As the Minister knows, people's lives have been turned upside down by long Covid. This is not any ordinary type of illness. This was contracted in the workplace, yet there has been a persistent refusal by this State, in sharp contrast to the vast majority of EU member states, to recognise Covid as an occupational illness. The refusal to extend this scheme or to put in place a long-term framework for those who contrac…
TDs / Marie Sherlock
Marie Sherlock
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,206
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
117,003
words spoken in the chamber
Across 307 contributions. Plus 32 contributions from the chair, not counted
378
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
186
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 1,206 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 307 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 11 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 77 | 13 |
| March 2025 | 92 | 19 |
| April 2025 | 72 | 13 |
| May 2025 | 98 | 28 |
| June 2025 | 79 | 18 |
| July 2025 | 44 | 25 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 71 | 6 |
| October 2025 | 61 | 27 |
| November 2025 | 70 | 13 |
| December 2025 | 33 | 22 |
| January 2026 | 120 | 11 |
| February 2026 | 95 | 14 |
| March 2026 | 36 | 15 |
| April 2026 | 72 | 20 |
| May 2026 | 40 | 10 |
| June 2026 | 41 | 9 |
| July 2026 | 18 | 25 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 56 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 20 | 16 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 186 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 Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
With respect, the Government is splitting hairs in distinguishing between Covid-19 and long Covid. Clearly, long Covid resulted from Covid-19. The reality is that the request has been for a framework to be put in place to support these specific workers. We are only talking about health workers. We are not talking about gardaí or the many other front-line workers who went out to work during that period. The Government…
6. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health her plans to strengthen the inspection and regulatory regime in HIQA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34932/25]
We are all reeling from the revelations about Beneavin nursing home and the nursing home in Portlaoise in recent weeks. It is clear that HIQA has given a wide berth to nursing homes when it comes to its inspection regime, which is in sharp contrast, I might argue, to how other authorities regulate, such as the Food Safety Authority and the Health and Safety Authority. I wish to hear from the Minister and Ministers of…
I thank the Minister. There are four clear systemic issues within HIQA at the moment, notwithstanding that it is a much-trusted institution in the public's mind. That confidence has been dented, however. Clear legislative change and clarity are needed in four areas. The first issue is in regard to the licensing. I welcome what the Minister is saying about the licensing of corporate institutions and their intervention…
There is an added piece with regard to leadership. In the responses at the health committee last week, in the instance of Beneavin nursing home, there is 100% non-compliance with fire safety systems in that building. We were told that it does not relate to the structure, but rather only to the fire systems.
If the fires systems are not fully operational, there is an immediate fire risk. It may not happen today or to…
My question relates to Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire in Parnell Square. I ask the Taoiseach to make a personal intervention to get this building project done. This school is into its 23rd year of what was supposed to be temporary emergency accommodation. It spent a decade and a half trying to get its long-promised school project off the ground. Almost two years on from the sod being turned and two thirds into the constr…
I genuinely do not.
I am sorry but what is happening now?
I appreciate that but I need to hear what is happening now.
The Cabinet today approved the patient safety (licensing) Bill. It is long-awaited legislation and one we very much welcome, but will there be minimum staffing numbers in that critical legislation? The INMO has been campaigning on this for a long time.
On cervical cancer, I hosted the 221+ group last week. We saw reports at the weekend that cervical screening is still failing women. Three women have died of cancer a…
I move amendment No. 165:
In page 73, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:
“(10) Where an application is made to the District Court under subsection (1) for an order authorising the reception, detention, and care and treatment of a child in a registered acute mental health centre, the Executive shall report to the Court—
(a) whether the centre concerned is age-appropriate for a child, and
(b) if not, w…
My thoughts are also with the loved ones of those on the flight from Ahmedabad to England. I have friends in Ahmedabad and we are very worried about them today. I also offer condolences on behalf of the Labour Party to Deputy Conway-Walsh on the loss of her mother.
One of the most difficult decisions a family will ever have to take is to put a loved one into a nursing home. This decision places enormous trust in str…
The Tánaiste was the Minister for Health when the report of the inquiry into private nursing homes was published in 2020, with regard to the failures that happened in nursing homes.
The Tánaiste was the then Minister for Health who saw those very clear recommendations, which have not been implemented. We have a plethora of reports within the Department of Health post-pandemic, mainly stemming from 2020 to 2022, whic…
I welcome that we are having this debate today but we should not be here. I give huge credit to the "RTÉ Investigates" team for putting together that programme. If HIQA had been doing its job, we would not have had to have it. Clare Doyle should not have had to take that enormous step on her part to tell the stories that had been relayed to her. I would argue that we need to hear more from her because I believe she h…
In the changes announced today, there is an air of desperation on the part of the Minister of State and the Government to try to drive up housing supply. By lifting the cap on rents in order to attract institutional funding, the Government is effectively condemning workers and families, in Dublin in particular, to a lifetime of astronomical rents when there are fewer and fewer options to buy. Young workers, those new…
Hear, hear.
I am sharing time with Deputies Kelly and Nash.
I thank my colleague Deputy Smith for bringing this motion before the House. We have been here many times before. The reality is that we have almost 500,000 women, men and children now being starved to death in front of our eyes. Approximately 1 million more people are on the brink of starvation and, yet, there are 116,000 metric tonnes of food, more than four-months s…
There is a reality for public health patients that they have less access to lifesaving drugs compared to private patients and patients in the North, the UK and other countries. We know that only about one third of medicines approved by the EMA ever get authorisation to go on the market and onto the reimbursement lists here. An EU directive is aimed at broadening access to medicines. In recent days, we have read that …
-----and why processing times are so slow. Will he commit to seriously ill people that we will ensure speed of access to medicines in this country?
It is the EU directive on medicinal products for human use.
I welcome that the O'Farrell family have finally got an apology today. Is it enough? I do not know but we all very clearly know that we are only here, 14 years on from that young man's death, because of the sheer persistence, tenacity and fight of a family. Lucia, Jim, Hannah, Gemma, Pia and Amy, you have been fobbed off and told that Shane was to blame for his own death. No family in this State should have had to pu…
I welcome that we are having statements on this this evening. Although I, for one, would much rather we were talking about all the many other issues in the health service, such as the huge inequalities we see, particularly in the primary care system, we are back again talking about CHI this evening.
When we look at the revelations at the weekend on top of the report last week, we are seeing anxiety levels among pare…
I thank Deputy O'Flynn and his group for this important motion, which raises a whole raft of really important issues with regard to care in the community and at home, and indeed for any person with care needs. While most of the conversation today is about older people, it is about care right across the ages.
It is five years since the Minister of State's Government committed to a statutory right to home care support…
Ireland has one of the highest numbers of drug-induced deaths in Europe. We desperately need more services to save lives. Yesterday, the Health Research Board published numbers showing 128 people died while homeless in 2021. The overwhelming majority, almost 86%, had a history of substance misuse. There were 128 lives cut short way too early and, for the most part, that could have been prevented. The State, to its cr…