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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“That is all I am saying. I just think that there is too much of that going on. The Catherine Day report was based on the premise of 3,500 people coming in through the asylum programme on a yearly basis. That went up to 18,000 last year. It is down by close to 40% this year. There are issues around the asylum process. There is no point in saying there are not - there are. We have to have a robust and fair procedure. The acceleration of the first phase has happened and is happening. People are getting through the first phase of their applications and then they go and appeal. The focus is now on getting the appeals side done much faster so that we can get an outcome. A significant percentage of those who go through the whole process are judged to be economic migrants as opposed to those seeking refuge in accordance with the Acts and so on.”
“I did not. This pejorative language, this attempt to label people, is a problem in the House. The left will condemn the far right and so on but it is not even prepared to allow people to have a discussion in the House on these issues. I think what they are doing is counterproductive, that is all I would say. I think it is counterproductive to shut down debate. I believe debate should be informed and evidence-based, but you cannot shut it down.”
“It is drawn to the attention of the authorities when there is an unaccompanied minor. They could be 17, 18, 19 or 20. They could be 15 or 14. I put it to the Deputy that people acted in good faith here and with the best intentions. What happened to that poor young child was horrific and shocking. There is no question about that. All I am simply saying is that the immediate rush to judgment and to attempt to blame is, I think, wrong. To respond to Deputy Mark Ward, I will talk to the Minister about Balgaddy. I think the Deputy raised it with the Commissioner. I think the Commissioner will act on that. The Deputy has properly raised the concerns of the community in terms of the need for visibility of gardaí but also the open drug scenarios that he has outlined and articulated. Again, I think Deputy Quaide's language was wrong.”
“There are policies that the Minister is certainly responsible for, but we sometimes also have to accept that people act in good faith. That is what I am saying. We should not rush to judgment against Tusla officials.”
“There is a worry that, in trying to do the right thing - in this case, Tusla was doing the right thing - in creating emergency accommodation for unaccompanied minors to try to help, that is vulnerable to some adults in terms of ascertaining age and so on if someone is unaccompanied. I am not saying yet that that happened in this case because I have to await the outcome of the case, but it is not fair to blame Tusla entirely for everything to do with situations like this. That is too easy. Deputy Tóibín took exception to Deputy Coppinger's comments about the Aontú youth WhatsApp group but he did the exact same thing in dragging the Minister into it straight away.”
“Again, the Deputy has to be careful with his language because he immediately went on to say that the Minister had questions to answer. There is an issue - the Deputy is right - for the international asylum process. I have to be careful in what I say but it seems that, on some occasions, adults can present as minors. However, it is almost impossible for someone in Tusla to tell. It should be remembered that this is not State care. The alternative here would be to allow people to roam the streets or to be on the street. What happened here involved that emergency accommodation for unaccompanied minors, insofar as Tusla could ascertain that they were unaccompanied minors. This is a general trend.”
“Many are involved in the health services, technology companies, life sciences, hospitals, you name it. As was articulated earlier, many have lived here long enough that their children are growing up here. Those children are now facing challenges, notwithstanding that they are Irish citizens. They feel that, because of their ethnic background, they are being targeted by people. That is reprehensible and we need to be very clear about that and call that out. I have met with young people who have told me about their experiences of coming home from school or of being afraid to go into town because of their ethnic backgrounds. That is a real concern for us as a society. I think it is foreign to the values of our country and our people. Deputy Tóibín raised the issue of the young Ukrainian killed in Tusla accommodation.”
“There is no excuse for an armed group being established. We cannot blame politicians for people who take it upon themselves to set up an armed group and procure weapons and bombs. It is wrong to blame politicians for that. I would simply make that point. That said, the campaign of, in certain respects, far-right terror is a worry. There is no doubt about that. Threats to politicians have increased. Politicians have been threatened by people on that spectrum, so we have to be very careful. I take the Deputy's point about care around language and how we deal with the migration issue, because migration is a very broad church. Migration has been good for the country. Many people have come to this country to work, to live and to rear families.”
