2. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if his Department carried out a risk assessment in advance of publishing a tender to establish a new framework agreement for the provision of Microsoft solution renewals and associated services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51706/26]
TDs / Cian O'Callaghan
Cian O'Callaghan
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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.
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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
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| 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
The Office of Government Procurement's Microsoft licensing framework expires on 13 September 2026. The estimated value range of the proposed new framework is between €750 million and €1 billion according to a reply the Minister gave me. Has his Department carried out a risk assessment in advance of publishing the tender for this new framework? I ask this at a time when other European countries are moving away from te…
I thank the Minister of State for the answer. Have alternatives to Microsoft actually been looked at as part of the process? That is what I am asking about it. There are a number of alternatives out there that other European countries and states are moving towards. They are doing so for value-for-money reasons and so they are no longer technologically dependent on the US but can rely on European-regulated services an…
What I do not understand is why alternatives to Microsoft have not been at least explored as part of this process. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein recently moved 30,000 staff from Microsoft to LibreOffice, Linux, Thunderbird and Open-Xchange. It is saving more than €15 million a year. The senior Minister has just told us we should always be looking for efficiencies and reforms and I agree. Why have they not be…
There are millions here that the Government could save.
I was waiting for both of them to stop.
President Zelenskyy's visit to Ireland yesterday was cut short due to another deadly attack on Ukraine. At least 17 people were killed and more than 50 injured overnight after missiles rained down on Kyiv. As we speak, emergency workers are at a collapsed nine-storey apartment searching for survivors in rubble. This is the biggest attack on Kyiv since the war began. The mayor …
Australia acted more than four years ago, as soon as Putin invaded Ukraine, because it did want to have anything to do with the supply of raw material to Putin's war machine. It was abundantly clear to Australia that it needed to act and it did so. More than four years later, the Government has not acted. That is despite the growing evidence staring the Government in the face. Exports of alumina from Ireland since th…
I thank the proposers of this motion for giving us the opportunity to raise important issues around the cost of living. The Social Democrats have said time and again that the Government needs to introduce, as an emergency measure, targeted energy credits. The Government seems to have no interest in doing that. It has no interest in the fact that people on low incomes across the country are struggling to pay their ele…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Standing Order 33, and with effect from 1st July, 2026, approves the Thirteenth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 26th June, 2026.
2. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to ensure that the Central Bank is acting in accordance with international law in relation to its role as the home state for the Israeli bond programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48495/26]
Israel is still issuing war bonds across the EU and using the money to fund the genocide. While the role of approving these bonds has been moved to Luxembourg, Ireland remains the home member state for Israeli bonds. I am asking what steps the Minister is taking to ensure the Central Bank is acting in accordance with international law regarding its role as home member state for the Israeli bonds.
I welcome any engagement the Minister has with the EU Commission on this but there are actions the Irish Government can take. It was very clear when the Central Bank officials were before the Oireachtas finance committee about a year ago that the bank was saying it would comply if there were any domestic law or instruction on this. Indeed, in the Minister's reply he spoke about the Central Bank following its legal ob…
I support any engagement the Minister is having with the EU Commission on this. However, we have independent advice from the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers that Ireland could indeed take action to restrict Israeli bonds. It concludes that there is a case for unilateral Irish action on this if it is framed on public policy grounds. I have given the Minister the reasons it could be framed on such grounds, and I…
The Deputy did not call for a vote on that amendment.
On amendment No. 1, there was not.
7. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the action he is taking to tackle dark money in the Irish financial system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48197/26]
There is a significant issue with the amount of criminal money laundering going through Europe. There is €647 billion in crime proceeds washed through Europe every year. We have €5 trillion in domiciled investment funds hosted in Ireland. The Garda has warned of an explosion in the recruitment of money mules. What is the Government doing to address dark money? I am aware of the action plan but there are significant g…
As the Tánaiste said, there are 30 actions in the action plan but none of them address the chronic under-resourcing of enforcement. This has been flagged for years and we have a situation where billions and billions are being funnelled through Ireland. The Garda has a backlog of tens of thousands of money laundering cases waiting to be examined. The financial intelligence unit and the Garda National Economic Crime Bu…
The other key gap is the national risk assessment identified serious issues and significant risks with regard to crypto assets, yet the action plan only has two measures on such assets and misses a whole range of risks.
It misses, for example, any scrutiny of peel chains where criminals break large crypto amounts into small, tiny transfers to hide the trail. It misses any analysis of unhosted crypto wallets that are…
Last week I raised with the Tánaiste serious concerns about breaches of the public-only consultant contract in the Rotunda, Cork University Maternity Hospital and University Hospital Galway. I acknowledge the excellent work done by my colleague, Deputy Rice, exposing these systemic breaches - breaches that pose a risk for public patients.
A quarter of all work carried out a Galway University Hospital lab comes from …
The question I am asking here is: what exactly is the system to monitor and ensure full implementation of the public-only contract? Clearly, there is a number of breaches around the country. They are arising one by one. What system has the Government in place to ensure this contract is being enforced?
In relation to Galway, the Tánaiste seems to be okay with the situation that this breach will continue for a number …
Yes, but thank you for the encouragement. My amendment No. 3 is very similar to amendment No. 1 from Deputy Doherty. There is a slight difference in that I am being move generous in the timeline being afforded to the Minister to make this report.
The fundamental point here is that the public has a right to know. They should get this information. I made the point on Committee Stage that, with NAMA there was a massive…
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 8, after line 34, to insert the following:
“Report on NAMA managed properties
10. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas that provides a table outlining all NAMA managed properties, their value at the time of their sale, compared to their current or most recent valuation.”.
In the Rotunda, there are consultants on public-only contracts receiving payments for delivering babies while covering for their private colleagues. On Tuesday, I told the Taoiseach that this was happening at Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, too. The Taoiseach admitted that he did not know anything about this. Today, it has been reported in the Irish Independent that a long-standing professional fee arrangem…
There are patients waiting on test results who want answers in relation to lab work at University Hospital Galway. They want to know what is being done in terms of their test results, which they need a quick turnaround on. Their health and lives depend on a quick turnaround. They want answers as to what the Government is doing on that. The Tánaiste has not addressed that at all. He may say what the Government is doin…