Did the Taoiseach come in on his tractor?
TDs / Mary Lou McDonald
Mary Lou McDonald
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
193
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
141,893
words spoken in the chamber
Across 1,424 contributions
172
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
56
topics asked about
Across 12 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 193 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,424 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 10 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| February 2025 | 15 | 76 |
| March 2025 | 22 | 80 |
| April 2025 | 22 | 73 |
| May 2025 | 19 | 157 |
| June 2025 | 14 | 113 |
| July 2025 | 4 | 111 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 12 | 47 |
| October 2025 | 9 | 85 |
| November 2025 | 4 | 71 |
| December 2025 | 1 | 25 |
| January 2026 | 13 | 59 |
| February 2026 | 22 | 92 |
| March 2026 | 3 | 53 |
| April 2026 | 10 | 84 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 88 |
| June 2026 | 4 | 68 |
| July 2026 | 1 | 38 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 5 | 31 |
| October 2026 | 10 | 44 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 1,197 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
For decades, Dublin inner-city flat complexes like Oliver Bond flats have been failed by the State with families been forced to live in damp overcrowded flats and communities left to battle neglect, antisocial behaviour and organised crime alone. Dublin City Council agreed a regeneration plan to deliver safe modern homes for local families but yesterday, the Government pulled the plug. The Minister for Housing, Local…
The Government pulled the plug on the Oliver Bond House project.
The Taoiseach has misled the House.
The Government pulled the funding.
Then do something about it.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— Dublin City Council (DCC) has 6,000 flats across 100 complexes built from the 1930s to the 1960s;
— due to poor maintenance by the Council, and underfunding by central government, living conditions in these flat complexes are amongst the worst in the city;
— these sub-standard conditions have a significant impact on community cohesion and the well-being of residents, in p…
Rubbish.
Has the Minister of State been in any of these complexes?
Come and visit them.
Apparently the Government does.
How long did that take?
How long did that take?
The Minister of State needs to come and visit the flats because he is speaking from a position of absolute ignorance.
How long did Dominick Street take? A generation.
The Government parties do. They are in the Gallery here. This is deeply frustrating. This is doolally stuff, with no bearing on how decent people are currently living, on the Minister of State's watch.
The Minister of State is joking.
That is them. That is a good one.
Oh, my God.
That is a disgraceful response. Have he visited them?
The Minister of State is welcome to come to my constituency and visit to see how people are living.
Yesterday the Taoiseach told working people and families struggling to get by to wait until next year's budget. He might help them then or he might not - wait and see. That was his message. The consequences of that indifference were exposed yesterday. While the Taoiseach downplayed the pressure on households, the regulator released startling figures. The number of households behind on their electricity bills has shot…
Yesterday.
The number of households in arrears that I quoted to the Taoiseach come from February. That predates the Trump-Netanyahu attacks on Iran. That has made matters worse, which I absolutely acknowledge. What the Taoiseach cannot acknowledge is what the regulator and the CSO are telling the Government directly today, namely, that the cost-of-living crisis is getting worse, including for groceries and energy, and families …
That is the truth and families know it. I put it to you directly that your attitude of sitting back and watching this unfold is not acceptable. We need measures now. One of them is energy credits.