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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“We have over 190,000 workers in the construction sector. That is up by about 45,000 since 2019, so there has been huge work done in terms of the human resources requirement for house construction. I was on a housing site last week in Ballyvolane in Cork. They are now building the houses within a nine-week timeframe because of the infrastructure work that went in there about two years ago. Up to 800 houses will be delivered on that site, through timber frame and modern methods of construction, utilising the Enterprise Ireland framework and programme. There is huge progress being made, but it is not enough. The population has grown exponentially. We acknowledge that. We need to remove barriers and bottlenecks to infrastructural development, which we will do. We need the support of those opposite in that regard.”
“The State on its own cannot provide that €20 billion. We need additionality to the public sector spend from the private sector as well. I know the Deputy disagrees with that but I see no proposals from her that would in any way reach the €20 billion to enable us to get to 60,000 houses per annum.”
“A very structured, fundamental and strategic approach has been adopted by the Government. An unprecedented amount of public money is going into housing in terms of the unprecedented amount of money going into the infrastructure that will enable more housing. We also want to bring on board significant activity from the private sector to complement the work of the public sector. All of those strands are required to deal with the housing crisis. An eviction ban will not deal with the housing crisis. Measures the Deputy has advocated in the past would seek to undermine any potential of any private sector investment coming into the market and we need private sector investment. It is estimated by the Department of Finance that we need about €20 billion per year to meet the required number of houses.”
“The percentage of drawdown of first-time mortgages has risen significantly, to about 35%, from about 23% in 2015. There has been real activity in terms of enabling people to purchase homes but it simply is not enough and we have a lot more to do. There is no question about that. We need to get from 33,000 to 35,000 homes to 50,000 to 60,000 homes per annum. That is the bottom line. We need both the public sector and the private sector. We also need unprecedented investment in infrastructure. If you look at what we have allocated through the public capital investment programme and the off-balance sheet procurement of finance by the State agencies on the energy side, you are looking at an investment of about €54 billion in transport, energy and water. All of that investment will enable more housing.”
“First of all, I fundamentally disagree with the positioning of the Deputy in respect of the housing issue, which is the number one priority facing our country, particularly young people. Progress was made under Housing for All and the targets outlined in it were achieved, despite commentary to the contrary. Over 137,000 houses have been built since Housing for All was published, with €14 billion in terms of capital Exchequer funding allocated. Some 59,000 households have purchased their first home through the help to buy scheme. That is people out there in the private market. Another 8,400 have done so through the first home scheme, which I understand the Deputy opposed. These are real people out there who were able to buy their home because of access to the help to buy scheme and the first home scheme.”
“All disclosures received by a Minister or Minister of State must be transmitted to the protected disclosures commissioner within ten calendar days of receipt. That is a statutory requirement under the Act.”
“The commissioner for protected disclosures, who is responsible, acknowledged receipt on 2 September. Once transmitted, the commissioner independently determines the appropriate prescribed person or public body to follow up on the disclosure. The HSE has issued a statement, as the Deputy is aware. Ministers are required to establish dedicated channels to receive protected disclosures and to publish information on how to access and use the reporting channel. A secure dedicated mailbox was set up to receive protected disclosures via the ministerial channels.”
“The Deputy made a comment in respect of the Minister receiving this, which is not correct in the sense that there is a dedicated channel, a secure, dedicated mailbox, set up to receive protected disclosures via the ministerial channel. The Minister does not engage with that. The legislation is very clear on that.”
“Every parent should be informed. The Deputy made a point that Harvey was deliberately removed. I do not know the circumstances or why someone would be motivated to deliberately remove the child from a surgical waiting list without telling the parents.”
“This is the factual position. It is not right or proper, in my view, that any other construction should be put on it. As we now know, any protected disclosure is investigated by an independent person, not by the Minister or anyone else. The allegations, as the Deputy outlined, are very serious and warrant investigation. That is currently under way in the manner set out in law by the protected disclosure process. There is clear legislation outlining how protected disclosures are dealt with now. I accept and understand fully the serious distress to the family who have been wanting to know for some time why Harvey was removed from the waiting list without any notice or discussion. Indeed, in this House I have said - I think when it was alerted to me by the Deputy next to Deputy McDonald - that it is unacceptable.”
