Respectfully, I did not interrupt the Deputy. I waited for my opportunity to intervene. This legislation is absolutely cast iron in line with international and EU law. It moves us towards our full obligations under the ICJ opinion. That is something we have to reflect on. However, there are issues with services, which have been well elucidated.
When it comes to the example of Spain, Deputies cannot come into this Ch…
TDs / Neale Richmond
Neale Richmond
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
100,288
words spoken in the chamber
97,626 as a minister, 2,662 as a TD
278
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
The record holds no parliamentary questions from them in this Dáil.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 265 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 46 |
| April 2025 | 4 |
| May 2025 | 4 |
| June 2025 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 9 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 1 |
| October 2025 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 33 |
| December 2025 | 2 |
| January 2026 | 14 |
| February 2026 | 35 |
| March 2026 | 4 |
| April 2026 | 24 |
| May 2026 | 9 |
| June 2026 | 11 |
| July 2026 | 28 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 1 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 161 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Rathdown 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs 29 January 2025 to 25 March 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 26 March 2025 to now
I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I will speak to the amendments, first and foremost, and then touch on some of the other interventions.
On amendment No. 3, the designation of postal codes is not a one-off event. I have them in my hand. The Minister will be required to do this whenever the EU list of postcodes is periodically reviewed and updated. This is just something that is done. Placing a time l…
I thank the Deputy for consistently raising this issue in questions and debates and shining a light on what is the greatest humanitarian disaster currently happening on this planet.
The conflict in Sudan continues to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese people, particularly women and children. I am particularly alarmed by the Rapid Support Forces' offensive of the city of El Obeid. Following their appalling att…
In reference to El-Obeid, on 19 June, Fr. Youhanna Al-Amin, a Roman Catholic priest, was killed in an attack on Holy Cross parish church. On the same date, in another attack on an office and warehouse of a partner organisation of Trócaire in South Kordofan, a guard working for the organisation was killed and a colleague wounded. The warehouse, which contained UNICEF medical and nutrition supplies, was looted. Trócair…
Absolutely. Let us not mince our words. What is occurring in Sudan is the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet. There are acts of pure depravity being perpetrated. Rape is being used as a weapon of war on a scale that has not been seen for a long time. The Irish Government is absolutely committed to continuing to keeping Sudan at the top of the agenda. We have done this consistently at European Council meetings.…
I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this issue. The Government remains deeply concerned by the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some progress has been made in the peace process facilitated by the United States, Qatar and the African Union, but the situation remains a matter for very serious concern. We join calls on all parties to respect ceasefire agreement…
We can all agree that the history of this part of Africa, from the pillaging days of King Leopold, to the decades after, to the time when Irish peacekeepers lost their lives there and to the days of Zaire and beyond, has been absolutely horrendous and has been marred by conflict, disease and cruelty. To be quite frank, there was cruelty on the part of western partners as well as domestic actors. Unfortunately, this i…
I am very grateful to the Deputy for referring to the very real Irish connection, not just with Democratic Republic of Congo but also with the wider region, including Uganda and neighbouring countries that are often responsible for many of the impacts of these crises, be they conflicts or humanitarian crises. There are over 2,000 Irish citizens in the broader region. Most of them work in the aid sector. Trócaire has …
I thank Deputy Gould sincerely for bringing forward this very timely issue. Supporting the all-island economy is a priority for the Government. This continues to grow, with figures for cross-Border trade now at over €17.2 billion. The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement help us co-operate with and understand one another, North and South, east and west, for the benefit of all the citizens of these islands. Since…
I will try to answer this as much politically as well as from a departmental and ministerial point of view. I acknowledge the Deputy's comments in relation to the Tánaiste's announcement in recent days. The name of my party is Fine Gael, or The United Ireland Party. I have been speaking about this for my entire political career. I go back to Dr. Garret FitzGerald's book Towards a New Ireland from 1972 and his work on…
Just to clarify, it is not a matter of waiting for someone. It is the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Ultimately, the responsibility to deem whether a border poll is necessary lies with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. That is just a legal fact. Deputy Gould and I might not like it but we cannot fight it. It is not a matter of waiting. In my opinion, it is a period to use those two years to le…
I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising an issue and a country that, perhaps, never receives the sort of attention it deserves.
