Day after day, it has become harder to be heard if Sinn Féin wants to have a go. The strategy has been implemented by means of the rigid discipline and control of elected representatives which is unique to Sinn Féin. We saw this last week when Deputy Carthy left his usual place to sit near the back and co-ordinate disruptions with Deputy Doherty, who led proceedings at the front.
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
198
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 6,461 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
Having collapsed the business of this democratically elected Parliament, Sinn Féin then did what it always does; it played the victim and blamed others for the scenes it had planned and orchestrated. Having broken every rule governing behaviour in the Dáil and making it impossible to hear anything, the party is not only disputing the Ceann Comhairle's ruling, it also disputing the detailed explanation of the Clerk of…
It should also acknowledge that the simple fact is that the majority of those in this Parliament supported the motion before the House, while the Opposition ignored every basic rule and democratic principle in trying to block it.
It is important that everyone understands that this new aggression has been extended to other areas. Until the start of this Dáil, the tradition had been that new Deputies would be given th…
If we continue to see this extreme escalation in the rhetoric deployed in debating every issue, the change to our political culture will be permanent and deeply destructive.
It is extremely sad that two parties which claimed to the electorate that they are centre left have been full participants in Sinn Féin's cynical strategy of escalating rhetoric and disruption. They cannot even bring themselves to admit that mob…
Over the past few months, I have talked with many other European leaders about the growth of extreme politics, and the impact it is having on their parliaments. The disruptions we have seen here-----
-----and the attack on the Ceann Comhairle are very much part of a pattern where extreme parties have sought to undermine public faith in the idea that anything can be achieved. The one consistent message from every country is to stand firmly against this behaviour. If it is accepted as normal, it will be destructive of parliamentary democracy.
This Dáil is still in its relatively early stages. Our ability to fulfil…
We do not have the time to waste on this effort to remove the Ceann Comhairle because she would not bow down before an Opposition which demands that the minority have the right to veto our business. This attempt at what I would say is a strategy of aggression and disruption will fail. Those of us on this side are willing to make this Dáil work. There has to be a will on all sides to make it work.
The Government is up for doing that and will work day and night to make it happen. We will then be able to get on with doing the people's business.
Ar dtús báire, ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Is dóigh liom nach bhfuil sí ag insint na fírinne in aon chor sa mhéid a dúirt sí faoin Chief Whip.
At the outset I wish to say that before this Dáil was convened, we were told - in no uncertain manner - that we faced a new era of total opposition. That was the Sinn Féin promise. When we met to fulfil our constitutional duty to appoint the Government, we saw the…
In this case, what we have is the profoundly antidemocratic demand that non-office holders be kept quiet if they support the Government.
Yesterday, a number of Opposition spokespeople claimed no other country in the world would do this. It is a sad commentary on their approach that they would use such inflated language to make provably false claims.
A basic review of democratic parliaments around the world shows that Ireland may in fact be the only one which refuses to allow Government-supporting TDs to ask priority oral questions.
To give just a few examples; in Germany all non-Ministers have access to oral questions.
The same is the case in France-----
-----Finland and the Netherlands.
I did not interrupt.
In Australia, the practice is Government MPs get to ask half of all questions to the Prime Minister. In Sweden, the Prime Minister answers oral questions on alternate months and all MPs can participate.
Deputy McDonald and Sinn Féin are not defending any democratic principle.
You are promoting a destructive model of opposition.
It is one which tries to import into this Chamber the loud hailer politics of the street, which many of you prefer to doing the business of the people and respecting all mandates. We have very serious issues facing this country. Next week, tariffs will be announced on Europe.
We have a housing crisis-----
-----yet this is the number one issue for Sinn Féin. It is what you have always done. You brought down the Northern Ireland Assembly when it suited you and the party's self-interest on a number of occasions.
Your stated objective here is to undermine this institution, to undermine the Government, to reduce the Government majority-----
----and to create mayhem. That is what you are about. Anybody who uses two fingers in this House to another person is wrong and that person should apologise.
That would apply to Deputy Lowry. Equally, you should face up and acknowledge that any Deputy waving cameras in the face of other Deputies is wrong. That was never a part and parcel of Leinster House.
Equally, the intimidatory barracking of newly elected TDs, be they Independent or not, simply because they support the Government is a new low that I have never witnessed before in this House.