“Following the meeting, as agreed, the Minister for Health wrote to the parents on 13 October setting out the range of types of inquiries available. The Minister subsequently attended the audiovisual room briefing, which many Members of this House also attended, to listen to the requests being made. There will be a meeting today between the Minister and the Tánaiste following up on this. The objective is to make progress on the nature and format of an inquiry which will be commissioned. With regard to The Sunday Times report on a protected disclosure being made to the Department of Health, I want to make absolutely clear - I do not think it should be conflated wrongly - that neither I, the Tánaiste nor the Minister for Health had any awareness of this.”
“The Minister for Health asked for a multidisciplinary report on the chronology from CHI regarding its involvement in Harvey's care and the key milestones, as recorded on CHI hospital records. The HSE CEO received this draft report on 19 August and shared it with Harvey's parents. The HSE CEO and the Minister have made it clear they view this report as a draft until such time as the family have the opportunity to comment on and feed into the chronology and ensure any additional information they have is reflected in the final report. The Tánaiste and Minister for Health met Harvey's parents on 29 September. At that meeting, there was agreement that there would be an inquiry and that the detail of it would be determined in partnership.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this very serious issue. I have offered my condolences to Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family, to Gillian and Stephen, on previous occasions, as has Deputy McDonald. I respect the Deputy's commitment to the issue. As I have said in this House before, no words of condolence or consolation to Harvey's parents are enough. It is an enormous trauma for any parent to go through but, in these circumstances, it is even more traumatic in terms of the experiences the family and Harvey have had with hospitals and the clinical world. It is unacceptable. The Government is anxious to help the family to find the answers to the questions they have about Harvey's care.”
“I have spoken to the various homeless agencies and they would acknowledge that the nature and composition of those seeking emergency accommodation is very different now. What the Minister is doing immediately is securing additional resources for families to make sure they are accelerated out of emergency accommodation as quickly as possible.”
“Without question, tá fadhb ann ó thaobh daoine gan dídean de. Níl aon dabht faoi sin. It is a much more complex situation than it would have been five or ten years ago. There are far wider pressures on emergency accommodation today than there were. I do not want to go into all of the details but that is clear. It is a factor. We worked with Cork Simon and other homeless agencies in respect of Housing First, which was a very effective response to homelessness, and a better one perhaps than tenant in situ. Tenant in situ works when it is focused on the homeless and people who are just about to be made homeless, to prevent that. It got used more broadly than that, which was problematic, but now it is back on course. We are continuing to resource it.”
“The Deputy was also referring to the Department. I would prefer that they get it right. There will be a lot of people affected by this too, and we have to be conscious of that. The best way to do it is to phase it in in an orderly manner so that people know and there is no cliff edge. Inevitably there will have to be, but it has to be done properly. Also, the capacity must be there to do it. As the Deputy says, we do not want another waiting list developing in respect of that.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very sad and challenging situation for Arklow and those working in the Merck Life Sciences plant. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, and ensure the IDA and Enterprise Ireland respond - what normally happens now is that they do respond - and that each employee is engaged with in terms of their own individual choices regarding redeployment or alternative employment. That is important. I have witnessed it before where something can be created out of this, positively, I hope, in terms of future employment or creation of SMEs or smaller companies, but also then a replacement industry. It is an important facility that has potential. If an alternative company can be attracted into that facility, that would be very desirable. We will talk to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland about that.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this. I agree with his points on the severity of the storm. Actually, I would be confident on that one, in terms of mutual aid assistance. I met with the ESB, Irish Water and others in the review and we did not pick up a sense that there was any foot-dragging or difficulty in terms of overseas engineers coming to Ireland from the UK or France, and crews coming to Ireland to help us in our hour of need. The French were particularly responsive. From memory, I think the United Kingdom was particularly responsive, just as we are via these mutual aid agreements when storms occur on the Continent. I will again check with the Minister and with the ESB. I would favour more mutual aid programmes, particularly with Europe, people who are near. That is the key in any major weather catastrophe, event or whatever.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know he is focused on increased services and facilities in Ballinasloe more generally. I will talk to the Minister for education in respect of Scoil an Chroí Naofa. Those buildings are clearly old. If the project is at stage 2b, I hope, with the capital allocation that has been given to education this year and through the national development plan, we will be in a position to progress this school on an accelerated basis. I will certainly talk to the Minister on the Deputy's behalf.”