The Government's international development programme, Irish Aid, works globally to support the furthest behind first, focusing the major part of our official development assistance on the world's least developed countries. Nepal is classified as a least developed country. We ha…
It is really important to mention that over the last number of years Nepal has, unfortunately, been the victim of a number of very serious natural disasters. In 2023, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck, killing 153 people and injuring 400, at which time Ireland, through the Red Cross and Red Crescent, contributed to an EU aid package of €2 million. In April 2015, a more devastating earthquake of 7.2 magnitude struck j…
This will bring me to a broader section but I want to very much keep Nepal in the mind's eye because it is a key partner of the EU and one of the main areas where the EU provides supports is in the area of good governance, which would be of great support to the new, young parliament. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl described issues in relation to migration, remittances and poverty. There are over 3,000 Nepalese citizens here in t…
I thank all of the Deputies who have contributed to this very timely and pertinent debate as we embark on the eighth Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union since our accession in 1973, following the first Presidency in 1975. My dear friend Deputy Ó Murchú has laid out his concerns about the supposed failure of the European Union, to be expected from a party that has opposed every European referendum an…
I am glad to take the close of this Second Stage debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan. I acknowledge with great thanks the engagement shown by all those present, particularly Deputies Mark Ward and Carol Nolan, in relation to today’s discussion on what is an extremely important Bill.
The significance of Ireland’s active engagement in the EU’s e-evidence initiative, particularly as we progress towards…
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to respond to this debate on behalf of my friend and colleague, the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I sincerely thank all who contributed, both those who I agree with and, in particular, those with whom I do not agree. For the entirety of my life, disagreement on this issue has sometimes led to the worst scenes in politics, where party politics, personal ambition and per…
I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising this issue. I awkwardly have my back to him but we will do our best with the dynamics of the Chamber. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan.
It is the policy of the Department of Education and Youth, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream clas…
It is important to remember that the vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. This goes to the crucial point raised eloquently by the Deputy about the hardships that a long commute would put on certain families, especially in a constituency such as his own or that of the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Ó Murchú, or Deputy Daly, wit…
I am genuinely grateful to Deputy Dolan for raising this. It is even fortuitous that I get to give the response, albeit on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton. The response I have been given is a constructive one, and while I will give it, I might add to it.
It is clear to the Department of education that financial literacy and opportunities to develop it are embedded throughout the Irish school curriculum from …
The Minister, Deputy Naughton, would like me to reaffirm very strongly that financial literacy is present throughout the school curriculum. I say that while also taking the Deputy's point about how we can look to bring the different aspects together in a more tangible and practical manner. There is the question of whether that should be done through a stand-alone subject of financial literacy or a stand-alone stream …
I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I am responding to on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. Day services are a vital support for adults with disabilities to participate in the life of their community and to realise their own ambitions and desires. The majority of young people due to leave school in a given year who require a HSE-funded day service have been profiled…
I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising these individual cases and making very relevant points on which there is no disagreement. The majority of families and individuals are catered for but unfortunately, there are far too many who are falling through the gaps and are not getting that discussion or peace of mind at an early enough stage. That is something the Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins…
I am very grateful to Deputies Devine and Ó Snodaigh for raising this important matter and for their continued personal and political interest in Kilmainham Gaol and its remarkable history. I did enjoy some of the interventions this evening. I was not aware of Labour Party’s opposition in the 1950s. That is a slight on me and our former coalition friends. The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, has asked me to read a co…
I completely understand the frustration and indeed anger of the Deputies and I do not contest it in any way. As a young history undergraduate student, I spent hours and hours - not quite 700 hours - in the gaol itself carrying out my own primary research and it was invaluable. I have a well-thumbed copy of Ghosts of Kilmainham. It was not actually mine originally; it was my sister’s. She also studied history, albeit …