Is this what democracy in the Dáil is reduced to? The senior Minister responsible does not turn up but we are meant to be okay with him being aware the debate is taking place. Is that the situation with this Government? It has happened two weeks in a row for debates on housing motions that the senior Minister-----
TDs / Cian O'Callaghan
Cian O'Callaghan
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
896
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
123,606
words spoken in the chamber
Across 642 contributions
422
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
255
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 896 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 642 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| January 2025 | 51 | 4 |
| February 2025 | 41 | 47 |
| March 2025 | 44 | 42 |
| April 2025 | 64 | 38 |
| May 2025 | 39 | 40 |
| June 2025 | 55 | 33 |
| July 2025 | 47 | 51 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 38 | 6 |
| October 2025 | 16 | 52 |
| November 2025 | 41 | 57 |
| December 2025 | 29 | 19 |
| January 2026 | 42 | 24 |
| February 2026 | 46 | 35 |
| March 2026 | 41 | 23 |
| April 2026 | 58 | 24 |
| May 2026 | 80 | 47 |
| June 2026 | 31 | 40 |
| July 2026 | 44 | 12 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 41 | 21 |
| October 2026 | 48 | 23 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 510 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 Dublin Bay North 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to now
We do participate in every debate in the Dáil. The Minister should be here.
The senior Minister should be here.
The Minister of State interrupted me. If the Cathaoirleach is going to intervene, it should not be biased against the Opposition.
I will proceed. The Minister of State said in his response that the Government would not support the motion because the State alone cannot achieve what is needed in housing. We have never said that the State alone needs to achieve what needs to be done in housing.
What we have said is that the private sector on its own is not delivering, that there is a large affordability gap and that there is a greater role for the State and the not-for-profit sectors. If it does not see that and thinks its housing policy is working, that shows how deluded the Government is.
It is disingenuous to say that 100% stamp duty on bulk purchase of homes would prevent forward funding. It does not. …
Growing numbers of children and their families across Ireland are being left waiting for assessments of need well in excess of the legal timeframes permitted. According to the Disability Act 2005, an assessment of need must be completed within six months of the date the application is received. I have received new figures from the HSE which show that, at the end of 2024, there were 14,221 children overdue an assessme…
A total of 90% of assessments of need are being done outside of the legal timeframe. This is the law. It is not an optional extra for the Taoiseach or the Government. I am not clear from the Taoiseach's answer if the Government is going to meet the legal requirements of the Disability Act. Is it going to take action so that 90% turns to 0% so the Taoiseach and his Government are compliant with the law on this? Is it …
Since last June, we in the Opposition have been seeking a serious debate on the Housing Commission's proposals and the Government has yet to facilitate that.
I hope it does so soon. It is hard to know where to start with the Taoiseach's rapidly unravelling housing plan. The Taoiseach cannot even convince his Fine Gael colleagues that his new approach is a good one. Yesterday, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe…
If the Taoiseach cannot even win over his colleagues in Fine Gael, he is in big trouble. This is the party that transcribed developer lobby documents and turned them into government policy. Fine Gael was also the first to roll out the red carpet for investment funds and it has consistently failed to close tax loopholes exploited by international investors. However, even Fine Gael Ministers are baulking at the suggest…
We have put forward a number of alternatives to tax incentives for private developers to finance the construction of housing and, significantly, the construction of housing that is affordable for people. Am I to take it from the Taoiseach's answer that tax incentives for developers are on the table? Does the Taoiseach accept the view that the section 23 tax incentives that Fianna Fáil brought in led to economic colla…
In the context of the Dublin city centre task force, I wish to ask the Taoiseach about motorbike theft. A total of 787 motorbikes were stolen in Dublin in 2023 - a 100% increase on the previous year. This means that for every 100 motorbikes bought, 44 were stolen. It is completely out of control. Will the Government follow the example of London, which launched Operation Venice and introduced a range of measures to cl…
13. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Finance for an update on the Revenue Commissioners' review of the taxes paid by Irish real estate funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5042/25]
I start by congratulating Deputy Brabazon both on his election and on his maiden contribution. I know he has been a very hardworking, committed public representative for many years.
In 2020, the Minister said that investment funds were engaging in aggressive behaviour to avoid tax. He introduced a range of measures that were supposed to clamp down on this tax avoidance. Since then, these property investors have seen…
I will come back to the Minister on the source of that figure.
So that I am clear, is the review commissioned by Revenue in 2022 published? The Minister referred to the other reports and reviews that are going on but will he clarify if that review is published?
A report published by the Central Bank last year found that 78% of the homes owned by investment funds were bought as existing properties. The report also f…
The Minister has been very selective in the years he quoted in relation to taxation.
The Minister knows well that the tax decreased. In fact, he said that there was aggressive behaviour to avoid tax. The purpose of the review conducted by Revenue was to look at how those loopholes could be shut down. Has there been any action on foot of that review, the results of which have not been published? Will the Minister be …
Exactly. They have halved.
Can the public trust this Government? More importantly, why should it trust his Government? I ask because people were misled by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael during the election campaign. They were misled on the issue of the number of homes that were delivered last year. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the former Minister for housing were all adamant that the figure in that regard would be 40,000. It was nowhere near tha…
Influence.
Does the Taoiseach accept the evidence that shows the countries in Europe with the largest and most successful rental sectors also have very strong rent regulation? Does he accept the evidence that shows that rents in Ireland are among the highest in Europe?
The Taoiseach asked for solutions; I will give him just two in the time available. One would be to introduce specific zoning for affordable housing. That is don…
Did the Taoiseach even read that Housing Europe report?
Did the Taoiseach read the report?
Did the Taoiseach read the report?
In relation to the programme for Government and what it says about pensions, I want to ask the Taoiseach about the pension entitlements of retired postal workers. As the Taoiseach knows, when An Post was founded in 1984, postal workers were promised at that stage that they would not lose their pension entitlements. That promise was copperfastened by the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act of 1983, which guaran…
On the issue of infrastructure and education, I recently visited Gaelcholáiste Reachrann along with my constituency colleagues. It is an incredibly impressive Gaelcholáiste with a brilliant atmosphere. The staff are hugely dedicated and students achieve brilliant results both academically and on the sports field. Most of the school has been housed in prefabs for the last 20 years. The school has been promised permane…