I welcome and echo the Tánaiste's remarks. The small Jewish community in my constituency of Dublin South-West feels particularly vulnerable at times of protest.
Outside our relationship with the UK and the European Union, we have a unique relationship with the United States. This issue provides an opportunity, not to review it but to move forward with a different kind of dynamic. Some people on the left are the firs…
TDs / John Lahart
John Lahart
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
567
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
34,811
words spoken in the chamber
Across 143 contributions. Plus 8 contributions from the chair, not counted
396
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
206
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 567 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 143 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 42 | 12 |
| March 2025 | 37 | 17 |
| April 2025 | 42 | 14 |
| May 2025 | 27 | 17 |
| June 2025 | 25 | 5 |
| July 2025 | 37 | 16 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 31 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 25 | 18 |
| November 2025 | 45 | 3 |
| December 2025 | 10 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 22 | 4 |
| February 2026 | 47 | 7 |
| March 2026 | 24 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 39 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 29 | 8 |
| June 2026 | 21 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 15 | 8 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 22 | 0 |
| October 2026 | 26 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 84 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 Dublin South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
I echo the Tánaiste's comments regarding our diplomats.
The week of St. Patrick's Day is a particularly important week for Ireland. Is it time to look at mobilising more politicians, outside of just Ministers and Ministers of State, to engage at state House level in the United States, open up a new conversation with American legislators and mobilise our considerable diaspora? There was a time when we had very signif…
On the subject of our contributions, we had the Gates Foundation in yesterday. It was about maternal and child health. Ireland remains up there with just the Nordic countries and the Dutch in retaining that level of support. We are beacons in the ocean of development aid funding, but specifically in that area. The Minister of State may want to comment further.
As an aside on the GPO issue, the GPO has always been a hub of business transactions for well over a century. I am really excited by the Government's plans and the cultural and historical aspects. The GPO was always a hub of business and business transactions.
My question relates to a serious backlog in HSE dental check-ups for primary school children. Constituents have contacted me about their son who is now finish…
It is not true.
The waiting times for driving tests are increasing at my two local centres in Tallaght and Deansgrange, which serve constituents in Dublin South-West. I had a call to my office this morning from a constituent whose son has been waiting over nine months for a test. He represents Ireland in athletics and his father, who works in a hospital, has to accompany him or drive him around the country to races. All his son want…
Could we institute a learner driver programme to try to address those really-----
-----appalling figures?
I will wrap the two questions together if that is okay with the Chair and the Minister.
Has the Tánaiste had any recent discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart and will he comment on that? Will he update us on whether any further sanctions will be imposed on Russia?
I appreciate the combined answer there. I have a couple of comments. The Tánaiste will be aware of this and the briefings he gets will be far more sophisticated and informative than what I would be privy to, which is reading some of the international newspapers today, but it looks like Russia is mounting a further offensive into Ukraine. There is a lot of commentary in the press about what the US President's next ste…
The previous Government invested a huge amount in active travel and cycle projects that are beginning to connect up. As many people did, I cycled in this morning. It is now possible to cycle a good way into the city from the south side on off-road cycle tracks. I raised this when I was in opposition. In of all places, Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, the ciclovía is a weekly event where streets are closed to cars eve…
Could the Taoiseach see the Government encouraging this in Dublin, Cork and Limerick-----
We could at least start it on a pilot basis and move it to a once-a-month basis where people could enjoy their time-----
-----from around 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., not the entire day.
6. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent engagement with the US President. [26754/25]
Words are completely inadequate, but I want to share some thoughts in spite of that. I warmly welcome the steps taken by my colleague the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, to try to bring some - I will not say closure - sense and reason to the awful events that happened in Carrickmacross a decade and a half ago.
I am very happy the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is in the Chair to oversee the proceedings.
When you get …
17. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent discussions with President Zelenskyy. [22406/25]
2. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council, a statutory agency operating under the aegis of his Department. [16778/25]
I thank the Taoiseach for taking the question. I have enjoyed reading NESC reports on and off for the last 30 years. I noticed that one of the most recent ones, which was also referenced by the Taoiseach, was in regard to energy poverty. Successive Governments have introduced schemes like the warmer homes scheme, which is very valuable, and we also have the fuel allowance. These cost the State significant amounts of …
I, too, congratulate the Minister and the Minister of State on their appointments. Like others, this is the first opportunity I have had to do so. The Minister can take as read that I support the thrust of what the previous speakers, Deputies Martin Daly and Barry Ward, the good Deputy beside me, have said.
I will take a slightly alternative route, however. The Dáil had gone into recess in July 2018 and our party le…
This is a transport issue. Under the last Government, and it was generally welcomed at the time, the Minister for Transport introduced very relaxed laws around e-bikes, e-scooters and electric bikes. Now there are electric bikes and scooters that travel at the speed of mopeds and motor bikes that are completely powered-up and do not require any pedalling activity to get them moving. At the same time there are regular…
A statement was made regarding Garda strip-searching. That was denied by gardaí, and just because someone can come back in and keep repeating it does not make it so. I am a person with a record of calling things out here, just as the Leas Cheann-Comhairle did - I took my lead from him - but just repeating any accusation does not make it so, and it went unchallenged.
The Taoiseach called out the horrors yesterday at the Global Ireland Summit in front of as large an international representative audience as you could get, from around the world and the European Union. I wish he could do it every day but that seems to be what is being asked for on the Opposition benches. My colleague Deputy O'Meara put it very well with regard to the inability of the European Union to act cohesively …
I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this debate. It provides a chance to look back on where we have come from in the past century in terms of workers' rights. It was only 130 years ago that trade unions were first recognised, and how far we have come in the rights that have been achieved since then. It is just 112 years since the infamous Dublin Lockout, led by Jim Larkin and James Connolly. This was a turning…