I know, but it is a term that could cause difficulties for people outside the House. We need to be careful about that. I want to pick up on a comment. The gardaí do not do "tyranny".
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
The gardaí keep the peace and uphold the law. We are very grateful. I was in Templemore last week with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. It was wonderful to see so many new gardaí coming out enthusiastically-----
-----and 220 new gardaí going into Templemore, which shows the pace and momentum behind Garda recruitment. We should keep affirming the gardaí and all that they do. I will ask the Minister to meet the Deputy and his colleagues.
First, I offer our deepest condolences to Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family. It is a very serious case. A memo to the Government recommending a statutory public model of inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services at CHI was approved by the Government, but considerable work will be required. There is a time-bound scoping exercise to happen first. A facilitator will be appointed to scope potential terms o…
I think I have answered the issue in terms of the inquiry. With inquiries, the terms of reference are very important because there needs to be some timeline to it, for the sake of all concerned. That is an issue to be worked out. About 446 spinal procedures were completed so far this year to the end of October. That is up on last year, but there is rising demand and, over the same timeframe, a total of 462 procedures…
I could go on, but I do not have the time as I have only one minute to respond.
In the budget, we took significant measures to particularly target resources at low-income families, such as those on the working family payment, for example, in terms of their inclusion in the free fuel allowance. There is also the children's support payment for those over 12, which is up to €16, the highest ever, and for those under 12, it is €8. This is the point. We have been targeting our resources at the lowest…
I empathise with the Deputy. I fully agree that flooding schemes take an inordinate length of time. We have improved. We have resourced An Coimisiún Pleanála and it is now statutorily bound to give timelines for the issuing of decisions. The Minister for public expenditure is coming to the Government in the next number of weeks in respect of measures that will accelerate the infrastructure development in the country.…
The Government has responded in an unprecedented way to the pyrite issue and to defective concrete blocks more generally. The State is taking up the issue where, originally, insurance companies or bonds should have. The State has intervened in an unprecedented way in terms of the amount of funding that has been allocated, and we are doing that to help the homeowners involved. I cannot speak on individual, specific ca…
I do not know the engineers' reports and cannot comment on individual cases.
I thank the Deputy. I know he has raised this issue consistently. I have spoken to the Minister for housing about it and will do so again. The Deputy has summed up exactly what needs to change within the delivery of public services. He stated that Tailte Éireann’s process could be faster and more efficient. I will engage with the Minister on the nature of the issues and whether more resources are required, and also c…
Certainly, there is an issue with age verification for those who present as minors when they come into the country unaccompanied. Tusla has articulated that concern. It is not a simple issue to resolve because the initial response has been a humanitarian response. If someone presents as an unaccompanied minor, the obligation on Tusla is to make sure that they at least receive accommodation and some shelter. Tusla is …
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist a ardú. Gan amhras, ó thaobh an rud atá á rá aici – go bhfuil stáisiún dóiteáin á lorg ag muintir Monasterevin – níl aon easpa tola polaitiúil ann. Ní fheadar cad a tharla leis an suíomh. Níl a fhios agam ó thaobh an suímh de ach tá mé sásta labhairt leis an Aire agus déileáil leis an mbardas nó an gcomhairle áitiúil chun an fhadhb a réiteach maidir leis seo. I do not kno…
It is very hard for the Government to act until a proposal comes from the local authority.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. In many ways, the growth of Castletroy owes a lot to Deputy O’Dea as he was the first to approach me, when I was Minister for Education, to get Castletroy College built. At the time, he helpfully pointed out that the civil servants were working off the wrong census in identifying the demographic requirements for a new school in Castletroy. Anyway, we went ahead and built the …
I thank the Deputy for his kind remarks. I will talk to the Minister for education about an update in respect of a resolution for school secretaries and caretakers. I will also speak to the Minister for public expenditure to see where we are in bringing the process to completion. It is a significant issue and a lot of people are awaiting the outcome. I will come back to the Deputy on that. I thank him for his remarks…
I am sure the Deputy will accept that the Minister will work with absolute bona fides in this regard. Any decision the Minister makes, on foot of advice, will be in the best interests of the safety of women and also for the best outcomes in terms of the delivery of their babies and children. I will ask the Minister to engage with the Deputy. The Minister has a lot of issues on the table at the moment. This is an issu…
Nationally, CDNT waiting lists have fallen by 18%. More importantly, workforce growth is a priority. Despite recruitment challenges, staffing across the 93 CDNTs grew by 26%. That is an extra 415 people between October 2023 and 2025.
The vacancy rate has come down. It now stands at 18%, down from 29%. What the Deputy has outlined in Tipperary is a very serious issue. I think the Deputy said the vacancy rate will be 72% by the end of the year. Something is wrong there. I do not know what-----
We will engage with the HSE to try to get to the bottom of that.
First, the north-east inner-city task force has been very effective and impactful. We salute the extraordinary performances of Troy Parrott, Kellie Harrington and many others. A person on the radio the other day listed all the internationals in one street alone, as well as the local football clubs and so forth. In fairness to the sports capital grant, it has funded a lot of facilities. When I was Minister for educati…
I have asked successive Ministers for sport about this. Some issues in the boxing area relate to the administrative capacity to get the applications in and get them done. There is no want of political will to support boxing and boxing clubs. There is a bit of work in that regard. I just spoke to the Minister for sport last evening about the next capital grant. For those people who get to the Irish team or whatever, w…
We have had a lot of action, actually. I would question some of the premises on which we base all of this talk. First, I accept that there is a big overcrowding issue.
I accept that fully, Deputy. I take that on board, but we have a lot of youth diversion and school completion programmes. We have the highest school completion rate in Europe, so we need to do a bit more analysis-----
I am just talking about society in general. The Deputy spoke generally about overcrowding and how it is a failure of the criminal justice system, but I am not sure it is. We need a broader analysis of the forces that are giving rise to some people ending up in prison who, perhaps, should not have ended up in prison. I refer to the whole addiction issue, the issue around drugs, drug trafficking and all of that. It is …