I want to raise the call for women to be told their breast density before they are told they have cancer. Almost half of all women have dense breasts and it is important to note that dense breasts are normal. Dense breast tissue is made up of glands and fibrous tissue. However, on a mammogram, cancer shows up as white but so too does breast density. Looking for a cancerous tumour in a dense breast is like looking for…
TDs / Donna McGettigan
Donna McGettigan
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,153
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
49,311
words spoken in the chamber
Across 197 contributions
419
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
228
topics asked about
Across 19 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 1,153 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 197 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 87 | 9 |
| March 2025 | 35 | 15 |
| April 2025 | 63 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 59 | 21 |
| June 2025 | 74 | 10 |
| July 2025 | 104 | 22 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 59 | 8 |
| October 2025 | 62 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 75 | 7 |
| December 2025 | 47 | 19 |
| January 2026 | 43 | 14 |
| February 2026 | 43 | 8 |
| March 2026 | 85 | 5 |
| April 2026 | 53 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 80 | 16 |
| June 2026 | 52 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 51 | 11 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 63 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 18 | 4 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 126 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 Clare 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister of State for answering this question on behalf of the Minister for Health. The departmental response states that BreastCheck mammography remains the best screening option because it detects the majority of breast cancers, including in women with dense breasts. However, what the women who presented to us are saying is that in some cases, the cancer has grown to a point where it takes extensive tre…
Our universities are teetering on a cliff edge, and this Government cannot continue to ignore the warning signs. For years, the Government and its predecessors have presided over chronic underfunding of higher education and as a result of this, institutions are expected to do more for less. Students are paying the price, and our higher education system is being pushed towards breaking point. State funding for student…
Students were not asking for luxuries in the budget; they were asking for the right to get an education without being pushed into poverty.
The Government can announce a reduction in the student contribution fee and present it as a major victory, but when the overall cost of going to college can run into tens of thousands of euro a year, once rent, transport, food, books and everyday living costs are included, we hav…
I should not have to stand in this Chamber and ask for services for survivors of rape or sexual assault, but here I am because there is no 24-7 sexual assault treatment unit in the mid-west. This means that survivors have no immediate access to forensic medical examination, leaving some survivors travelling significant distances - some on buses - to access specialist, time-sensitive care that is not available locally…
At a time when families are struggling with the cost of living and this Government keeps telling us that it is listening, I have to ask, who is it listening to? Is it listening to ordinary households or to the big CEOs? While families are struggling with the cost of living, we have seen huge pay increases for CEOs and now we are seeing transport fare hikes that in some cases will see fares for children increase by ov…
You have forgotten the people of the North.
I thank my party colleague Deputy Ó Laoghaire for bringing this forward. The blue beret is a symbol of Irish neutrality and peace. It shows that the wearer is an impartial protector of innocent civilians, not a combatant in somebody else's war. We are proud of our neutrality, and we are proud of every Irish man and woman who has served under the blue flag of the UN, keeping the peace in some of the most dangerous pla…
I thank the Labour Party for this timely and important motion. Sinn Féin supports this motion because the cost of sending children to school has become an unacceptable financial burden on families across the State. While the free book scheme is very welcome, the problem now is that the savings that many families receive are being completely undermined by mandatory ICT costs. In her opening statement, the Minister sai…
I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for this important, timely motion. I want to tell the story of Christina from Clare. Christina is an artist and like so many artists across this island, she spent countless hours creating work. She poured her talent, experience, emotions and imagination into it. Christina reflected something uniquely human in that, plus it was hers. Without her consent or permission, that work was taken and …
I am proud to be able to contribute to support this Bill, and that our leader, Mary Lou McDonald, brought this Bill forward. It is a Bill of hope in our future. It is about planning responsibly, producing a Green Paper, which is a report used to start a public discussion, and establishing a citizens' assembly so that people can have a fully informed, inclusive and respectful conversation about Irish unity.
Almost 30…
81. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to carry out a full review of the technological universities to ensure that they are reaching the targets set out for them when they were established. [49642/26]
Will the Minister carry out a full review of technological universities to ensure that they are reaching the targets set out for them when they were established?
I am not sure if the Minister is familiar with the recent report published by two Munster Technological University researchers. When asked if Irish TUs are failing, they concluded that the Irish TU project has been characterised by financial pressure, the death of regional provision in higher education, mission drift and confused policymaking, and that it has failed to meet any key targets. I acknowledge a lot of thi…
As I said, this all started before this Department was created but there are a few outstanding questions. There is a difference in the salaries of TU graduates compared with those from the university sector. A total of €363 million was spent. Does the Minister think that represents value for money?
The Minister talked about research students, but there is a difference in this regard. Smaller institutions seem to be …
83. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to review the issue of commuter student terminology; and to recognise the poor experience of many commuter students in the higher education system. [49643/26]
Will the Minister initiate a discussion around commuter student terminology? Will he recognise the poor experience of the many commuter students in the higher education system?
I take this opportunity to mention a study by Professor Liz Thomas that was informed by a commitment to institutional change rather than just expecting commuter students to fit in with unreformed higher education institutions, HEIs, which states:
This would be facilitated by an institutional enabling environment which involves aligning institutional policies, processes and organisations, and engaging with stakeholde…
I very much welcome the NTA, local councils and students being brought together. That is going to be very positive in terms of helping those who are commuting. The TU students' union also brought out a report. It states that approximately 25% of students say they have to commute for two hours or more. When I spoke to students about having to commute on buses for that length of time, we discussed whether they could us…
I am speaking in support of the Sinn Féin amendments. The Minister has failed in his job to guarantee the energy security of our people. He cannot guarantee that the lights will stay on. Now we are in a position where the Government intends to spend €1 billion to facilitate the development of a liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminal, as a so-called strategic gas reserve in County Clare, where I am based. That is wrong …
Thousands of homeowners affected by defective concrete have spent many years living with uncertainty in their homes. They have constantly worried every time there is a storm whether their house is going to survive, and I have helped some of them as they navigated the inadequate remediation options. I have watched as they have become experts in what is destroying their homes. When they finally get approval for a schem…
As we mark Pride, we celebrate courage and resilience. However, Pride is not simply a celebration; it is also a call to action. For decades, LGBTQI+ people across Ireland were told they were less than equal. They were criminalised and excluded. Yet, through sheer determination and solidarity, they changed society for the better. We have come a long way. We have seen marriage equality become a reality. We have seen gr…
I want to talk about the job losses at Carlow College, St. Patrick's, and the severe impact on students and the regional workforce. The recent announcement of the phased wind-down and closure of Carlow College over a two-year period marks a devastating blow to higher education in Carlow.
Initially, staff and students expected that the college would merge under the South East Technology University, SETU, umbrella. I …
I hear that this a private entity and the State could not step in, but the State is about to get a multimillion euro campus for free. That is my understanding of this. That does not seem to be clear in any of these discussions. Does the Minister of State even know the cost of this campus? She said there was clear talking with the staff yet conditions were laid down regarding this campus that are not being met. One of…
I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for the Bill. At its heart, this legislation is about one simple principle, which is trusting women. The mandatory three-day waiting period does not provide care and it does not provide support. What it does is make women wait. It delays access to healthcare at what is already one of the most difficult moments in their lives. Do we really believe that women have not already thought …