I thank the Minister of State for representing the Department here this evening. I am very proud to represent the people of Ballinasloe. I have done so since 2020. One of the first things I did when I was elected in 2020 was open a constituency office in the town. It is the county town of Galway and I was very mindful of serving the people. That is now a full-time constituency office and I am there every Monday for m…
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
I thank the Minister of State for her response. The Garda numbers overall and all-time records are extremely welcome. We need more gardaí. We need to see them. We need the visibility and to build up community policing, including the relationships between communities and gardaí on the ground. In Ballinasloe, we have had sustained levels of criminal activity and antisocial behaviour, which are escalating. I hate to say…
I welcome today's State apology to the family of Brian Stack, and I too offer my sympathies to Brian's wife, Sheila, and to their sons, Austin, Kieran and Oliver. Brian Stack's shooting was wrong and should never have happened. The Stack family's search for truth and for justice deserves respect and support.
I was five years old when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. I grew up with the possibilities that peace o…
We have had good news on housing in County Roscommon, with a planning proposal approved in Monksland in south Roscommon this morning. It will follow a number of housing developments that have happened in the area. Similarly in Ballinasloe I attended a meeting last Thursday night with regard to a number of housing developments, all of which are very welcome. We have a need for affordable housing in Roscommon and Galwa…
Before I begin, I want to put on the Dáil record my welcome for the release of Robert Pether who is a resident of County Roscommon. He returned home from Iraq yesterday. I take the opportunity to acknowledge him, his wife and his family. I was there with them yesterday as he returned to Dublin Airport. It was a very special moment that will remain with me forever. I wish him and his family all the very best.
I appre…
First, I want to speak on early years. I have made this point many times and it is important to make it again. When it comes to early years, cost for parents is just one element and issue we face. Cost is irrelevant when we do not have the capacity, the childcare places and, especially, the workforce. We do not have a professional workforce that we are retaining as we should. That always comes down to pay. The JLC is…
I hope the Minister of State has listened very carefully to the many speakers in this House. I have sat in for most of the debate and I think it is clear from Members of the Opposition, as well as her own party and Government backbenchers, that this Bill does not actually deal with the nub of the issue. If the issue in terms of assessments of need was that we have far too many children on the waiting list who do not …
I hope the Minister will consider the Sinn Féin legislation being debated here this evening to reduce the cost of home heating oil. The households of the vast majority of the people I represent, the people of Roscommon and Galway, use home heating oil. As we approach the budget, there will be a lot of focus on the fuel allowance. The fuel allowance is well and good for those who receive it. It is a help to them. Howe…
60. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the eight locations for State-led childcare facilities. [66144/26]
I send my best wishes to Deputy Michael Healy-Rae and his family. I ask the Minister for an update on the eight locations that will be chosen for the first time for State-led childcare facilities.
I thank the Minister for the update. It is important that we see that substantial progress as we approach October and come almost to the end of the year. There are many eyes on where the eight locations will be. I appreciate I sound like a broken record about Boyle in County Roscommon. The feasibility study about the need in Boyle in north Roscommon is that there are 20 childcare places per 1,043 households. I have l…
I have raised with the Minister many times the matter of looking at other ways that we can quickly build capacity. The State-led approach is one for sure, but there is also the building blocks programme. I again ask that consideration be given to allowing building blocks capital to be used to buy existing buildings. In many towns, particularly in rural areas like my own, across Roscommon and Galway, there are buildin…
For carers and the loved ones they care for, respite is really important. It should not be beyond us to ensure that respite is guaranteed and consistent rather than having a situation where service providers go year to year looking at lists of people in terms of who they can and cannot give respite to due to funding implications. In County Roscommon alone, we have 120 people on waiting list for day and overnight resp…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
acknowledges:
— the importance of affordable and accessible childcare for children and parents, neither of which are being achieved for many families across the State; and
— that there is no early years or childcare sector without the Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare practitioners who work in it;
notes that:
— childcare costs remain far too high and are in excess of €800…
That is up to the parent if he or she wants that
That is up to the parent.
It is as though we are reading two different motions. Contrary to what both Ministers have said, the motion is not just about affordability and accessibility. In fact, in that first €10 a day childcare plan in 2024, I ensured it was not just about affordability and accessibility, as I have done with this motion. It is about our educators. Mostly, the motion is about paying them what they deserve. It is also about chi…
3. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the roll-out of State-led childcare facilities; when the eight locations for this year will be chosen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47735/26]
I want to begin by wishing Deputy Ennis well. I look forward to working with him both in the House and on the committee. I congratulate him on his appointment.
I want to ask the Minister about the eight locations that will be chosen this year for the State-led childcare facilities, which is something I very much welcome. I would really appreciate an update on where we are at and when we will see those locations anno…
I welcome this, but we all know, and it is no secret to say, that eight locations will be announced this year to provide, I understand, about 800 places. We have to look at the level of need. We know there are between 40,000 and 50,000 children on waiting lists across the State. Ahead of the budget, I want to ask the Minister again about the next phase of building blocks, given the level of need and demand that exist…
I know I am like a broken record, but it would be remiss of me not to mention Boyle in north Roscommon. The needs analysis, which was very well done, showed that the national benchmark is 20 childcare places per 75 households. In the town of Boyle and in the surrounding rural area, there are 20 childcare places per 1,043 households. There is a real need in Boyle, and that has been proven through the needs analysis I …
5. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will ensure increased investment in voluntary residential care services for children in the care of the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47736/26]
I wish to ask the Minister about voluntary residential care services in our State in terms of looking after some of our most vulnerable children, namely, children in the care of the State. I recently visited a voluntary residential service and was really impressed. It was literally like walking into any other family home in the country. I want to ask the Minister specifically about investment in these voluntary, not-…
The committee on children will be writing to the Minister, if she has not already received our correspondence, asking that she seek a specific allocation for Tusla in the budget that would be used to expand residential places within the voluntary sector. I am really uncomfortable with the reality right now whereby we have voluntary residential services that have been in place for decades, are regulated to the hit, an…
The issue I am raising is that while funding to Tusla has increased, the question is where that funding is going. Given the crisis that exists for any child who is in care and while acknowledging that foster care is absolutely the number one option, I ask the Minister, where fostering is not available, to look to invest within the voluntary sector. I was really alarmed to see correspondence from America in a couple o…