I thank the Deputy for raising this really important matter. Any death on our roads is one too many. I am always conscious when talking about numbers that behind these numbers are people and families. We have to continue working to improve road safety. One element of it is the continued investment in our roads. Physical infrastructure is critical, as is the safety framework.
The current framework for road safety is …
TDs / Darragh O'Brien
Darragh O'Brien
Minister for Climate, Energy and the EnvironmentMinister for Transport
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
168,229
words spoken in the chamber
166,330 as a minister, 1,899 as a TD
323
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 680 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 30 |
| March 2025 | 29 |
| April 2025 | 54 |
| May 2025 | 22 |
| June 2025 | 59 |
| July 2025 | 4 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 44 |
| October 2025 | 5 |
| November 2025 | 73 |
| December 2025 | 2 |
| January 2026 | 43 |
| February 2026 | 55 |
| March 2026 | 33 |
| April 2026 | 77 |
| May 2026 | 11 |
| June 2026 | 82 |
| July 2026 | 2 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 49 |
| October 2026 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 529 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Fingal East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Transport 23 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications 23 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister for Transport 2 June 2025 to now
- office Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment 2 June 2025 to now
Undoubtedly, we have seen an increase over the last number of years from a lower base. When you compare Ireland to the rest of Europe, the statistics - this is not to mean the road fatalities themselves - compare favourably and we are still in the upper quartile in relation to prevention of road deaths and the number of road deaths. Again, I say this on the basis that I do not like talking about numbers because there…
Whatever level of enforcement is there, personal responsibility really needs to be brought to the fore. We all agree on that. There is only so much a Government can do. We need to do more - I am with the Deputy on that - but personal responsibility is critical.
The RSA is very well resourced to carry out the functions it is charged with. Splitting up the agency would have a detrimental effect. It would take too long. It needs to focus on road safety and education. NCT and driver testing are also important. That feeds into the road safety piece. I will counter the Deputy on one particular thing he said. Driver behaviour and personal responsibility are critical. We all want t…
This is an important area and we have to look to electrify it. Heavy goods vehicles is one of the more challenging areas to electrify. We are committed to transitioning to a low-carbon economy by 2050. The transport sector has a significant role to play in that. The decarbonisation of heavy duty vehicles will be a key mechanism in achieving this objective within the sector. To promote the decarbonisation of HDVs, we …
It is a fair point. The road transport support scheme is not a subsidy. It is a cost reduction measure and a viability measure for our supply chain. I do not see it as a fossil fuel grant or incentive for the use of fossil fuel. That said, it is clear the haulage sector in particular and others in the agriculture sector are heavily dependent on fossil fuel, especially heavy goods vehicles. A lot of white van vehicles…
The Deputy's point is well made. In the private fleet and private cars, there is a substantial increase in EV registrations. There are over 230,000 EVs on our roads. In the first quarter of this year, there was a significant increase with about 40% of all cars purchased being EVs. Heavy goods vehicles is a more complex area. Confidence needs to be instilled in the sector that there are alternatives. The Deputy is rig…
I thank the Deputy for the question. As she knows, essential maintenance is being carried out and there is inconvenience for people, but I will put this in context. The majority of maintenance works on the rail network take place overnight or in a way that will see little or no disruption to services. In some instances, however, this disruption is unfortunately unavoidable, such as for the upcoming May and June bank …
This is an operational matter. I do not direct Iarnród Éireann as to when it maintains its lines. I recognise there will unquestionably be inconvenience to people. Bank holiday weekends allow engineers to work continuously for 76 hours on the line and get extensive work done that does not have to be spread over other weekends. Fortunately, there is very rarely a weekend where there is not a major event on in this cou…
There is significant advance notice given. We need to improve the additional services that are there. I can tell the Deputy there are additional bus services this weekend serving the northern line. There is no easy answer to this. Lines need to be upgraded. Overhead lines, railway tracks and embankments need to be worked on. That all needs to happen. I cannot tell the Deputy we can avoid doing work on the May or June…
Is that a problem?
