I will add to the issue of ongoing flooding and the wider impacts recent extreme weather events have had across Ireland which are becoming more frequent and more severe as our weather grows increasingly unpredictable. Over the past number of weeks, flooding in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West has wreaked havoc. Homes, roads and local infrastructure have all been badly affected and communities have once again bee…
TDs / Robert O'Donoghue
Robert O'Donoghue
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
988
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
61,781
words spoken in the chamber
Across 173 contributions
419
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
221
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 988 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 173 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 35 | 4 |
| March 2025 | 46 | 6 |
| April 2025 | 45 | 8 |
| May 2025 | 35 | 15 |
| June 2025 | 27 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 46 | 5 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 34 | 2 |
| October 2025 | 58 | 26 |
| November 2025 | 93 | 2 |
| December 2025 | 29 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 68 | 16 |
| February 2026 | 89 | 10 |
| March 2026 | 108 | 11 |
| April 2026 | 65 | 6 |
| May 2026 | 60 | 15 |
| June 2026 | 49 | 14 |
| July 2026 | 62 | 16 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 16 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 23 | 5 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 114 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 Fingal West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
To be clear, this Bill is for those who can work remotely. It is not a promise for every role or sector. We know remote work is not feasible for everybody but where it is reasonably practicable, we must make it a worker's right. That is what this Bill seeks to achieve. It is not about forcing the hands of employers or imposing rigid rules. It is about giving employees options, the choice to work remotely where it mak…
Ireland's livestock sector is facing one of the most serious health threats it has come across in decades. The arrival of bluetongue in Ireland during the winter season, of all times, is not simply another disease event, it is a direct consequence of climate change, shifting disease patterns and growing biosecurity pressures on farms. Bluetongue was once confined to southern Europe in warmer countries but is now movi…
I want to be clear that I believe this motion to be premature, not because questions about Bord Bia are unimportant, because they are, but because we, as elected Members of the Oireachtas, have well-established processes for accountability. Those process are already under way. A motion such as the one before the House is hasty, risks politicising a statutory body and undermines the very scrutiny we all claim to value…
I want to bring to the attention of the Minister of State the urgent situation affecting St. Joseph's Secondary School, Rush, Gaelscoil Ros Eo and the Rush education campus in my constituency in Dublin Fingal West with regard to the recent allocation of funding for schools building. While I understand projects that were fully documented as complete were eligible, it looks like it will take six to eight weeks before t…
It is nice to see the accommodation of St. Joseph's and the Gaelscoil will be considered as part of the ongoing overall Department-led prioritisation process. The people of Rush are looking for a commitment that the project will keep being progressed once the tender documents are delivered to the Department, which will be in a matter of weeks. The campus will not have to wait until the next tranche, should that be 20…
2. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his response to a recent fatal farm incident in County Limerick involving a farmer in his 90s; and, in light of provisional Health and Safety Authority figures showing that 23 people died in the agriculture sector in 2025, accounting for 40% of all workplace fatalities despite the sector employing approximately 4% of the workforce, th…
The Minister and the Minister of State are aware of the recent fatal farm incidents involving Donal O'Connor, who was in his 90s, in County Limerick and T.J. Sweeney, who was in his 30s, in Clare, in light of the provisional Health and Safety Authority figures showing that 23 people died in the agriculture sector in 2025. That is 40% of all workplace fatalities, despite farmers being only 4% of the workforce. What ac…
I thank the Minister for putting that funding in. Given the many fatal incidents involving farmers attending livestock alone, can the Minister outline what targeted, practical measures are in place to support farm workers to work safely and whether he will consider enhanced supports and conditions through farm schemes or incentivised safer practices? We need measures as we have an ageing agricultural workforce and ma…
Yes.
