There is no laissez-faire. Níl sé sin fíor. We have a robust legal framework to deal with knife crime. As I said, in September we increased the maximum penalty. There is a proactive policing operation to seize knives. There has been an increase in the number of knives being seized each year and that proactivity will continue. Again, we have to support the Garda. We have to give more resources. There is good CCTV of t…
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
705,467
words spoken in the chamber
703,329 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 4 November 2026.
Contributions to debates 6,677 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 | 131 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,554 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 Opposition has a habit of making assertions that are not grounded in any facts. I challenge Deputy Bacik-----
It is telling a falsehood, yes. I challenge Deputy Bacik-----
-----to find any statement where I said I would end RPZs and replace them with nothing. That is what she just said. I challenge her to find that statement for me and present it because it is a deliberate distortion of what I said. The Housing Agency began a review of RPZs last year - not me, the Housing Agency. The expiry date is the end of this year. The Housing Commission says the same thing but Deputy Bacik now ch…
I did not interrupt the Deputy and I did not finish my statement but, again, the heckling starts because the Opposition does not like what it is hearing.
Is it possible to have a serious debate, which the people deserve, on housing without the name calling and attempts to politically undermine and distort what is being said?
I do not think it is possible to have such a debate with the Opposition, given the Deputy's contribution just now and her misrepresentation of what I said publicly. I will say again that the last Government moved from a situation where we were do…
There are two types of targets. There is what we need-----
Does the Opposition not want this debate?
The people did not buy Deputy Ó Broin's stuff in the election. They just did not buy it.
The Deputy persuaded nobody.
The Deputy persuaded nobody with his codswallop of a set of proposals.
There is what we need, and we need 50,000 houses per year according to the ESRI.
The question then is how we get there. I will say again that the Department of Finance and everybody else says that we need approximately €20 billion in development funding for housing. At the moment, the State is spending €6 billion.
Sorry-----
If the rest of you could start telling us how to fill in the gaps and get to the €20 billion-----
No, you will not do it happily.
All the Opposition does is to say "No" to everything.
I would welcome an engagement with the Deputy on housing-----
-----but please, less of the misrepresentation.
I was talking about what the Deputy said to me.
With the greatest of respect, Deputy, you had an opportunity to go into government but you did not show up.
Yesterday, the housing subcommittee of the Cabinet met. We made some concrete decisions in respect of housing. There will be an additional €450 million of funding to build a further 3,000 affordable and social homes, and cost rental accommodation. We made the decision to establish a strategic housing activation office, as recommended by the Housing Commission, of which the Deputy is fond. That was decided and that is…
The county development plans will allow us to reach, or give us a fighting chance of reaching, the targets identified by the ESRI.
As I said earlier, yesterday the Government took a number of key decisions on the national planning framework, which is key - I hope the Deputy agrees – and will lead to more zoning of land which is important given the numbers of houses that we have to build in the coming years. We approved an additional €450 million for 3,400 social, cost rental and affordable homes. In excess of €6 billion has been allocated for ho…
They might be doing it in the best interests of housing but you cannot say one thing and then have it both ways, as Deputy Ó Broin has been doing serially. I will look at that and I will discuss with the Deputy mechanisms around utilising that €160 billion he spoke about and how we release more private sector capital into housing.
That is what I have been saying since this Government was formed. That is what I have …