My thoughts are with all those impacted by the crash in Dublin today and the family of Grace Lynch. The year 2025 was the worst year for road fatalities in over ten years and represented a growing trend of Irish roads becoming less safe. Last year, An Garda Síochána recorded 190 people dying on our roads and over 1,000 people being injured as a result of collisions. Each statistic represents a life lost, a wider fami…
TDs / Louis O'Hara
Louis O'Hara
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,081
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
64,653
words spoken in the chamber
Across 288 contributions. Plus 4 contributions from the chair, not counted
432
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
242
topics asked about
Across 20 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 1,081 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 288 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 9 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 44 | 5 |
| March 2025 | 43 | 11 |
| April 2025 | 41 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 51 | 23 |
| June 2025 | 51 | 6 |
| July 2025 | 49 | 12 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 10 |
| October 2025 | 26 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 80 | 21 |
| December 2025 | 44 | 17 |
| January 2026 | 59 | 13 |
| February 2026 | 73 | 27 |
| March 2026 | 70 | 19 |
| April 2026 | 87 | 12 |
| May 2026 | 74 | 14 |
| June 2026 | 91 | 26 |
| July 2026 | 41 | 17 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 46 | 19 |
| October 2026 | 47 | 14 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 210 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 Galway East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
The position of Larry Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia is untenable. The revelations surrounding his company's importation of substandard Brazilian beef into Ireland are an insult to Irish farmers and have created a crisis of confidence within Bord Bia. The farmers I speak to in my constituency have totally lost confidence in the chairman and they are also beginning to lose total confidence in the Government through th…
I raise the proposed development of an equine therapy centre at the Toghermore House site located in Tuam. Toghermore House is owned by the HSE. It previously hosted a number of mental health support services until these services were relocated to a separate facility in Tuam in 2023. Since the relocation of these services, there have been proposals to develop the site, along with its over 40 acres of land, into an eq…
I thank the Minister of State for the update. I understand that the review is ongoing. I urge him to ensure that this is progressed as quickly as possible and that there is engagement with the local organisations like Ability West around the potential for equine therapy there. It would be a game-changer for Tuam and north Galway as a whole. There is a chronic lack of sporting facilities in the area and the potential …
Budget 2026 was an insult to people with disabilities. All through the winter people have suffered as their income has taken a serious hit. The withdrawal of supports in this year's budget has left people with disabilities worse off by €1,400. This was a shocking betrayal of people with disabilities, who were promised the sun, moon and stars by the Government parties during the general election campaign.
It was alre…
The reality is those lives continue to be lost because of the State's failure to care for people experiencing a mental health crisis. We know that each year, 50,000 people try to access mental health services for the first time through hospital emergency departments. This is not an appropriate setting for people who are in severe mental distress at their most vulnerable. I think the Minister of State has to accept th…
In my constituency of Galway East, not one affordable home has been delivered in towns like Athenry, Tuam and Loughrea. Rents have increased massively, and so have house prices. Young families come to me all the time asking what their options are and if affordable housing might be an option for them but it does not exist in our local area. We are in the middle of a housing emergency and that has been the case for a d…
The position of Larry Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia is totally untenable. He has direct involvement in the importation of substandard Brazilian beef into Ireland. No Irish food processor should be importing this product into Ireland, but the fact that the chair of Bord Bia, an organisation that is tasked with promoting the quality of Irish food around the world, is absolutely outrageous. It is a conflict of interest…
The former Shannon Oaks Hotel in Portumna has been lying in a dangerous and derelict state for 15 years. I have raised this matter a number of times. The local community has been promised repeatedly that the site will be secured and the hotel redeveloped. The closure of the hotel has been a huge loss to Portumna, an area with serious tourism potential but a lack of tourist accommodation. Efforts have been made to eng…
They are the owners of the hotel.
