I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. We are listening to people with disabilities. Last Monday, we had a very significant meeting with disabled persons' organisations in the context of the implementation of the national strategy for disabled persons and the action plan that underpins it. There were a number of Ministers present, and I chaired the meeting. Each Minister outlined his or her program…
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
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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.
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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
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| 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 |
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| May 2026 | 474 |
| June 2026 | 425 |
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| 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 disagree with the Deputy. This is a priority for me and for the Government. Just because she stands up and says it is not does not mean it is not. It is, but we need permanent change and permanent improvements, not just once-off stuff every year. That will not cut it either and-----
Deputy Calleary is working through the detail because is not simple. He is going to work through it and will have proposals in the first half of next year. This year, we brought in the highest ever increase to the child support payment, namely €16 per week for children over 12, up to €78 now-----
Of course it is relevant. That is for all children. There has been a €20 monthly increase to the domiciliary care allowance-----
-----on the back of a very big increase last year. We are not going the route of short-term, once-off payments. Such payments are not fiscally sustainable in terms of the €3 billion and more we allocated last year.
It is not your turn Deputy McDonald.
Please allow someone else to have the opportunity to hear my reply.
It will be interesting to see how long the Deputies opposite will remain colleagues, but anyway.
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I agree with him that what happened in Brussels last week was absolutely unacceptable in terms of the pulling back of the Hague preferences. The situation is far more grave than that, however.
In terms of the overall issue, it was on scientific advice that the Council based its decisions. The Deputy is familiar with the International Council for the Expl…
I put it to the Deputy that what I am proposing is far more realistic in terms of an immediate or timely response to the predicament and the dire situation Irish fishers find themselves in, primarily, let us be honest, because of scientific advice. When the stock is-----
I gave the reason earlier.
This is Deputy Collins's time. Sinn Féin cannot cannibalise everyone else and grab their time. I know it tries to do it politically.
Deputy Collins is the one Deputy in this House who has raised this issue.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn's party chose not to raise it. Deputy Collins raised it and, in fairness to him, he should be allowed time for a response.
I say to Deputy Collins that we will look at all options. The most immediate one I am concerned about is that we need a framework of response in order to bring about a financially sustainable future for Irish fishers.
That is important. We want to work with the industry to do that.
The Government did not withdraw anything. There is a need for proper debate on these matters. Everything gets weaponised and simplified and to hell with the consequences or to heal with the truth behind the issue and so on. I refer to the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, statement of last week. This is a bit more complex now than has been articulated by the Deputy's good self and others in the past week up to now.
The Min…
Politically it is, of course, because that is what the Deputy is fundamentally about.
There is an obligation on public representatives of all parties-----
-----to get to the truth of these issues and deal with them in a straightforward way.
I certainly will. It is unacceptable. There is no call for broken windows. We have minor works grants and various schemes that can deal with issues of maintenance. In particular, if glass is broken or whatever, you fix the window, for God's sake. I will talk to the Minister and ask her to engage with the Minister for Defence, although it would seem to me that it is primarily an education matter on the capital side. I…
Energy efficiency is always something that should be focused on. It should not be just dismissed as the Deputy potentially did there. I recall what supermarkets did during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the terrible crisis we had at the time. They put doors on their fridges, a simple thing that saved massive amounts of energy and was money well spent. Prior to the crisis, it was whatever. What I mean by that is …
It is a matter for each political party to decide when the whip applies and when it does not. If we changed all our processes, the Deputy would love for us to divide and fragment. That would suit her fine but there is a reason for political parties too. I would argue that we have had a democracy for 100 years because we have had strong cohesive political parties that were stable and able to deliver policies in times …
We have made good progress on these issues over the past number of years in respect of section 39 in terms of the application and subsequent negotiation in the context of the public pay agreements. Some organisations have been moved out of section 39, particularly hospices, to achieve the pay parity mentioned by the Deputy. It is a very big area with many organisations, some big, some small, so it is complex enough. …
I will certainly pursue this matter in terms of additionality and services in primary care. Recruitment has been challenging. I might take the opportunity to engage with the Deputy and the Minister in terms of what we can do to add services, support recruitment and retention and have a better impact into the future.
I thank the Deputy very much indeed for raising this issue. As he said, Merck made the decision last month to wind down operations at its Arklow facility by the end of 2028 following a strategic portfolio product review. Other operations in Ireland are unaffected. The IDA has activated internal processes for responding to the potential and actual job loss situation with the client company. That involves proactive eng…