I welcome that. I agree with the Minister that they are well needed and well placed. They help people get their foot on the ladder. They are in communities. There is a real issue with the lack of transparency, which the Minister has pointed out as well. The pay and conditions for staff in both LTIs and community training centres, CTCs, are determined through a central process involving negotiations with unions and th…
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 appreciate those words. I am glad to hear that this will all be worked out. As the Minister said, it needs to be simplified and streamlined. The last letter that went out from the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin's office in 2025 states that LTIs are independent. This needs to be clarified for those LTIs out there that are trying to work through this. The fact the Department instructed SOLAS in 2023 to award 5% pay…
3. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science research, innovation and science the details of the missed targets in the last accommodation strategy; the reason this occurred; the reason no mention was made of this in budget 2026; the targets currently; and if new funding will be put in place for same. [56421/25]
I looked through the budget documentation but found no mention of student accommodation, which was quite shocking to me. I still have not received information on why the shortfall in student accommodation has happened. The strategy missed it targets but there has been no explanation for this. It is no secret that there is a crisis for students and families who are currently in distress trying to find accommodation. I…
What the Minister, Deputy Chambers, talked about was accommodation that was already delivered. He spoke about Maynooth, which is already delivered, and UCD, which is already in the process of being delivered. He did not mention anything new.
How much later in the year is the Minister talking about for the publication of the strategy? We are now in October and people are anxious to see it. I have students coming in t…
I will have to look into that.
The Minister said he recently approved funding of €67 million but that funding was announced in April 2024. It is not new funding. There is no mention of DCU, which has gone to tender and already has plans in place. All it is waiting for is permission to go ahead. This fund of €100 million was announced back in 2024; it is not new funding. Is there going to be new funding for student a…
I welcome this Bill and thank the Minister for bringing it forward. I also welcome his commitments on this. The NTF was established by the National Training Fund Act 2000 as a dedicated fund to support the training of those in employment and those seeking employment. Its aim is to support the development of a highly skilled and adaptable workforce, ensuring that Ireland remains competitive in a global economy. The Ac…
I welcome this motion and commend Deputy Ward on bringing it forward. There are families trapped in homes that are unsafe and that are literally crumbling around them. They put their faith in the defective block scheme. They filled out every form and jumped through every hoop and now some are being punished for being too early, for daring to hope that the Government would stand by them in their hour of need.
When th…
It is part of the budget.
From talking to students and students’ unions in the aftermath of this budget, I have discovered that they feel they are being treated very poorly. Has the Minister spoken with them or heard what they have to say? One students’ union wishes to know whether he is a magician in view of the fact that he is turning a €500 increase into a reduction. There are second and third level students who have never had to pay stude…
We in Sinn Féin agree with the concept of an auto-enrolment pension scheme. There is no doubt that, with an ageing population, provision will have to be made for such a scheme in order to supplement the State pension. However, this is the wrong scheme at the wrong time. It is vital that any enrolment scheme is properly designed and managed for the benefit of the people when they retire. There may be a very good reaso…
The Government has been caught napping when it comes to vapes. We all knew this was coming down the line and yet the Government failed to take adequate action to prevent the problems we are now witnessing. I am even after hearing the Minister of State’s Government colleagues calling this out. The rate of vape use among 15 to 16-year-olds is at 18%, with 39% of them having tried it at some stage. This should be a seri…
I want to talk about a worrying issue that affects parents and pupils in Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Newmarket on Fergus in Clare when they are using school transport and the problems that come with the integration of our school transport system into the public service. Last year, the NTA made a significant investment in public transport in Shannon and the surrounding areas. This was very welcome and a step forward in…
11. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence his plans for the triple lock given recent comments by the Minister for Health and by other members of the Government proposing to scrap or undermine it, despite it being the expressed will of the people to retain it. [48759/25]
No.
I support the triple lock and want it retained. The vast majority of us do not want Irish troops to serve anywhere unless it is as peacekeepers under the auspices of the UN. Opinion polls have consistently shown that. It was enacted to reassure the voters of the State that we would not become involved in an EU army, NATO or any other military alliances. The Government is now clearly determined to abandon the reassura…
Sinn Féin supports investing in our military, air force and naval services to overcome the chronic neglect they have suffered under this and previous Governments. We are not a major military power and should not strive to become one. Our standing in the world should rest firmly on our neutrality and independence. We should seek to assert influence from that basis. Any military spending in excess of what is absolutely…
It is clear to anyone paying attention that we have a serious capacity issue when it comes to providing school places for children with special needs. Every child is entitled to the best quality education the State can provide, and this means schooling that meets their needs and is based in their own community. Yet parents in my constituency of Clare are having to place their children on buses or face commutes to bri…
The lack of dentists and orthodontists across the State is a long-running problem that I raised when I became a councillor in Clare County Council and have since raised in the Dáil since my having become a TD. Not only has there been no progress in this time but things have gone from bad to worse, despite the lip service paid to the problem by the Government. There was a 46% reduction in investment in dental treatmen…
As a mother of a trans son, I wish to say loud and clear that my heart bursts with pride, not only because he is my son but because in the face of social stigma, misinformation, fear for his safety and a world that often misunderstands or fears difference, he has remained true to himself. He is the bravest person I know and, like many in this country, he does not even realise it. He does not even realise how courageo…
I welcome the establishment of a commission of investigation into historical sexual abuse in schools. I commend all survivors on coming forward. I send a special thought to those who cannot come forward or those who are no longer with us due to this. This is very long overdue. This scandal has damaged countless lives, and for far too long survivors have carried the burden of silence, shame and institutional denial. T…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— comments by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless T.D. on RTÉ where he indicated that in the absence of a cost of living package this year student fees will rise; and
— the Minister's statement coupled with the refusal of Government to provide a cost-of-living package this year means student fees this coming September will…
Does the fact that we have to repeatedly bring forward this motion not show the Minister how important it is to us? It repeatedly has to be brought forward because of repeated broken promises by the Minister and the Government. That is why we have to come here, year in, year out, and that is why the students in the Visitors Gallery have to come here to watch us do this again.
I was the oldest of six children. When I…
96. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for an update on developments from his and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's refusal to provide a second-year cost-of-living package for students, despite the cost-of-living crisis continuing, resulting in student fees increasing by €1,000; and if he will make a statement on the ma…
The decision of the Minister’s Department and the Department of housing not to step in and offer urgent protection for students is seriously misguided and out of touch. Students are already at breaking point and now must face this cost that many cannot afford. Can the Minister not see that this is a deterrent and not an incentive to continue their education?