At the outset, I acknowledge the work An Post does and the contribution that is made by all workers in An Post. While I do not know the details of what has happened, although the Deputy outlined it, what I can commit to is raising this directly with the Minister to see whether there has been engagement or if a further process is required here. I will certainly bring this back directly to the Minister.
TDs / Helen McEntee
Helen McEntee
Minister for DefenceMinister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
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
245,309
words spoken in the chamber
245,286 as a minister, 23 as a TD
321
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 806 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 58 |
| March 2025 | 1 |
| April 2025 | 69 |
| May 2025 | 45 |
| June 2025 | 32 |
| July 2025 | 38 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 8 |
| October 2025 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 74 |
| December 2025 | 40 |
| January 2026 | 2 |
| February 2026 | 28 |
| March 2026 | 32 |
| April 2026 | 2 |
| May 2026 | 161 |
| June 2026 | 34 |
| July 2026 | 65 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 50 |
| October 2026 | 54 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 727 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Meath East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Education 23 January 2025 to 1 May 2025
- office Minister for Education and Youth 2 May 2025 to 18 November 2025
- office Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade 18 November 2025 to now
- office Minister for Defence 18 November 2025 to now
At the outset, it is important to stress that Government is committed to investing in specialist care, particularly when it relates to children. We are all of the same view and have the same objective here. What I can do is raise this directly with the Minister. I apologise that I do not have the details of the case but I have no doubt that where issues of concern are raised, particularly by staff, they are taken on …
I appreciate the concerns the Deputy has raised. Whether it is emergency accommodation or international protection accommodation, with any type of concentration, it is important that we get the balance right in communities. That is something the Government has committed to. A consultative forum has been established specifically to focus on homelessness. Within that, there is a responsibility for the management groups…
The Government has been listening and has heard very clearly that all workers are finding it very difficult, not just our public sector workers, but private sector workers too. It is a difficult time for everybody because of the rising costs across the board. That is why the Government focused specifically in this year’s budget on how we can put more money back into people’s pockets and reduce costs for people overal…
That has been our priority and our objective. I hope it will happen as quickly as possible.
Gambling is a scourge. As the Deputy said, when we add online algorithms to it, that enhances it even further. It is probably something we do not speak of enough, but a lot of families are suffering because of it. I acknowledge the way in which the Minister, Deputy Browne, drove the legislation and implemented it in the previous Government. It is important that the gambling authority has the specific responsibility t…
I commit to raising this directly with the Minister. What I can say, from my time in the Department last year, is that it is a Department full of committed staff and team members who want to move as many projects forward as possible. I have no doubt they are doing everything in their power to move things forward. I appreciate that there can be frustration, particularly when schools are facing issues and difficulties …
I am pleased to set out the significant investments we are making in budget 2027 across the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Defence. While these two Departments have different responsibilities, they share an important purpose. They are about Ireland's place in the world. They are about how we support and protect our people, how we promote our interests and our values internationally, how…
I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The Government launched its new diaspora strategy at the global Irish civic forum on 30 April. It was launched by the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond. He has led the largest ever consultation with the Irish abroad, with over 27 in-person meetings around the world. This included Oireachtas Members. We also hosted the first ever online consultation, the global Iris…
I spoke to some of our diaspora directly when I was in New York. I see the frustration. This is something we all want to get over the line. We have committed to it previously and are working on it. We have driving licence exchange agreements with 21 jurisdictions, from Australia to Canada and everywhere in between. We are now working on concluding agreements with the US. One of the challenges is that every exchange h…
Technical engagements have to happen with the Road Safety Authority. Again, we want to get this done as quickly as possible. The RSA is engaging with its counterparts in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey, and our teams. I have asked our teams after last week's engagement to make sure we can move this along as quickly as possible.
There is so much more happening with the diaspora strategy. It is about making sur…
I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this matter. I know he travelled recently with a number of colleagues from my own party and others to Germany specifically to engage with Daniel and his family. I am aware my officials have facilitated that and provided support and we will continue to provide that support to the Deputy and, most important, to his family.
