The Deputy wants to axe €1.5 billion in revenue, and he has dismissed the social welfare dimension.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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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
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Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
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Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
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Contributions to debates 6,546 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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|---|---|
| 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 |
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| 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 have all always said that one third of it goes to fuel poverty measures. That is how we have been able to expand the fuel allowance-----
-----and to bring in working families for the first time. An extra 50,000 working families are now entitled to the fuel allowance.
In the context of the agriculture sector, a significant amount of money goes to farmers under the agri-climate rural environment scheme. That scheme costs about €1.5 billion.
Sixty per cent of that money comes from the Exchequer. The Deputy wants an each-way bet on everything. Is he against the carbon tax revenue going to farmers?
Is the Deputy against it going to the poorest households in the country? If he is, he should say so.
I do not have the background to the specifics of the case, but I will inquire with the HSE and the National Ambulance Service in respect of what the Deputy has said about omissions in clinical care and a failure of the ambulance service to get there within the allocated timeline. Investment in the National Ambulance Service continues to be made and has increased year on year. Personnel are coming through on an ongoin…
The Department of Health has agreed the scope of the RSV infant immunisation pathfinder programme for 2026-27, which will involve the same eligibility criteria in place for the 2025-26 season. A health technology assessment on RSV immunisation for infants and adults was undertaken by HIQA and was published on 28 April. HIQA stated that the assessment provides robust evidence that RSV immunisation, particularly for in…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. His colleague Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised it a number of weeks ago as well. Obviously, it is a pressing issue for Deputy Brennan and his colleagues in Wexford and in Gorey in particular.
The Department has stated that site at Gorey provides a good location for expanding capacity in the form of a permanent modular extension for the school. That modular accommodation will be d…
I thank the Deputy for raising this. Arklow certainly needs that sort of focus in terms of eliminating dereliction. The Deputy's observations are exactly correct and conform with those of the Government. The Minister has produced data in respect of this matter. Some local authorities do far more than others., which motivated the decision in the recent budget to move enforcement in respect of dereliction to Revenue . …
I thank Deputy Gould for raising the issue. He is correct in that this is not an issue that anybody wants to have a dispute over. Deputy Paudie O'Sullivan raised it this morning. I spoke to the Minister about the case last week. My understanding is that there are ongoing interactions with the company involved. There has been a health technology assessment and so on. This has proven problematic.
My heart goes out to …
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I have spoken to the Minister for housing about this matter, which is under active consideration in the context of raising the income thresholds. It was raised a number of years ago, but the Minister is examining it. I hope to be back to the Deputy before long.
I acknowledge that the war in the Middle East, which the Deputy somehow managed not to mention, is a war that has created shocking constraints in oil supply and has led to an increase in fuel prices across the world. Globally people are very concerned about what they see as the biggest shock to the energy sector in many a time. They are saying it is bigger than 1973 and 1979 combined, and even 1973, 1979 and 2022 com…
Tá an Rialtas dáiríre faoin gceist seo agus tá an-chuid déanta againn ó thaobh costas maireachtála. Níl aon amhras faoi sin sa mhéid atá déanta againn sa gheilleagar agus leis an gcáinaisnéis a bhí againn an bhliain seo caite agus an bhliain roimhe sin. What Deputy McDonald has outlined is something for everybody. It could be €4 billion or €5 billion in terms of what she announced. Sinn Féin did not cost it.
I think it is approximately €3.5 billion-----
The Deputy says that but what is the cost? I would say it is around €5 billion.
The bottom line is that we have allocated €750 million already-----
-----and there is a budget in October. We need to also bear in mind how best we target the resources we have. We do not have money in the bottom of a drawer like Deputy McDonald is suggesting. Much of that surplus is in the Future Ireland Fund and the infrastructure and nature-----
Unless Deputy McDonald is advocating we take it out of the funds, she needs to clarify this.
The money has been put aside-----
-----and a lot of it is being invested in the economy, in jobs and in housing right now.
First of all, we will not be introducing a mini-budget. I will say at the outset that we have taken a strategic approach to this. The most fundamental approach we should take is an understanding of the impacts of this - not just the immediate impacts of this, but the medium-term impacts on our overall economic life in terms of the impact on jobs potentially, the impact on prices and so on. We have announced €750 mill…
I would not agree with the Deputy that it is too slow. Look at the response to the measures that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, announced in February.
There have been over 1,730 applications for attic insulation, up 81% year on year; over 1,000 applications for cavity wall insulation, up 62%; 350 applications for heat-pump installations, up 95%; 7,000 applications for window and door upgrades - that is a new grant; o…
First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is committed to ensuring that there is safe and equitable access to termination of pregnancy services. Significant steps have been taken in this regard, including the expansion of hospital services, the introduction of safe access zones and the continuation of the revised model of care for termination in early pregnancy. These measures have subst…
-----there was sustained discussion in the House and at committee level which facilitated the subsequent outcome.
On this side of the House, as the Deputy will be aware, it is a vote of conscience on matters of this nature. Life or death matters are votes of conscience. We will examine the legislation. There will be debate around the area of fatal foetal abnormality. There was significant debate around it on Committee Stage in advance of the referendum and during the referendum campaign. There is a desire in many people to maint…