It is handing over control to Europe of how they are being processed.
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
We had a protocol and we could have opted out.
Mayo is one of the most scenic and beautiful counties in this country. In recent years, we welcomed the US President and I understand next week Mayo is due to welcome the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Tourism is the lifeblood of so many areas in Mayo, including west Mayo, east Mayo, north and south, in Cong, for example, Westport, Clare Island, the Barony of Erris, which is absolutely stunning, and Achill Isl…
There are some positive elements in the Bill that I would very much like to vote for and then there are difficulties with it as well. It is very broad and diverse. It would have been much more positive if we had the opportunity to engage with the issues on an individual level and discuss them in detail.
We support the proposal on counselling notes. People who have suffered, in particular from sexual assault, should …
Let us be honest about the fuel support scheme. The Government sold farmers a pup. When the price of green diesel spiked by 80% and farmers were struggling, the Government offered them 2.4 cents off per litre. It was an insult. We warned the Government on the floor of the Dáil what was going to happen. Sure enough, what happened was a revolt. When farmers and contractors went to the trouble of protesting, the Governm…
Today in Ireland, a pensioner living alone or a family pays almost twice as much for a unit of electricity than a data centre. This is despite the fact many data centres are parts of the wealthiest corporations in the world. The demand from data centres is driving up the cost of electricity. In 2024, data centres consumed 22% of electricity in Ireland. That was more than every household in urban Ireland. That is an i…
If the Government is going to make Ireland the data centre capital of Europe, it better have a plan. A plan does not mean that ordinary households are subsidising data centres. That is currently what is happening. The report to which I refer estimates that the current trajectory in terms of data centres is 22%, and that this is on the rise and is driving up the cost of energy in this country. The truth is that this i…
I am talking about the energy crisis and families across Ireland.
Aontú will be supporting the motion brought forward by my colleagues in Independent Ireland. As someone from a rural constituency, I know the hardships and difficulties that a high cost of fuel imposes on rural constituencies. We need economic controls and supports that trigger automatically when price inflation and fuel inflation soars. We cannot continue the current system where small businesses have to take to the…
How fitting it is that we are here today in the heatwave of summer 2026 discussing outdoor dining and socialising on this beautiful day and a beautiful week? Right across Ireland, people are enjoying a beverage outside in the sunshine. Good luck to them and God bless them. We had a long winter. I hope that every person enjoys the beautiful weather we are having.
I supported this legislation last year, I will support…
19. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [39395/26]
There is a significant cost to having a disability. We all know that. We do not need any more reports, consultations or reviews. This is very clear. The cost involved is in the region of an additional €1,500 per year. The Indecon report of 2021 clearly outlined the cost of disability. That report was commissioned by the Government. In light of inflation, we know that the cost has risen significantly. The cost of ener…
Neutrality and our triple lock is a serious element of our defence and foreign policy. Indeed, Irish people widely support our neutrality and are proud of it. I want to clearly say to the Minister that if she and the Government want to remove the triple lock, put it to the people by means of a referendum.
Promises may not mean much to many Government politicians and, indeed, promises mean very little it seems to Fia…
The Government has a habit of signing up to laws and targets, making announcements and slapping itself on the back before walking away. It walks away without a plan, without any ring-fenced funding for the targets it has set out to achieve and really without any plan to deliver what is proposed. The EU Nature Restoration Law is a perfect example of this. We are now legally obliged to restore at least 20% of our land …
This week I spoke to a family from County Wicklow. The parents are Ciaran and Jessie Redmond. Their daughter was recently diagnosed with leukaemia. They are facing eviction. They were both self-employed, hard-working parents doing the best they can for their family. Unfortunately, Ciaran has been forced into taking some leave from his work to care for his daughter. They do not qualify for any support. They were offer…
We are now over a month since the fuel protests and not a single cent of the Government’s fuel subsidy has been paid out to farmers and contractors. This scheme was announced to great fanfare to quell the protests, but the application process only opened in recent days. Farmers and contractors still do not know how much they will qualify for because the scheme is capped. The window for applications closes on 27 May, …
My question to the Taoiseach-----
Does the Taoiseach accept that the fuel subsidy package is totally inadequate for farmers and contractors?
The very clear methodology we outlined over the fuel protest was to scrap carbon tax because that would have provided an immediate relief to farmers and contractors who desperately needed it. Instead we are now a month on from the fuel protest at a time when the cost of fuel is still very high. Green diesel is still extraordinarily high in terms of last year's figures and there has been no relief and many farmers hav…
I want to start by thanking all of the nurses, not just in this country, but all of our Irish nurses right across the world in Australia, Canada and America. Some of our best and brightest young people are educated here, which is paid for by the taxpayer, and then essentially forced abroad. That is what has happened over many years. It is devastating to hear that there are new talks of a recruitment freeze, given tha…
Fresh statistics released to me regarding primary care services in Mayo are very concerning. Last year only 31 out of 150 Mayo children under five years of age received psychology support. During Covid, when the Taoiseach was Taoiseach, speech and language therapists across the country were redeployed to vaccination centres and for contact tracing. As a result of this, in Mayo in 2021, only 400 children were seen in …
The children can wait.
And the children today?
I welcome this motion from my colleague, Deputy Gogarty. I hope it receives cross-party support.
There are many problems with the in camera rule in the family court. It is something we in Aontú have raised consistently for a long time. The cross-party group has formed in the Oireachtas seeking reforms. This is very welcome and indeed it is good to see Government backbenchers as part of that group as well.
Deputy Go…
I very much welcome the fact that the scheme has been extended to Wexford and Dublin. That is a step in the right direction. We in Aontú remain very much of the belief, however, that 100% redress is required. Unfortunately, the scheme does not offer 100% redress.
The scheme has been changed many times since it was first discussed, which is creating a massive amount of confusion. I have heard of cases whereby, incred…