I acknowledge the progress that has been made on the scheme. I am glad we are making progress on the humanitarian scheme. It has been quite disappointing in many regards. There have been major difficulties with it for many of my constituents. It has been quite chaotic and haphazard. Many constituents of mine have got €200, others have got €10, and others have got nothing at all. In fairness to the Minister and Depart…
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
The Government introduced a planning circumvention to allow wealthy accommodation providers to bypass the planning laws entirely for IPAS centres. This totally disregards local communities where no engagement effectively happens whatsoever. I spoke to the owner of the Belmont Hotel recently who told me he was developing a four-star hotel. That was before a leaked document showed the local authority had plans to devel…
Ireland is the most exposed country in the European Union to the US tariff war. Ireland exports more than any other country in Europe to America. Last year, Ireland exported €72 billion worth of goods to the US. Some €58 billion worth of those were pharmaceutical products. President Trump has explicitly stated that he wants to see the pharma industry back in the US. It is very unclear what influence this Government h…
Storm Éowyn left almost 1 million people without power and water, many for more than two weeks. In response, the Government introduced a humanitarian assistance scheme. The scheme was designed to meet the need for food, clothing and personal items but I have received hundreds of emails and calls to my constituency office from constituents who have received rejection letters. These letters clearly state that the schem…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and thank Sinn Féin for tabling it. The tenant in situ scheme was actually working quite well in Mayo until recently, but over the past year it has been paused entirely. A number of my constituents have actually agreed terms and agreed a sale deal with Mayo County Council over a year ago but are still waiting in line. They are still waiting to find out what is happenin…
It is about protecting FDI, Minister.
The point is about protecting these jobs.
It is International Women's Day. It is also endometriosis awareness month. Endometriosis is a hugely debilitating disease. Women who experience this disease often have crippling pain, fatigue, loss of body confidence and the inability to work, play sport or participate in hobbies for many days at various different times of the month. In fact, this disease affects one in ten women. There are more women who suffer from…
It is unacceptable that women in their thirties have to wait so long for a proper diagnosis. It is unfair and wrong. A total of 44% of women undergoing IVF are actually silent sufferers of endometriosis. We must address this. We need to ensure that the national framework happens. The Endometriosis Association of Ireland is doing great work, but right now there is no pathway and it is causing major difficulties.
We n…
I wish the Minister of State well. There is a massive amount of work to be done. There is a significant drug problem in our communities. I recently spoke to several gardaí who told me they do not have the manpower or time to deal with drugs. Those drug issues include underage kids taking drugs, which is a major issue. Theft, violence and antisocial behaviour are all on the rise.
We all know we need more gardaí and t…
That is what is happening. Many years ago, gardaí would be on the street and would know what was happening before it even happened. That is no longer the case. We need to return to proactive community policing.
In 2023, the Garda Representative Association voted no confidence in the Commissioner. A total of 98% voted no confidence. I recently met the Commissioner at Mayo County Council. I asked him what has happened…
A Cheann Comhairle, that is out of order.
He did mention my name.
Withdraw the statement.
A Cheann Comhairle, the point I made was around management of An Garda Síochána and I have tremendous respect and gratitude-----
-----for the wonderful work gardaí are doing.
No.
I was referring to senior management, a Cheann Comhairle.
Senior management are not listening to gardaí.
We are now almost five weeks on from Storm Éowyn and many communities in County Mayo are still without communications. Ballinamore nursing home, for example, is still without a landline. There are many elderly people without a landline and it is causing difficulties around accessing emergency services and accessing pendant alarms, which run off the landline. Many people in Mayo are still without this service and it i…
I welcome that the Minister is in the Chamber for this discussion. I welcome the comments made by the Minister of State about the modular developments. It is a positive, practical solution and something that should have happened a very long time ago. I ask the Minister to expedite that. At the moment, according to the Minister's comments 40 sq. m is the maximum size but I think sizes of 60 sq. m, 70 sq. m or 80 sq. m…
The crisis in gender-based violence continues to devastate our society. The number of domestic violence cases rose by 20,000 in the past four years alone. Women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis, the impact of which is being felt in every constituency across the country, including that of Mayo, which has experienced its highest number of domestic abuse cases in over a decade. The Covid-19 pandemic, wh…
2. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if his Department collates statistics on the number of SMEs that have closed down in County Mayo in the past five years; and if so, to outline the figures that reveal how many SMEs closed in Mayo over each of the past five years. [6361/25]
I thank the Minister of State for the response. I am surprised by the lack of data on insolvencies in recent years. The issues and the crisis facing the SME sector are getting increasingly worse. A Deloitte study recently found that almost 900 insolvencies occurred in 2024, an increase of almost a third on 2023. It predicted that the increase will continue, as will the issues affecting SMEs. The worst affected sector…
We should also focus on preventative healthcare from the earliest stages, from children upwards. Sport is of critical importance. One in five children stops participating in sport in the transition from primary school to first year. There is another massive drop off in terms of participation in third year among those who are 15 and 16 years of age. It is important that the Minister addresses it. There are serious iss…