I appreciate the response, but from what the Minister of State has outlined, if we are talking about CPO, would the Government provide the support to Galway County Council for what is presumably a very expensive building to be able to acquire that and, at a minimum, make the site safe? The planning permission on this has lapsed. The developers have no intention of redeveloping this hotel. It has been left in a dereli…
Communities across the State, particularly rural communities, are paying the price for decades of underinvestment in our water and wastewater infrastructure. This leads to issues in terms of public health, the environment and particularly housing. A total of 70% of the land that is zoned for housing in County Galway cannot be built on because of infrastructural deficits, including water and wastewater. We see big ann…
I welcome the moves in this Bill to regulate private providers and to set minimum standards for services. However, this Bill is far from what it could have been. The current and previous programme for Government promised a statutory home care scheme but after five years, the Government has only got as far as a register of private providers. There is nothing in this Bill about access and affordability of different lev…
The safe distribution and operation of fuels such as natural gas and LPG is of significant importance. Tens of thousands of households across the State rely on natural gas and LPG as their main source of heating and it is important that the networks which they use on a daily basis are up to standard and appropriately regulated for safety. I welcome the intention and progression of this technical update but, as my par…
I welcome the farmers who are in the Gallery this evening. Nobody is buying it. For years the Government sat on the fence about whether it would support or oppose the Mercosur trade deal when it came to a vote. Not until the day before a vote was due, when thousands of farmers were organising to take to the streets and when it knew the deal was going to pass anyway, did it finally come out and say it was against this…
The proposed Mercosur trade agreement is a bad deal for Irish farmers and consumers. I held a public meeting in Athenry earlier this week and there is serious concern about this deal and the impact it would have on our beef industry and family farms. The Government should be doing everything in its power to stop this deal but it is not. For weeks, the Tánaiste and his colleagues have dodged answering the simple quest…
I have been contacted by constituents who work in the ambulance service locally who asked me to request a rapid response vehicle at Tuam ambulance base. These workers are telling me they are under pressure. They are dealing with a very high volume of calls and they need more cover. The crews in Tuam cover a vast area across north and east Galway and south Mayo. The introduction of a second ambulance on a 24-7 basis i…
I welcome the commitment to consider this as part of the service planning process for 2026. I sincerely hope it is implemented. I also want to express my gratitude to the staff of the NAS but if we want to demonstrate our gratitude, we need to consider the level of pressure these crews are under and do everything we can to alleviate that and ensure a better service and better outcomes for patients, which is what it i…
As the Minister well knows, blister packs are a medical necessity for many vulnerable people. They ensure that people can independently administer their own medications, reduce the risk of dose errors and avoid unnecessary hospitalisations. The cruel decision to withdraw the reimbursement of blister packs has caused deep anxiety, with many people receiving letters outlining that they will have to start paying to main…
100. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Defence the process for the awarding of historical IRA medals to families of volunteers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71916/25]
What is the process for the awarding of historical IRA medals to families of volunteers? I raise the case of Patrick Morrissey from Athenry, County Galway, with the Minister. I will come back to that in my later contribution.
The individual in question is Patrick Morrissey of Athenry. Patrick joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1907. He later joined the Irish Volunteers in Athenry in 1914. Athenry was one of the main focal points of the 1916 Rising outside of Dublin. Patrick played a key role locally in that. He was subsequently imprisoned in Kilmainham and then in Wales. He was active once again during the War of Independence as p…
While I appreciate the Minister's response, I find it frustrating because I know Michael Morrissey has submitted a number of applications. The evidence is clear that Patrick was a member of the Irish Volunteers and the IRA. It is very frustrating for the family. These medals are cherished possessions for the families who have them. It is really important to them that the efforts of their family member are properly re…
Regarding wastewater infrastructure in Craughwell and Clarinbridge in County Galway, funding was announced three years ago for the provision of wastewater infrastructure in those villages. This was very important for the delivery of housing and I raised this before with the Minister at the infrastructure committee. Since then, that project has been at a standstill. In recent weeks, Government TDs welcomed an increase…
15. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if public access can be facilitated at Athenry Dominican Priory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69834/25]