The Deputy raised defence and security. The fundamental change to the defence and security posture across Europe relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s utilisation of modern technologies, the appalling loss of life on both sides in the war at the front line and the trenches, and the indiscriminate bombing of energy infrastructure.
Europe feels very vulnerable to Russian attack and Russian rearmament. T…
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
I did not change my mind.
I am sorry. I made it very clear on this issue. I spoke about the safeguards that were negotiated. We did negotiate additional safeguards. There was additionality in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy and the bringing forward of funding. That is an improvement. That has to be acknowledged, no question. I said there would be a meeting that evening between the three leaders, and there was.
It is not actually existential. That is over the top.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 30, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination generally meets in advance of Government meetings and is expected to meet on Monday, 19 January. I am a member of the committee, with the Tánaiste and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports. The Secr…
I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. Deputy Dolan raised the issue of young couples being refused planning permission as a result of objections from TII. I do not think TII should be objecting to planning applications on housing. We have discussed this at Government level. There is over-reach by TII in respect of many of these issues. I understand some of the road safety issues if it is onto a motorway or if there is an …
Deputy O’Meara raised school secretaries and caretakers. The issue is now in the Labour Court. We do want it resolved. There are a lot of issues there. Ultimately, we want to sustain a resolution into the future for both secretaries and caretakers. I hope this can be resolved very quickly with a decision by the Labour Court, which we would support.
Deputy O’Rourke raised access to judicial review. Again, you need to…
Deputy Conway-Walsh raised ambulances. There is a national framework on the organisation and administration of ambulances. There are various criteria and metrics around outcomes and so on. I will refer her question to the National Ambulance Service.
On Deputy O’Sullivan’s question, I would not make a general rule at this stage about the utilisation of social media in general. Many of these issues will apply to a num…
Yes, the police but not the Deputy and not Government.
You have to have an independent criminal justice system. That is all I am saying. However, again, the Deputy has given us a taste of what we could expect if he came to power: he would be arresting people left, right and centre for different things.
That said. Nineteen Eighty-Four and all that. You know what I mean.
They would be disciples of all of that.
There is an important point to make because comments have been made about the former Minister, Paschal Donohoe and the International Development Association. First, the IDA provides highly concessional finance, grants and zero or low-interest loans to the world's poorest countries and supports 75 of the poorest countries globally, including 39 in Africa. It is the largest single donor for basic social services in the…
The mid-point recommended by officials in the Department of Finance was €150 million. The Minister for Finance-----
My understanding is the FOI was in respect of the then Department of Foreign Affairs. My understanding now from preparing this note is this. The finance officials sent this information to me when I requested it. The Minister for Finance agreed to €141.4 million, classified as "the low option". The proposal was then approved by Cabinet and the business case is to be released in full under FOI.
IDA negotiations are co…
Sorry. It was just to put that on the record.
I can come back separately to both of the Deputies.
To Deputy Quaide in respect of the specific issue of long-term Covid.
The others are more general policy issues.
Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Before I start, I express my gratitude to the Ceann Comhairle and her team and all the staff in the Oireachtas who help us elected representatives to do our job, day in and day out.
I refer to the clerks, security staff, cleaners, catering staff and all who quietly go about their business and create what is essentially the community that underpins our nation's democracy. I also thank all the TDs in the House. We may differ on matters - we do not agree on everything - but I believe we are all here for the right reason, which is to advance the interests of the people of this country. I wish everyb…
As for judging any government, there is a whole range of issues and I will get back to some in the supplementary response.
We are doing more for children now in terms of our investments.
Deputy McDonald did not want us to do targeted measures for child poverty in the budget, but we did it.
That is a bit silly. The bottom line is that we are prioritising children and we want to do that. It is accepted that there are issues facing children in this country, but we provided for a major 20% increase in investment in disability services. As the Deputy knows, we are now developing a new education therapy service, which will be transformative. It will start in special schools early in the new year. It will be …