to the pharmacy on multiple occasions in the month each week, as it would be unsafe for the patient to have the totality of their medication in one supply occasion.”
“Also, if you look at real wages and incomes, they are growing at approximately 3% per annum this year and we have targeted measures effectively on the cost-of-living side to support those most in need. On phased dispensing, we will certainly look at any situation where there is potential hardship on any patient or any person in receipt of medicine, but we have to be clear-eyed as well. The Deputy mentioned pharmacies and so on. There is an issue between the HSE and pharmacies in respect of the whole area of phased dispensing, which was introduced as far back as 1996 for patient safety reasons. The supply of medication in instalments can support patients prescribed certain high-risk medications who would be at risk of medication misadventure if these medications were supplied monthly.”
“It is without question and the Deputy just cannot get away with saying we are wilfully increasing costs all over the place as he just did. We are not. If you look over the last number of years, costs have come down in terms of State charges in respect of hospitals - acute hospitals, emergency departments - and in respect of medicine and the cost of medicine, particularly the DPS threshold and other bespoke interventions also. More generally on cost-of-living measures, in the budget we took measures to support families who are on low incomes in particular. The ESRI's evaluation of the budget bears that out in that the two lowest deciles gained the most in respect of the budgetary allocation.”
“First of all, tá an-chuid déanta i gcoitinne ag an Rialtas chun costais a bhaineann le cúrsaí leighis a ísliú. Tá sé sin déanta againn, go háirithe ó thaobh an drugs payment scheme. Tá an tairseach i bhfad níos fearr anois ná mar a bhí sé cúpla bliain ó shin. More generally on the cost of medicine, and particularly charges and so on, this Government has, over the last number of years, significantly reduced the cost of accessing medicine. The DPS threshold in particular has come significantly down, exceeding even commitments made in various manifestoes and so forth. That needs to be acknowledged, as does the abolition of charges in hospitals and so on, so without question right across the board we have reduced costs in the healthcare area.”
“There are existing systems to deal with that. The SEAI is there. There are various regulatory bodies to deal with the quality of materials, but I will talk to the Minister in respect of that. New bodies were set up after the defective blocks scheme. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised taxi regulation. I will talk to the Minister about the issues that the Deputy raised. There is a balance between consumers, those availing of taxis and the regulation of same. We had regulation a long time ago; it did not work. There was always an imbalance between supply and demand. I will look at this and will talk to the Minister for Transport in respect of it. He is fully aware of it.”
“Deputy Quaide raised the issue of counselling and psychotherapy. On qualification frameworks and regulators generally, we want more therapists, but they have to be highly qualified. Public health is number one and the protection of the consumer. In some instances, they can be quite protectionist as well. The judgment called for regulators and I would like CORU to get the judgment right in terms of not having the bar so high that there are only highly qualified, and others are not. That is not just in terms of therapy and counselling; that is in terms of teaching and a range of other issues. Deputy Conway-Walsh raised the regulation of quarries. I will talk to the Minister involved in that. We can overregulate too but I take the Deputy's point about the quality of aggregate and quality of the product.”
“Deputy O'Rourke raised regulation online. We have now established the regulatory framework governing online. There is ongoing review in respect of it. Children must be protected. That has to be the optimal. Deputy Coppinger raised healthcare assistants and family reunification. We have significant reunification in Ireland under our migration system, in particular when people leave direct provision who have residency. The Minister will bring forward legislation in respect of this and these are issues we can discuss in greater detail at that stage. On Deputy Murphy's point, I will talk to the Ministers responsible. There has to be proper regulation of management companies. There are fundamental rights involved in terms of those complexes. I will pursue that with the Minister and see where we are in terms of amendment to primary legislation.”
“Between 2019 and September 2025, the Government provided over €1.5 billion in support to homeowners for over 228,000 upgrades, including 30,000 fully funded retrofits under the warmer homes scheme. It is estimated that if a deep retrofit is done, it can save a household up to €1,100 per year in energy costs. I get the Deputy's point that the administration of it needs to be faster. There is also resource demand in respect of it as well with some people not being able to afford to do retrofits because of the cost. On Deputy Ó Murchú's issue, I do not have the specifics on Ardee Educate Together National School. I do not know what the interaction with the county council is, but in any event-----”
“The other issue is the sequential approach to planning and regulations as opposed to a concurrent approach whereby instead of waiting for the planning to be done, agencies do the procurement. Instead of waiting for environmental assessments, doing them all in parallel would speed up a lot of activity. In many instances, we are constantly looking at the avoidance of increased cost for SMEs and trying to slow down the increased costs that have come their way. It is interesting the rate of youth employment has crept up in the past six to nine months. I believe that is related to costs on SMEs. Deputy Dolan is correct that retrofitting is the most effective way to reduce costs.”
“Deputy McCormack raised infrastructure reform, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. Some of the measures we have taken in respect of deferring the alignment of the minimum wage with the national living wage will help to avoid the escalation of costs because the SME sector has borne the brunt of a lot of additional costs over the past five years. There is no doubt the reduction in VAT on hospitality will help a lot of SMEs in the hospitality sector and hairdressing as well. The number of sick days leave is going to be quickly expanded. We have expanded it to three days. The cumulative cost of everything has been fairly excessive. The Small Business Forum is there to try to balance imposition on small business as well as the cost.”