“There is no doubt that there has been an increase in violent far-right activity and threatening activity. We should allow the investigation to conclude and we have to allow the criminal justice system to take its course. We do not want to prejudice the outcome of any criminal justice processes. I am conscious that this may end up in the courts. It is a very worrying and alarming development. I take issue with the Deputy saying politicians are somehow legitimising that. That is a step too far in her commentary. It is very unfair to politicians, irrespective of people’s views. That remark should be withdrawn because there is no excuse-----”
“That reflects the increase in numbers coming through our courts charged with serious offences. The Minister is looking at all avenues of how to deal with the overcrowding issue. He has already received sanction in terms of capital investment for extensions, particularly that at Cork Prison. Deputy Ó Murchú also talked about the chaos that occurs in communities because of drug trafficking and the impact of drug crime. He is correct in saying it needs multi-agency interventions. I agree 100% on that, and I have dealt with some of the answers in my replies to Deputies Ardagh and Brabazon. Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of violent extremist groups in terms of a Garda investigation. I commend gardaí in the first instance for the work they are doing here.”
“This is where adults are grooming young people for a life of crime and where we would target those adults and punish them accordingly via the criminal justice system. There was a common thread through many of the questions about drug trafficking and the use of young people in that regard. This is something we have to work extremely hard to deal with and to reduce significantly. Deputy O’Sullivan referred to Cork Prison. It is overcrowded. The inspector said that. The Minister for justice has received sanction from the Cabinet to build an extension. It has had a mixed reception, but there is no doubt that the current numbers at the prison are not tenable. It is an issue of safety. I will talk to the Minister about the timelines, but there is certainly a huge issue not just with Cork Prison but across the prison system.”
“Their self-esteem deteriorates, which leads to mental health issues and, ultimately, the horror of suicide itself. The figures the Deputy provided on the rate of suicide among Travellers compared with the rate among the wider population are shocking. I will talk to the Ministers involved again in respect of that matter. Deputy Brabazon raised the issue of young people, drugs and drug distribution, scooters and so on. I will check with the Minister for Justice regarding the Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act. That came from former Deputy John Curran, who initiated it some years ago from the Opposition benches. It eventually came through and was passed, but Deputy Brabazon’s point is to what degree is it being enforced and whether it has teeth and an impact.”
“There is very strong merit in what the Deputy says. I will speak to Ministers about the issue. Deputy Connolly raised a serious and grave issue. He met with representatives from Exchange House Ireland recently to discuss Travellers and the high rate of suicide among them. I met the Traveller Visibility Group in Cork. It was some years ago, to be frank, but up on the wall were portraits of so many young Travellers who had lost their lives through suicide. There is a specific issue here that demands a specific response from our health service. I will be meeting again with Traveller organisations in respect of this matter, but the degree to which many young Travellers at a certain age or level feel they are othered or outside of society and on the margins is worrying.”
“I am genuinely shocked at the lack of provision in the Dublin City Council area and Dublin more generally in terms of sports facilities. Around the country, it is not uncommon for clubs to get 100-year leases, or sometimes councils will dispose land to clubs of various sporting codes with a view to affirming the importance of the development of sport. I have noticed on my travels around Dublin that there seem to be a lot of restrictive approaches to allowing clubs to fully develop facilities in their areas. That is an issue we have to take up with the councils in Dublin, and Government has to take a lead in that respect. In the Deputy’s area, there is a real crisis. I might have to look in more detail at some schools facilities to try to have them for community use as well, which happens in some areas.”
“We are working to reincarnate, if you like, the RAPID programme we had in a previous era, which basically prioritised areas in terms of allocations to sporting facilities. This means that under the sports grants, for example, certain areas would get prioritisation in terms of sports facilities. Clubs and societies in such areas would also get priority. Likewise, things were done through education and targeted measures, and sometimes combining sport with education to provide first-class facilities in such locations. I fully take on board what Deputy Ardagh is saying about the absence of sporting facilities in the south-east inner city. When I was Minister for Defence, I was anxious to make the pitch the Army has at Cathal Brugha Barracks available to the GAA club there that had been using it for quite some time.”
“That was a lengthy list of questions from quite a number of Deputies. Deputy Ardagh was first into the fray. I agree with her and will talk to Minister for justice and other Ministers in respect of a dedicated safe inner city initiative, particularly as some of the ideas outlined were implemented in the north-east inner city at the time of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The impact of that feud on children in particular was very severe, so a series of measures were taken, via multidisciplinary agencies, the Garda, education and early childhood facilities, which have proven to be quite effective. There was the impact of the drug issue and young people being lured away from education into the world of distributing drugs. They were getting ready cash, which sounds attractive, but which, of course, ruined their lives in the long term.”
