-----and the HSE has not been able to recruit 100% of its CDNT teams.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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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.
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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
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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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 |
| 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
There will be.
One of the reasons this Government quickly established the need for a therapy-in-school service, which we have now commenced and taken the decision to do, was the inadequacy of the response within the health service itself. Many CDNT teams are experiencing challenges in recruiting and retaining therapists, as well as wider general issues. The issue is actually not one of resources; it is one of capacity. Private fund…
The Deputy mentioned special education. Special class enrolment has doubled in five years. We have gone from about 9,000 to 19,000. What is that saying? It is revealing the exponential growth in the number of children requiring special needs provision and services and resources have expanded accordingly, in terms of the number of classes, SNAs and special teachers and funding for extra classrooms and so on in the spe…
Sorry, I have already organised that. There has been engagement and we will meet.
I have met Cara before and Deputies-----
From day one, the Government has identified the entire area of disability and special needs as a key priority, along with housing and, as I said earlier, child poverty. That will be reflected in the forthcoming budget and has already been reflected in Government initiatives. Decisions have been taken at recent meetings of the Cabinet subcommittee in respect of this. Going back, when the party the Deputy was in at the…
-----given the finite number of therapists we have. We can pass all the motions we like but we have to deal in a very pragmatic, solution-based approach right now. We have to deal with this in a multifaceted way but, right now, we need to make sure that the therapists we have are focused on providing services to children as quickly as we possibly can, consistent with the needs of those children.
We have made a lot o…
Early intervention is the key. I could not agree more. We need to expand early childcare services for children with additional needs, particularly early childhood education provision for those children. We are doing that and will continue to expand services there. The HSE is not in a position to fulfil the law right now. The Deputy knows that and I know that. We have to respond to enable us to get therapy services to…
I thank the Deputy very much for raising the issue of the crucial importance of primary care provision. When I was Minister for Health and Children in 2001, we made primary care the cornerstone of the then health strategy, Quality and Fairness. It took some time. In the modern area, we have progressed fairly significantly in terms of the provision of primary care centres. There are now about 179 of them across the co…
-----and the HSE in respect of the capital requirements for that. I hear the Deputy loud and clear. This is an important centre of population that requires a primary care centre.
I said 179.
I said there are 179 primary care centres now in place. Of those, 50 have opened since 2020. I take the Deputy's point that we still need more GPs. The outgoing Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, had approved, with the outgoing Minister for higher education, now Tánaiste, additional places in all third level colleges in respect of medicine and also, in terms of nursing and so on, in Northern Ireland. In terms of …
What is happening in Gaza is absolutely appalling. I noted a quote earlier from a Dr. Potokar in Gaza who said that "if Cambodia was the killing fields, then Gaza now is the slaughterhouse." What is happening to innocent civilians in Gaza is beyond any moral compass, particularly the children who are being slaughtered and the children who are starving. It needs to come to an end.
The weaponisation of aid is a war cr…
I find it morally repulsive as well.
As the Deputy knows, at UN level we have been doing quite a lot working with other like-minded countries, particularly co-sponsoring the motion that led to the ICJ's advisory opinion in respect of the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. We intend to continue to work with like-minded states. There is a conference coming up in June in New York, organised by a number of countries - France, in particular - and…
The Deputy said he supported the Housing Commission's report, and the Housing Commission report recommended changes to the rent pressure zones. I do not know why he is condemning the Government for even considering the recommendation of the Housing Commission in respect of that issue.
Regarding real investment in dwellings, the Irish economy registered the fourth largest increase across the 27 EU countries between 2020 and 2024. The House may be interested to know that a recent Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, publication in 2024 comparing housing supply across Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales found that Ireland and Northern Ireland had the highest rate of houseb…
Renters are not being ignored by this Government. That is just a false statement. Over the last number of years, we have brought in a series of protections, regulatory and otherwise, to protect tenants and give greater security. We have also continued to keep protecting renters as a high priority of Government. I cannot commit to emergency legislation on the blind. If the Deputy sends me the details of the particular…
We keep bandying words about the place, but the expansion of health services in recent years has been exponential. We need to get a sense of perspective in how we describe things. I am not saying there is not challenges but the bottom line is €25 billion is being spent on our health services. The HSE has significant resources. I was involved in setting up the PHECC and so on 20-odd years ago.
What I am saying is that an additional €8 million was provided in 2025 for new service development in terms of an additional 180 posts. The total staff numbers have risen to 2,407 up to the end of 2024. That is an increase of 25% or 476 extra-----
-----since the start of 2020. Therefore, we have had close to 500 extra staff over the last number of years. That does not mean we do not need more; we probably do.
Let us not pretend-----
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. Although regulations were introduced in 2024 to allow for the legal use of e-scooters on Irish roads, I believe they need to be kept under constant review because there are clear dangers and vulnerabilities in regard to their use. Those regulations extended the rules of the road already in place for pedal cycles to include e-scooters, provide for technica…
As the Deputy knows, the Minister, Deputy Browne, is committed to establishing a new towns and cities infrastructure and investment fund to replace the urban regeneration and development fund. Hopefully, we can make it a bit more flexible for some towns that may not have qualified for the URDF. The detailed arrangements for the implementation of these funding streams will be clarified further following completion of …