“The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is working on the simplification omnibus packages put forward by the European Commission in a range of policy areas, most recently the Commission's digital simplification omnibus package, which was published last month. My Department will play a co-ordinating role across these different regulatory reform initiatives, as outlined in the action plan on competitiveness and productivity, including the establishment of a central economic regulators' forum, and we will work with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and other Government colleagues on that agenda.”
“They are also necessary to support our citizens with top class public services, job security, access to housing and all other facilities necessary to enjoy the stability and good quality of life we are all entitled to expect. The actions are ambitious but achievable, and delivering them will require commitment and co-operation across a broad and diverse range of stakeholders, from political, legal and public sectors, industry and society as a whole. We have established a cost-of-business advisory forum where business owners and representative bodies can speak directly to decision-makers about the real-world impact of regulations, fees and operational challenges. The work of that forum is under way.”
“Increased regulatory burden has also been identified as a barrier to infrastructure development and delivery. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, supported by the work of the accelerating infrastructure task force, this morning, with Government colleagues including me, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, published a plan which will include extensive regulatory reforms aimed at accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure. Today's plan provides the blueprint to reduce complexity and blockages in the system and deliver infrastructure with urgency. The changes we are initiating today are vital if we are to maintain our competitive position in an ever uncertain world.”
“The action plan includes actions across government to ensure the development of a more effective regulatory system which will support economic growth. These actions reflect priority areas where targeted public policy intervention can have the greatest impact. These include a red-tape challenge to reduce regulation for SMEs; the application of the SME test by Government Departments to all measures, in particular policy initiatives where it is proposed to increase costs on small businesses; expediting the Environmental (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill; commencing reforms, as we have done, under the Planning and Development Act 2024 to enhance delivery of infrastructure; and implementing the outstanding recommendations from the review of the administration of civil justice review group report.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 23, inclusive, together. Regulation, and the extent of any regulatory or administrative burden, has recently become a greater focus at European Union level and nationally as a means to further enhance competitiveness. At a European level, both simplification and implementation are important Commission priorities. The Commission is striving to simplify and lighten the administrative burden of European Union regulations to ensure they are proportionate, stable, coherent and technologically neutral. Likewise, our national regulatory framework is a central focus for the Government as we strive to support competitiveness at a time of international economic uncertainty. In line with the programme for Government, we published an action plan on competitiveness and productivity on 10 September this year.”
“Intelligence services sharing information about terrorists or potential attacks is co-operation. There should be no big deal about co-operation. By the way, on the origin of our neutrality, it was not an anti-imperialist origin. In fact, at the consultative forum, there was a very good seminar on our neutrality and its origins. Obviously, the Second World War was at the core. We were neutral in not having issues with Britain and the occupation of Northern Ireland and so on, but the more fundamental issue was that it was a neutrality of survival. No one was in a position to defend Ireland in 1939, 1940 or 1941. There were good presentations made at that consultative forum but Deputy Murphy boycotted it because he felt it was not worthwhile. It would have been informative had he gone. It would have provided a more nuanced view-----”
“It absolutely makes sense that we co-operate very closely with the United Kingdom on the gas connectors, for example. Those are a huge security vulnerability for both the UK and Ireland, but particularly for Ireland. Within a week, our economy would come to a standstill if anything untoward were to happen to those interconnectors. I hope the Deputy would agree that we should have close defence co-operation for our economic security, in particular, and for our subsea cables. That will mean a lot of technological co-operation. When a Russian shadow fleet crosses over those pipes or subsea cables, very often divers have to go down and check that the pipes are okay. That is co-operation. Letting people know that somebody who might be up to not good is in your terrain is co-operation.”
“The UK has had challenges on both sides of the political spectrum in respect of protests and the nature of those protests. I dealt with the points raised by Deputy Shane Moynihan about Operation Denton. The Sudan issue is one I have raised consistently with leaders, including publicly, at the G20 summit and at the Africa-European Union summit. It is catastrophic. It rarely gets mentioned in this House, but 12 million people have been displaced. Genocide against the civilian population is happening there. Some of the rebel forces are being supported by neighbouring countries with arms and so forth. To respond to Deputy Conway-Walsh, the framework is Article 2 compliant. It is far stronger than its predecessor as a legacy Bill. Deputy Murphy raised the new co-operation agreement.”
“Under the shared island initiative, we are trying to do specific projects and programmes, for example in paediatric and cardiovascular health, cardiac surgery and the cancer centre at Altnagelvin hospital. Those are good programmes that have worked very well. Deputy Quaide referred to Prime Minister Starmer. I do not see him as an authoritarian person when I meet him. I spoke about the continuum of protest. I am not au fait with British security services or why they came to do what they did in respect of Palestine Action. We have proceeded differently in this country. When I meet Prime Minister Starmer, I will have an opportunity to deal fundamentally with a range of issues although we cannot deal with every single issue.”
