This question asks the views of the Minister of State, Deputy Timmy Dooley, on the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006. The Minister of State will know already from his brief the serious concerns of people in the fishing and seafood industry about the approach of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, in comparison to other regulators across Europe.
I want to have an exchange with the Minister of…
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
I shared with the Minister of State my direct eyewitness account of the incredible level of oversight that the SFPA has of the industry. I witnessed in a fish factory in Killybegs CCTV cameras and access to the building at any time. Even that was not enough. I do not know of any industry where there would be cameras literally in the workplace every day, with images going directly from the factory floor to the regulat…
The committee met earlier today. We looked at our work plan. We will be bringing in the fishing representative organisations, the Irish Fishing and Seafood Alliance, the National Inshore Fishermen's Organisation and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, which represents the inshore and islands, in order that they can have their say in how this is being implemented. We will look at how it compares with what …
Scoil Mhuire Milford, County Donegal, is a school that was built in the 1950s. It sits right on the corner of a very busy road junction but the facilities are completely inappropriate. You would have to see it to believe how bad it is. Somehow, the school delivers an incredible education to its children. It has secured a new site at no cost to the State. It is within the control points of the town, Donegal County Cou…
Last year, the then Government finally announced an increase in the cap. It was in line with the recommendations of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, who examined the real costings on the ground. The reality is that the Government did not apply that to people who are going through the scheme already; it was only for new entrants. That was cruel. The Government made it clear that it was going to amend the le…
He is absent.
I am really concerned with this response written by the Department officials. The people who wrote this were present in Donegal in recent days. They know the urgency of this. Now they are talking about adding other issues to the amendments. This could go on forever.
This is straightforward. It is a simple amendment to the legislation to make sure that the increase in the cap is available to everybody currently parti…
It was in the spring one, too.
It is not just about them. It is about working families. The Taoiseach is an intelligent man.
Like me, the Minister of State represents a rural constituency. As a result, he understands what a massive problem it is if a person is obliged to wait seven months - that is the current waiting time in County Donegal - for his or her driving test. In my home area of Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula, the waiting time has doubled in a year. We are getting representations from young people who are desperate and thei…
Not agreed.
Next Tuesday morning, 14-year-old Cara Darmody, the disability rights campaigner, will commence a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. It is about the failure of the Government to deliver assessments of need to children within the legal six-month period. There are 15,000 children affected. Will the Minister work with the Opposition to draft a motion to go before the Dáil next week to deal with this issue once and …
It has now been 19 months of genocide and slaughter in Gaza. It has been more than two months of blockades, blocking food and humanitarian aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza. We now have the outrage upon outrage of Netanyahu making it clear he intends to assume full control and displace so many people. We need an emergency debate in this Chamber this week. We need the Minister and questions. We need to send a clea…
I move amendment No. 1:
In paragraph (1), to insert the following after "quorum of each Committee":
“, save that the footnote ‘ 3 National Security encompasses cyber-defence, sub-sea critical infrastructure and related hybrid threats’ on page 5 be deleted.”.
I will focus my comment on fisheries, the seafood sector and the wider marine space. Looking at the east coast of Ireland, we made serious mistakes as a country in developing offshore renewable energy in a way that took away the livelihoods of fishermen. That is how not to do it. However, there has been positive progress in recent years. I commend the work of the offshore renewable energy seafood task force. This has…
Not agreed.
I listened to the Taoiseach's comments about neutrality over the weekend. As he knows, the triple lock arose from two referendums the Irish people voted on where it was used as an assurance around neutrality. I ask him clearly, if he is going to reverse that, to commit to a referendum. If he is going to get rid of the triple lock, will he put it to a referendum of the Irish people and give them assurances around that…
It is okay. That is a compliment.
Did the Deputy get lucky?
Our spokesperson, Deputy Ó Broin, has laid out the national picture and the challenges we face. I am going to take this opportunity to speak about the experience on the ground in Donegal and offer some constructive criticism of Uisce Éireann but also address some challenges for the Government. I will start with our major town, Letterkenny. We want to develop Letterkenny into a city. We want to join Letterkenny with D…
Sinn Féin has warned for some time that the policies of successive Governments have left Ireland uniquely vulnerable to a change in the economic climate and to tariffs. This is due to their failure to invest in infrastructure, their excessive reliance on tax incentives, and their failure to build up our indigenous industry. These moves by Donald Trump and his Administration to introduce tariffs have caused a great de…
My understanding is that Deputy McDonald wants to move an amendment under the Standing Order.
As the Whip, I can respond. The Deputy raised the issue under the Standing Order, which she has a right to do
An amendment under the Standing Order can be taken at any stage. It is at the discretion of the Ceann Comhairle as to when she decides to take it.
I want to make it clear than on 5 February, a Cheann Comhairle, you took independent legal advice and adjudicated on the right of the Regional Independent Group to form a group in opposition.