The issue of school transport is an annual upheaval we have across the country. As long as I have been here, this problem has come up every September. There is a particular route somewhere that was perfect last year and now it has changed because there are two fewer children on it and the bus has been withdrawn completely, or there is some other place where people thought they had enough children to get on the bus an…
TDs / Martin Kenny
Martin Kenny
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
446
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
90,042
words spoken in the chamber
Across 358 contributions. Plus 23 contributions from the chair, not counted
389
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
103
topics asked about
Across 17 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 446 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 358 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 11 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 8 | 11 |
| March 2025 | 35 | 18 |
| April 2025 | 23 | 20 |
| May 2025 | 42 | 34 |
| June 2025 | 14 | 7 |
| July 2025 | 19 | 14 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 26 | 5 |
| October 2025 | 13 | 27 |
| November 2025 | 20 | 24 |
| December 2025 | 19 | 7 |
| January 2026 | 29 | 29 |
| February 2026 | 22 | 51 |
| March 2026 | 39 | 21 |
| April 2026 | 23 | 13 |
| May 2026 | 25 | 27 |
| June 2026 | 34 | 13 |
| July 2026 | 9 | 19 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 24 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 11 | 13 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 179 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 Sligo-Leitrim 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
Electricity and energy costs are crippling families across the country. We have seen almost all energy companies announce price increases in recent weeks and we know these companies are amassing massive profits year on year. There are already thousands of families behind on their electricity and energy bills. I know this debt will grow in my constituency for these families while the Government turns its back on them …
I raise the issue of serious problems in our mental health services, particularly in acute mental health services. I will raise the individual case of a young man in Sligo who was murdered. His name was Jimmy Loughlin. The person who committed the murder was somebody in the care of the mental health services. When incidents like this happen the HSE is meant to carry out what is known as a serious incident report. It …
I wrote to the Taoiseach three times.
The issue of crime is something that is feared as much as anything else across many parts of rural Ireland in particular and in my constituency. We saw today that three people have pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the desperate attack on Tom Niland, an elderly man living alone in a rural area who was set upon, badly beaten and subsequently passed away. The fear that kind of situation instils in people in rural comm…
This is a positive step and a step in the right direction after many years of waiting. Like most public representatives, over the years I too have met and spoken with people from my constituency and other places who have been the victim of sexual abuse in schools. Sometimes it was an institution and sometimes it was not. The one thing that certainly strikes me is that the two were not separate. Sexual abuse and viole…
The amending legislation being introduced this evening is quite ironic in that it is amending legislation that has not yet been commenced. This is one of the key Opposition criticisms. We spent many months last year on planning and development legislation. It was the biggest Bill ever to come before the House and here we are back again amending it.
The biggest issue I have with the Bill before us is the narrative it…
76. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when his Department will implement the new measures to tackle TB; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36040/25]
I raise with the Minister the situation as regards TB, which is at crisis point across the country. I know the TB forum has set out a number of measures that have yet to be enacted. I would like to get an update on when these are going to happen. Many of these actions are difficult for farmers. When they have a reactor or their farm is locked down as a result of TB, the last thing they need is a more difficult and st…
To get to the issues that are of most concern to many people in the agricultural community, one of the issues farmers are concerned about is the proposal that a sign be put up at marts where there is a reactor in a herd. This would be there for quite a long time and would restrict farmers in getting a decent price for their animals. That is an issue that needs to be dealt with very sensitively. We do not want farmers…
I appreciate all of that. To give credit where it is due, something is being done. A crisis has been allowed to evolve over the years. What we need this morning, if we can get it, is a commitment as to when this is going to happen and clarity on those issues I raised regarding the difficulties farmers going to the market are going to have and so on. We need to see that clarity. We also need to see where the budget fo…
So, it is going to be €3,000.
They will not answer any questions.
You will not answer the question.
I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. It is good to have someone from the west in this role. I know he has always had a strong commitment to the development of the western rail corridor. It always strikes me that the western rail corridor only extends halfway up the west. We need to bring it the rest of the way. It is clear from the map produced with the proposals in the rail review that there is a…
Is there an increase or not?
I raise the dermatology service in Sligo University Hospital. I was written to by Dr. Dermot McKenna, a consultant dermatologist. He informed us he was taking leave until the middle of July and no locum had been put in place to replace him during the period. It is a service that is under extreme stress. There are over 3,000 patients in the Sligo area waiting for new dermatological appointments. The service in Letterk…
It is under serious pressure and we need action-----
-----to ensure services are put in place.
It is an example of-----
-----the north west being left behind again.
My constituency runs along the border of Sligo-Leitrim into south Donegal. The people in Kiltyclogher and Cashel are the same people. People in some parts of Ireland do not understand that. They are related to each other. They are the same people in every way. Their farms straddle the Border. We all understand that, yet this artificial division made on the island of Ireland almost 100 years ago now means people canno…
I listened intensely to the Minister's speech and one of the things that always strikes me is the Government seems to believe what it is doing is working. Do those in government not talk to their constituents and meet people, including the families who have elderly people living in their accommodation with them because they were put out of the places they were renting? Have they not spoken to people with youngsters w…
I congratulate the Minister of his State on his new role. He held it before in the Government before last and I worked well with him in the past. Sometimes, an old fiddle can play a very good tune and I hope he will be able to do that in this case.
We look forward to more investment. My constituency of Sligo, Leitrim and south Donegal, like many parts of the country, has suffered grievously from changes in weather p…
174. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason he or a representative from the Government did not attend the meeting organised by France of EU member states with concerns regarding the Mercosur trade deal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25622/25]