Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist a chuir sí orm. Is ceist an-tábhachtach í. Bhí imní orm nuair a chonaic mé na daoine taobh amuigh den Dáil cúpla lá ó shin agus iad ar stailc ocrais. Beidh mé ag caint leis an Aire oideachais faoin gceist sin.
I am also very concerned about what I have seen recently. This issue was raised with me last week by Deputy Michael Cahill. It is a matter of extreme concern that …
TDs / Jim O'Callaghan
Jim O'Callaghan
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
13
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
306,120
words spoken in the chamber
304,929 as a minister, 1,191 as a TD
360
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
8
topics asked about
Across 6 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 13 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,001 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 13 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 45 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 34 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 33 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 44 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 88 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 95 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 65 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 11 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 41 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 71 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 68 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 83 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 45 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 73 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 49 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 81 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 47 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 598 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Not enough questions on record to compare.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Bay South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Justice 23 January 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration 5 June 2025 to now
I will speak to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in respect of the matters the Deputy has raised. It is unfair to say that the State does not face up to its financial responsibilities arising from terrible events that happened in the past. It clearly has done. I identified the Magdalen laundries scheme and other redress schemes that have been introduced. People have been provided for. I am conscious that the specific as…
I thank the Deputy for his question. I am conscious that many young people emigrate from Ireland and go to Australia. That happened many years ago as well as now. I am sure, as the Deputy said, many go to try to get accommodation. I would advise that when they get to Australia they will find there is a similar housing issue there. Accommodation costs and the price of housing in Australia are exceptionally high.
The …
I thank the Deputy. I am concerned about the impending increase in private health insurance. It is obviously a big issue for people who are hit with these increases. In terms of what can be done with insurance companies, I will obviously speak to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, in respect of the Department of Health and what can be done in respect of that in terms of her position as Minister for Health. I am a…
I thank the Deputy for raising that matter. It is opportune that she has done so, because on Monday morning, I met with the chair and chief executive of Cuan. There was an event in the Department in respect of a launch by Cuan and I had an opportunity to meet with the chair and chief executive in advance. They informed me of issues in respect of the funding of Cuan itself and other issues in the sector too. Obviously…
I thank the Deputy for her question. I cannot give her information in respect of the student contribution fees at present. However, an awful lot has been done in respect of facilitating students to gain access to third level and to get financial support. I know the threshold for SUSI grants has now increased to €115,000 per family. I note what the Deputy said about what is in the Social Democrats pre-budget submissio…
As I said to Deputy Catherine Connolly, I am extremely concerned about people going on hunger strike. It has a really detrimental impact on their health. I urge them to come off their hunger strike. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in respect of this matter. She met people before and I have no doubt that she will again. Her officials have engaged with them again. It is not, though, an appropriate way to …
I thank the Deputy for the question. The British Government announced just last week that it is considering the introduction of a UK digital ID card. In fairness to the British Government, it notified my Department in advance. We were aware just a day or so in advance of the announcement that was to be made. There is still a long way to go in respect of this scheme. Obviously, there has to be the production of White …
I thank Deputy Neville for raising that interesting point. It is clearly the case that there has been a decline in the number of companies listed in the number of companies listed on the Irish Stock Exchange since the end of the last century. The Deputy gave the statistics there. We cannot stop companies from making a decision that they no longer wish to be listed in Dublin if they have a preference to be listed on t…
I thank Deputy Kerrane. Part of my function, in ensuring that we have adequate protection for women who are subject to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, is to ensure that there are adequate safe homes and refuges through the country. The Deputy will be aware of the progress of that by the Government. I will have a look in respect of Roscommon.
I have to be careful. I do not want it to appear that there is …
I thank Deputy Smith. I agree it is essential that children get orthodontic care in a timely manner. There can be very upsetting consequences if they do not.
I am aware the Minister for Health knows there currently are delays in accessing this service nationally, and the HSE has put in place a number of measures to address waiting times. There has been significant investment, as the Deputy will be aware, but I am co…
I thank the Deputy. I am sorry I do not have a specific answer for him. I do not have the detail on the incidence of turbines in east Galway as opposed to other parts of the country. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, in respect of it and will highlight the issue the Deputy has identified.
