If patient demand for NAS services continues to rise, with nearly 430,000 urgent and emergency calls received last year, representing a year-on-year rise in volume of 8%, why then has the National Ambulance Service stopped training advanced paramedics? Why has it stopped the privileging courses? Fully qualified advanced paramedics who have trained elsewhere, some I understand in the Defence Forces, can only work as p…
TDs / Claire Kerrane
1,216
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
52,368
words spoken in the chamber
Across 221 contributions
425
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
214
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 1,216 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 221 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 8 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 54 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 72 | 7 |
| April 2025 | 86 | 15 |
| May 2025 | 58 | 9 |
| June 2025 | 70 | 9 |
| July 2025 | 70 | 7 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 84 | 18 |
| October 2025 | 41 | 5 |
| November 2025 | 94 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 47 | 21 |
| January 2026 | 58 | 11 |
| February 2026 | 98 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 80 | 6 |
| April 2026 | 58 | 22 |
| May 2026 | 75 | 5 |
| June 2026 | 61 | 24 |
| July 2026 | 37 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 47 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 18 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 170 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 Roscommon-Galway 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
As I rise to speak on statements on policing and community safety, I take the opportunity to remember an Independent councillor, Councillor Anthony Waldron, who died suddenly last month. Councillor Waldron had established the Enough is Enough campaign against rural crime in County Roscommon and it was an issue I had discussed with him at a number of events he held. I remember him here this evening.
Garda numbers are…
Yesterday, I attended a briefing by Cared Ireland. It highlighted the long-running crisis in care, supports and services for people with eating disorders. We heard directly from a mother whose young teenage daughter is about to age out of the very small supports she has been getting as a child. These are supports that have, in her mother's words, kept her alive. We also heard from a mother whose daughter died almost …
I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. As my party's spokesperson on children, I look forward to working with her.
Before I begin, I take this opportunity to mention an issue I have raised a number of times regarding the recent storm and its impact on people with electric wheelchairs and those who are reliant on electric beds and certain medical devices. Unfortunately, I feel I am hitting against a brick wa…
110. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will bring forward the review into the mother and baby institutions payment scheme due to be completed next year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8179/25]
I ask the Minister about the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, the review due to take place by mid-2026 and the issues raised, particularly around those excluded from that scheme. Will the Minister bring forward that review?
I thank the Minister for that. There are a couple issues here I had raised with the Minister's predecessor in terms of the scheme. The number of applicants applying and the number of payments issued to date have been quite low. That is dependent on the number applying, so clearly more work needs to be done on that messaging and communication. I know that is being done abroad but it needs to be looked at again.
Appro…
I thank the Minister. On the figures, I chaired the committee meeting last year in which Revised Estimates were gone through and there was an underspend of €158 million. It was listed as a saving and it was money brought back in this scheme. In fairness, it was expected a lot more would apply in the first year and that was fair enough. If there is such an underspend of the €100 million that is there for 2025, I reall…
112. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of children on waiting lists for an assessment of needs; the average waiting time; the measures she intends to take to tackle these waiting lists for children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8180/25]
Before asking this question, I wish the Minister of State well in her new role because I did not have an opportunity to do so earlier. This question is to ask the Minister of State about the number of children on waiting lists for assessments of needs, the average waiting time for the children on the waiting lists and, more importantly, I suppose, the measures she intends to take to tackle these very long and record-…
On the very high figure of more than 14,000 children and the demand increase, this is fine and part of it, of course, is related to population. I would not say, though, that part of it is parents exploring all options for their children, particularly if they can go through the CDNTs without an assessment of need. We must be really careful in terms of the things we say concerning this matter because, for those childre…
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Regarding those on the waiting lists, and this is an issue I have written to the Minister of State about, I take the opportunity to flag a communication issued by the HSE to parents with a child or children on the waiting lists for assessments of needs in the last couple of weeks. It told parents that if they did not respond to say their child still wanted the assessment o…
114. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will outline in relation to core funding, for each programme year, the total value of core funding, the amount allocated towards improving pay, and her Department's estimate of the cost to employers of implementing the employment regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8181/25]
I want to ask the Minister about the total value of core funding and the amount of it allocated to improving pay. That is very important because we know the issues with capacity whereby some providers have the physical space but they have to close rooms because they do not have the early years educators. We have an issue with recruitment and retention. Pay is key for staff and we must make sure the early years educat…
I thank the Minister. The review into core funding in the programme for Government commitments is very important. I am concerned that the money being earmarked for pay is not being reflected in the pay deals. I spoke previously about my concern regarding the pay talks and the JLC process that is in place because of the way in which it is designed in terms of pay increases for early years educators. The last pay incre…
I make the point again that if we want a functioning early years service for parents, children and the professionals who work in it, we have to get pay right. The JLC and pay talks granted, the last time, 65 cent, which to me is insulting, to the early years educators in the sector. If we do not get that right, we will continue to have issues with recruitment and retention and capacity. We already have about 30,000 c…
I, too, rise in support of this motion. It has become an annual issue and we have already started hearing from parents in respect of next September. There was a particular issue last year, in south County Roscommon, in my constituency, with 18 children and 18 sets of parents run ragged trying to ring around schools and ask for a place, an education that meets their child's needs. It is a horrible and extremely stress…
I am very concerned about the silence from the Taoiseach and the Government in terms of seeking action from the ESB. It is majority owned by the Government. People in my constituency across counties Roscommon and Galway have had 19 days without electricity. In some cases, they have also been without water and heating. Will the Taoiseach seek that the ESB suspends standing charges and the PSO levy and provide a goodwi…
Today, people in my constituency of Roscommon-Galway are on day 19 without electricity. In some cases, that means no heating in their homes and no water - for 19 days.
I take this opportunity, following on from the statements we made last week, to raise a number of continuing issues, particularly for businesses, farmers and customers affected by the power outages. There continues to be confusion about supports for b…
Workers in disability and GP out-of-hours services are among the hardest working healthcare professionals in this State. Without their commitment, so many of the services relied upon by so many simply would not exist, yet these workers are being paid less than their public sector counterparts for doing exactly the same work. They are being paid not marginally less but by 15% or more. In October 2023, through the WRC,…
The Ministers are about 12 days too late. We are having statements on the Government response to a storm that happened 12 days ago, and the Ministers return here as the vast majority of homes are reconnected and, for many, the outages are over. Shame on this Government for ignoring the call I made two days after the storm that the Government should have come here to answer the questions and to put the supports in pla…