It did increase sharply during Covid.
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
197
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 6,426 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
I appreciate the comments Deputy Coppinger has made. The violence last night in Belfast, the racism on display and the burning out of families because of their ethnicity have to be roundly condemned. It is very dangerous. It puts Northern Ireland in a very difficult and challenging spotlight in terms of where the North goes into the future societally. Some areas are potentially becoming no-go areas because of the col…
I am the Taoiseach.
The Deputy is confused on this one; there is no question about that. The International Protection Act 2026 has been introduced by this Dáil and supported by this Dáil. It will provide a very fair, sustainable, efficient and robust asylum procedure. It will also result in faster dealing with applications and appeals that may be made against those decisions. It will be much faster. It also enables us to return asylum s…
What Deputy Lawless said there is misinformation. It is absolute misinformation.
It is absolute nonsense and I think it is wrong.
Nonsense, just bloody nonsense.
I thank Deputy Crowe for his robust advocacy on behalf of St. Joseph's Secondary School and its extension application. I take on board what he said. There has been significant investment in school buildings but, clearly, there is a necessity for more. I will engage with the Minister for education on this issue to see if we can move forward and advance this extension for the benefit of the students who attend the scho…
It is absolutely not sustainable and it is not safe for people either. It is not appropriate. It is wrong that people should feel the need to use tents at times.
The facilitation of that is something I have issues with. The Government does not support that. The Minister has sought accommodation in different locations but also, the Act itself will lead to much faster treatment of applications. About 70% of applicatio…
The Deputy is being unfair to his colleagues, Government TDs who are-----
-----people of considerable experience and who have had significant impact over the years in respect of Cavan-Monaghan. There has been increased funding overall in terms of roads this year. I will engage with the Ministers for housing and the environment, local authorities and the Minister for public expenditure to make sure we can deal with the significant challenges that people undoubtedly face across the country i…
It is a very reasonable point the Deputy is making. It is a good scheme and it has been a good, welcome initiative. We always evaluate initiatives in terms of how they are working. I will speak to the Ministers for energy and Finance in respect of this.
I thank the Deputy for his comments. This is a very important issue for people generally, but young people and young couples in particular, in rural Ireland. Given the housing crisis we are in, we simply have to look at every avenue to increase housing capacity.
The Minister and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing have been working substantively on this with significant proposals. I envisage that i…
I pay tribute to St. Joseph's Gaelic football club for its ambition and energy and for serving the community so well. This project represents the manifestation of a further milestone in the club's development and history. I will ask the Minister and endeavour to engage with Uisce Éireann to see if anything can be done here to facilitate what is a very significant community facility for the wider community that will b…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I also recognise the strength of his advocacy in regard to the ring road in Galway and the absolute necessity for it. It is with some degree of dismay that we read that there will be a judicial review of the planning. I urge the authorities - and I will engage with them - to see if mediation can bring about a speedier outcome to the issues that have been raised. My understan…
I condemn, and I have condemned, what happened on last evening. "Racist pogrom" is a good description of last night in north Belfast. I made the point in my earlier remarks that there were certain media outlets of a particular political disposition that sought, from observing some of the interviews, to raise tensions.
That is unacceptable and I roundly condemn that. Everybody has a responsibility for what is said be…
This is parliamentary democracy. By 86 votes to 62, the International Protection Act 2015 was passed in this House. It has been signed by the President. Why are Members inventing and deliberately misinforming people? That is what is going on here. This law has been debated in this House at length.
It has been passed by this House. People have different perspectives, as they are entitled to. It has been passed, signed, and is coming into law. That is all. This is a new development where TDs are coming in to say that a matter was only won by this amount or that and we must have another debate, despite the fact that legislation went through all Stages. This is misinformation and let us call it out. All last week,…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I cannot get involved in every single scheme with Uisce Éireann but I would say to Irish Water that it needs to reflect on its relationship with public representatives because the number of TDs who are complaining about not getting replies is too high. Something needs to be resolved here to have a proper flow of information. I will check with Irish Water but the Deputy is say…
A number of TDs have been raising this kind of issue from time to time.
I will go back to the Minister. We do not want people to have to flood the system with a load of parliamentary questions about a particular scheme. That information should be provided to Members automatically. I am hearing now of Members using AI for parliamentary questions. If we keep doing that, we will have thousands of questions in here and the system will be paralysed. I know the Deputy is not doing that, in fai…
I will talk to the Minister of State. If this modular building is complete, there will be classes. We have allocated an extra €646 million over and above the Estimate of last year to the Department of Education and Youth. A significant amount of that will be allocated to special education for the express purpose of more teachers and special needs assistants. We want every child to have a place in September. If the De…
It is a no-brainer. I am appalled that there are cigarette butts on the ground outside State institutions. It should not happen. It is just unacceptable. Every individual has responsibilities in that regard but we do, as institutions of the State, have responsibilities to make sure that does not happen. I will ask for a re-examination of that and see what measures can be taken to clamp down on this.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know he has raised it previously. Uisce Éireann is subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General and is accountable to the Committee of Public Accounts but that is more in terms of the broader governance issues. It is also subject to requirements of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and has, I understand, established a dedicated team to deal …
Tá an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta dochreidte. Níl sí macánta faoin cheist seo in aon chor. Níl sí ceart ach an oiread. Caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil cúrsaí polaitíochta i gceist aici. Níl sí i ndáiríre in aon chor maidir leis an gceist seo.
The Deputy is being very dishonest in her presentation of this issue. She is being deliberately manipulative and is endeavouring to win votes on the back of the migration issue. T…