I do not disagree with the Deputy. We have a problem in the Cork area. I have a well-informed Minister and Minister of State here who confirm that. Notwithstanding the fact that 24 million hours were allocated for home care packages this year, which is an increase of 7 million hours compared with four years ago, that does not help the Deputy's experience and that of people in his constituency. There seems to be an is…
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 Minister will engage with all concerned. Curriculum reform, generally speaking, has worked well in Ireland through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. There have been many innovative and good and positive developments. I will talk to the Minister in respect of the issues that have been raised. I have no doubt the Minister will engage with the social partners on this matter.
Just to say to the Deputy, I am not aware of the specifics of what he has said.
I am not going to comment on individual cases, but if there is anything untoward - and the Deputy clearly believes there is - there are authorities to which all of that can be reported and properly investigated.
This is an issue with which the Department has been dealing with in recent years with regard to how one exits the unique circumstances that pertained in Covid-19. It has not been easy and it is not easy. There is no easy way to phase out the predictive grades system. I will communicate to the Minister that the Deputy has raised this issue. I have no doubt that the Minister is engaging with all concerned at the moment…
Táimid buartha faoin mhéid atá tar éis tarlú go dtí seo ó thaobh an gheilleagair de agus na taraifí go léir atá ar an bhfód faoi láthair. Is é bun agus barr chúrsaí geilleagair na tíre seo ná a bheith ag trádáil ar fud an domhain, go hoscailte agus go forleathan. Níl aon amhras ach go mbeidh drochthionchar ag na taraifí seo ar chúrsaí eacnamaíochta i gcoitinne agus in Éirinn.
I am sharing my time with the Minister, …
Tá sé dochreidte an méid atá laistigh den tuarascáil seo, go raibh dochtúir ann a bhí sásta springs den saghas seo a cheadú in obráid do leanaí. Ní raibh aon cheadúnas ann. Tá sé dochreidte an méid atá tar éis tarlú. My thoughts are with the families, the three children and the trauma they have gone and are going through. It is beyond comprehension that springs which are not permitted were used in surgery. The consul…
If I want to be blunt about it, it actually is fundamentally about decision-making within the hospital setting and within the operating theatre. Too often within this House and across the political world, we immediately go to the political domain. There comes a time when we equally have to stand up for what is right and proper, and I know the Deputy wants to, but let us call a spade a spade here. What happened should…
People talk about well wishing. It is as plain as night follows day. One does not use unauthorised devices on any child. That is at the heart of it.
First, I want to join with the Deputy in expressing our very best wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett as he goes through treatment. We have had many a good joust in the House-----
----- as has the Deputy, as she says - and his voice will be missed over the next couple of weeks. We wish him the very best in the treatment he is about to go through and we wish him a full recovery.
There is some distance to travel here yet on the issue of tariffs and trade wars. It is very serious and grave. The initial focus has to be on whether we can get this onto a negotiation pathway. The Deputy correctly sa…
Whatever we do has to be financially sustainable over the long term. It is just far too early to be venturing anything on that front just yet. This is not the same as Covid-19, as the Deputy has acknowledged. Therefore, our response has to be one that is sustainable, but also we must have some sense of where this is going to settle, if indeed it settles at all. I believe it will in time and we will be in a better pos…
I condemn without reservation the attacks by the IDF on Gaza, the bombing and the continuing slaughter within Gaza, in particular the murder of emergency responders that the Deputy has referenced. That has been confirmed, essentially, in terms of what happened on 23 March, in terms of 15 emergency responders being murdered. I say that without hesitation. It is quite shocking that something of this kind could happen. …
I will make three points in response to what Deputy O'Callaghan made reference to earlier.
On overflights, there are set regulations and legislation governing that. I will ask the Minister for Transport to again pursue the issue the Deputy has raised with regard to Lufthansa. We cannot physically stop planes but we can certainly take actions subsequently.
There are no planes landing at Shannon with weapons for Gaza…
I thank Deputy Collins very much for raising the issue, which is of grave concern to those who have been depleted of their resources. Towards the end of his contribution Deputy Collins, in some respect, provided the answer. The Central Bank is responsible for the regulation of financial advisers. I do not know whether this person was registered with the Central Bank in the first instance. Perhaps Deputy Collins might…
I will indeed. I might discuss it with the Deputy if he has case studies that he can bring to our attention. I will also talk to the Minister for Finance, who I think will be happy to engage, because it is awful for this to happen to anybody. There is the old adage that if it is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true, in terms of potential returns from investments. That said, the Central Bank publishes w…
There is no need for a vote. We are going to set up the committees as quick as we can.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We have about 3,000 schools in this country. When schools find themselves in financial difficulty, there is a structure and system in the Department of Education to respond to such schools. I will refer the matter to the Minister for Education. I ask the schools involved to engage with the section in the Department that deals with schools that have financial challenges or are…
It is very disappointing-----
-----that only two orders have made any sort of meaningful responses, one being the €12.5 million from the Bon Secours order, which has been accepted. This is what was recommended by the Nunan committee. I pay tribute to Sheila Nunan for the work she has done. The other response concerned a building. I will have to get greater clarity in terms of its value and so on. The Minister has gone back to the organisations to…
My understanding is that significant resources were put into the schools through that programme. This may not have been in the capitation category, but in terms of curriculum supports and other supports in the general area for young people in particular, including therapeutic supports for children and multidisciplinary teams. I think that has worked very well. Again, I will refer this matter to the Minister for Educa…
Easpa uisce, an ea?
Sewage, gabh mo leithscéal. Níl an t-eolas sonrach agam ach déanfaidh mé fiosrú ar an gceist. Is olc an scéal é nach bhfuilimid in ann dul ar aghaidh leis na seomraí breise. Déanfaidh mé fiosrú leis an mbardas agus leis an Aire féachaint an féidir linn rud éigin a dhéanamh go gearrthéarmach chun infreastruchtúr a chur i bhfeidhm agus slí a aimsiú chun go mbeimid in ann na seomraí breise a chur ar fáil.
I was there on the day we announced the €50,000, which was warmly welcomed by the Deputy and by everybody else. Fair play to the Deputy, he has doubled his bet now in terms of the request. It was the first time ever a response of this kind came from Government and it was part of wider financial supports that were allocated to cancer centres across the country. Yes, Cancer Connects does extraordinary work around the e…
The State is not being forced here; it is being very responsive. There are other factors afoot that have frustrated the State's endeavour to bring this to a conclusion. I have to put that on record. The State is wide open and wants to get this resolved. We have established a mediation process. There have been two mediation processes and we have a judge appointed. Apart from all of that, we have already made it very c…