“My understanding is that discussions are ongoing between the Department of Health and the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, in respect of these and other issues. I checked this with the Minister. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy in relation to this. These agreements are hard negotiated. Huge resources go in now in terms of medical reimbursement and so on.”
“I appreciate the Deputy has raised this issue in terms of broader local authority financing and, specifically, in terms of Storm Éowyn. I will engage with the Minister for housing on this. Overall, in the past five years, significant resources have been allocated to local authorities. That has to be acknowledged. It is quite substantial on many fronts and a lot of work has been enabled because of that. However, demands, services and so on have created additional expenditure obligations. We are working with the Departments of Social Protection and community and rural development in respect of resourcing hubs and networks to deal with future storms. We saw in some areas where such networks were established that they were effective and played a huge role in helping the communities.”
“The Deputy has made a cogent and strong case for more gardaí in Roscrea. We are very conscious of this issue. I think about 11,000 applied to the Garda this year. We might have to look at training capacity to get more throughput. I think the Minister is looking at that. The Minister would acknowledge that in the past number of years, there was a concentration on Dublin. This was post-Covid and with the closure of the college during Covid. That has shifted now. Other cities have benefited. There is a stronger focus on the regions. In that context, I would hope that from the next throughput from the college, we could start allocating more gardaí to the regions and towns like Roscrea. I will certainly talk to the Minister. The Deputy has raised the issue and made a legitimate case, given the numbers he quoted. I will revert to him.”
“I am advised that the HSE said that the application remains under consideration. We acknowledge the importance of this. Seventy-four drugs for cancer were reimbursed between 2021 and 2024.”
“I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising what is a very important issue. I recognise that this medication is particularly important for those with a history of hormone-sensitive cancers, such as breast cancer, who cannot take hormone replacement therapy due to the risk of cancer recurrence. I understand the real difference that this medication can make to a person's quality of life. In relation to this drug, as the Deputy knows, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, NCPE, recommended a full health technology assessment, HTA, of Veoza to assess its clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness compared with the current standard of care. Subsequently, the HSE commissioned a full HTA and then a pre-submission consultation. On 20 August 2025, 16 months after it was commissioned by the HSE, a full HTA dossier was received from the company.”
“In fact, we have increased resources and we will continue to increase resources. There are now record numbers applying for An Garda Síochána. Events like last night take gardaí away from the front-line and where they would ordinarily be. There were so many gardaí there last evening to protect people, and those kinds of events draw from our capacity. In the general, normal work of An Garda Síochána, gardaí are very focused on this issue. Unfortunately, there are too many consumers of drugs in modern society and too many people take it as being habitual. There is severe addiction, which has to be dealt with through a healthcare response, with which I am sure the Deputy would agree. I would not be undermining the Garda response all the time.”
“We are consistently looking at ways to enhance our biodiversity, create greater opportunities for rewilding and add to our national park network. We did that successfully in the last Government and we want to do more in this Government.”
“First, I have to get a report on that. It is not the standard, and it is unfair to say it is the standard by which we are going to deal with biodiversity and our natural habitats. We have doubled the budget. I was involved in the last five years with the then Minister of State with responsibility for the NPWS, Senator Malcolm Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan. We have doubled the budget for the NPWS and have given it significant momentum. It has a strong organisational structure within the Department of housing and heritage. We are adding to our national parks. What happened here is wrong, fundamentally. I have read about it, but I need to get a comprehensive report on what transpired. It is unacceptable, in my view.”
“The EPA has not been in a position to identify who was responsible, but it was catastrophic in its impact on water quality, fish life and so forth. It is a matter we will keep under review.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is a fair point that she is making. State agencies should not be polluting waterways and our rivers. Certainly, Uisce Éireann should not be. There should be severe penalties. To be fair, on the other hand, Uisce Éireann develops a lot of wastewater treatment plants, which are very beneficial to water quality. It has to put up with a lot of objections and judicial reviews to stop wastewater treatment plants being developed and so on, so the other side of the coin has to be acknowledged. However, it should be very vigilant in terms of not creating situations like the one in Cavan that the Deputy has outlined. I do not have the full details of that. The Blackwater fish kill was appalling.”
