In previous years, people said we would not reach our targets.
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
We actually exceeded them. Some of the estimates, even from official circles, were wrong-----
-----for the previous year. There was no-----
I repeat this-----
There was no attempt to knowingly mislead the people on any of this.
We have worked extremely hard on the housing question. It is our number one priority. It will remain our number one priority.
The focus has to be on how we get those numbers.
I pay tribute to An Garda Síochána and its members for the outstanding work they do in a much more complex society than in previous decades in protecting our citizens and working with our citizens every day of every week. They do exceptional work. Our overall Garda workforce is larger than it has ever been. I know the Deputy slipped in the per capita number. It is the highest it has ever been. During Covid, with the …
-----it is at approximately 18,000 as we speak. The budget was increased by €500 million last year. That is a 27% increase in the Garda budget since 2020. On another day, Deputy Tóibín will come in speaking about value for money, wasteful Government expenditure and all of that. No one can question the fact that very substantial resources have been allocated, far above what would normally be the annual increase in Gov…
There was a Garda Inspectorate report in respect of domestic abuse published earlier today. The Deputy has a habit of going back-----
I mentioned a public order report. The Minister today updated the Cabinet on the progress we have made in terms of public order units, public order resources and a suite of improvements that have happened.
They have.
I will ask the Minister to brief the Deputy after the session on the progress that has been made.
It has been significant, and so it should be.
The Deputy mentioned the Dublin riots. Again, we should always be conscious that we are not alone in this. I and four of my Ministers met with the British Prime Minister the week before last at the annual summit. Events that are happening now are triggered by how certain people behave, outside the House, obviously, in terms of provocateurs or whatever. I refer to people who are determined to exploit certain situation…
The exact same thing happened in the United Kingdom, with, as the Deputy knows, a devastating impact on particular towns. We have to be very vigilant about that and we have to protect gardaí. One of the most important things that we are keen on doing is accessing legislation in terms of facial recognition and the use of modern technological techniques and capacity, which some of the House, of course, opposes. If we h…
I have been watching some of Sinn Féin's messaging on social media. It is almost a new style; a new approach. There was a beautiful one this morning about Eoin Ó Broin and his legislation on water and how Eoin had signed it. The Deputy opposite does it with a kind of "I wonder where that came from?" It was as if an executive order had been signed by Deputy Ó Broin in terms of water charges. I come in today and see th…
However, we will get legislation done here through plenary methods, but we will engage.
My understanding is that all the Whips agreed the Dáil calendar. I know we have these empty soundbites coming up that since November we have only met so many times. There was a government being formed since November as Deputy Tóibín knows well, but he just ignores it.
To be fair to him, he did not play a meaningful role in the formation of Government. I acknowledge that. He was an observer of what was going on.
In the modern era, it takes a long time to form a government. It was actually much shorter this time than in 2020 when I think it took five or six months.
This time it was much shorter and probably much shorter than most other European Union member states. By the way, I do not like having a prolonged timeline in terms of the formation of Government. Let us be honest with the public that many Deputies were in here in November, December and January trying to put a government together and trying to get the substance of a programme for Government together, and that happene…
In response to Deputy Collins, private nursing homes are not covered by section 39. As he knows there is a separate financial mechanism. The National Treatment Purchase Fund is the mechanism through which private nursing homes get funded. I agree with him that it was a welcome development that the section 39 issue was resolved through the pay talks.
Deputy Gibney raised the issue of the European Council. As we have …
Others in Europe have a separate perspective.
Ireland's fundamental principles on the Middle East remain and have not changed or deviated in any shape or form.