The objective from a Government point of view is to make sure all of these projects move forward. We are in constant communication with all of the applicants from the 2020 round as well as the 2024 round to make sure they push on and are dealt with. From a Government capital point of view, we are spending all of the capital we have been allocated under the national development plan. We are making sure it is spent eve…
TDs / Charlie McConalogue
Charlie McConalogue
Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
105,063
words spoken in the chamber
105,063 as a minister, 0 as a TD
390
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
The record holds no parliamentary questions from them in this Dáil.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 317 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 10 |
| April 2025 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 17 |
| June 2025 | 17 |
| July 2025 | 5 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 6 |
| November 2025 | 15 |
| December 2025 | 14 |
| January 2026 | 25 |
| February 2026 | 13 |
| March 2026 | 23 |
| April 2026 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 31 |
| June 2026 | 55 |
| July 2026 | 7 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 63 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 263 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Donegal 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media 29 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport 2 June 2025 to now
The Deputy is travelling around the country tonight himself, taking Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's question in relation to Cork. I am aware of the particular project he is dealing with and referred to which we want to see move on. This community sports facilities round will be an important opportunity for clubs. From a Government point of view, we have seen a significant increase in prioritisation of funding for sports …
I thank Deputy Boland for her interest in and advocacy on this issue. The Government supports an EU-wide approach to age restrictions, as the Deputy knows, for access to social media as part of a wider process of improving online safety on an ongoing basis. In September, Ireland hosted a high-level EU Presidency conference on the subject, bringing colleagues from across Europe together. Issues, including potential ag…
I thank Deputy Boland. I think both of us would agree that this is one of the challenges of our time and it is really important that we respond appropriately to that. The challenge is urgent, as the Deputy said. As she knows, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, recognised that and did make this the key issue for the Irish Presidency as part of the communications brief at European level, recognising the fact that it is mo…
The Commission published its proposal on 17 September. Ireland’s Presidency of the EU has given priority now to the negotiations in Council, so those are already under way. It is too early to predict when those discussions and negotiations with the European Parliament will conclude, but once the measure is adopted and enforced, most of its provisions are due to take effect within six months of that date. I absolutely…
I thank Deputy Timmins for raising this again on the floor of the Dáil. He has been absolutely to the fore in terms of his drive to see this come to fruition and become a reality. This year has seen a significant programme of events as part of America 250 and the national commemoration marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. That has been supported within the Department by €200,000 in fun…
I certainly will pass on the Deputy's thanks to the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, for bringing this forward and working with the Deputy on it.
Our connections with America are so important to us as a country. We see that with the wonderful two-way economic relationship we have between both countries. I agree with the Deputy that it has immense tourism potential. We know that so many of our American visitors enjoy expl…
The Deputy's point is a very fair one. Both parts of our Ireland - North and South - have contributed to the American story and the development of the American nation. That is something we share in this island as well. The American Presidents' Trail is something we can work on together on an all-island basis. The Deputy's point is a valid one in relation to the potential for the shared island fund and how they can co…
As the Deputy pointed out, Ireland's first national swimming strategy sets out a vision to provide everyone in our country with an opportunity to swim. It includes an action plan containing over 50 actions across five thematic strands. In support of the strategy, my Department has provided additional funding of €1.5 million to Swim Ireland for 2024, 2025 and 2026 for the deployment of swimming activators to work with…
At the invitation of Senator Shane Curley I met the Loughrea swimming pool committee along with the Deputy and other public representatives from the constituency. Whether it is the LSSIF round in 2028 or a fund alongside that, we will work to try to develop further swimming pool facilities around the country. It will be key for each local project to identify and secure its own site, working with the local authority. …
It will be important for every project, including Loughrea, to be able to come forward, in terms of any application, with a site and a design proposal. The onus is on the local authority to develop those proposals. The Deputy mentioned Buncrana in my constituency in Donegal, for example.
In that instance, the work on putting the design together was advanced by the local authority with its own funding. That is also t…
I thank the Deputy. I will pass on his compliments to Deputy Cleere on his DJing capacities.
