In our party we have a free vote, and I initiated that well over a decade ago on matters pertaining to life and death. Let us acknowledge that this has been a hugely contested area in our country. It was a major decision by the Irish people, and one I supported, as the Deputy knows, both inside and outside the House, in respect of the change that occurred.
The Government will examine the review, and we will revert t…
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 disagree with the very false narrative the Deputy has put before the House in respect of the Government's position on renewables. It is a deliberately created false narrative by the Green Party in order to present the idea that it is indispensable to climate change. I have to say that strongly because I really reject what the Deputy has said. I think it is wrong and it is deliberately wrong. We are one year in gove…
You did.
I had them around the table. The Secretary General of my Department chairs it. I attend it and I chair for the hour and go through it. We have brought in industry and every single Government Department. We have talked to all the various agencies involved as well to look at any generic obstacles that we can remove, or any barriers to accelerate offshore wind. We have carried out an onshore wind revolution in this coun…
The Deputy keeps articulating his false narrative, but that does not make the narrative true. It is a dishonest portrayal of the Government's commitment in this area. We are a bit more pragmatic than the Green Party was, I would respectfully suggest. I have great respect for the Deputy and his party in many areas-----
-----but we are far more pragmatic in how we are going to deliver this and get it done faster than would have been the case.
Last year the RESS 5 and the ORESS Tonn Nua auctions were delivered and at a very competitive price for consumers with both auctions clearing. I will not go through the specific prices. RESS 5 involves 1 GW of new renewable electricity capacity. The Deputy knows this. A lot of good groundwork was done by the last Government but the Deputy's predecessor knew exactly the timelines as well as everybody else. I would arg…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I appreciate there are concerns but I would say to all public representatives of all parties that we need to imbue in our nation a sense of strategic direction. Historically, we got it right in terms of utilities. That underpinned inward investment into this country and economic development without question. We are at a tipping point now in respect of whether we are prepared …
I could not agree more. It is something that has annoyed me a bit. I have been talking to various Ministers. We have to incentivise rain harvesting for non-drinking purposes and there are a lot of easy ways of doing that. We are all waiting for the summer. Hopefully, we will get a bit of sun. If we get the inevitable banning of utilisation of water for the garden or whatever, we will all eat our hat, given the amount…
The Deputy make things up as she goes along. I was not in government in 2017 and neither was my party but that is not the point. There was good rationale for colocation. The Deputy knows that.
Everybody agrees with colocation.
The essentials of colocation are there. We did not starve the Rotunda of funding. How dare the Deputy say that? I just opened facilities. There has been investment in the Rotunda. This is an important development.
In our view, the expansion that is required is important for the protection of women and newborn babies. We would have preferred if planning was given. In our view, it was still justified, notwithstanding whatever happened in 2017 in terms of the colocation declaration. All of the medical world believes in colocation.
Not physically.
We are working flat out. We have allocated €15 million to support the post office network. We had allocated funding last year and the year before to maintain the post office network. I cannot get into every specific post office, obviously, but generally speaking we are very supportive of the postmasters. We understand the role that post offices play in communities the length and breadth of the country. An Post is ful…
There is no question that people under pressure. We introduced targeted measures in the budget. I do not know whether the Deputy agrees with a targeted approach.
We did that in the budget and one of the manifestations of that is the fact that 50,000 people this Thursday will get the fuel allowance who otherwise would not have got it in previous years - those on the working family payment. They will get back pay of about €380 next week but they are getting notification this week on Thursday. We keep everything under review and it is important that we do that. We understand the…
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a really important issue for the community of Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire. I will certainly speak to Minister for education on this. I do not have a clear timeline yet on the issue. Obviously, there was a contractual conflict that resulted in us ending up where we are now. The suspension of works notice issued in May last year and the termination of the contract in July. I will se…
Did the Deputy say it was starting in April?
I will engage with Irish Water on this. If it is April well and good. The Deputy is saying it could go back to May. We are now in March so we are not too far away from getting this work done.
There are two points there. First, an extra 20% has been allocated for services, some of which is for respite and residential. I have asked for this item to be put on the next agenda for Cabinet subcommittee in respect of accommodation. We need to create a proper sustainable structure linking the providers, the section 39 bodies, the HSE and the local authorities in terms of proper structures and options for families…
It is opening in the next two weeks. There are no restrictions on where it can be applied or on who can apply, and there never has been, other than the population threshold. Some new developing areas have received it as well as areas where people wanted the rejuvenation of older parts of a city or a town. The Deputy has named so many towns that I would say he would nearly take the budget himself. Under the old URDF i…
This issue was raised yesterday. The note I have here states that there will be continued expansion of the front-line workforce of the National Ambulance Service. Plans for 2026 include an additional 263 staff and €20 million in new funding. That will deliver 21 extra crewed ambulances operating at peak demand, four additional intermediate care vehicles and continued development of the clinical hub and alternative ca…
I will talk to the various Ministers. Every year, people look for an extension of deadlines that we already put in. There is a reason they are there, by the way. There are two sides to the story and we need to be conscious of the other side as well. For safety, it has to be done. I will talk to the Ministers to see what the actual position is and get the background to the situation.
I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. I was at the weir some years ago and saw the damage done and so forth. It is a huge amenity in a beautiful area. What is the cost? I am not aware of the council having come to me about the issue.