For complete clarity, if the wording "free of charge" was not in the amendment, the likelihood is that these amendments could have been accepted.
TDs / Alan Kelly
Alan Kelly
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,036
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
81,639
words spoken in the chamber
Across 329 contributions
340
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
191
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 1,036 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 329 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 49 | 5 |
| February 2025 | 129 | 24 |
| March 2025 | 146 | 38 |
| April 2025 | 116 | 5 |
| May 2025 | 37 | 16 |
| June 2025 | 82 | 27 |
| July 2025 | 57 | 13 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 40 | 7 |
| October 2025 | 42 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 51 | 8 |
| December 2025 | 58 | 21 |
| January 2026 | 29 | 28 |
| February 2026 | 54 | 58 |
| March 2026 | 48 | 10 |
| April 2026 | 25 | 10 |
| May 2026 | 18 | 6 |
| June 2026 | 14 | 16 |
| July 2026 | 2 | 10 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 4 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 35 | 4 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 158 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Tipperary North 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
Yes, I understand.
We are always learning in this place, trust me.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for that clarification.
This needs to be defined. We cannot leave this loose. We already had a discussion on the previous amendment in relation to how we are moving into new territory as regards detaining children. It is never good when children are being detained. It is not acceptable. However, we also have to have a definition as regards what we are doing to include the best interests of the child as a primary consideration in the applica…
I move amendment No. 13:
In page 25, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:
“(2) Where an officer of the Minister, pursuant to any enactment or rule of law, performs a function conferred on the Minister by virtue of subsection (1), the officer is independent in the performance of that function.”.
The structure of decision-making in individual international protection application cases has changed over t…
I thank the Minister of State for his response and I acknowledge the note he received from his officials with regard to the Attorney General. That is fine. We have put a lot of research into this amendment as a party because we believe there are serious legal questions around this, particularly in the context of hierarchical decision-making, the case law within Supreme Court decision-making and how all that fits in.
…
I have had to adapt to the issues relating to IPAS centres being in my constituency for a lot longer than most people inside here. Some did reference going back a while, but not everybody. I understand the spirit of this amendment. I accept there should be community analysis and I will outline the reason for that in a few minutes, but I am not sure practically how many centres would end up getting through this funnel…
Thanks. This has never happened in my career here. There was a lot of fear in the community, and in the community at that time, there were people who were willing to block access to the Riverside apartments, because they did not want people coming.
Swing on to 2024, when these people who had been moved into the apartments were being forced out of the apartments, again because it was run privately and there was a pro…
We will not be opposing any of the Minister's amendments as they are broadly technical but I have to say, it is a huge pity he does not practice what he preaches in relation to this Bill. He was on the total opposite of this debate when he was sitting in a different part of this Chamber - with Government but against it. Once the Minister got the seal of office, he changed tack totally and that is a fact. We can read …
Yes.
Agreed.
Why did the Minister change his mind?
So the Minister is bringing in legislation he does not agree with.
You do not agree with it.
That is fair enough.
No, we have said our bit.
Earlier I spoke with Jacinta Graham, who is the mother of Stephen Loughnane who is the subject of the RTÉ "Prime Time Investigates" programme tonight. He had a brain injury following a car accident and has been in continuous seclusion in Limerick Prison since 2021, then in the Central Mental Hospital and then in Portrane because there is no residential place for him. He is in uninterrupted 24-hour seclusion all of th…
I raised his case here with the Taoiseach on 15 September 2021.
Can we have time in this House to find out what the Taoiseach and his Government has done for him and people like him in the past five years?
Not agreed.
I propose to share time with Deputy Lawlor. This Bill is very similar to, if not a mirror copy of, the Bill I published. It even has the same name, but we will not worry about that. The most important thing is that legislation is brought in one way or the other. I could not care less whether it is brought forward by my party, Sinn Féin or the Government.
The most important element of the Bill is its timing. We do no…
I move:
That leave be granted to introduce Bill entitled an Act to amend the law relating to the recording, distribution or publication of intimate images so as to extend its provisions to images that are generated or modified by computer-graphics; for that purpose to amend the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020; and to provide for related matters.
This Bill is critically important. I …
I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."
We are talking in a bit of a vacuum here because any amendments the Minister has spoken about bringing forward, either in the media or here, have not actually been brought forward. As the previous speaker indicated, we should discuss any amendments in full on Committee Stage. I also ask that the Minister not guillotine the Bill. As he stated, it is such an important and comprehensive Bill. On foot of that, it should …