I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Government are very strong in terms of increasing the number of gardaí. We have committed very substantial resources and we want to maintain those resources to continue to increase the number of gardaí going into Templemore for training. The cohorts of over 200 trainees are now entering Templemore regularly. In th…
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
We are providing very substantial resources to An Garda Síochána. There has been substantial change in terms of the recruitment processes. We have increased recruitment age and training allowance, shortened recruitment timeframes, reform of the physical competency test and the introduction of the assessment-centred approach to elements of recruitment. We had two recruitment campaigns in 2025, and likewise again in 20…
The Government is absolutely committed to supporting regeneration projects submitted by Dublin City Council, including deep retrofit remedial works at older flat complexes. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is actively supporting viable regeneration proposals from Dublin City Council and will continue to do so. We are also continuing to invest heavily in regeneration across the capital city, pa…
As the Deputy will know, there are a range of responses to this. Apart from the fact that about 6,000 assessment reports were completed in 2025, which was a 45% increase on the previous year, nonetheless, current waiting lists are too high. The model and framework governing this is also wrong. We need a legislative change, which we are going to do, and we need operational change, workforce reforms, increased capacity…
First, I made a general statement that we are investing a huge amount of money on regeneration.
On the specifics of Oliver Bond House, the Deputy said just today something happened with communication between the Department and the residents or the city council. I will engage with the Minister for housing on the matter.
Again, I will engage with the Minister for housing on that. I presume the Deputy has been engaging with the Minister, so he must have a fair idea as to what his and the Department's perspective is. I do not see any issue with sharing data or material evidence with the homeowner.
First, as I discussed earlier, the Government did take measures in the budget to try to protect people from increasing prices. If we look at the core payments alone in social protection, the increase in core payments, child support payments and the fuel allowance, we are looking at about €2,300 additionally provided out of the budget to a two-adult household, or indeed €1,800 to a lone-parent family. People are defin…
-----and for agriculture, fishers and farmers.
In terms of the ESB, it obviously continues to invest in our energy system and so on but we will see what we can do. We can take back a dividend from the ESB and so on. It is open to Government to do that.
To be fair to Government, we have invested hugely in teaching and the teacher training colleges. Numbers have increased exponentially over the past number of years in teaching in Ireland. I understand the issue in terms of returning and not receiving incremental credit. On the other hand, the issue needs to be examined more but we do not want to create scenarios where we incentivise too many leaving the system immedi…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. These are very significant centres and they do great work. About €3.5 million in recurrent funding is provided to about ten care homes in the south-east supported care homes. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, enhanced that in 2024 with a €1.7 million increase in recurrent funding. A lot of work has been done in respect of it. We acknowledge the very significant role they…
I would not be here if I was out of touch.
I would not be here as long as the Deputy suggested if I was out of touch.
I ask the Deputy to please not be so arrogant and patronising-----
-----and almost presenting the idea that she is the only person - or Sinn Féin Deputies are the only people - who have a monopoly on empathy and compassion.
All of my life, I have been in touch with people.
I understand the pressures that are on people. I do not need the Deputy's lectures in that regard.
I thank the Deputy for raising that. That is an innovative approach and it is positive to develop a bus-tracking system. The Deputy is saying that not only should it be applied to Bus Éireann but to Go Ahead Ireland as well. I will speak to the Minister to ascertain from him the background to this and how it is going to evolve. I presume that, in the fullness of time, it will have to apply to all providers.
The Deputy will have to acknowledge that a very substantial part of those reforms was about protecting tenants. That should at least be acknowledged. I will speak to the Minister in respect of this practice, which was not intended in any shape or form, to see how we can deal with that.
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I know he will have a particular focus on Portlaoise as well as it is in his constituency. We do have a challenge with overcrowding in our prisons. There is very significant and good work going on in the areas of rehabilitation and youth justice programmes aimed at keeping people out of prison but the fact remains that some crimes must attract a prison se…
I will discuss this matter with the Minister for housing. I do not have the specifics in respect of the latest decision on the Oliver Bond complex. I will revert when I discuss it with the Minister.
Over the years there has been significant expansion of bus services. I will have to talk to the Minister. There could be a resourcing issue. There are set budgets for all Departments. That was agreed at budget time in terms of the degree of expansion that could be entered into across the board. I will check what the position is in terms of the 132 bus service and the 199.
I think Deputy Malcolm Byrne would have been on about this as well as the Deputy. It is in Gorey. I do appreciate the work the Gaelscoil did in facilitating the location of the special school there. I certainly will talk to the Minister for education and see how we can progress this further. The Deputy is saying that the amenities and playing pitches the Gaelscoil has been enjoying are now under pressure because of t…
Covid was an emergency. Before we got vaccination, people were dying and the fundamental objective of Government was to protect life and then to protect livelihoods. That was it, and all the stops had to be pulled out to enable us to do that.
I do not accept that five years on the Deputy can casually, at such remove, make such statements as he just made. If we did not get vaccination, and I presume the Deputy supports vaccination, we would have been in deep trouble and continuing trouble as a country, and more and more lives would have been lost.