I tabled a similar parliamentary question a couple of weeks ago regarding Sligo-Leitrim. One thing I noticed was that, in both counties, the number of hours that were sanctioned but unmet in Leitrim had doubled in the 12 months between 2023 and 2024 and in Sligo had trebled, particularly for older people. One thing I discovered is that what normally happens is the district nurse or some professional recommends a spec…
TDs / Martin Kenny
Martin Kenny
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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
121. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Health if she is aware of the issues of water leaking in the orthopaedic surgical theatre in Sligo University Hospital, causing surgeries to be cancelled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23221/25]
Sligo University Hospital has the worst-resourced orthopaedic Department with the worst orthopaedic infrastructure in the country. This is an unfortunate reality. It is a consistent struggle for surgeons to get work done there. The current issue is that the theatre roof leaked last week during intense rain showers. Water enters what is supposed to be a sterile area and compromises sterility. This increases the chance…
I appreciate the Minister's update. It is positive that the management is meeting with the surgeons to try to deal with this situation. I spoke to some of the surgeons, who are extremely frustrated. They want to do their job but they cannot do it effectively in the facilities they have. There are only eight elective orthopaedic beds in the ward, which must be shared between the patients of six consultants. The situat…
That is positive news but we need to put a deadline on this to ensure it happens. While the new complex may be at design stage, it is a long way from being built. As Deputy Connolly mentioned in regard to Galway, people talk about these things for years and years but nothing happens. That is the reality. We do not want that situation to occur in this case.
There are other facilities can be utilised more. For instanc…
One of the things that strikes me about all of this is that what sets the human being apart from all other mammals is that we have the ability to communicate. That is what makes us different. One question at table quizzes is often about the first three words in the Bible, but the second three words are more important, "In the beginning was the Word". We had words and could speak and communicate. That is why it is vit…
Many families in every part of the country, in rural as well as urban areas, simply cannot find a childcare place. This is a real problem. If they find a place, it is excessively expensive because provision is so scarce. The Government came forward at election time and said it would provide childcare at €200 per month and also do this, that and the other. In line with what a politician famously noted in the past, thi…
How many new houses this year?
The Taoiseach is not answering the question.
The reality of what we see across the world in the past week or so is an act of self-sabotage by the American President on his own people. That is really the centre of all of this. At the end of it, we recognise that the trade barriers or the trade tariffs being put in place are going to damage the American economy and ordinary American citizens hugely. We all hope that will rebound back and bring a change in directi…
An awful lot of people, certainly in my constituency and rural areas, find it very difficult to deal with Uisce Éireann. We cannot get through to it. Nobody can get talking to it. People cannot get any reply to their queries and issues. Most of the water in many parts of the country is provided by group schemes. If the group schemes agree to be taken over, then Uisce Éireann will engage with them but it will only eng…
3. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will re-examine how peatlands and mineral rich soil lands are designated for good agricultural and environmental condition 2, GAEC 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13671/25]
I welcome the Minister and all his colleagues here and wish them all the very best in their term in office in the Department of agriculture. My question is on GAEC 2 and how peatlands and mineral-rich soils are being designated under that scheme. As the Minister knows, the proposal sent to Europe is that if a parcel of land has 50% or more of peatlands all of the parcel will be considered as peatland. This is very un…
I thank the Minister. It was pretty much the reply I had expected. To be honest, I do not agree. The parcel is well understood, everyone knows what it is and it is there for several other schemes, but in GAEC 8 and GAEC 9 relating to Natura 2000 lands, for example, one can red-line out the area. There is no reason that cannot be done when it comes to peatlands as well. There is no reason we cannot come up with a solu…
I understand that and I take the Minister's point but at the end of the day, there are issues, particularly in my part of the world, with people in rural areas finding it difficult to get planning permission. If their lands are designated, what will happen if they are in GAEC 2? Will that be an issue for them?
There are also serious problems for farmers with ambitions to expand their lands or grow their holdings. Th…
5. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way his Department will address the increases in the cost of production of milk in order that these costs are not passed on to consumers in supermarkets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13672/25]
This relates to the increase in the cost of production, particularly in the milk sector. The dairy sector stated last week that it had serious issues and was going to have to pass the high cost of production on to the consumer. The dairy sector, which has been important for Ireland, especially in terms of exports, will be looking at what happens tonight across the water, given exports of Kerrygold and how Kerrygold i…
I suppose it goes back to the old adage that the farmer is the one person who pays a retail price for his or her inputs and takes a wholesale price for his or her outputs. That is the crux of this issue. The cost that farmers have to pay for fertiliser, feed, diesel for the tractor or whatever is constantly climbing, yet they see their margins getting tighter and tighter. This is the issue at hand. While new markets …
Yes. I am aware that there has been a slight improvement in that input costs have decreased from what they were when the war started in Ukraine. That was really the time that we saw them skyrocket through the roof. The market has settled a little but farmers are still paying very high prices, particularly for inputs such as fertiliser. While I accept that it is not the Minister’s job to set the price of anything, a g…
The Minister made a point to Deputy Connolly about farmers making applications and splitting parcels of land. If a parcel is more than 50% peatland, can a farmer split it and section it off at application stage? Is that what the Minister said? Is that part of a solution he is offering? Will there be an appeals process such that if a person feels their land parcel is unduly designated, they can appeal the decision? Wi…
Will the Minister clarify that the parcels can be split on applications?
27. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers still awaiting payment for ACRES for 2023 and 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13629/25]
I raise an issue the Minister has heard about many times, as did his predecessor. I refer to ACRES. Many thousands of farmers across the country are still awaiting payment for 2023 and 2024. I ask for an update on where we are at in this regard. We have been told that the reason for the delays is to do with problems with processing and IT. The difficulty, as the Minister knows, is that a farmer who walks into the co-…
I thank the Minister, and I appreciate that progress has been made. It has not been an entirely bad news story but it came from such a poor start. Farmers went out and expected that this scheme was going to be - it was sold as this - very similar to the old REPS that we had years ago. It was to be simple and easy to manage, it would be easy to meet the requirements and they would get paid promptly. That has not been …
I appreciate that but at the same time, restoring their confidence is going to take an awful lot of work. We all know that because confidence in this scheme has been dented significantly. We are now in 2025 and this scheme started in 2023. I know there can be teething problems but they should not go on for this long. Many is the animal out there that has a full set of teeth grown and has gone to slaughter since this …