----- we have no issue with that. I have said that we are open for negotiations. We believe negotiations should take place. There is no issue there. I do take issue with everything else the Deputy said.
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
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| 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 |
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| 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 will go through some of those issues. In terms of health, we have a lot of pressures in our health service. We have expanded it hugely. The Deputy did not mention the fact we are up 53% in the number of consultants in our hospitals over the past five years. There are thousands of extra nurses. We have expanded the health service. The more important point about health service is our lifespan has increased dramatica…
The Minister is not blocking anything. Remy Farrell independently came forward with a report. That is not the Minister blocking something-----
I did not interrupt the Deputy. Remy Farrell gave his best recommendation in terms of the form of inquiry he deemed to be optimal given the circumstances and the situation involved, particularly in relation to children. By the way, that is an ongoing debate in terms of inquiries - whether it is a public open inquiry under the 2021 Act or a commission of inquiry. These are legitimate issues. The Deputy should not be r…
He just wanted to see how much space he could get to deal with Sinn Féin or others. A lot of cynicism went on there. We fully supported the right of the residents of Garvaghy Road not to have that parade.
We engaged in diplomacy. The Minister for foreign affairs, Deputy McEntee, in particular, engaged with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. We were very conscious of what comes after.
We are looking at future relationships on this island. We actually believe in unity but-----
----- there are times when the Deputy's behaviour gives me the sense that he actually does not really believe in it.
The Deputy went through a long list and I do not have enough time in three minutes. If we take education, we have the highest school completion rates in Europe. We have probably the highest participation rate in third level education, all because of expansion in numbers and investment in education at primary and secondary level and particularly in third level.
The Deputy mentioned the Minister, Deputy Lawless. The I…
The Minister, Deputy Heydon, this morning brought before Cabinet measures in terms of fertiliser and fuel costs that will benefit farmers-----
-----and the Minister for Transport has a transport support scheme in relation to fuel for hauliers.
I dtús báire, first, I welcome all those from the two schools in Mayo. Congratulations on winning the All-Ireland and Sam Maguire. I wish them an enjoyable tour here this afternoon.
I too want to remember all those who lost their lives at Creeslough. Our thoughts are with the families who have been bereaved.
I also want to remember all those who lost their lives following the horrific attack by Hamas on innocent pe…
The Deputy knows that a further appeal by the residents was heard in the court of appeal and the court has reserved judgment. There is also a responsibility on the Deputy. Some of her actions over the past week were not ones that contributed or would-----
-----contribute to a satisfactory resolution of the issues, not just for now but into the future. I am looking around the corner and I am looking ahead but I am not so sure the Deputy is. She is looking at the here and now for her own electoral reasons. I hate to say that, but that is the conclusion I have come to.
I did not interrupt anybody. My commitment to Northern Ireland does not need any lectures from anyone here.
As Taoiseach, I have been responsible for the largest-scale investment by any Government in the Republic into Northern Ireland and that will continue.
I want to make a point, if I would be allowed and not have this constant interruption and heckling when Members do not like the message. When Deputy McDonald uses language like there will be a reckonings and so on with the stridency that she did, that has consequences too-----
----which could impede a resolution of this, which would mean no marching and no parades down the Garvaghy Road, because nobody wants them.
Fianna Fáil does have the back of pensioners and always will, and our coalition colleagues likewise. The Government has increased pensions by €10 per week. We have a commitment to reach €350 weekly by the end of the term of this Government and we will fulfil that commitment. We cannot look at any payment in isolation, as the Deputy has done with the living alone allowance. It has to be looked at in the context of the…
The Deputy's attitude is spend, spend, spend. He does not care about the economy. He does not care about the resources that we need to allocate to social protection. An increase in the social protection budget of €2 billion is quite substantial. The €10 pension increase is above the rate of inflation.
We have a clear commitment in the programme for Government on pensions that we will fulfil over the lifetime of the Government. This is the second budget of five that we will deliver in this House.
We are in government with two other groups, Fine Gael and with the group of Independents.
We have made a commitment on pensions that we are going to fulfil. Because of the situation in Iran, we extended payments last year. We have responded in an agile way to try to help people get through what is a very significant pressure point on families because of external international factors such as war and conflict.
We cannot look at one element of social protection in isolation-----
-----as Deputy O'Callaghan was endeavouring to do.
We have to look at it in the overall context of what we have done in the two budgets-----