We also need to recognise that we are trying to ensure that we have renewable energy in the country. If we are seriou…
In fact, Deputy Ward raised this issue with me last week. I answered him by stating that it is on the priority list for publication. It is important legislation from the Government’s point of view. It is being worked upon. I am informed by the Chief Whip that it is not as simple as may be presented. I will certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy Browne, in respect of it. He appreciates the urgency of it. Since it is …
I am aware of that roundabout. I was unaware, however, that it was being replaced with traffic lights. I do not have strong views on the preference for roundabouts or traffic lights, or which are preferable, but I suspect there are engineers in the local authority who have views on it. There must be some reason that they are seeking to replace the roundabout with traffic lights. I will raise the issue the Deputy has …
In fairness to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, my understanding is that she got the report last Thursday and it was published yesterday. It is a 1,200-page report. As the Deputy said, it sets out three options. I would have thought consideration needs to be given to the report before any decision is made in respect of the options. I am conscious that the Deputy has a particular view as to which option should b…
I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Burke, about it because I do not have the level of detail that is required to give Deputy Currie a full answer. I note the issue is about the trading online voucher and the Grow Digital voucher. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy with an update in respect of that. I am conscious that online trading capacity is essential for SMEs in Ireland.
Deputy O’Dea deserves to be commended on the meeting that he and Deputy Cathal Crowe had with the then Minister, Mr. Donnelly, which resulted in there being a report. Obviously, Deputy O'Dea has read the report in detail. As I said previously, it is the case that the Minister only got the report last week and she published it yesterday. It is a detailed report. Notwithstanding the detail, Deputy O'Dea seems to believ…
I agree with the Deputy that it is a worrying trend to see a growth in the incidence of TB. We thought in Ireland that we had eradicated TB, which, of course, had such an extraordinary social and health impact on people in Ireland prior to the 1950s or 1960s. I hear what the Deputy says in respect of the increase in numbers and I will speak to the Minister for Health about it. Obviously, we need to ensure adequate fu…
I also extend my condolences to the wider O'Connor family on the appalling tragedy that occurred. Obviously, an ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution has commenced. I can assure the Deputy that in an incident like this, a family liaison officer will be engaging with the close relatives of the O'Connors. It is a very difficult issue for An Garda Síochána and a traumatic event for the people of Louth. It is im…
I thank the Deputy for his question. It is opportune that he mentions this because this morning I had a meeting with American Chamber of Commerce Ireland where we discussed issues with the granting of work permits and subsequently visas. I agree it would be preferable if there was a single entry point where people could apply. When it comes to visas being issued by the Department of justice, it is a more complex proc…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an gceist. On behalf of myself and the Government parties, I would also like to wish Julie Lyons all the best in her retirement. I thank her for the excellent service she has provided to Members over 34 years. There is an expression in politics: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." That certainly never applied to Julie. She served us loyally and I have been instru…
They were part of a Government proposal that was sneered at by Sinn Féin at the time. Let us wait to see what the Ministers, Deputies Chambers and Donohoe, and the rest of the Government come up with. I assure the Deputy that the cost-of-living issue will be at the forefront of their consideration and Government consideration.
Every Government TD, and indeed every TD who is not in Sinn Féin, is aware of the pressures that people are under when it comes to the cost of living. The Deputy does not have a monopoly in terms of understanding that. We are fully aware of it. We have introduced measures in the past that the Deputy has acknowledged have ameliorated the cost-of-living pressures on people. She is acknowledging that by giving us credit…
-----families are at the centre of the budget package that will be introduced 13 days from now. The Deputy spoke about the cost of energy. She also has to be aware of the other measures that have been introduced by the Government to alleviate costs on families. For instance, if we look at the retrofitting that is going on, over €558 million has been allocated for residential and community energy schemes in 2025. A to…
A lot has been done and the Deputy should not ignore it.