I can only surmise that the Taoiseach wishes to deflect and comment on Sinn Féin's policies because he knows he has been caught out. He has been found out. He spoofed during the election campaign. He presented a work of fiction. It was fact flexibility from Fianna Fáil. What a novel thing - not. Now he is in the hot seat again and there is an expectation of delivery and he is showing no serious intent, much less any …
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
The Government has missed social and affordable housing targets every single year on the Taoiseach's watch and the typical home, as I told him, is €200,000 more expensive than it was over a decade ago.
The Taoiseach claims progress but the residential property price index demonstrates-----
-----prices are up by 8.7% in the last 12 months.
You are failing, Taoiseach. Why do you not just stand up and accept that fact?
Who is in government?
How long is the Taoiseach in government?
I wish to raise the issue of staffing levels at the children’s hospital. A serious letter has been written by all 12 surgeons at the department of paediatric surgery and urology at Children’s Health Ireland. I believe it has gone to the Minister for Health. In this letter, the surgeons outline bizarrely that the plans for opening the new children’s hospital will see it understaffed from day one. The surgeons believe …
Dublin city centre is no longer safe. That is a statement of reality. People who live, work and visit our capital city have been robbed of their sense of safety and this has been the case for some time. Ask anyone who walks through the city centre and they will tell you they do so either with their heads down or looking over their shoulder. Those who live in the inner city could write the book on just how unsafe our …
Aontaím leis an Taoiseach gur olc an scéal é gan dabht. Cén plean atá ag an Rialtas? Tá sé soiléir nach bhfuil an plean ceart aige. Dithering in the face of all this is not a sufficient response from the Government. I could write a lengthy thesis on the underlying causes of crime - the poverty, the lack of investment and the lack of opportunity. We could all do that but we are facing a situation now where in Dublin i…
Hear, hear.
Nothing is good-----
The Taoiseach was very evasive on the issue of tax reliefs for private developers when he was asked repeatedly here today. Can he be clearer? Can he give the clarity that was given by the Minister, James Browne, that, in fact, those reliefs are being considered? Will the Taoiseach also clarify for me the €450 million that arose from a memo that went to the Cabinet committee on housing? The Government is talking about…
-----on tax reliefs and on those 3,000 homes.
So, tax reliefs. Okay.
But they are captured within existing targets.
8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the Dublin city task force recommendations through his Department. [6073/25]
If take Moore Street as an emblem and an example of the interest of the State and successive governments in the regeneration of Dublin's north inner city, I can tell the House that it tells a very depressing tale. It tells a tale not just of indifference to those families and communities in the here and now, but also of utter and gross disrespect for the history and the historic nature of the Moore Street quarter. I …
The coalition the Taoiseach leads was put together on the back of a grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry and his group of Independents. Since then, he and Simon Harris, the Tánaiste, have been found out for misleading the public on housing delivery figures during the election campaign. Now, he announces he will remove rent pressure zones in order to encourage private investment in housing. In other words, he will re…
Let me assure the Taoiseach that I pay the very closest attention to the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of people who live in rental properties. I pay particular attention to those who are literally ripped off month in and month out and really struggle to meet their rent. I pay more attention again to those who have lost their homes because they simply could not make the rent or because they have had the pl…
Nowhere in his pronouncements has there been any concern for renters-----
-----or control of rent. The Government ought to cut rents and freeze them.
It will not do that. Instead it proposes to remove the single protection renters are currently afforded.
On a point of order-----
On a point of order.