I did not interrupt the Deputy. Do not be so morally condescending, which is her wont. I have as much concern for people as she has but her tone is always one of condescension on these matters. I have spoken to survivors. I was about to say that I would have preferred if the city council had acquired Bessborough, which should have happened many years ago, for amenity purposes, and recreation-----
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.
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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
-----and memorialisation. We do not have a say as an executive authority in planning applications or planning decisions by An Bord Pleanála or its operations.
I have been very clear that the action taken is not in accordance with a UN mandate. I have been equally clear about the powerlessness and paralysis of the international rules-based order as it is via the UN Security Council.
I am also very conscious that for years the Deputy has been very silent in terms of Iranian atrocities.
I did not interrupt you, Deputy.
I have never interrupted-----
We will be charitable. The Deputy has put many the wrong spin on things I have said over the years and I am under no illusion-----
They do not.
I just did earlier, if you were listening. I did, actually.
Go back and check.
The Deputy cannot have it both ways. We did establish the tribunal. That was a commitment a previous Government and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave. The tribunal was established in good faith. People always have the entitlement to take their case through the courts if they so wish, but that tribunal, introduced by the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, at the time, had a very broad framework in how it was establis…
My understanding is the UK Government may have introduced new travel requirements on this. I will pursue this with the UK Government and with Aer Lingus.
I just got some information. I will check it for the Deputy and I will pursue it. I understand many Donegal people travel for different reasons----
-----sporting, especially.
Practical, that is what I am saying.
There is lots of to and fro from Donegal.
If there was a medal to be awarded for the best contributor of the week, the Deputy would be most deserving of it because he is a lone voice among many voices whose only inclination and focus is on spending more money, calling on Government to keep on spending more money and spend as much as we can. He is the first person in a long time who has stood up and said that public expenditure in itself is not something that…
We should be very focused on outputs, outcomes, value for money and somebody in here supporting the taxpayer every now and again. I salute that. It is an awful pity the Minister for public expenditure did not hear him because he would feel a bit less lonely in the overall scheme of things than he currently does in keeping a rein on public expenditure. I agree with the Deputy that capital expenditure is an investment …
I acknowledge that there are challenges with delays here. I will discuss this with the Minister. We had a meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee on health yesterday. A lot of progress has been made on waiting times and on health in general. Some very significant progress has been made. There is a lot of investment yet to come in terms of capacity on the current side and on the infrastructure side. However, we acknowledg…
The advice is very clear: to shelter in place and to register with the relevant embassy for the country in which they are based so that there can be clear communication between our embassies and Irish citizens. All options are being, and will be, pursued to help our citizens. The immediate situation is very challenging because it is unsafe. Emirates and Etihad got opportunities yesterday; they got short time windows …
As the Deputy said, €24 million was allocated for this facility in the capital plan. We need to work through the design. Under the acceleration of critical infrastructure, we hope that they will follow through on the work the Minister, Deputy Chambers, has done on fast-tracking these developments. Yesterday, I met with the HSE chief executive along with the Minister at the Cabinet subcommittee on health. The north ea…
We need to find a solution because in other parts of the health service we would love if people would stay on after training, qualifying and working. We have made huge progress on the nursing front in that regard. I will talk to the Minister for Health and get the background to this.
I hear the frustration in the Deputy's voice and I share it. The funding has been increased. I recall the council saying that it needed more to reduce the council contribution. That has happened and it is still holding out. It is not good enough. I will meet with the county executive; I have to schedule it. We would like to meet the Galway County Council chief executive and the Galway City Council chief executive to …
There has to be a developmental will, a will to do things, take risks and go for it.
Too many are taking soft options here and are overly dependent on the Government for everything. It is not good enough.
First of all, I did not hear that programme this morning and offer my sincere sympathies to the Deputy's niece and the wider family. I will have to check the background to this but would the consultants not have been obliged under the law to sign? I do not have the full background.
That was a fairly fundamental part of the referendum, if we are honest, a number of years ago and then the legislation that followed. That would need consideration. The best thing I can do is to replay the programme, listen to the Deputy's niece and hear the circumstances.