I thank the Deputy. As he outlined, Ireland will hold the EU Presidency in the second half of 2026. This is an important opportunity and, as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I am looking forward to engaging actively on our policy and operational preparations. My engagement with officials in the Department has already started. I am determined that we will make the most of our Presidency to shape the EU …
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
Show as a table
| 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
There is still significant time to be able to shape that agenda because we will not have our final policies set out until June. We have six months to make sure that we are clear as to what we want on the agenda and that we are following on from items that are currently being discussed. There have been in-person meetings to date. For example, the Tánaiste had a large meeting with IBEC where there were representatives …
I assure the Deputy and others that we will always work hard to maintain, enhance and grow what is a strong and important relationship to us, namely, the Irish-US relationship. We see in that an opportunity to strengthen and grow the EU-US relationship as well. Only this week, at the European Foreign Affairs Trade Council, we had a visit from Ambassador Greer and Secretary Lutnick and there were warm discussions and …
Ireland maintains regular and constructive dialogue with UK authorities at all levels on a wide range of matters. In the last week, I have engaged with my UK counterpart since taking up office and I look forward to meeting with the UK's Foreign Secretary, Ms Yvette Cooper, shortly to take forward our co-operation on a range of foreign policy issues.
An important area of engagement between the UK and Ireland is on Mi…
Again, as I said already, as this is before the courts, I will not specifically reference what the Deputy has outlined. What I will do is restate and emphasise Ireland's absolute support for and commitment to a person's right to peacefully protest, which is extremely important. We also place a very strong emphasis on making sure that any Irish citizens abroad who find themselves in difficulty, whether relating to som…
Again, as this is currently before the courts, it is not an issue I can raise with my UK counterpart or discuss here today. What I can and will say to my colleague when we meet is that there is an absolutely necessity to uphold the individual's right to peaceful protest. This is something that we cherish in this country. More broadly, in terms of our support for Palestine, there has been unanimous support for the nee…
Achieving a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a priority for this Government, with Ireland’s foreign policy on this issue clear and consistent and grounded in the commitment to upholding international law. The agreement on a ceasefire and the hostage deal represents welcome progress. It has brought desperately-needed respite to Palestinians in Gaza and relief to the people of Is…
The Deputy is right to highlight the fact that the ceasefire at the moment is very clearly being breached in some instances but we also need to make sure our focus does not get averted from what is happening in the West Bank. I raised with colleagues last week that the number of people who have been killed in the West Bank in the last two years alone is almost as many as those who have been killed in the last 20 year…
The immediate challenge is that there are tens of thousands of children who will starve to death if we do not increase the number of aid trucks that are flowing through. It is important to say that Irish aid trucks are getting through. Our officials have been on the ground and have been able to verify that, whether it is tents, food or medicine that is being provided, but we need substantially more. There are blockag…
As the Minister of State said in reply to an earlier question, there can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. That is something that has consistently been said at a European level. At this critical juncture for Ukraine, after almost four years of brutal Russian aggression, I want to again emphasise Ireland's unequivocal support and solidarity with Ukraine. I welcome the ongoing efforts of President Trump and the…
We have to acknowledge that there are very clear efforts on the part of the US to try and bring about a ceasefire, while at the same time acknowledging that elements of the 28 point plan that we saw put forward very clearly need further work. We cannot have a situation where land is ceded by force. That simply cannot be the basis for any type of ceasefire. We cannot have a situation where a country cannot in the futu…
I thank the Deputy. I again stress that there are very clearly elements of the plan put forward that are not realistic, not credible and will not be accepted by Ukraine and will certainly not be accepted by the EU. We must, though, use this as a framework and basis for discussions, which, to date, have not taken place. It is very clear that this is an illegal war, very clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for war…
I thank the Deputy for the question. On 14 February 2024, the then Taoiseach, along with Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain, wrote to the President of the European Commission requesting an urgent review of whether Israel was complying with its humanitarian rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Furthermore, the letter requested that the Commission propose appropriate measures for the consideration…
I thank the Deputy. I do acknowledge that other colleagues have made progress in terms of implementing legislation. Some of it did not have to happen in the same way that we have to progress our legislation. I stress also that it happened prior to the ceasefire. I think what is really important and what our focus and priority need to be on, not just at home but at an EU level and internationally, is making sure that …
We need to acknowledge and look to the fact that the peace plan, although a lot of work still needs to be done, made reference to a pathway for a two-state solution. That is something Ireland has consistently called for and supports and that many other member states are now supporting. It is something we need to work towards in making sure we have a pathway towards a two-state solution. First and foremost, our priori…
The case of the person in question, Michael, and the family's desire for answers have been raised on a number of occasions at ministerial level with the UK Government. As the Deputy mentioned, following new evidence unearthed since the dismissal of the initial inquest in 1973, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered a fresh inquest into the person in question's death on 30 April 2024. Unfortunately, this ne…
This is a case that has been ongoing for some time. It is important that families, and Michael's family in particular, get answers. Once the commitments in the joint framework are translated faithfully into legislation, the legacy commission will look and feel somewhat different from what we have had in the past. The governance and oversight structures will be much clearer and stronger. They will hopefully lead to gr…
In any engagement with our counterparts in the North or in the UK, we must focus on the fact that these are families and these are tragedies that we have not got answers for. That needs to be front and centre in everything we do. We have turned a corner in our own relations with the UK and I can see that clearly over the last number of years, through my time as Minister for Justice, in the councils I sit on and my en…
I welcome this opportunity to provide an update to the House on the devastating conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and to hear the views and concerns of Deputies. Many have described the conflict and its impact as a forgotten crisis. In truth, it is has at times been an ignored and sidelined crisis. It is, as we heard this morning, the worst humanitarian catastrophe happening on our planet at the moment. It i…
No, I did not.
No, I did not. The Deputy should get his timelines and facts right.
I was really pleased to visit the school earlier this year. It is very clear this is a school that needs a new building. I know there have been many starts and stops for various reasons over the past number of years. It is my intention to get builders on site as soon as possible. First, it needs to go to tender. I am pleased to be able to say to the Deputy that today the school will get notice that it will go to tend…
I thank the Deputy for his question on this school. It is my objective as Minister for Education and Youth to progress as many projects as possible. At the moment there are about 300 between large-scale, additional accommodation and special education projects that are moving but a significant cohort will come down the line in years to come These projects are at either stage 2a or 2b, moving to tender and moving to co…
I am aware of the school and of the situation. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan and I meet the NCSE weekly and obviously where issues arise, we want to work with it to make sure they can be addressed as quickly as possible.
Where schools have been designated or places provided but they have not come onstream yet, we are working closely with the school and parents to make sure there is a provision of education …
I am aware of this case and the situation the school is in. The Deputy has outlined exactly the structure and system that has been in place for many years now setting out how schools can retain a teacher in a developing post. It is the case that this number needs to be reached and there is always a cut-off and a threshold. I appreciate that some schools will be just under it and some will be just over it but we do ne…