“There are more than 530 garda diversity officers nationwide. Their role includes overcoming communication barriers with those from diverse backgrounds through active engagement, open dialogue and collaboration. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.”
“Among other items, it also oversees the development and delivery of the whole-of-government response to migration and integration, including through a national migration and integration strategy. The Government is determined to eliminate hate-motivated crime and protect vulnerable communities. Attacks on migrant communities, whether physical, verbal or online, are utterly unacceptable. Everyone has the right to live safely, free from intimidation or abuse regardless of background. Under the recently amended Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024, any assault motivated by hatred will, on conviction, result in a more severe sentence than before. Every hate crime reported to An Garda Síochána is professionally investigated and victims are supported during the criminal justice process.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 17, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that relate to matters under these headings. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs had its first meeting on 10 April and met most recently last week. The Cabinet committee covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; policing and justice reform; migration; and initiatives tackling local area disadvantage.”
“First, no workers should be harassed. I hope that is not the case in Dublin Bus but I will have the matter examined. I will talk to the Minister involved in terms of the specific issue. This is, of course, the industrial relations machinery available to resolve these issues but I will talk to the Minister and have the matter examined.”
“Again, that is an issue which has to be resolved at the local authority level. If the Deputy can give me some further material on that - I am obviously not aware of the individual case - we can examine it and see what the situation is.”
“There is flexibility in the workplace in the current era compared with any other previous era. Many companies are still working through the aftermath of Covid. Many good practices have emerged. Some have been reviewed. At company level, there is a legislative framework governing the right to seek to work remotely. It is within that framework that I think companies to work with their employees with a view to getting satisfactory practices in place. Not every industry can facilitate remote or hybrid working but some can and do. Flexibility is key to recruitment now. If a company is not flexible, it may not get the human capital it requires.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising a very serious issue. It is a distressing and devastating issue for all those who have been victims, essentially, of the activity and business of this company. Deputy McCormack also raised this publicly. As the Deputy said, there are issues for the workers. We will do everything we can through State agencies to be of assistance to the workers. There are issues of self-employed contractors who are owed money and then customers in terms of confidence and getting the packages supplied to them. We will continue to work with the Ministers involved, particularly in the transport area, to see what more we can do to help the workers and the self-employed contractors concerned.”
“This Government is very serious about investing in road projects. The sectoral plan from the national development plan in transport will be very comprehensive and substantial. Investment has already been allocated to the Kilmeaden to Carrolls Cross stretch. That should be acknowledged. More generally, there has never been the level of investment in our roads in the history of the State that we have allocated through the national development plan and in this budget.”
“No one is being treated as a second-class citizen. Enormous resources have been committed and are currently being spent on the remediation scheme in Donegal, Mayo and elsewhere. That will continue. The legislation in relation to all of this is imminent.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister for housing and the Minister of State in that Department are examining that issue of the guidelines for rural planning. Obviously, it can make a contribution to the housing issue - there is no question about that. There are issues that have to be resolved, but I know the Minister is actively working on the matter.”
“We will deal with it. In terms of the energy reserve, the Deputy is also wrong. It is a security imperative that we develop an LNG facility. We are dependent on two connectors, which are vulnerable from a security perspective.”
“Yes, we are, but these are legally binding targets that both the Government and Europe have imposed. I would argue that the last Government did more than previous Governments in moving this forward and step-changing the nature of the response, but it is very challenging. I disagree with the Deputy's analysis. He disparagingly referred to tech companies. Tech companies in this country put bread on the table of many families. We are talking about workers here. We are not in thrall to any company or corporate headquarters but I do value the thousands of jobs-----”
“The model has to change as well in terms of how services are structured and provided. The HSE did develop a primary care intervention targeted approach in respect of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. It needs to do it now, and it is going to embark on one for psychology as well.”
“Just a minute. It is not just more, more, more from the State. People have to look radically at this. Professional bodies have to look at it, in terms of how people are assessed and dealt with and how services are provided, because the number of therapists has increased with recruitment and so on. We are open to doing more, and we have provided more funding for more.”
“I hope I am wrong on that but that is my perception. Some of the inexplicable delays for people who are well qualified and have operated in similar environments are not acceptable, given the scale of the waiting lists that we have.”
