I welcome the joint motion that will be dealt with later today. However, hundreds of human rights activists, including 22 Irish citizens, one of whom, Senator Chris Andrews, is a Member of the Houses, are heading to Gaza right now. There is every possibility of intervention from the Israeli State. This has concerned many Governments, which have sent their naval vessels to the area.
TDs / Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Portrait: Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (CC BY 4.0) · source file
584
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
50,740
words spoken in the chamber
Across 447 contributions
442
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
153
topics asked about
Across 20 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 584 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 447 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| January 2025 | 5 | 11 |
| February 2025 | 43 | 38 |
| March 2025 | 53 | 18 |
| April 2025 | 28 | 39 |
| May 2025 | 33 | 26 |
| June 2025 | 37 | 17 |
| July 2025 | 35 | 24 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 12 | 22 |
| October 2025 | 38 | 16 |
| November 2025 | 40 | 17 |
| December 2025 | 14 | 42 |
| January 2026 | 39 | 16 |
| February 2026 | 35 | 43 |
| March 2026 | 24 | 18 |
| April 2026 | 16 | 29 |
| May 2026 | 39 | 21 |
| June 2026 | 40 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 12 | 9 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 20 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 21 | 22 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 319 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 Donegal 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
My point is we need to be able to respond-----
The Oireachtas needs to be able to respond flexibly to the emerging situation. All I am asking is that we can respond flexibly.
Yes, the motion is tonight but we have a situation to which we need to be able to respond flexibly and that is all I ask for.
I am just asking for this.
Can we get this question answered?
My question was not answered.
I am asking for flexibility.
The question was not answered.
I asked for-----
I welcome the joint motion. I asked for clarification as to whether we can respond robustly if anything happens tonight.
It is a fair question.
Can it be answered now? Can we answer that? Can the Oireachtas jointly respond flexibly if the situation deteriorates badly?
There have been eight decades of oppression, occupation and apartheid. Today there are six million Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East. There are 750,000 Israeli settlers in illegal settlements. These are war crimes under international law. Israel ignored it. Apartheid has been defined by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. It is clearly apartheid and the world ignored it. Again and again, the w…
They are not agreed. Every week when the Business Committee meets, I have raised the issue of defective concrete blocks. A year ago, the Government stated that it would extend the increase in the cap to everybody going through the scheme. How on earth has it not produced the legislation to date? It is cruel. People are struggling to find tens of thousands of euro. I met someone the other day for whom the gap is €200,…
The people in the west of Ireland have been treated with utter contempt by the Government when it comes to this scheme.
Pyrrhotite.
Not agreed.
Where did it all go wrong? We built up a publicly owned electricity service that was the pride of our people. We built up electrification when we were a poor country and we had some of the cheapest electricity in Europe. Thanks to the policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, that all now lies in ruins. Those parties embraced the privatisation agenda from Europe with glee. They sold the family jewels and today we have t…
Not agreed. Energy companies are lining up to fleece customers again. There will be big increases after increases. The Government is steadfastly refusing to introduce an energy credit again in the budget. We need an urgent debate in this house about its failure to get a grip on the energy companies fleecing customers and on the wider cost-of-living crisis. We need an urgent debate on why the Government is refusing to…
My colleagues have summarised the situation well. Plans are well and good, but we need to see fundamental change on the ground. I will share a few personal stories from Donegal where, unfortunately, the failure to recruit a range of professionals has led to appalling outcomes for children with disabilities and their parents. Right now, for children who require psychiatric assistance and medication, it is not availabl…
No. Six months on, this really is a do-nothing Government. Hundreds of families in Donegal and the west of Ireland have waited ten months for it to honour its promise to bring in a simple amendment to legislation to ensure the increase in the cap for defective block homeowners applies to people already in the scheme.
That means they cannot make the final payments to builders. The Government is now pushing the issue …
It has everything to do with the Order of Business.
That is not correct.
It is there in black and white. The dissent was recorded in black and white.