We do know this is a problem. It is acknowledged. We have the statistics going back many years. As an aside, I wonder how much loneliness has to do with people still farming into their 70s, 80s and 90s, like Mr. O'Connor was? We know there are certain schemes out there but if a targeted wage subsidy could be considered as part of the Department's work, that would be fantastic. I welcome the funding, the €1.6 million …
I want to raise a pressing issue that is affecting my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, particularly Balbriggan but also Rush, Lusk, Skerries and more rural areas. There is ongoing pressure on Drogheda and Beaumont hospitals that could be alleviated to some degree by the establishment of a minor injuries clinic hub in Balbriggan.
There are now approximately 30,000 people living in Balbriggan . In total, there are …
While I welcome the Minister of State's comments on the need to move appropriate services out of acute hospitals into smaller community-based hubs, and the policy direction is absolutely correct, Balbriggan is the type of location where this should be applied in practice. A community-based hub at Balbriggan would work extremely well under the pull-out model, especially for services that do not need to be delivered in…
The situation regarding waiting times for speech and language therapy in CHO 9, particularly for children in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, has gone from beyond delay and is entering the territory of systemic neglect. Children in CHO 9 are waiting not months but years for basic speech and language assessments and then face further delays before therapy begins. These children are at the most critical stage of …
I appreciate the measures being undertaken. This is not an issue to play politics with. To achieve a timeframe of ten months will be a huge bonus in CHO 9, given where we are now.
I have raised this issue previously, although not with the Minister of State. I feel compelled to raise it again, and I have permission from the parents to do so. A child in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, Willow, who turned nine la…
This motion comes at a critical time for workers in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West where transport pressures are at breaking point. My office receives emails on a daily basis from constituents who simply cannot get to work on time because buses and trains at peak hours are completely full. Workers are being left behind at stops through no fault of their own. I want to share the stories of some of my constituen…
131. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he accepts that safeguarding in sport must extend beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards; the steps taken by his Department and Sport Ireland to ensure consistent adult safeguarding policies across all sports organisations; and if he will introduce a requirement that all sporting bo…
Safeguarding in sport must be extended beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards.
Given the increasing and well-evidenced recognition of abuse, coercive control and harassment experienced by adults across sporting environments, not only within elite levels of sports but within community clubs and local clubs, does the Minister of State accept that the continued absence of a mandatory adult safeguarding policy constitutes a serious gap in governance, accountability and participant protection? In li…
The absence of robust safeguarding policies in many sports often comes to light by chance. However, even minimal scrutiny reveals that safeguarding is frequently treated as an afterthought for adults. It is only considered once something goes seriously wrong. When these situations arise, clubs are often ill prepared to respond appropriately. Responsibility is often placed on ordinary volunteers and members, many of w…
Dereliction makes our towns look worse, damages local pride, drives footfall away from businesses and sends the message that neglect is tolerated. At a time of such acute public infrastructure needs, this is simply unacceptable. This Bill does not create a new tax. It asks only that the existing law be taken seriously and enforced properly.
In my constituency of Dublin-Fingal West they deserve better than boarded-up…
At the outset, this debate is not about opposing free trade, nor is it about pretending that Europe can insulate itself from a volatile global economy. In an era with political instability and the imposition of US tariffs on the European Union, international trade agreements matter. They are important and can be beneficial, but importance alone is not enough.
When we examine the Mercosur deal, we have to ask whether…
99. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to introduce a dedicated support scheme to address the significant and ongoing losses experienced by the forestry sector as a result of recent storms; the expected timeline for the development and implementation of such a scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66951/25]
Today, the Labour Party is calling for the urgent adoption of a comprehensive public health approach to the decriminalisation of possession of drugs for personal use and the development of safer consumption spaces. I thank my party colleague, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, for his work over the past number of years. I thank the Minister of State for not opposing this motion. The purpose of this motion is clear - to highlight the…
I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, of €27.75 million for capital projects at Ireland’s publicly owned harbours under the 2025 fishery harbour centres and coastal infrastructure development programme. While welcome news for our coastal communities, the way this funding is being divided is far from equitable. To touch on a point just mentioned by Deputy McGuinness, let us talk about har…