There is so much hysteria on the Opposition benches today, so let me reassure people from the outset that his debate is not about ending Irish neutrality, it is not about joining NATO and it definitely is not about creating a European army. This debate is about one thing. It is about our independence and whether we in Ireland should retain the sovereign right to decide for ourselves when and where we participate in p…
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
-----work as an international peacekeeper remains steadfast.
Finally, it is true that we equally want-----
-----the preservation of our tradition of military neutrality.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue and the Minister of State for being present to take it. The Minister of State will agree that when it comes to childcare, parents need certainty. Close to work, on-site, or, as in this case, on-campus childcare is as good as it gets with parents working in close proximity to where their child is minded. Oakview Crèche, based in the grounds of Technological …
I thank the Minister of State for the answer but that line in the early part of his reply that "the university prepares to repurpose the current facility" is the issue that I have a problem with. The point I made earlier was that close to work on-campus or on-site childcare is as good as it gets.
That is what the university here should be aiming for. The solution is along the lines of the solution announced by the M…
I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly on this debate. I was listening to some of it. I echo some of the comments made by Deputy Gogarty about the provocative nature of some of the matters that he raised and the wide range of issues we would need to consider. We do not talk about the North in this House enough. I have been here ten years and it seems to me that we are only really beginning to have a discussi…
That simple structure in Ireland of four provinces offered and offers a very simple federal system that could be taken going forward, and then we would decide where central government is organised from. It would clearly have to have a Belfast dimension as well as a Dublin dimension.
I do not think one-upmanship in the House assists this because we all have ideas and they are all valid. I do not think there is any on…
I will be fair to my colleagues. I welcome the very positive news the Minister of State announced to the effect that the Government is positively committing itself to the consideration of the feasibility study we, as representatives of the various constituencies, are requesting. This is one of the most significant investments in transport in the history of the State, but, for too long, communities in my constituency …
It is truly remarkable that in 1888, one could board a tram in the city and travel all the way to Blessington via Rathfarnham and Templeogue, yet in 2026, we are still arguing for but have now moved much closer to an independent feasibility study to bring modern rail infrastructure to our constituency.
The Minister of State will agree that the best time to build a metro in Dublin was 20 years ago. The second best ti…
Parents of children with special needs require certainty and predictability. Their lives and those of their children are challenging enough without having to endure distress and anxiety caused by uncertainty and unpredictability. The Minister of State appreciates that. As my colleague Deputy Moynihan said, parents are deeply concerned that Nexus in Knocklyon and other locations has been informed by Tusla that due to …
Will the Minister of State clarify on whose behalf she is responding? Is it the Minister for children or the Minister for education?
One of the things that strikes me about the reply, which is not the Minister of State's responsibility, is its technical nature and the lack of child-focused orientation it displays. There is no comfort in it for parents as to what will be done for their children in six weeks' time. That is the real letdown.
I fully concur with Deputy Moynihan that there is an avenue available to move this situation forward. I am gr…
I thought we had left these days behind us because we have made huge strides in the provision of affordable childcare under this Government. In my constituency, however, this progress is being seriously jeopardised by the fact that some providers are being forced to withdraw from the scheme because of the unviability of their businesses. If no alternative providers are available locally and when a provider withdraws …
4. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [46912/26]
I thank my colleagues for joining me in bringing this question forward. We do this sometimes in this Chamber. Sancta Maria College is unfinished business. It is an unfinished school. A school without a sports hall is not a school. A school without performance facilities and space and creative space and facilities is not a finished school either. It is what we can call an incomplete school or an uncompleted school, gi…
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, for that. I appreciate him bringing back our sentiments to the Minister. Before starting on a new project, why not finish the projects that are outstanding? What is happening is through no fault of the school itself. It is affecting how the school attracts students and how education is provided there. It is affecting enrolment and the school's ability to enrol. It is a…
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to these statements on rare diseases. I chair an ad hoc cross-party committee in the Oireachtas on the subject of rare diseases and have done for some time. My speaking time is very limited.
To put it in context, one in 17 people in Ireland has a rare disease. In this Dáil Chamber, that would mean ten Members would have a rare disease. If we populate those ten around the seati…
I have observed, over the past year or so and before then, that the biggest critics of the Irish Government are the Netanyahu government and Members of our own Opposition, regardless of what the Irish Government does and the esteem in which it and the Irish people are held internationally in relation to their stance on Palestine and their defence of Palestinians. I have met many of these representatives in this House…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. I had been a county councillor for 11 years back in 2010 when Government expanded the DTA to become the NTA. I may have the dates wrong but I am roughly right. This Bill provides a big opportunity. I agree with a lot of what the previous speaker said. There is a real democratic deficit when it comes to the NTA. I suspect the public view of the NTA is not hugely positive. I …
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter, which should have included our colleague, Deputy Paul Murphy, as well. I ought to say that. The four non-officeholders in Dublin South West come together when there is an issue of serious concern to all of us, and this is one such issue of concern. It is to raise the reported proposal by An Post to close the sorting office at Edmondstown in my own p…
I welcome the fact that the Minister of State will do his best to facilitate engagement directly between An Post and the public representatives who have raised this matter. I also welcome the news about 300 additional postmen and postwomen, some of whom will be employed in the local area. That is really good news. As regards the talk about dispersing what Edmondstown sorting office does to other local post offices, w…
148. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has assessed the impact of reduced parking provision in high-density residential developments on neighbouring estates, including the issue of overspill parking and its effect on community relations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37539/26]
It did not take the "Prime Time" documentary on this to educate me about it.
It started in my constituency with Citywest where there was out-of-proportion development in relation to the capacity for parking that was provided by either the local authority or An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála. Why was that density allowed? I presume proximity to the Luas red line was one of the reasons. However, not everybod…
If we go from Citywest to Knocklyon where I live myself, it was mentioned in the documentary that 600 units overspill into adjoining estates, causing a lot of aggravation. Representatives of residents' associations in adjoining estates look for double yellow lines or parking measures to mitigate antisocial forms of parking. Then we have the people who do not have parking spaces because a sufficient number of car park…