“By the way, I object, like the Deputy does, to Israel's consistent messaging that if you are not onside, you are offside or antisemitic. That is wrong. You are entitled to be against Israeli Government policy and criticise it and not be labelled antisemitic. That is absolutely correct and I support it. Deputy Tóibín should talk to his former colleagues in Sinn Féin in earnest and engage with them on the health services in Northern Ireland. That is one issue. There are broader problems with the National Health Service generally, but there are real issues in Northern Ireland. There is no question about the pressures on the health service there.”
“I will come to that. On Deputy Boyd Barrett's question, there is no relationship between the strategy and policy of the Israeli Government and my views on the renaming of Herzog Park. I have a very basic view. Throughout the history of the State, there have been namings and renamings. I am, and have been, a student of history and I taught students. I always showed them that the names of parks could be the remnants of empire or anything, but they are windows to explain the history of a given subject or personality. If we keep shutting down everything that is named after somebody, there will be no history left.”
“That is history. Protests happen, and I have no issue with that, but there is a continuum. I will take the Ceann Comhairle's advice. To Deputy Ó Murchú, I have dealt with some of the legacy issues, which Deputy Conway-Walsh also raised. I will talk to Queen's University on that point. In terms of the Dundalk bombing and the Glennane gang, I hope Operation Denton will shed light on that.”
“The Deputy can do that. Joe Duffy was put in prison as a result of that protest. It was to do with medical cards. There you are now. Students in this country automatically had medical cards at one time. That was taken away in the eighties. The point is that legitimate protests-----”
“-----because people's livelihood depends on it. Eighty per cent of trade in this country goes through Dublin Port. Having a problem with a company is not a justification, in my view, for disrupting the entire port. I have no problem having a debate. I participated in protests as a student. I think student protests are important.”
“It was a legitimate consultation. If the Deputy believes in freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, what he and like-minded people were about was stopping that from even happening. They never complain about that. It is fair play for them to do that. There is balance here.”
“A lot of protests have crossed the line, in my opinion, with a view to stopping things happening. During a consultative forum on security challenges that I hosted as Minister for foreign affairs two years ago, the protests at that were not about protests. They were deliberately calculated to disrupt the event.”
“Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of Saoirse Wagner and asked me to talk to the Queen's University authorities. The right to protest is sacrosanct. A number of Deputies have raised this issue. Sometimes protests impede other people from doing their normal work, which is a problem. People are entitled to protest. When the war in Gaza started, I was addressing a group of 100 law students, but the objective of a protest was to stop me and to interfere with the exercise and engagement with about 100 law students. People were shouting internally, security asked them to leave and eventually they did. I was in no doubt that the whole purpose was that I would not have that engagement. Where is the balance of rights there in terms of my freedom to speak as a public representative or the freedom of people in the community to hear me?”
“Unionist communities in the North have always had a view. We did the Smithwick tribunal and we dealt with it quickly as part of the commitment of earlier agreements, but we do also have to be upfront in terms of the legacy framework and respond properly and comprehensively in relation to that. I say to Deputy Ó Murchú and all those concerned about legacy that it is not about British state violence alone. It is about that, but it is also about the role of the paramilitaries, such as the Provisional IRA. I have met families of victims who have had no closure at all in terms of atrocities committed by the Provisional IRA or the Ulster loyalist groups. The focus has to be broad-based. There is an opportunity in this legacy framework to give closure to families once and for all, after decades of a lack of closure.”
“As part of the framework agreement, the British Government has, with speed, produced its legislation. That demonstrates the seriousness with which it is approaching this essential work. We are also producing legislation once the UK legislation is enacted. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has said he is hopeful the general scheme of the Bill will be published in April or May of next year. Enabling reciprocal co-operation between the two jurisdictions is at the heart of the agreed joint framework on legacy. Additionally, as part of the joint framework agreement, the Garda Commissioner has agreed to the establishment by the end of this year of a dedicated unit as a central point of contact in relation to Troubles-related investigations undertaken by An Garda Síochána. That is an important step forward.”
“From our perspective, it is important that the Denton report may shed some light on the Monaghan bombing and related issues Deputy Ó Murchú raised. This is relevant also to the activities of the Glennane gang and we eagerly await its publication. Operation Kenova was quite good, in my view, particularly in terms of the victims, who were very impressed with Jon Boutcher when he was in charge of Kenova. They articulated to me that he was one of the first people they met who understood where the families of the victims are coming from. Deputy Moynihan also raised legacy. We have responsibilities in our jurisdiction. If assertions are made about us, we need to robustly deal with them, but the most effective way to do it is to make sure we respond properly to legacy.”
“I thank all of the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Smith was the first to raise the issue of legacy. I believe there is a sincere commitment on behalf of the British Government as to the implementation of the legacy framework. That is shared by Prime Minister Starmer and, indeed, Secretary of State Hilary Benn, who has acted honourably in all of the negotiations and discussions in respect of the legacy framework. I visited Chequers last September specifically on legacy, along with other issues. It was important to meet with Keir Starmer on that. He has experience of the North from a former role there. I know the Deputy has been a strong advocate on Belturbet and Monaghan and Dublin.”