There had been issues with the administration of ACRES, which is a €1.5 billion scheme. By the way, a lot of the funding from this Government for ACRES comes from the carbon tax. It is 60% funded by the Government and 40% by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy.
I would take the Deputy's point. The Minister is doing everything he can to improve and enhance the administrative capacity of ACRES. The scheme 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
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 11, inclusive, together.
I travelled to Beijing and Shanghai in early January, the first official visit by a Taoiseach since 2012. While there, I met with key political figures and Chinese leaders in a variety of fields, including business, tourism and education, with the aim of strengthening our political, economic and cultural links. Ireland’s economic and trading relationship…
I thank all the Members for their comments. With respect to Deputy Boyd Barrett and others, in terms of the human rights issues, we do raise them. China has no issue with foreign leaders raising human rights issues. Deputy Martin Daly emphasised the importance of raising them. However, one gets a robust response. They defend their position on the Jimmy Lai case. It was quite a lengthy conversation with the Premier in…
It is not a military base. If you want to see a military base go to Spain, go to Italy, go to Germany. We need to be accurate with our commentary. This kind of denigration of Shannon Airport will damage Shannon Airport, will damage the economy of Shannon and will damage jobs in Shannon Airport. Charter planes are used to bring soldiers home or whatever.
There is no US military base in Shannon Airport. It is wrong to characterise it as such. Go and look at what a military base is - structure, logistics and everything. That is not what Shannon Airport is.
I think we need a small bit of cop on in respect of it. That is my view on it. Deputies may disagree and they are entitled to disagree.
Again, we are committed to military neutrality. We are not joining any military alliance. Deputy Murphy is wrong in endeavouring to use the triple lock amendments. I do not believe Russia should have a veto on whether we involve ourselves in a peacekeeping operation or not. I do not…
I am sorry, but we are not.
Look, it is so dishonest to say-----
We are not involved in any war right now.
They are not using our airport for the war. They are not using it for the war.
I just want to make one important point. Deputy Martin Daly referred to us being a small trading nation. We need to export what we produce and make. I gave the figures earlier. What was interesting was that I spoke to Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday. In the context of there being polarisation between two major powers, China and the US, there is now a growing movement from the European Union, Canada, Australia an…
I covered a lot of people. I am sorry but I did not cover Deputy Hayes’s point about renewable energy. We did actually discuss that with President Xi. They are very conscious of our offshore wind exploration and that we are putting a lot of focus into the offshore and onshore aspects. China manufactures wind turbines at an extraordinary rate. It more or less commands the global market in solar panels.
If we can get …
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 32, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that relate to matters under those areas. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. Its first meeting was on 10 April 2025 and it met most recently on 9 February 2026. Th…
I thank the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Ó Murchú was first in terms of antisocial behaviour and a multi-agency approach in County Louth. I agree with the Deputy that the most effective response is a multi-agency response. I support the drug partnerships approach that we had in earlier periods. The local community safety partnership has been effective. It is working in certain locations but we need …
The Deputy did so. He went on the platform-----
You went on the platform and you supported the blockade of the motorway. The Deputy supported the blockades of ports. All I would say to him is-----
I did watch the Deputy's social media posts. He described it as mediating, but who gives him authority to decide who gets oil in this country? Who gives him authority-----
I am asking a rhetorical question. I do not need a response right now. I am making an absolutely fundamental point with regard to parliamentary democracy. The Deputy does not have a right to decide who gets access to work. He does not have a right to decide who gets access to a hospital. He does not have a right to-----
It was wrong of the Deputy to do what he did last week. I say that respectfully to him. No self-appointed group gets that right and no TD gets that right. A number of TDs were at that. Deputy Tóibín, more than most, stated that he had negotiated this or negotiated that. That is not right. For God's sake-----
-----we need freedom of movement for people. The Minister for justice and the Minister for-----
-----Defence engage with each other in respect of this issue.
Deputy O'Rourke raised two issues on the concerns in Navan-----
In Kells. My apologies. The Deputy raised concerns about break-ins and burglaries. I will relay that to the Minister for justice. I am sure the Garda will tackle that in a concerted way. That is very disturbing for the people concerned. Garda numbers are improving every time a new intake goes through Templemore. As a result, I expect that we will be able to get there. We have done good work in Dublin, Cork, Limerick …
The Minister is scrupulous in terms of the application of the law. I do not know what the background is to this. Maybe they do not want to prejudice the process. I do not know. I will check with the Minister for justice in respect of the report. I think the inquest is due, is it not?
Deputy Conway Walsh raised the issue of a former garda, Margaret Loftus, and members of An Garda Síochána. Again, there has to be clear rules in terms of our uniformed services, particularly our Garda and our military. There are rules in respect of people who are convicted of crimes. They should not serve. When people are charged, they are sometimes suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and so forth. I s…
It just would not have made any sense, and that is why it was done.
On Deputy Coppinger's question, through the shared island initiative, we support an all-island response to domestic and sexual violence. It is shocking, and Northern Ireland is a particular problem. I have discussed this with the First Minister and deputy First Minister at meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council. It was a theme and a topic a…