Quite a number of Deputies have asked questions. With regard to the broader picture, the humanitarian assistance scheme has not closed yet. This is my understanding. I think it has been extended. I spoke to the Minister this morning about it and I will clarify it. This is the position as I understand it. The Minister is evaluating the applications that come in.
The existing scheme is catered for in regulation, so it…
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
697,684
words spoken in the chamber
695,546 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 3 November 2026.
Contributions to debates 6,621 in all
Dec 2024Nov 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 |
| November 2026 | 75 |
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
Deputies Bacik and Murphy and other Deputies should start thinking very quickly now about how they see the economy evolving. They should dispense with all the sound bites and get down to the substance of should happen. Do we think we can just park ourselves at the side of the road while this massive, profound change is occurring in technology and then just pick it all up again in five or six years' time? We will not …
The debate in here is just miles away from reality.
There is no attempt at all to try to deal with the interdependent issues and the challenges that come with them. People are just demonising data centres. If you demonise data centres, every day-to-day usage of mobile phones or whatever will come to naught. That is the reality.
It is fundamentally the reality. In my view, the Deputy is fundamentally wrong in what he is putting forward.
Deputy Brennan referred to regulatory hurdles and so on. We are doing everything possible through MARA to get offshore wind through as quickly we possibly can. That will mean transposition of more EU directives. There is a clause in the EU directive to deal with matters when all else fails. This is the overr…
Solar energy is moving fast in Ireland and can progress even further. A fair point was made by Deputy Ó Fearghaíl in respect of battery storage. In the midlands some development on that front has been made by Bord na Móna. Other countries are using battery storage. If you look at Texas, it is not all about oil there. The relevant authorities in Texas use wind, nuclear, battery storage and solar.
Wind is our key ingredient.
On the point raised by Deputy Bacik, when the independent planning board, An Bord Pleanála, makes a decision, if the Government even dared intervened in a decision that would suit the Deputy and the outcome of which she would appreciate, she would cry foul.
I am stunned by what has happened two or three times today. An Bord Pleanála's decision in respect of north Kerry was referenced and then very quickly conflated as if the Government did it. That is the impression the Deputy is giving.
That is the impression all of you have given.
Deputies are giving the impression that an independent board, An Bord Pleanála, made a decision as if it was Government policy. That is a false assertion to confuse people and cloud matters. All the Deputies want to do is make the assertion that the Government is rowing back on climate. That is all they want to do, and they will use any instrument to do it.
It is a fundamentally dishonest political position to adopt. The Deputies either agree with the independence of An Bord Pleanála or they do not, I am now being asked to intervene in An Bord Pleanála.
I have been asked to intervene now in An Bord Pleanála by Deputy Bacik.
Yes, but intervene in what way?
This is what is wrong with the country. We do not accept the independent bodies that are established. We should because otherwise there will be judicial reviews.
Then we ask why we cannot deliver infrastructure and get things moving in the country. It is because the Deputies are pandering all the time-----
-----and are not really interested in economic development. I agree with Deputy-----
Do I answer first?
I have run out of time. I answered Deputy Lawless; I dealt with that. The Deputy should have come in early. He would have been the first man if he came in earlier but he was late.
There was no Sinn Féin representative at the beginning of this. The Deputy shouts and roars about it all the time, and his leader is not here.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 22, inclusive, together.
I attended an informal leaders’ retreat on 3 February hosted by the President of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels. The main focus of our discussions was European security and defence. The meeting was an important opportunity for leaders to offer strategic guidance ahead of the publication of a White Paper on the topic by the European Com…
I had my chance but it got complicated.
I did.
I absolutely did. The Deputy just made that up.
Can I point out that we are about 40 minutes over time?
I do not mind. I am not giving out. This could be over by now.