“The report is broadly welcome in terms of the progress that is being made and has been made in the past two to three years in particular, when compared to where we were. We will continue to work to enhance and improve services, particularly the specialist services required abroad. Women will be facilitated to avail of such services, and the HSE is clear on that. We can revert to the Deputy with the details.”
“I think the Minister for Finance announced this quite some time back. It is part of a regular review of the LPT. The Minister has worked extremely hard to make sure that any increases will be modest, particularly in terms of the valuations and so on. He did that a number of years ago and effectively managed it. Remember that the revenue goes to improving and enhancing services that people in this House come in looking for every single day. It is a balance. We have been warned, the Government has been warned, that it is spending too much. The Opposition does not think we are spending enough. Some in opposition think we are being reckless with the economy but then they want us to spend more. There are challenges and difficulties here.”
“-----which was an unprecedented public health event across the world that had the most significant and severe impacts on societies and on people. The more fundamental objective has always been to try to protect and save lives. People acted in very good faith to do that. I just want to make that point. What we are reluctant to do is add a new layer now because this will go on forever. I do not mean that in any disrespectful way. There has to be a system to deal with protected disclosures. We cannot add new layers. I think we can review it in the context of how the Act is working but, ideally, we should be able to deal with protected disclosures within the legislation and people should respond.”
“It could be challenging as well, given the volume of disclosures. Section 2A under the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act does-----”
“To support whistleblowers, the disclosures commissioner continues to fund Transparency International Ireland, which operates a free speak-up helpline and legal advisory centre. In 2025, funding of €368,000 was allocated to that. The Deputy raised issues of how the protected disclosure in this case was handled by the relevant agencies. Fiosrú is there as an external, independent entity to handle complaints in respect of members of An Garda Síochána. It is there in that context. HIQA is there as an independent body that is focused on quality within the healthcare system and also carries out investigations, inquiries and so on. What the Deputy seems to be suggesting is that we should either add a new layer to this or reintroduce the Oireachtas or the Executive into examining every disclosure. I do not think that is feasible.”
“It expanded the protections to a broader category of workers, including contractors, volunteers, agency workers, board members, shareholders and job applicants. Section 7 protects against retaliation, unfair dismissal and so forth. Workers who experience penalisation have access to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and so forth. The Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, OPDC, was established in 2023. It plays a key role in ensuring disclosures are directed to the appropriate prescribed persons. This is important. There has to be a systematic approach to the handling of disclosures. In 2024, the OPDC received 262 reports, with the vast majority being transmitted to the relevant authorities.”
“First of all, Ireland's whistleblower protection framework is governed by the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. There are set frameworks - legal and so on - in terms of governing the handling and management of protected disclosures. That Act was significantly strengthened by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. This legislation commenced operation on 1 January 2023. It gives effect to the European Union whistleblowing directive. It provides protection against penalisation of workers in public and private sectors. The Act also introduced a number of significant changes, including that the burden now rests on the employer to prove that any action taken was justified and unrelated to the disclosure. There is much more.”
“-----but it is a very novel way to come around the subject matter. The law is the law. People are entitled to vote in whatever way they wish and if that means deposits or whatever are returned, so be it. I do not think people vote on that basis.”
“That is it. I admire the Deputy's commitment to vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds. I have had a spin in Jack Lynch's car myself. We have enjoyed all of that. The juxtaposition of vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds with the presidency and the rules that apply perplexes me-----”
“I am coming to it. The Deputy did mention the cost of living. Just as he dealt with the question, I will reply to him in like fashion. What we did in the budget in raising public expenditure was to invest in services that matter to people, so we prioritised disability, child poverty and infrastructure for more roads, rail, buses, schools and healthcare facilities across the board. That matters to people. In fairness to the Deputy, he left Fianna Fáil a long time ago and is now an Independent. His concern for our members is touching but I respectfully suggest that we will deal with that within our party in terms of the issues. The law is the law in respect of deposits and returns. The people will decide. I know we cannot comment on the presidency.”