I am following developments very closely and will contin…
Based on what Deputy Boyd Barrett has just said about the comparison, I am happy to engage further with Daniel's family to see what more we can do. Germany is a country of the EU and we expect the rules to apply, and their court systems and structures to uphold the values we share. I am conscious of what the Deputy has said and what has been relayed to me by colleagues as well. We are keeping oversight of what is hap…
I completely refute that. I have raised this directly with my German colleague. I have no issue in raising this case or highlighting where there are issues of concern. I have consistently stated that the role of our consulate and our teams, first and foremost, is to protect and support our Irish citizens. It is not to provide legal advice, nor to contradict or take on the role of the legal advisers. Daniel and his fa…
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Irrespective of what we might disagree on, this is an issue that we all actually agree on. We all fully agree that the only viable solution for both Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side and to have peace and security, is the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security, and with Jerusalem se…
On that last point, there is a proposal from the Commission to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. That was brought about because of the advocacy of Ireland and a number of countries last year. At that time, proposals were also made to impose sanctions on violent settlers and those responsible for the October attacks a number of years ago. What is very clear, unfortunately, and I say "unfortunately" because …
I am not sure the Irish Government can be any clearer in our position. The Taoiseach and all of us have said we are appalled by the actions of the Israeli Government. We consider this to be an attempt to completely eliminate an entire population and remove them from their land. Trade is an EU competence. We have moved unilaterally, which is not something that the Commission or others want to see happen, but more and …
I thank the Deputy. As she said, I do not think any of us expected to be here talking about the Garvaghy Road and the potential for a parade or march to be taking place, given the history and the fact that 28 years have passed without this parade. I do not want to get into the decision last week, but the Government's views are well-known in that regard. The focus and priority now have to be on how we move things forw…
I thank the Deputy and appreciate the comments she has made. It is important, given where we are now and the engagement that has happened and is happening in quite a short space of time, that we allow communities the time and space to try to find a way forward. A legal case is coming up. Given what happened last weekend with the courts, nobody wants another weekend where we have something similar happening. A huge am…
I agree with the comments of the Taoiseach this week. The PSNI has dealt with a very difficult situation this week and has been doing a very good job. I met the chief constable and others not long ago. We spoke about the challenges that remain in Northern Ireland with the PSNI and different communities, how we can bring people together and how the PSNI can be more representative of both communities. There are many di…
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I fully agree with him. The relationship and partnership Ireland and France has is shaped by a number of things, including our proximity. With the UK having left the EU, it is our closest EU neighbour. We have deep historical connections and increasingly integrated economic ties. We also have many shared values. For that reason, earlier this year I launched the new France-I…
I thank both Deputies. The naming of this road was raised before by Deputies Heneghan and Ward, as well as by other Deputies. My understanding is that the OPW engaged on this but I am happy to engage with it further to see whether there are different options available. The point is how we commemorate and acknowledge that relationship and connection. I know there are familial connections, such as with the O'Connell fa…
I am happy to engage further on this matter. The Deputy mentioned the security and defence space. I met my French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin, on 3 June 2026. We discussed our Presidency priorities and how we advance co-operation on competitiveness and other areas, with particular regard to bilateral co-operation on European security and defence. In the Middle East, specifically Lebanon, we have a proud history of…
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. If we look at the timelines and the work done this year, the passport service has issued over 740,000 passports to date, and it will continue to issue a significant number between now and the end of the year. All application types are currently being processed well within the advertised turnaround times. In fact, I would say that if people ordered a renewed passport this mo…
We have campaigns but what I always try to do, and I encourage colleagues to do as well, is to highlight, insofar as possible and as often as possible, on our own social media and our own channels, just how important it is for people to apply on time. The ones that we hear about, and the ones that come to our offices, are naturally those instances where a mistake has been made, people have forgotten or people do not …