Would she rather they were not working?
As part of the wider DART+ programme, DART+ South West will provide an extension of electrified DART services from the city centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge. I know this is a project the Deputy has supported from its genesis and he continues to do so. A major milestone was cleared in November 2024 when the project secured full planning approval from An Coimisiún Pleanála. Preparation for procurement for DART+ West …
I agree completely with the Deputy. The work that is happening now is critical to advance the project. In fairness, the Deputy has been working directly with us on this and advocating for his constituency. Deputy Moynihan is right. Given the number of houses and the development that is happening out there and in Adamstown the whole area has grown substantially over the last years and this needs to be supported by DAR…
In the national development plan one in every four euro being invested between now and the end of this decade, between now and 2030, is being invested in transport. We are investing in public transport like has never happened before. It is very much focused on our rail network because it is good particularly for commuters, good for quality of life, good to reduce congestion and good for climate. We are seeing record …
I agree with the Deputy that this is a critical route. I am happy to provide him with an update. It was a programme for Government commitment, as the Deputy knows, to re-establish the route. I thank the Deputy for his continued interest in this matter. We are committed to supporting vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland where people can live, work and connect. The Deputy has made that poin…
I, too, share the Deputy’s disappointment with regard to the A5. We are still committed to delivering it whenever legal challenges and planning issues are dispensed with. In the meantime, this is critical. This route is viable and needed. We will support it with a public service obligation. The timelines I have provided are robust. I very much expect this service to be up and running in October. Both the awarding of …
This is another project that shows the benefits of the shared island initiative.
It is bringing people on the island of Ireland together and normalising future relations. It is a fantastic example of how local authorities and chambers of commerce work together. The Border does not exist, and that is critical. People are working together and bringing in investment. People work on both sides of the Border.
The shared…
The NTA is critical in the context of the planning and provision of services and continues to keep public transport connectivity, including access to Dublin Airport, under ongoing and active review. As the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, mentioned in a previous response, there was a substantial increase, about 46%, in the public service obligation in the budget to enhance and improve our services. While there is …
Deputy Moynihan asked a question about this on a previous occasion. The cessation of the Airport Hopper was a disappointment. It was a direct route for people. On foot of the questions asked a few weeks ago and Deputy Ward's question today, I will ask the NTA to move forward and see if something can be done within the public service obligation. There was a substantial increase in public service obligation funding. We…
That point has been well made by both Deputies. I will engage with the NTA and keep both Deputies fully informed. There could be an interim measure we can take. There is a longer term plan and continued investment in the public transport fleet, including DART+ South West, which everyone is supportive of and which we will bring forward. The Government has started work on that. I will keep Deputies Ward and Moynihan in…
I talk to myself every day. It is good having two Departments because you can ask permission from the other Minister. There are good synergies between both though, to be fair. It is a good question. As Minister for transport and for climate, energy and the environment, I am aware of the report in question. I thank Deputies Cronin and Daly for bringing it to my attention. I have also reached out to Professor Brian Cau…
That is a very good question. That is why PR6, the capital investment programme into our grid infrastructure between now and 2030 is so critically important. We will be investing up to €18.9 billion in our grid. It is needed to improve grid resilience, grid capacity and distribution. That will be about adding more renewables to our grid too and storage to be able to deal with curtailment issues too but capacity issue…
That is a good idea. I am happy to do that. In relation to renewables and the acceleration of renewables, we need to continue to reduce our dependence on fossil and imported fossil. That is good for climate, our economy and people's pockets. The good news is that we have doubled our wind capacity in a ten-year period. We now have over 8 GW of renewable energy connected to our system. We have about 1.4 GW of solar on …
I thank the Deputy. As Minister for Transport, I fully recognise the pressure that people and businesses are under due to rising fuel costs. Public transport has a particularly important role to play at times like this by providing a more affordable and sustainable alternative for many people. We are seeing public transport usage increase year-on-year. Last year, we saw a record 365 million public transport journeys.…