I move amendment No. 20:
In page 7, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:
“Damage threshold for attached dwellings
7. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15:
“15A.(1) Where a determination is made under section 15(1)(b) that a relevant dwelling does not meet the damage threshold, the relevant owner may make a notification under subsection (2) where—
(a) …
TDs / Christopher O'Sullivan
Christopher O'Sullivan
Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
40
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
101,536
words spoken in the chamber
99,157 as a minister, 2,379 as a TD
406
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
35
topics asked about
Across 12 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
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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 40 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 222 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 1 | 13 |
| March 2025 | 3 | 28 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 16 |
| May 2025 | 2 | 11 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| July 2025 | 3 | 24 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2025 | 2 | 16 |
| November 2025 | 6 | 15 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| January 2026 | 4 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 2 | 14 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| April 2026 | 3 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 2 | 17 |
| June 2026 | 2 | 7 |
| July 2026 | 3 | 8 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 5 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 110 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 29 January 2025 to now
I am glad Deputy Mac Lochlainn referenced the fine Government TDs that we have in Donegal. Deputies Gallagher and McConalogue are speaking to the same constituents the Deputy is speaking to. They are listening, they are hearing them and they represent them. The Opposition does not have a monopoly on how they represent the people of Donegal and those impacted by defective blocks.
The Government Deputies would have ad…
That is important. It allows flexibility and assistance where it is needed. That is simply what the amendment does.
Where did the Deputy get that from?
I never said that.
I appreciate all the kind invitations to Donegal. It must be the second most beautiful county in the country.
On a serious note, in fairness, Deputy Ward has lived through this and understands. I certainly do not intend to get into the minutiae and discuss various cases. A plethora of potential situations have been raised by Deputies, but the simple way to explain things is that the amendment attempts to address what we were told was rigidity in the scheme. We were told the old scheme was restrictive when it came to conjoine…
We can issue a briefing note.
I thank the Minister for outlining the amendments. I also thank him for his commitment to this issue. He met those impacted at a very early stage, listened to their concerns, understood the need for flexibility in the legislation and very quickly sought to bring forward this amendment. We are not there yet - there are several Stages to go through - but clearly he has outlined the urgency of this legislation and the n…
That is not true.
There are six months in the year when they can be cut back. What are you talking about?
I am glad the Ceann Comhairle addressed that issue in her comments. People are quick to blame wildlife and birds. It is the old trope of what is more important. The Ceann Comhairle is absolutely right. There are six months in the year when works can be done. Landowners have a role to play as well. Even within those six months, where a stretch of road is deemed to be dangerous or causing issues, the remit is within th…
I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this on behalf of the students and parents of Scoil Dairbhre. That is a very unusual circumstance. It is one that certainly I have not heard of. Obviously, I am not in the Department of education. Perhaps the Minister has heard of such a case, but it is extraordinary. I certainly would have said it is not the norm around Ireland for parents to be asked by the school to bring in toi…
The Minister, Deputy Naughton, is new in the role. I wish her the best of luck in that role and I am sure she will do a wonderful job. I will ensure she is aware of the situation in Darver National School. Many improvements have been made right across the country. In my constituency I have seen some great work done in older schools that may have been built in the 50s or 60s, which were deteriorating and becoming dila…
I thank the Deputy. What I have in the reply is more of a rationale for the change and for the earlier date in terms of trying to have everything in place so places can be allocated in a timely manner and be in position. In terms of reopening the portal, according to the response I have it sounds unlikely. To be fair, the Deputy's suggestion about immediate communication with the parents and guidance for the SENOs do…
If the Deputy is seeking a meeting with the Minister of State, I will certainly mention that to him. We have seen this before with other changes in systems or structures; when something that is intended to make something more efficient and help with forward planning, people are left behind in the initial phases. That should not be the case. It needs to be addressed if that is the case. Put simply, I will mention it t…
I thank Deputy Ellis for raising this issue. The extension of the Luas line to Finglas is something everyone can get behind. It is great to hear it has support right across the board. In fairness, the decision was made in October 2025, when the sanction was given for the project. It is a bit early to say that we are delaying anything. I genuinely feel that there is an urgency about delivering this.
Improving public …
In the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, we have a Minister who has highlighted the project as being one he considers as meriting acceleration. My reply states that it is one of the projects highlighted by the Minister for Transport for possible acceleration as part of the review of the NDP which was completed recently. It has clearly been identified as something that can be brought forward, possibly ahead of the usual timel…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, desperately wanted to be here to take it because he feels so strongly about it. Unfortunately, at the last minute, he had to step away and I stepped into his place. I wanted to relay that message.
My heart goes out to the communities the Deputy mentioned. I have sat in this Chamber and in council chambers many times listening to people …
The local community safety partnerships build on and replace the existing joint policing committees, bringing together gardaí, local representatives, community organisations and representatives of local authorities and other State bodies to draft a community safety plan tailored to community needs. No one knows better what is needed by a community than those who live in it. The Minister signed the regulations to esta…
I have known Deputy Byrne for a while and what a proponent he is of public transport and improving it, reducing congestion and emissions. It has always been something he has believed in. It is hard to dispute what he presented. Even if half of those 6,500 could be gotten into train carriages, the difference it would make on the M11 would be significant. I will outline some of the infrastructure and plans for expansio…
I fully understand the Deputy's frustration in terms of the answer. I also appreciate the frustration of the people he represents in Wicklow-Wexford who have to make this journey in the context of the time of the morning they have to get up in order to make it to work on time. The reply did not give them the comfort that the Deputy would like to give them.
The Deputy referred to Carlow having a service 11 times per …
I agree with quite a lot of what the Deputy had to say. He said that retrofitting the private rental sector would be good for everyone. I agree with him on that. He spoke about 100% renewables being the target. I agree with that target. That is what we should be aiming for and striving towards. The conditions described by the constituent who wrote to him are not good enough and should not be supported. In terms of th…
I look to address some of the comments made.
In relation to the housing plan, there is a commitment within the housing plan in terms of energy efficiency. The Opposition can paint it up and describe it whichever way it wants in terms of it being watered down, but it is there. It is an absolute goal of ours because we agree that people should not be living in cold damp conditions, in private or in public housing.
Ho…
I thank all the Deputies who have made contributions in the House over the last while. A lot of them summarised some of the challenges we face, including the need to urgently ramp up supply, quite well. There is clearly a common theme among Deputies' contributions, that is, a desire to make housing affordable, to increase supply and to reduce and eventually end homelessness. That has come through quite clearly. All o…