I welcome the farming organisations this evening and thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. Last week, the Climate Change Advisory Council of Ireland outlined that if we continue on our current trajectory around carbon emissions, this country will face up to €26 billion of fines by 2030. It is an incredible sum of money - €26 billion. At the same time that our European institutions, and indeed our Fianna F…
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
Ah come on. It is not the Department, it is the Government.
Who runs the Department?
Who runs the Government?
You cannot be biased on-----
I congratulate President Catherine Connolly on her remarkable success and wish her well as Uachtarán na hÉireann. However, there has been a crisis of democracy - a huge democratic deficit in democracy - in this election. Three hundred and seventeen thousand people either spoiled their votes or voted for a withdrawn candidate. In some constituencies, the proportion of spoiled votes was north of 20%. Many boxes across …
Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage
I welcome the auto-enrolment scheme. It is a significant step forward for an estimated 800,000 employees across this country. There have been significant false starts and delays with the scheme. The Department must do a huge body of work in terms of advertising and communicating with people about the scheme and to ensure that people across Ireland can make an informed decision about entering into the scheme or potent…
I condemn the horrible attacks that happened on the IPAS centre in Drogheda. I welcome the fact that the Government has done such a U-turn on immigration and its rhetoric. It is quite incredible to be sitting here listening to an immigration debate with comments by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs that they would have been called racist just a year ago. Where was the critical thinking then? Where was the independent tho…
I welcome the Bill and thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing it forward. We will support the Bill because it is about simplicity. The more simple we keep uniforms and the whole back-to-school experience, the cheaper it will become for families. In Mayo, as throughout the country, families are struggling. September brings significant financial fear due to all the costs associated with going back to school, inc…
4. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has carried out an assessment of the impact that the current teacher shortages are having on students, particularly in rural schools and DEIS areas; and the measures being taken to recruit and retain teachers. [59851/25]
There is a significant teacher shortage across Ireland. The unions have reported this over many years. Indeed, the situation is getting so bad that some schools are combining classes. Other schools are sending classes home. What analysis has the Minister done of the impact this is having in schools, particularly rural schools and DEIS schools? What is the Department doing to address the teacher shortage issue in this…
There are significant difficulties, particularly around certain subjects. From speaking to DEIS schools and rural schools, and indeed in Dublin as well, we need to focus on easing the difficulties of recruitment and retention in teaching. For example, why is it the case that if a teacher is permanent in Dublin and wants to move back to Mayo, that teacher has to give up their employment? Why is there not a scheme to r…
In fairness, the question I asked the Minister, in terms of the redeployment scheme, was why there is not a fair process for teachers who are living and working in Dublin and cannot afford, for example, to live in Dublin and want to move back to Mayo. The vacancies are there. Why is there not that scheme? Will the Minister engage with me in relation to that?
Has the Minister undertaken any analysis of the two-year p…
The two-year master's and the redeployment.
These are the questions that the Minister will not answer.
No, the Minister has not answered the questions.
The Minister is not answering it. That is the point.
9. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the number of school building projects currently delayed across the State; the reasons for these delays; and the steps which are being taken to ensure children are not left learning in prefabs or overcrowded classrooms this winter. [59599/25]
I want to ask the Minister about the criteria for prioritising school capital projects and about delays. It appears that a significant number of projects have been delayed. Can the Minister outline how many capital project delays there are across the country and the primary reasons therefor?
I appreciate there is a significant amount of money - hundreds of millions of euro - spent on capital projects. Of course, there must be prioritisation and so on and, obviously, the need for expanding schools and special education should be an important prioritisation. However, I would appreciate it if the Minister could consider nuanced issues in schools as well. For example, Claremorris is a wonderful town with two…
I appreciate that in terms of need, the budget and so on, but the point is that there is such a demand for the amalgamation of the two schools. It appears there is a one-size-fits-all, arbitrary metric when it comes to the capital infrastructure project.
Will the Minister consider meeting me and the school principals to hear some of the issues that the schools are experiencing outlined for her and consider some fund…
The motion is rooted in three simple, democratic principles, namely, that every Irish citizen should have the right to vote for the President, that the Office of the President should be transparent and accountable and the process for standing for election should be fair and open to all citizens, not just the politically connected, and that voting rights for Irish citizens should be extended to the North of Ireland. C…
I raise a very serious issue that is happening in my constituency in Mayo. That is the proposed closure of the Cong hatchery. This facility is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Mayo. It is fundamentally important. It is the jewel in the crown of the tourism sector in south Mayo. Cong, Ballinrobe, much of south Mayo and Galway rely on this important angling and tourism sector. The IFI is proposing …
This budget has very little to do with ordinary families across Ireland. It is to do with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and where they are in the election cycle. After the budget, I picked up some Fine Gael election material.
So many promises have been broken. The Deputy is right that the Minister believes he can hold the Government together. There will not be an election for a couple of years and the promises can wait.…
-----of the most egregious nature, of a young girl who was raped-----