I think he had potential.
The programme for Government committed to “examine the introduction of a Culture Card for 16 and 17-year-olds to access theatre, music and art events”. The delivery of a youth culture card was always subject to budget allocation, and while budget 2027 has not provided funding for the roll-out of the programme, the Department will continue to explore the development of a culture card for our…
I can confirm it is a programme for Government commitment to "examine the introduction of a Culture Card for 16 and 17-year-olds to enable them to access theatre, music and arts events". I can also confirm the budget introduced at the start of this month was the second of five this Government will introduce. As with any large programme of commitments laid out over a five-year period, you cannot do everything in year …
I welcome the Deputy's support for the idea of a culture card. Work is continuing in the Department on assessing how it would work and its implementation pathway. Critical to making it happen is a funding line for it. As the Minister has said, that will be revisited in budget discussions next year in the context of a clear commitment in the programme for Government to progress it. The merits of it are strong, and the…
I thank the Deputy. Officials in my Department have ongoing engagement with the Department of Finance on matters relating to tax reliefs that apply to the culture sector. In this context, the Minister wrote to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance in advance of budget 2027 to consider a sustained uplift of 8% to the section 481 tax relief for regional productions for a period of eight to ten years. He also met with t…
Work will continue with the Department of Finance on the proposal. While it was not secured in the budget on this occasion, it is fair to say that the Government has delivered significant additional benefits for our screen sector, with increased expenditure and new and enhanced tax credits. There were two separate enhancements to the section 481 tax credit over the past period. In 2025, an additional 8% tax relief wa…
It is important that we provide opportunities and facilitate people who wish to contribute their own resources and to donate through philanthropy to support our arts sector. The key point the Deputy is raising is that of the regional uplift. I have met people from the film industry in my own county in relation to that as well. We all have to recognise that a certain amount is available to the Minister of Finance in t…
Tier 1 provides for up to €550,000. It is possible for clubs to come together to collaborate to provide facilities which meet more than the needs of each individual club and meet more of a regional need. For example, it is possible to develop large AstroTurf facilities, which more than one club would be able to avail of.
The new tier 2 provides up to €750,000 and those applications have to be led by a local authorit…
There is an opportunity now in this round, particularly with the introduction for the first time of the €750,000 maximum tier. It will encourage local authorities and sporting bodies to work together to develop multi-sport facilities. We have listened over the past year and engaged with clubs as to what their needs are, particularly the need for large-scale AstroTurf and all-weather surfaces in local communities. I e…
I will deal first with amendment No. 1, which aims to expressly provide that the types of programming that may be funded through the proceeds of the European works levy may include certain specified types of genre. The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill is not intended to restrict funding to a particular type of genre whether in relation to public service content schemes funded through Ciste na Meán or in terms of any Eur…
I thank Deputy Gibney. I will certainly pass on her best wishes to the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan. All of us in the House extend them to him today.
I take the point and argument the Deputy is making in her amendment. The position from a Government point of view is that we are already funding both TG4 and RTÉ in their public service remit. It is important that we also ensure that public service is provided to others …
I thank Deputy Byrne for the amendment. As the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, set out on Committee Stage, he agrees with the intention underpinning the amendment. He asked officials to examine the issue to formulate a legislative provision that would have the effect of promoting the coverage of the arts in broadcast media while respecting the editorial independence of broadcasters. Given the need to enact this Bill as s…
As Deputies Gibney and Byrne have outlined, there was a meeting of minds on Committee Stage regarding the objective behind this amendment. I agree there is an urgency to this because we want the Comptroller and Auditor General to have the legal capacity to have RTÉ and TG4 under his remit for the purposes of auditing their 2026 accounts. We are trying to get the Bill through both the Dáil and the Seanad in as good a …
I thank the Deputy for this amendment. l am conscious, as she outlined, that the amendment was discussed in some detail on Committee Stage and that there is no disagreement on the principle underpinning the amendment. As the Deputy who probably lives closest to the Border, it is something of which I am very much aware. I think I am closer even than the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach to the Border.