I thank the Minister for facilitating this debate. I do not want to focus on individual issues, initiatives and schemes. I will focus on the big picture in terms of the acute housing crisis we are in. To me the only solution is ramping up supply across all forms, whether new builds, reuse of existing buildings and better utilisation of existing buildings such as over office, over shop and so on. That will help delive…
TDs / Séamus McGrath
Séamus McGrath
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
497
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
45,141
words spoken in the chamber
Across 181 contributions
429
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
163
topics asked about
Across 20 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 497 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 181 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 6 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 28 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 13 | 12 |
| April 2025 | 30 | 10 |
| May 2025 | 23 | 25 |
| June 2025 | 22 | 9 |
| July 2025 | 50 | 12 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 59 | 4 |
| October 2025 | 25 | 9 |
| November 2025 | 28 | 14 |
| December 2025 | 19 | 10 |
| January 2026 | 17 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 25 | 13 |
| March 2026 | 28 | 8 |
| April 2026 | 25 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 19 | 14 |
| June 2026 | 35 | 4 |
| July 2026 | 14 | 5 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 19 | 9 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 153 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 Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. I refer to the long period people have to wait for a social welfare appeal to be decided. As the Minister of State knows, this places huge stress on individuals and families who are waiting for decisions to be made. Invalidity pensions, domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance are some of the applications subject to very lengthy appeal periods, as I…
I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I welcome some of the reply regarding some of the improvements already in train. I very much welcome that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has met the appeals team and additional staff are now being employed, bringing the total number of staff to 64. This is certainly welcome.
With regard to the new appeals regulations, there are positive changes in terms of the applicant h…
I thank the Minister of State for facilitating this debate, which we badly need to have. I do not want to repeat everything that has been said. The position is stark with 15,000 children waiting for assessments and very poor figures for those who get assessments within the six months. The overwhelming majority do not get assessments within the six months, which is a requirement under the 2005 Act.
As we all know as …
5. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for his expectations for the delivery of affordable housing this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24902/25]
Will the Minister outline his expectations for the delivery of affordable housing, particularly affordable purchase housing, for the coming year?
I thank the Minister and I know he very much values affordable housing. I thank him for the figures he provided indicating that 6,400 units will be provided this year, which is very welcome. Prior to the election I strongly committed to individuals and couples that I would be a strong voice in relation to affordable housing. We all know the cohort of people who are above the social housing income limits but not in a …
I acknowledge the progress that has been made in Cork, both by Cork City Council and Cork County Council in the delivery of affordable purchase houses in particular. That is very welcome and I note the strong ambition in the programme for Government under the starter homes theme, which is important. Again, I reiterate that when one looks at the delivery of housing, the quantum of social housing is critically importan…
I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for facilitating my taking of this question. I would appreciate it if the Minister would outline his plans to introduce a new voids programme.
I thank the Minister and welcome his commitment to vacant housing and the voids. The figure of more than €300 million since 2014 is very significant. I very much welcome the Minister's statements on a commitment to a prompt turnaround of properties, ensuring only essential work is carried out so those houses can be re-let quickly and that any other work that is non-essential can be done through a planned maintenance …
As the Minister said, there is a significant difference between some of the local authorities. He referred to counties Laois and Kerry, for example, between which there is a significant disparity. That is something we certainly have to delve into because how some local authorities can do it much faster than others needs to be examined to see how best practice can be applied across the local authority sector. The long…
126. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Justice the number of new class intakes that will enter Templemore this year; the expected overall number of students to enter Templemore in 2025; and the number of recruits in 2023 and 2024. [24765/25]
I appreciate the Minister's commitment to this issue. The programme for Government sets out an ambitious target in relation to the recruitment of gardaí. I know the Minister is committed to increasing the visibility of gardaí on our streets. One can see in Dublin that there has been an improvement in that respect but we need to see it across the country. The Minister visited Cork recently, which I welcomed. He took o…
It is to be welcomed that there were more than 6,000 expressions of interest in joining An Garda Síochána, as are the moves by the Minister to speed up the recruitment process in the interview process and so on. It needs to be curtailed as much as possible to fast-track the delivery of extra gardaí on our streets. I also welcome that three more classes will enter Templemore this year. A lot of good work is being done…
I thank the Minister of State for facilitating this debate. I have heard him debating the topic in the Dáil previously and I appreciate he gets the severity of the problem. It is difficult to understand how we are still in this position. Over two years ago, in my previous role as councillor, I had a motion on delays in driving tests. At the time I got a response from the RSA which indicated recruitment was taking pla…
13. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council, a statutory agency operating under the aegis of his Department. [24049/25]
I thank the Taoiseach for his report on NESC. He made reference to its important report on compact growth. As we know, development within urban boundaries is a far more sustainable form of development, with access to key infrastructure, services and utilities. It lends itself more to public transport use and active travel use. It is a far more environmental and sustainable form of development. Making better use of ou…
184. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the number of naval vessels in the ownership of the Naval Service; and the number currently in active operation-deployment. [17827/25]
I thank the Tánaiste for his presence today.
Much of what I was intending to ask has already been discussed with regard to the number of vessels at the disposal of the Naval Service, the number in actual deployment and the number we are capable of resourcing and staffing to commission them into deployment. I am very fortunate to live within a couple of miles of the Naval Service HQ in Haulbowline and to represent th…
I welcome the Tánaiste's response. As I outlined earlier in terms of the importance of defence and protecting our territorial waters, the role of the Naval Service has expanded quite a lot in recent years in terms of maritime surveillance, protecting our marine assets, deterring criminal activity and smuggling and so on. It is welcome that we have a number of vessels at our disposal. I heard earlier that the directio…
I thank the Minister of State for being here to answer this question. I wish to raise the issue of an additional accommodation scheme application from Ballinora National School in County Cork. I previously submitted parliamentary questions on this issue and the responses indicated that a decision was awaited. I understand that a positive decision has been issued to the school that funding will be made available. The …
I thank the Minister of State for his response, which I welcome, particularly the section towards the end where confirmation is provided about engagement with the school in the past few days and the positive funding decision for the provision of temporary accommodation. I particularly welcome the commitment to engagement over the coming weeks with the school. It is important that active engagement takes place to ensu…
20. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline the number of applicants for the power up grant who were disqualified because they did not indicate an eligible category of business; the number of applicants that appealed the disqualification decision in total; the number that appealed on the basis of mistakenly indicating the incorrect business category; and if he is still…
Will the Minister of State outline the number of applicants for the power up grant who were disqualified because they did not indicate an eligible category of business, the number of applicants that appealed the disqualification decision in total, the number that appealed on the basis of mistakenly indicating the incorrect business category, whether the matter is still being reviewed and whether there will be an appe…
I welcome the Minister's announcement this morning on the appeals mechanism that is being worked through. As outlined by the other Deputies, this will give hope to some businesses that for some reason were categorised incorrectly in their applications for the power up grant. To make a brief wider point, the alignment with the ICOB grant has presented difficulties for many businesses. This is going back to the 2023 ra…