Yes, I would argue that Iran is much more repressive than Saudi Arabia. We do not have a precise number, but thousands of their citizens who went on the street to protest were mowed down. I am not defending any other regime but this is a particularly-----
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
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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 |
| 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
The contrast with Ukraine is very different, but the Deputy will never acknowledge that.
Deputies Boyd Barrett, Murphy and others will never acknowledge that point. President Zelenskyy executed nobody before Ukraine was invaded. I believe in dialogue. I believe in the international rules-based order and a UN mandate, although the UN is paralysed. The reason we are doing the triple lock is the UN Security Council is paralysed. It is going to be very hard to get a peacekeeping mission going and because of …
No, not at all.
In response to Deputy O'Hara, that is a matter for the Minister for education. There are plenty of routes to try to source an answer to that question. I will reference that the Deputy raised it, but it is not appropriate to raise it in the context of the coalition of the willing.
I know, but this is a different set of questions.
In response to Deputy Conway-Walsh, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of this issue. I will talk to the Minister and come back to her. There have been challenges all around. Because of the war in Ukraine, there are lots of issues and public services that have come under pressure.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 23, inclusive, together.
The Department of the Taoiseach's statement of strategy 2025-28 was approved by the Government on 7 October 2025 and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 10 December 2025. The statement of strategy outlines the Department’s vision, mission, values, core responsibilities, key activities and policy priorities over the period from 2025 to 2028. The …
I thank all the Deputies who raised questions. Deputy Cathal Crowe raised the CRIS centre in University of Limerick, which I have visited. I saw at first hand the excellent technology in respect of underwater remotely controlled drones which can observe critical undersea infrastructure, such as subsea cables, gas interconnectors and eventually offshore windmills. Such key infrastructure is vital to our economy and so…
Again, I will speak to the Minister in respect of that. There was a commitment there to provide school places. I am sure that will be realised and fulfilled. Particularly in areas of high population growth, there is a need to have interim measures to make sure children get access to the places that they are entitled to and that they need.
Deputy O'Hara raised Gaelscoil Riada. Admhaím go bhfuil deacrachtaí agus dúshl…
There is a review of the-----
I have discussed it with the Chief Whip.
We will come back to the Deputy. I accept the basis principle of democratic oversight of national security measures.
I welcome the students from Finglas. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day in Dáil Éireann. I hope it may spark and inspire some of them to come in some day as elected public representatives as well.
Admhaím go bhfuil teaghlaigh fud fad na tíre faoi bhrú de bharr an mhéid atá ag tarlú maidir le praghsanna, go háirithe praghsanna a bhaineann le fuinneamh. Mar a dúirt mé inné, táimid ag déanamh machnai…
That is an issue that was put on the agenda two weeks ago but will have an even sharper focus now because of the impact of this crisis on the energy market more generally.
We will keep any further measures under review. It is important that the Government's focus has been on targeting and using our resources for those most in need and those who need our supports. We have extended the reduction of VAT. We reduced VAT…
The Deputy says it is a small gesture. That is the point. The carbon tax on its own would be a number of cent or whatever, but when we look at the carbon tax collectively, it has supported farmers, in particular, in terms of environmental agri-schemes with approximately €173 million allocated this year to that. We would not have the retrofitting scheme without it because we have ring-fenced it. We give all that back …
The Deputy asked about carbon tax.
Sorry, the Deputy has asked about it. We have said we are going to take measures-----
The Deputy has a habit of always looking for the knee-jerk reaction to everything-----
-----and when she did it before-----
Thankfully, we did not take the Deputy's advice before-----
-----because it would have been fairly disastrous if we had.
It is clearly a day of hyperbole.
Of course, we have intervened in the cost of living over the past three to four years. More than any other government in Europe, we intervened with our allocations, both in the once-off cost-of-living interventions that we made for over two years at huge cost, but then with more permanent measures such as the free books scheme, which is a substantial reduction in costs for parents and families of school-going childre…
We are investing in renewables to an unprecedented extent. Between 40% and 45% of all electricity generation is through renewables in Ireland today, and approximately 40% through gas. One of the structural problems with this, of course, is across Europe there is a coupling of gas and very often gas dictates the ultimate price. Price caps generally do not work and we would need to consider that very carefully before w…
I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to Denise Whitmore, Mark and the entire family on the tragic loss of baby Éadha, and the very difficult and traumatic circumstances of both Denise's pregnancy and what subsequently happened with the travel to the United Kingdom, particularly the journey back.
As the Deputy knows, the legislation came as a result of the constitutional referendum we had in respect of this issue a…
This will be reviewed by the Government. I thank Denise Whitmore for speaking out because we need to hear her voice and the voice of women in situations like this.