“The situation is unacceptable. I agree with the Deputy's approach in respect of the professional bodies and CORU. People who are trained in the UK or across Europe should be accelerated. The Minister has had an engagement with CORU in respect of therapies and the professional bodies. The professional bodies also need to look in a realistic way at the thresholds, so it should not need a PhD-based qualification to deal with the primary care scenario. Master's degree levels should be sufficient in my view. This is something on which the Minister is going to engage with the professional bodies, including the Psychological Society of Ireland and others. Historically, there has tended to be a protectionist strain within professional bodies more generally, and that is something that we need to address.”
“The key to this is housing supply. Our initiatives since the beginning of the year have been designed to get more houses built more quickly. The rate of increase is in decline, but that is not enough. We need far more supply to deal with the rental issue. Some positive news is that the percentage of first-time buyers has been steadily increasing, as I said, from about 23% of all household buyers in 2015 to 35% in August of this year. We want to continue that momentum. If we look at the situation internationally, right across Europe and the globe, there are housing crises more generally. That is the case in any of the major cities across Europe. We would probably rank in the top three European countries in terms of investment in construction. That is the key. We have to build more houses faster.”
“Mechanisms are being looked at between the Minister for higher education and the Minister for Finance in respect of that and good progress is being made. Along with the housing strategy in due course, and very quickly thereafter, there will be a strategy in terms of student accommodation also.”
“The publication of a strategic student accommodation approach or strategy is imminent. The Minister took it to the Cabinet subcommittee recently. It involves looking at the specific issue of how we can give capacity to the technological universities in particular to facilitate the development of student accommodation, either on the site that they may have, adjacent or wherever. The Minister has quite innovative approaches, which will draw on the need for the private sector to be involved. The scale of what is required will need private sector engagement and involvement. Again, we acknowledge that there has been a historic challenge to technological universities because they never had borrowing capacity.”
“There are 30,000 students living 30 km from campus. They receive higher non-adjacent SUSI payments as well. That is up. Then we have to look at the postgraduate students-----”
“We simply have to really double down and reinforce our own capacity to develop our own indigenous industries and also to attract investment in respect of life sciences, renewable energy, technology and AI more generally. Then we have to invest in apprenticeships and skills. Really significant progress has been made over the last number of years. Combining that with the R and D tax credit, that is effective. In terms of supports for students and families, there was a €500 real cut this year. The cost of living measure was just a two-year provision right across the board, but we have embedded €500 of that cut to the student contribution fee. That is permanent. There is a higher SUSI income threshold as well now. It is now €120,000, the highest ever, extending support to thousands more families.”
“I am very keen that we would step-change our investment in research, which is key for students themselves, but also for society and for the economy in terms of having really high-level, quality research activities in our universities that provide solutions to world problems but also then act as a very significant catalyst for new industries, new products and services. We did this before in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We are determined to do it again. Already as a result of this budget, there is about €425 million in research and innovation in the 2026 budget. That is part of a €2.3 billion NDP allocation. We have to do it, given what is happening in America, tariffs and everything, and threats to established ways of working.”
“If we had had Deputy Boyd Barrett at the time, we probably would have had a more effective protest. Welcome back. In any event, I think the third level education situation has a broad range of issues. First of all, we have to have really sufficient funding and core funding so that the quality of third level education is high and that it rates internationally. That is very important. There have been, to be fair on the last Government and this Government, sustained increases in the core funding of higher education over three budgets now, a total of €164 million. In addition, additional Exchequer employer contributions have been secured, a further €100 million per annum committed to by 2030. That came out of that report some years ago. The other key area is in terms of research.”
“We set up our own coffee operation and we realised that there were very high margins in coffee - that was a take-away - and tea. I do not want to be promoting any more of this kind of activity but, anyway, the company was not too impressed. I can see Richard is nodding in agreement.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I do remember my days in the Kampus Kitchen. Actually in the students union, we led a protest when there was an increase in the price of coffee, even though I did not drink coffee, but it did not stop us having a great time having a protest.”
“It probably would be an unfair characterisation to say the task force is full of insiders. The Minister of State has just informed me that about five councillors are on the task force. They were nominated by the representative bodies of councillors. There will be a serious, genuine and substantive look at the issue. It will then fall to the Government to act on the report. As I have said, I would like to see this happen in new areas where there has been significant growth in population and in historic areas where people were very aggrieved by the removal of the borough councils. As I say, whatever happens will have to be integrated into the area council format or will have to take cognisance of that. The latter is something I am sure the task force is looking at as well.”
