That is €1,100 to a parent with one child. It is €1,700. That is not to be dismissed. It does not get factored into those surveys. Free schoolbooks were not. To me, preventing poverty is, first of all, about guaranteeing children access to education, food and good, regular hot meals, and also ensuring that their families have supportive incomes, which we do through the social protection system, and we have substantia…
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 thank the Deputy for his kind comments in respect of my visit to Kerry during August to meet various groups, particularly in the disability sector, and the schools and so on. We learned a lot from that about policy and how to approach issues.
The Government is looking at the entire energy question in the round, in respect of what is the most effective way to reduce the pressures for people. The food production sys…
The Irish Government could not accept any diminution of the status of the Irish language. In fact, we are doing the opposite. We are supporting the Irish language in all aspects of policy, through the language Act and the fact that the language is constitutionally the official language of the State and is a core part of the school curriculum, both primary and post primary.
I will have to look at those remarks in the…
First, I disagree fundamentally with the Deputy's characterisation of the Government's position on Palestine. We have been very principled in relation to Palestine, both at European Union and at international level and in terms of our policies and allocations of resources. We stood up for UNRWA when it mattered most for that organisation in terms of doubling down on the funds we allocated when it was under threat fro…
-----the settlements and the violence by terrorist settlers against Palestinians in their homeland in the West Bank.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Monday, 14 September. The committee will next meet on Thursday, 22 October. The committee works to ensure a cross-government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with recent home completions data sho…
In the first instance, Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of qualifying income thresholds for social housing. To make the point more generally, we built 9,000 social houses last year and we will go higher this year. Deputy Boyd Barrett suggests that we want to get rid of social housing but we are building record levels of it. We are building more per annum now than we have done since the State was founded. Let us…
I take the Deputy's point about the partial drawdown of the grant and I will go back to the Minister in respect of that. I will take on board what the Deputy is saying in regard to the budget more generally.
Can I deal with the others?
There is Deputy Boyd Barrett. I dealt with that, I think, with regard to social housing.
When what?
I just dealt with it.
The Minister is working on it. It is not that simple.
The Deputy did not acknowledge that we built 9,000 houses and we are building-----
In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, again, I do not have the full background to that issue. It is obviously a matter for South Dublin County Council and those conditions are not satisfactory. The council should deal with it.
In respect of Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's point about Uisce Éireann, I will again engage with it in respect of Carrignavar and Glenville. The developer-led initiative is meant to be new schemes a…
We are very tolerant people here.
We are very generous.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 13, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that are in relation to matters under those areas. It covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, policing and justice reform, migration and initiatives tacklin…
I thank the Deputies for the range of questions that has been asked. We began with Deputy Dolan and there was another question later about Galway. Deputy Dolan made a very strong case for Galway county, particularly east Galway. As I said, Garda numbers have increased dramatically since Covid. There are 200 gardaí being attested every three months now. It seems the Commissioner has concentrated on getting big cities …
That is an extra 28 for Galway.
It was four for the county and 28 for the city. That is good. I take the Deputy's point. The towns he mentioned are large, including Athenry, Gort and so on. Deputy Cleere gave us a strong sense of the towns in Kilkenny. I take the point. Rural Ireland has its unique crime issues and people feel vulnerable if there is a sense that there is not a sufficient Garda presence. It is a budget priority to continue the momen…
Tuigim, tuigim, tuigim. I have dealt with the issues in respect of Galway city.
Deputy Mark Ward referred to pursuit training. It was a very good goal by Houghton in 1988. I take the Deputy's point. We must also be mindful of the fact that a lot has happened in the past four or five years in An Garda Síochána, in terms of recruitment activities and so on. There needs to be more focused training and so on, and there …
As this is my last Leaders' Questions of this term, I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all Deputies in the House for their co-operation throughout the year. I thank the entire team that works here, the ushers, the staff in catering and so on, for the manner in which they look after all of us on an ongoing basis. We deeply appreciate that. To the Deputies, while we disagree on many issues, this is parliamentary democracy…
I accept the devastation for families on receiving that news yesterday. This is not the news they wanted to hear. The previous month a drug was approved and that was welcomed across the House. The very same group made that recommendation in respect of that drug. There is an urgency attached to this and we are prepared to work with Members of the House in terms of the processes. We all accept that, ultimately, there h…
-----has published a strategy on.
A number of years ago, I met with Maureen Considine and some survivors in Bessborough. Deputy Cairns has often said we should talk to survivors. Their perspective is far different from hers in respect of Bessborough. I refer her to an article in today's Irish Examiner by Maureen Considine in respect of this issue. She established the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance, CSSA, in respect of this issue - in terms of…
-----long after the home closed. I know a lot about it because I have been around a long time in that area. I live nearby.