I know the Deputy does not want to see any evil in terms of Russia's designs and so on, but that is a problem.
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 Deputy must know the answer. Does he?
I beg your pardon?
I know but the Deputy must have picked up a phone and talked to someone in the council or someone-----
How am I supposed to-----
I am sorry. The Deputy is a fairly diligent fellow on the ground. I would imagine he knows the answer.
Maybe he can communicate with me on this. He must know the answer.
There is always a reason something happens. If we can establish the reason, we can see if we can rectify it.
The Deputy must know the answer.
GDPR?
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister for housing and the Minister of State in that Department are examining that issue of the guidelines for rural planning. Obviously, it can make a contribution to the housing issue - there is no question about that. There are issues that have to be resolved, but I know the Minister is actively working on the matter.
No one is being treated as a second-class citizen. Enormous resources have been committed and are currently being spent on the remediation scheme in Donegal, Mayo and elsewhere. That will continue. The legislation in relation to all of this is imminent.
This Government is very serious about investing in road projects. The sectoral plan from the national development plan in transport will be very comprehensive and substantial. Investment has already been allocated to the Kilmeaden to Carrolls Cross stretch. That should be acknowledged. More generally, there has never been the level of investment in our roads in the history of the State that we have allocated through …
I thank the Deputy for raising a very serious issue. It is a distressing and devastating issue for all those who have been victims, essentially, of the activity and business of this company. Deputy McCormack also raised this publicly. As the Deputy said, there are issues for the workers. We will do everything we can through State agencies to be of assistance to the workers. There are issues of self-employed contracto…
There is flexibility in the workplace in the current era compared with any other previous era. Many companies are still working through the aftermath of Covid. Many good practices have emerged. Some have been reviewed. At company level, there is a legislative framework governing the right to seek to work remotely. It is within that framework that I think companies to work with their employees with a view to getting s…
Again, that is an issue which has to be resolved at the local authority level. If the Deputy can give me some further material on that - I am obviously not aware of the individual case - we can examine it and see what the situation is.
First, no workers should be harassed. I hope that is not the case in Dublin Bus but I will have the matter examined. I will talk to the Minister involved in terms of the specific issue. This is, of course, the industrial relations machinery available to resolve these issues but I will talk to the Minister and have the matter examined.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 17, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that relate to matters under these headings. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs had its first meeting…
That was a lengthy list of questions from quite a number of Deputies. Deputy Ardagh was first into the fray. I agree with her and will talk to Minister for justice and other Ministers in respect of a dedicated safe inner city initiative, particularly as some of the ideas outlined were implemented in the north-east inner city at the time of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The impact of that feud on children in particular was …
There is no excuse for an armed group being established. We cannot blame politicians for people who take it upon themselves to set up an armed group and procure weapons and bombs. It is wrong to blame politicians for that. I would simply make that point. That said, the campaign of, in certain respects, far-right terror is a worry. There is no doubt about that. Threats to politicians have increased. Politicians have b…
The Deputy did the same thing. He said the Minister had questions to answer. The Minister, to be fair-----
There are policies that the Minister is certainly responsible for, but we sometimes also have to accept that people act in good faith. That is what I am saying. We should not rush to judgment against Tusla officials.
I do not know whether there is.
It is drawn to the attention of the authorities when there is an unaccompanied minor. They could be 17, 18, 19 or 20. They could be 15 or 14. I put it to the Deputy that people acted in good faith here and with the best intentions. What happened to that poor young child was horrific and shocking. There is no question about that. All I am simply saying is that the immediate rush to judgment and to attempt to blame is,…
I did not congratulate. The Deputy used the phrase "congratulated". I never used the word "congratulated".