“I could never understand the negativity in some quarters towards councils. I was a bit frustrated at the decision by my good colleague - and I have great respect for him - former Deputy and Minister Brendan Howlin. As soon as he left the Department, he had regrets about the decision. That said, it is important that he has said that he thinks it was not a great idea. The latter is important because he is somebody who has been through both sides of it. The task force will be reporting in the first quarter of next year. There has been stakeholder consultation. I take the Deputy’s point about public consultation. We might ask the task force to have a look at that. It is examining structures, functions and the financing of local government. I take on board the Deputy's bona fides in the context of what he is saying.”
“-----municipal districts. That is an issue that has to be factored into whatever we do. I do favour at least establishing a pilot programme whereby we look at certain areas of population of a certain scale where we could reintroduce councils. We talk about connection to people and we talk about democracy. The town councils were that connection. I was in some places recently where flooding had taken place. The absence of a town council and a basic administrative capacity was sorely felt over the past number of years in terms of resources being readily available in a given town if flooding occurred. More importantly, these councils are a way of bringing people into politics at a particular level. People can graduate to county councils or the Dáil subsequently. It is about civic participation in society and in our communities.”
“I thank the Deputy very much for raising an important issue that is close to my heart. At the time, I opposed the abolition of town and borough councils. As a democrat, I believe in fundamental layers of democracy. Town councils played a very effective and impactful role in their day. In the first instance, they were a channel for people to get involved in communities and politics and to outline plans and visions for their towns. As Deputy Healy says, in Clonmel and all across the country we have very good examples, including in Clonakilty, Kinsale and Dungarvan. They were all effective. The problem is that when the system gets rid of something, the system then has to be dragged kicking and screaming to re-establish it. We have set up the task force because in the intervening period what replaced the town councils were the area-----”
“I have never said we would be shelving any climate projects, but I did say we should not attempt to litigate our way out of climate change because we would divide society. We will develop a counter-reaction to the changes that are required to meet our climate change targets. Maybe I was picked up wrong, but I have been saying this for quite some time. The legal route will be the ruination of the consensus that we have created in society around the need to tackle climate change. That is the view I have. There are certain people out there who feel that it is all in the courts and that we should drag people kicking and screaming through the court system. I can guarantee the Deputy that will not work. It will not work in farming. We have to bring the farming community with us. They have a lifetime of involvement in the food production system.”
“I hope that when it comes to the offshore wind agenda, we do not see objections to it because it is vital to the climate change agenda in this country, emissions reductions and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels, which is driving up costs and causing real challenges for us.”
“The next big step change has to be offshore wind generation. We are pushing as fast and as best we can. I will come back to that in a moment. I have established a clearing house. This means bringing industry in to meet with Government Departments in a committee structure to make sure we can remove barriers and accelerate the development of offshore wind in line with the designated maritime area plans, DMAPs, proper procedures and so forth. Wastewater is very important in terms of a clean environment, water quality and so on, and yet a great many people are opposing wastewater treatment plants, including some from the environmental sector. It beggars belief when you think about it. The objective is to clean the water before it goes into our rivers and seas and yet there are interminable delays because of judicial reviews. That is a factor.”
“We also put carbon tax into legislation and have utilised it to address fuel poverty, to help develop better sustainable farming methods for the farming community and for the retrofitting programme, which has been quite extensive. To give an example, onshore wind energy provided 48% of Ireland's power last February. Last January, Ireland reached the important milestone of hitting 5 GW of installed onshore wind capacity. In 2023, Ireland was ranked second in the world for onshore wind generation. You will never hear the Opposition acknowledge that. It is as if we are doing nothing. Huge strides are being made. A revolution has happened in terms of onshore wind. The Deputy is correct that we need more new technologies and innovation but we are seen as one of the best in terms of integrating renewables into the grid. That is a good thing.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is an existential issue facing humankind. I also welcome her mother, Madeline, and her good friends to the Chamber. I hope they have a very enjoyable day. I will also take this opportunity to wish President Connolly the very best of success in her role as President of Ireland, as we did yesterday. I fully concur with the objective of addressing the issue of climate change. I have no issue with being overly critical. The last Government actually did engineer a step change in terms of the Government response to climate change. We provided a legislative template. That is very challenging and I do not doubt that. We also undertook a range of initiatives in areas such as offshore renewables, electric vehicles, retrofitting, better environmental practices in farming and utilising carbon tax revenue.”