Where was that?
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 love the demarcation lines. The "Rosslare to Cork city, but particularly in Waterford" part of it. I am sorry. I get it. Do not worry.
It is just an observation. I will start with Deputy Aindrias Moynihan, who made a very good point. Hopefully, with this national development plan and the allocation of ten years, we will avoid this stop-start where we get a project from A to B but C is not provided for at all. We had that over the last two decades, I suppose. I recall how the Cork-Limerick road had planning in an earlier era and then that was all she…
That is okay. It is a word that is not uncommon. Anyway, I have had my issues with BusConnects down through the years. There have been issues for habitual users of bus services who feel the changing of services or the reorientation of scheduling and so on has eroded what they would have had prior to it. Then we had all the issues around what were, in my view, over-the-top initial plans, which then got rolled back. Th…
The Deputy has a great capacity. He is brilliant at it, actually. From a political agitation perspective, the Deputy has a great capacity to turn what others would see as success into defeat. For the Deputy in opposition to say that we are not releasing-----
The Deputy is trying to ask how I can-----
I spoke to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about this and he is very clear that the Navan line is going ahead.
The Government is absolutely committed to it.
On Deputy Lawless's question, there is a huge increase in apprenticeships. We are recruiting people back. We are anxious for people to come back into the country, and people are coming back into the country. The construction industry is confident enough in terms of the numbers for getting the housing done, for example, and the huge retrofit programme that is going on as …
We need a bit of entertainment and lively engagement, too.
Ní aontaím leis an Teachta in aon chor. Is léir gur chuireamar an-chuid áiseanna ar fáil sa cháinaisnéis, go háirithe do na daoine bochta agus do na daoine ar ioncam íseal. Rinneamar an-chuid infheistíochta in infreastruchtúr na tíre agus mar aon leis sin chuireamar an-chuid isteach do dhaoine le riachtanais speisialta agus do dhaoine a bhfuil ioncam íseal acu. Tackling energy and affordability is a priority of Gover…
Last week, various bodies were saying Government was spending far too much as it is. This year's budget is about €117 billion, €98 billion plus in capital and so forth, and then we have increased current expenditure over the past three years by 15%. We are spending very significant sums of money. We are targeting it in terms of infrastructure, low income families and making sure that those in the lowest deciles of in…
Because we believe in targeting resources as opposed to universality. Sinn Féin must be the only left-wing party in Europe and across the world-----
-----that does not believe in targeting resources.
We believe in targeting resources.
There is a €2 billion social protection package, which is about protecting pensioners, families with children and-----
-----particularly, people on low incomes. That is the choice we made, and also to improve our infrastructure.
We do have to deal in a more systemic way with the high cost of energy. There are significant factors in Ireland that lead to the high cost of energy. That is well known and well documented. The bottom line is that we have had a very significant budget in terms of expenditure. Deputy Doherty wants to add another €2 billion to it for a short-term intervention which would apply to very wealthy people. Millionaires woul…
When I met with Department of Social Protection officials and the Minister-----
-----they were very clear about targeted measures, particularly in terms of the most vulnerable children in the country.
Deputy Doherty just wants to ignore all of that.
I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I have been extremely consistent in advancing the positive reality and experience of inward migration into Ireland. There are many legal ways in which people can come to Ireland to work, live and reside. That is very clear in terms of our work permit system, for example, which has worked effectively and efficiently in respect of various sectors of our economy tha…
Again, I think we have shown political leadership in this country. Remember Brexit happened because of the migration question in the United Kingdom and it has had disastrous results for the British economy and British society as a result of that, so there has to be an intelligent, informed and balanced approach to the migration question. We have to deal with issues as they present themselves, and fears that people ha…
-----although it was a European Union-wide directive, in terms of protecting Ukrainians and so on. The evidence shows it is not rhetoric but that Ireland responded in a generous manner to that situation but I thank the Deputy for raising it.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. At the outset, I would condemn unreservedly the attacks the Deputy has referenced in terms of the Brazilian delivery person. I have also read reports in terms of three Afghan asylum seekers reporting to the Garda that they had been viciously attacked in their car. There is, and has been a growing, atmosphere, largely fuelled by elements within society that are far removed fro…
Ireland's population has been growing significantly. That is just a fact. Saying that does not mean we are inciting anything. We are not. It has been positive. My view is that since 1845 our population was in decline, right up to the 1980s nearly. It has been a transformative story from the early 1990s to the current day. That is a positive in my view. Even at that, the island is not back to the pre-Famine population…