That is why we opted for a commission-----
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
688,766
words spoken in the chamber
686,628 as a minister, 2,138 as a TD
197
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 6,546 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 11 |
| January 2025 | 6 |
| February 2025 | 438 |
| March 2025 | 518 |
| April 2025 | 317 |
| May 2025 | 426 |
| June 2025 | 424 |
| July 2025 | 344 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 146 |
| October 2025 | 375 |
| November 2025 | 291 |
| December 2025 | 281 |
| January 2026 | 326 |
| February 2026 | 529 |
| March 2026 | 229 |
| April 2026 | 385 |
| May 2026 | 474 |
| June 2026 | 425 |
| July 2026 | 181 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 198 |
| October 2026 | 222 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 23 January 2025 to now
On 2019, what I am saying is that the chairperson will be given sole discretion to go beyond or back from that date as issues arise.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Is léir ón méid atá déanta againn go dtí seo an bhliain seo caite agus na blianta roimhe sin go bhfuilimid sásta mar Rialtas an-chuid tacaíocht agus cabhair a thabhairt do phinsinéirí na tíre seo i ngach aon tslí is féidir linn. Táimid chun é sin a dhéanamh arís sa bhuiséad atá le teacht. Tá sé suimiúil go bhfuil an Teachta ag léamh na bpáipéar nuachtáin lá i ndiaidh lae. Caithfidh s…
First, we recognise the enormous pressure on families and pensioners because of the cost-of-living crisis, which was fundamentally brought about by two major wars, namely, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the 2026 Middle East conflict between the United States and Iran, which really has caused ripples across the entire world in terms of energy prices and knock-on effects on the cost of living.
Last year, we took …
We will fulfil the programme for Government over the lifetime of this Government. Of that there is no doubt.
I did not interrupt the Deputy and he should not be interrupting me. There is a very set protocol in here.
The bottom line is this: the Deputy should not be depending on speculation. Budget day will reveal the full intent of the Government's contribution.
First, the Deputy's presentation of what I articulated here yesterday is wrong. I did not say I was not going to intervene in anything. Describing my position as a non-interventionist approach is wrong; it is false. Of course, he has to present his argument in that way to justify his subsequent comments. All political leaders - all of us - have an obligation in terms of this issue to be careful of what we say and how…
I agree with the Deputy that we cannot go into history but the Black and Tan model did not work in Ireland. Coming from the county of Cork I know that too well from my history.
In respect of Jon Boutcher and the PSNI, his primary objective, which he articulated with great clarity, was that no person would be injured as a result of what transpired over the last number of days from the decisions made by the Parades Co…
We need a bit of honesty here if we are going to make any way forward and stop retreating always on all sides, including the Deputy's contribution just now. That will not achieve anything into the future. It fits an ideological frame, but it does not deal with the realities of the here and now and how we move forward. If we want a united Ireland in the future, we have to begin to articulate what that looks like and h…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is no simple answer or response to this. I would have concerns about removing the in-camera rule in the children's court, which the Deputy has advocated for. We always have to protect children and it has to be our first priority in situations like this. That said, we should also be responsive to concerns parents and families may have about how the court system and the …
I will refer the Deputy's comments to the Minister. My instincts are to protect the child at all costs. We should never underestimate the impacts of trauma on a child at an early age in terms of the child's subsequent life journey and that would be my concern. I will be honest with the Deputy and say that I am not aware of the evaluation of the systems in the UK. I am open to looking at that but we need to remember t…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As I said earlier, we are in the midst of a very significant cost-of-living issue because of two major wars, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Iran, which have caused very significant increases in oil prices. Oil prices have risen from about $69 a barrel in February last to about $104 in May, while gas prices increased from €32 to €47 per megawatt hour. These are…
My understanding is that it was in budget 2010 that the carbon tax was introduced so it was not introduced five or six years ago.
It was 2010 it was brought in. The carbon tax is much bigger than what the Deputy is suggesting happened. Five or six years ago there were defined increases legislated for in respect of the carbon tax.
The actual carbon tax itself goes back to 2010.
In any event, it supports a lot of farmers. It supports the retrofitting programme which, as I said, about 280,000 people have now benefited from and also in relation to fuel poverty as well.
The bigger issue is the wars have increased fuel prices enormously. That is the bigger issue. Yes, there is huge pressure on people and that is why we helped haulage, farmers and contractors with the measures we introduced earl…
Also, the budget-----
----- through income tax reductions-----
-----through strong social protection-----
We are part of no war machine.
I do not believe there is any need for the High Court case. It will only ramp up costs on all sides. No affected young person is being excluded from the scheme. A small number of cases have not been excluded but are being progressed through the further file review. These would have been patients who had previously received open disclosure letters through previous ad hoc independent reviews. It has always been the int…
We did not wait for cases or anything. We just brought in a non-adversarial compensatory framework which, I think, has been the better way to do things.
Deep down the unions and their leadership know there will be a meaningful discussion on pay. They know that. There is no need for this strike action. It is causing unnecessary disruption. There is no need for it, in my view. After a long interval in opposition, I came back into government in 2020 and we have had pay agreements. We entered into pay agreements in good faith and we had good negotiations. I participate i…
I am not one for games or all sorts of industrial relations, IR, mechanisms and processes. I will be straight with the Deputy: that is a nonsense statement. There will be a substantial provision in the budget and the Estimates next week for public service pay. How can anybody credibly say we are not prepared to discuss pay? Come on. Everybody knows that is not true. Let us have a bit of common sense here. There will …
I thank the Deputy. He is on a very good topic.