“We have also kept VAT on electricity and gas prices at 9%, so we have done a lot in respect of the cost of living but on this occasion, we have targeted it. We have provided schools with the highest ever capitation grant, which is €50 per pupil for primary and €20 per pupil for post-primary. This will help schools to meet the cost of living-----”
“That is my commitment. I am not going to dive into the ocean with a tractor. It is wonderful and reflects the very strong value of community in the country. I acknowledge that. In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, the Government has taken a lot of measures that I outlined in response to an earlier question, particularly in terms of supporting families and increasing the child support payment by €16 for a child over 12 and €8 for a child under 12; extending the fuel allowance to the working family payment, which now means that about 26% of families are covered by the fuel allowance; continuing with the free books scheme, which brings about huge savings for families; and the hot school meals, which have been very effective for many families.”
“I welcome all those who have come from Limerick and from the Greybridge vintage club. I mention vintage clubs all over the country, which do a lot of charity. We all have experienced that in summer festivals or whatever. They bring a bit of excitement, colour and novelty to events and, in the process, raise significant funding. We thank them for that and the work they do. I will not be able to join the run in Limerick closer to Christmas but I will do a swim on New Year's Day.”
“One of the biggest issues has been turnover time at hospitals at times of high demand in emergency departments. They are working to improve that outcome.”
“To be fair, we are talking about 430,000 urgent and emergency calls in 2024. That is the scale of this issue. It is a 32,000-calls increase, or an 8% increase, on 2023. The Deputy has done the statistics. Performance is improving with 72.5% in 2023 to 73.2% against a 75% target for life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest. We have to look at alternative care pathways as well. The Deputy mentioned the rapid response car. I have had experiences myself where that has been far more effective and fast in cases that maybe did not quite require an ambulance once one had the confidence of either a GP or a medic who could say, "Look, we can manage this in a certain way and get the person to a hospital." We have to use the resource to the optimum. That is the objective.”
“Many professionals would say that what they are doing is the optimal way to do it. The Deputy is articulating a different perspective. I respect the points he is making, but I do think we probably need to look at this in a more evidence-based way. Perhaps the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health could examine it in more detail. The professionalisation of the service and the development of two dedicated helicopter emergency medical services, for example, represents a significant expansion that is enhancing our response. As the Deputy knows, the key responder, namely an EMT or a first responder who is qualified and professional, can save lives. There have been a lot of very positive reforms and a great deal of significant investment in the service in the past number of years.”
“On the surface, I can instinctively empathise with the Deputy's point because it does mean that ambulances are travelling long distances. We have to respond to this in an evidence-based way. I will talk to the Minister for Health and have further engagement with the National Ambulance Service and the professionals involved as to what is the optimal deployment of staff and ambulances and what is the best way to do it. In Dublin, for example, there has been a unique situation where Dublin Fire Brigade has provided a very effective and efficient ambulance service for many years. The HSE and the service were arguing the toss as to how to reform and reconfigure it. In that context, one view for a long time was "If it's not broke, don't fix it.". We should be open to examining what is the optimal way to deploy the resources.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level, the National Ambulance Service and pre-hospital emergency care have been transformed over the past 20 years in terms of the professionalisation of emergency medical technicians, EMTs, and of the level of response in general. There has been significant investment in the service. This year, €8 million has been allocated for new service developments, for 180 additional posts in the service and for increased capacity for aeromedical services. As of 30 August last, total staff numbers stood at 2,400. That is a 25% increase since 2020, meaning that 502 extra people have joined the service. Some 85% of those staff work in direct patient-facing roles. The issue of dynamic deployment has arisen since the configuration was developed many years ago.”
“Could I please just make a very important point? If we keep drawing hard lines, we are giving ground to the people who did what they did last night. There are people in this House who may not share our perspective entirely on this. It is important that we hear those voices-----”
“-----that I should practice what I preach. I will outline my position on this. In everything I do as a public representative, I will embrace all people, whether it is in connection with a school, a community or whatever. I will go out of my way to do that; it is the right thing to do. I do not expect any credit or anything like that. It is the natural thing we should do, and that is what I do. In respect of Deputy Fitzmaurice's comments, I know that Deputy Cairns and her party took exception. If we keep drawing hard lines-----”
“I do not preach, but I do practice. In carrying out my duties as Taoiseach or as a public representative and in all of my life, I do so by means of actions and practice. These speak much louder than words or preaching. I take exception to the Deputy's suggestion-----”