Keep shouting, keep shouting.
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 6,501 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 point I was making was that Governments were formed with the support of three Independent TDs, no one at the time------
It is noteworthy that people on the opposite side do not want to hear a response to the questions being asked.
It is a complete shoutdown. They shout down the debate because they do not want to hear explanations.
No Opposition TD ever lost any rights to this day. This has been proved by multiple senior counsel opinions at this stage under previous Standing Orders.
The Deputy feigns sympathy for the Government backbenchers-----
-----but there is an issue around proportionality in terms of how the Dáil is structured. In recent times, from 2016 onwards when we changed the thresholds to allow smaller groups to be formed, there has been a wholly disproportionate platform for some representatives, such as when one Independent joins three or four other Independents. They have had far more speaking time than Government backbenchers have had over t…
I am not very selective
Deputy, with the greatest of respect, your party was very grateful for the fact we were sympathetic enough-----
-----to accommodate you when you lost a whole range of seats.
I am fine.
The people voted in the last general election-----
-----and they clearly voted, whether you like it or not-----
It seems the election result never sunk in with people on the opposite side.
That is just a reality. Therefore, it fell to this side of the House-----
-----to form a government.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did not have the numbers.
You were not really interested in going into government.
You had no interest at all. You had none. Your manifesto was so threadbare in any detail that it was no wonder.
The Labour Party did not want to go into government------
The Labour Party did not want to go into government because it was watching you. You are both watching each other. You are both nervous of each other, so therefore you did not come forward.
Sinn Féin did not have the numbers to form a government-----
-----and Independent Ireland had some issues that we did not find agreement with but at least its members came in and engaged with us in a substantive way. The Regional Independent Group said they wanted to support and facilitate the formation of a government.
That is not new, by the way. That is not new.
This has been a feature of our fragmented system.