It is not your question, Deputy Mac Lochlainn. This scheme-----
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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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
There are new new asks all of the time in relation to the scheme. We need to get on with it and get it delivered.
We do.
The legislation has changed, expert advice has changed and the science has changed. The Government's commitment is absolutely 100% in terms of delivering this scheme, and 3,000 people are not trapped in the scheme.
They are engaged in and involved with the scheme at different stages.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will pass on his good comments in respect of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about what is happening in the midlands and the energy transformation that is occurring. Recently, I was in Shannonbridge myself with Hanwha Energy to launch the battery storage and the condenser, which is a very novel proposal. There is no doubt that the midlands is going through a very e…
Absolutely. What I would like to see happening with the energy transformation that is occurring is the resetting of the investment profile for the midlands in terms of foreign direct investment coming to the midlands in greater numbers than it has heretofore. There are some significant plants around the midlands but there is potential for more. Given the link between energy, industry and investment, some significant …
Absolutely not. If you take Iarnród Éireann, for example, it has been extremely efficient, on budget and on time with all its rail projects. This is unacceptable. The agencies involved here should not have allowed that to happen. Across the board with public transport, some very significant investments have happened within budget and on time.
I know Deputy McDonald wants to keep attacking the Government, its agencies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and so on like that-----
-----but a hell of a lot has been done in this country in the last number of years in terms of infrastructure. You know what? An awful lot more will happen as well.
I agree 100% with the Deputy in the sense that this is an existential crisis. I have noticed that, in the House, there seems to have been a drop in the contributions on climate in terms of political discourse. That may be due to other events. Ireland now has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. It is important to point that out when you look at the extraordinary increase in population. There has been a co…
I was out knocking on doors and I did meet pensioners. We had very good conversations. In the last budget we increased the pension by €10. That was significantly above the going rate of inflation at that particular time.
We have increased the fuel allowance. We have substantial provision for pensioners in our social protection frameworks. We allocated an additional €2 billion. There is a sense in the House that we can literally allocate billions more to everybody. We do need some conversation around targeting. I think targeting is important for pensioners as well, which we have done and which we will do more of. In terms of child pov…
To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, he has already brought forward substantial improvements to retrofitting measures. The heat pump system grant, for example, now totals €12,500. He expanded this grant and increased it substantially by up to €6,500 for a heat pump. He did that last February. He also introduced measures on central heating upgrades and a new €2,000 grant. There are increased grants for attic an…
I salute the achievements of Katie Taylor. She has been an outstanding boxer and an outstanding representative of people, dignified in her approach. Certainly I hope her dream of boxing in Croke Park can come to reality. No proposal has come to the Government or has been proffered by anybody to the Government in respect of this. Any proposal generally that seeks public funding for a major sports event is considered b…
I thank Deputy Crowe for raising this issue. I fully understand his desire for the location of an air ambulance service for the mid-west. I do not know what the response was from the National Ambulance Service but a lot of work has to go into such a proposal, in terms of researching it and making sure we have the human personnel, the expertise and the evaluation of how it is working across the country, with a lessons…
I remember well when all of that happened. In fairness, the county council entered into all of that in very good faith with the FAI. My understanding is that a local soccer club, Riverstown, is on the cusp of entering a lease agreement, and the council will go out to public consultation on all of it to engage with all of the interested parties in terms of the utilisation of the land.
I do not think I have received correspondence. I will check. I do not want to be-----
I will receive it. Obviously, when people seek meetings, I do my very best to meet with them. My understanding is that, generally speaking as opposed to in just this case, An Garda Síochána does everything it possibly can to get to the bottom of murders of this kind, which are reprehensible, and to try to bring the culprits to justice. I certainly will examine the situation.
Careful now.
We extended the free fuel allowance for a month. Obviously, the Government, as a collective, will address this. Every party in government will have to work collectively to prioritise things for the budget in terms of having a targeted approach and how, in general, we alleviate the impact of the undoubted pressure that those in society who are most vulnerable are feeling as a result of the war. We increased the State …
I thank the Deputy very much. It is a great school. I was there many years ago in my capacity as Minister for Education and so forth. My understanding is that the Department of education is awaiting the submission of stage 2b material from Cork ETB in respect of this project. When that is received, it will be looked at from a technical and cost perspective. Obviously, as the Deputy said, there is an issue about the o…
The Minister is very committed to the surgical hub concept. The previous Minister, Stephen Donnelly, did a lot of work on that. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has engaged with the hospital, and the funding support will not be there for the surgical hub.
There has also been significant investment in the hospital, as the Deputy knows, and-----
The Minister has had regular engagement with the hospital because it needs two fundamental approaches. One is reform of the management of the hospital and how it is run, both of which have happened,. The second is investment, which is also happening. Funding of €47 million is involved. In any event, the new location in Raheen is a huge boost to the future of tertiary healthcare in Limerick.