Will the Minister of State please focus on regional rail? The Dublin to Westport line has had no significant upgrades in quite some time. From Westport to Athlone, we are still operating off a single-carriage line. The distance from Westport to Dublin is 262 km. The journey takes three hours and 20 minutes, which means that the average speed is 80 km/h. There are tractors in Mayo that can reach 80 km/h.
TDs / Paul Lawless
Paul Lawless
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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
The distance between Cork and Dublin is the same. Trains on that route reach Dublin in two and a half hours. The TGV in France has an average speed of 300 km/h. With such average speeds, it would be possible to get from Westport to Dublin in under an hour. In many cases, the people of Mayo are waiting in Roscommon for half an hour for a train to pass because of the single line and because the speeds needs to be incre…
Does the Minister of State have any plans to upgrade the Dublin to Westport line-----
-----particularly with regard to the speed of the trains?
The big point is that in recent years the housing crisis has pushed a lot of people from Mayo out of Dublin. Covid and working conditions also played a role. We have seen many young people returning to live in Mayo and commuting to Dublin, if you can believe it. Many of these people travel to Dublin one, two or three days a week. The point I am making is that a journey of almost three and half hours on the train line…
I am glad the Minister of State mentioned ten years ago.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on social enterprises. I welcome the Minister of State's opening statement. It is important that we support social enterprises. I will highlight some of the great work in my constituency to emphasise the valuable work happening across Mayo. One example is the Kilmovee community housing centre. It is a small community but the social enterprise there is doing tremendous work. It is an…
I welcome transition year students from Ballyhaunis Community School in County Mayo, and their teachers, Bernie Osgood and Mairead Conway. It is great to have them here with us. I thank them for making the journey. I have no doubt some of the next politicians and leaders of the country are here today.
I very much welcome the motion before us, brought forward by the Labour Party. I also welcome the housing Minister h…
I welcome the auto-enrolment scheme. It will be very positive for a lot of workers across the country. I question the delays in relation to it. It is such an important aspect for particularly middle- and low-income earners and I urge the Government to prioritise its roll-out. However, I have some concerns. These concerns relate to compliance and to SMEs. SMEs are already struggling with the cost of insurance, the cos…
86. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the proportion of plastics collected under the deposit return scheme that are processed overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49283/25]
My question is about the deposit return scheme, DRS. What percentage of plastics and cans that are collected via the scheme are processed here and what percentage are processed abroad?
It is very important that this was sold as an environmental measure. It is clear that a significant volume of material is leaving the country. Does the Minister of State have an assessment of the emissions in that regard? What work is he undertaking to ensure we have the capacity and facilities available in this country?
I agree that such a plant should be established but the introduction of the plant should have happened in advance of the scheme. There is a great deal of inconvenience involved. A significant amount of money is going to a private company, which gives rise to a number of questions that I hope we will soon address. It is very important that a bottle-to-bottle recycling plant be set up. Does the Minister of State have a…
90. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment his views on whether the deposit return scheme has been a success to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49284/25]
Has the DRS been a success? I am not just asking about the environmental aspect but about the financials behind company, the percentage of unclaimed deposits and where that money has gone and the impact will the scheme have on families right across Ireland who may well experience higher bin collection fees as a result of the DRS.
The deposit return scheme has become another tax but it is not like a normal tax that might be used to pay teachers, nurses and gardaí. This is a tax that is going into a private organisation. Last year, at the end of 2024 the company had more than 100 million deposits from unclaimed bottles and cans. Last year, the company had a cash pile of €90 million after expenses. The CEO's salary is not declared. That is what …
It is over €66 million of unclaimed items in one year. The Minister of State has talked about controls. I have asked him how much the CEO is getting paid and what the salaries in this organisation are. That is the level of control I expect him to declare before us in the Dáil. It is unacceptable that he talks simply about the environmental aspect without addressing the issue the people of Ireland have, which is where…
The salaries?
I wish to raise real concerns about Mayo University Hospital. The Minister for Health will know that last month the hospital was in a crisis situation, experiencing over 160 presentations daily despite the fact that just four or five nurses were rostered on a given day. This month we are way off peak in terms of the winter period but Mayo University Hospital has been forced to cancel elective procedures. That is how …
The population is now more than 5.4 million. Last year, over 25,000 immigrants arrived into this country. That is a net figure of more than 60,000 people. In one year, that is equates to the population of Sligo, Ennis and Castlebar. Yet, this Government has failed to deliver the necessary infrastructure to sustain that level of development. Over the past five years, just over 100,000 houses were built, with a net mig…
I very much welcome the motion brought forward by my colleague Deputy Paul Gogarty. In recent weeks, the new Commissioner has taken office. It is really important to say that the previous Commissioner left the morale of the force in tatters. This is why the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, now has a major job at hand in recruitment and retention in the force. I believe the first thing that needs to be review…
I welcome the Bill and commend the great work of the members of An Garda Síochána and those officers who work in the Criminal Assets Bureau.
It is important that we tackle criminals at source. The best way to do this is by tackling the proceeds of crime. We welcome that the turnaround time will be reduced from seven years to two years. This is something for which we in Aontú have called for quite some time. I ask th…
I welcome this fundamentally important Bill. Aontú has been campaigning for this for a long time. The right to be forgotten is crucially important for cancer survivors. We welcome and support this right 100%. The State has effectively punished cancer survivors and victims on the double. The first way is in terms of delayed treatment and diagnosis. The Irish Cancer Society this week launched a report stating that five…
The rural pub is the heart and soul of rural communities. In many villages and towns, it is the last remaining space for villages and clubs to come together to support rural organisations. The rural pub is closing in dramatic fashion. Recently, a report by the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, VFI, found that there was significant pressure. One in four pubs has closed since 2005. This represents more than 2,000 pubs. …
As a result, there are no taxis-----