Ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil muid ar thaobh na SNAs.
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
Tá i bhfad níos mó infheistíochta curtha isteach againn ó thaobh chúrsaí oideachais do leanaí a bhfuil riachtanais speisialta acu.
We are increasing the number of special needs assistants to 25,000 for the school year 2026-27 beginning in September. I will repeat for you that we are increasing, not cutting, the number of special needs assistants for the next school year.
There will be 25,000. The numbers have gone up by 45% in the last five years.
Those are not cutbacks; that is expansion. Now I will speak about the reason.
I spoke yesterday to the Minister, Deputy Foley. We were in County Kerry yesterday. I spoke about schools appealing. Schools are well used to appealing. I do not mean that in any cold way. That is important.
No, sorry. That is right across the board.
Sorry, when it comes to any scheme, schools will seek to make some appeals, correctly in my view.
The making of appeals is a mechanism to deal with some of these issues. I have said it already that no school should lose four SNAs in any one year.
It depends on the needs of the school. If, for example, three or four children who were benefiting from an SNA in a primary school move onto second level, that can change the need.
Surely the Deputy is not suggesting-----
I am not out of touch at all. I am far more in touch than you are.
I have been working on this all my political life and I will continue to work all my political life on special needs education.
Surely Deputy McDonald is not saying that every SNA stays in situ forever, irrespective of the need.
That is what she is saying.
That does not make sense either.
All I am simply saying is that we have expanded the numbers-----
-----and we want the children who need it most to get the service they require and the SNA supports they require-----
-----and that is what we are going to do.
First of all, the Minister for Health has expressed her deep disappointment-----
-----at the decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála to overturn the position of Dublin City Council and, indeed, its own recommendation from its own planning inspector who recommended that the proposed critical care wing at the Rotunda should go ahead. I would add that it is deeply disappointing. The Minister this morning met with the regional clinical director and also the regional executive officer. The HSE will be meeti…
What entity?
What entity created by the Government?
I did not get that bit.
It is a good catchy soundbite but-----
-----I interrupted Deputy Bacik to get clarity from her because of the outrageous, disingenuous suggestion that the Government established An Coimisiún Pleanála when the Oireachtas, through legislation, voted for its establishment.