First, I acknowledge the great work of Mayo County Council over many years working with a very difficult scheme. I particularly acknowledge the work of Clodagh Gleeson, who has helped many families through what is the most horrendous time. She has worked tirelessly, day and night, to assist many families in the most stressful time of their lives.
This is such an important issue. It affects thousands of people and th…
TDs / Paul Lawless
Paul Lawless
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,995
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
94,569
words spoken in the chamber
Across 496 contributions
391
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
300
topics asked about
Across 19 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 1,995 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 496 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 34 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 27 | 26 |
| March 2025 | 32 | 18 |
| April 2025 | 59 | 23 |
| May 2025 | 104 | 49 |
| June 2025 | 49 | 28 |
| July 2025 | 63 | 30 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 97 | 24 |
| October 2025 | 43 | 26 |
| November 2025 | 136 | 44 |
| December 2025 | 119 | 25 |
| January 2026 | 151 | 28 |
| February 2026 | 141 | 32 |
| March 2026 | 162 | 10 |
| April 2026 | 181 | 34 |
| May 2026 | 214 | 18 |
| June 2026 | 139 | 20 |
| July 2026 | 56 | 15 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 115 | 21 |
| October 2026 | 73 | 23 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 278 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 Mayo 29 November 2024 to now
- party Aontú 29 November 2024 to now
I welcome the opportunity to speak. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. This is a really important topic. The Coast Guard has been shouting into the wind for far too long. It is only right that we have the opportunity today to put this issue front and centre.
I am sincerely grateful to all the coastal communities across Mayo. I thank all the voluntary groups, including the Coast Guard, the CHC crews, …
I welcome the courageous individuals in the Gallery who stood up, such as Maurice McCabe, John Barrett and Ciarán Kenneally. These people and many others, including the Women of Honour, have done a tremendous service to the State. They showed incredible courage and conviction. In every case, the State used every lever in its power to smear these individuals. I rise with a heavy heart and a sense of responsibility. Wh…
I rise today to speak for children with disabilities and their families. Children's disability network teams, CDNTs, are meant to be the backbone of early intervention in this country, but that backbone is well and truly broken. The teams are chronically understaffed and the consequences are devastating. In Mayo, no CDNT is fully staffed. Mayo north has four full-time vacancies, Mayo south has three and a half vacanc…
What about vacancies-----
23. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the plan for a new disability unit in his Department. [63529/25]
We have serious issues in relation to cost overruns in this country. Inquiries, commissions of investigation and tribunals have cost the taxpayer millions of euro. The fact the Taoiseach is not here this evening is reflective of that. He is the line Minister in relation to this and he should be here to answer questions. Millions of euro are pumped into this system and yet so many of these inquiries fail to deliver ju…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Health insurance reports show that the average premium rates rose by over 12% in 2024. Some plans even jumped by 25%, a quarter, for some individuals. The average adult premium in the country now is €1,800 - an incredible figure. The Health Insurance Authority is preparing to raise the levies again further by another 10% on insurance premiums. This is an enormous cost …
The people of Mayo, represented so courageously by the Mayo Pyrite Action Group, are living in homes that crumble around them. Their walls weep damp, their children breathe mould and their lives are suspended in uncertainty, yet the Government offers schemes that are actually defective in themselves. They exclude, they delay and they diminish. The families are not looking for charity. They are looking for justice, th…
This is a family that has children with disabilities. They are in immense difficulty, with rodents in the house.
I am asking the Taoiseach what he can do for this family.
Is he going to develop a new scheme to actually include these families that are so excluded by the scheme?
But the cut-off-----
16. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [63527/25]
I have raised this many times previously but the water quality in Clew Bay, County Mayo is being massively damaged at the moment. Raw sewage from Newport town is collected and stored in containers. When the high tide comes in to Clew Bay, it washes raw sewage on to the shoreline. Everyone is in agreement that a water treatment plant is needed for the town and it has been in the planning process for decades. There are…
31. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island unit. [63528/25]
I want to raise concerns about the Supreme Court ruling in Britain on religious education and collective worship in the North of Ireland. Aontú is a pluralist republican party. I believe it is really important that all parents can choose the ethos of the school they wish to send their children to. Catholic schools played a significant role in the lives of nationalist families. They were a safe place for Catholics in …
Will the Taoiseach engage with his counterpart-----
-----in Britain to ensure we can retain our Catholic schools in the North? Schools can be an inclusive-----
-----place and a religious place.
I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this today. It is almost four years since the invasion occurred. It is important that we acknowledge in the House the role Ireland has played over the four years. In particular, I commend the Irish citizens and communities who have worked so hard on integrating people from Ukraine and supporting them, right across my constituency and right across Ireland.
What is happe…
That is where it came from.
I urge the Government to remember where this triple lock came from.
I will not interrupt the Minister of State and I would appreciate the opportunity to finish. The triple lock is under threat from this Government. That is the case. It is a vital safeguard to protect neutrality. Removing the triple lock would remove the third arm of the lock and would allow the Government, which is effectively the Cabinet, to act. As Deputy John McGuinness said here not so long ago, the Government is…
Let the Irish people decide what their view is on the triple lock and neutrality in this country.