Well, there are 100 beds.
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
Taoiseach-----
The vast majority of the statements here today reflect the absolute anger we all feel about the shambles in the assessment of needs. I refer to the shambles of the 529.77 whole-time equivalent unfilled posts in the CDNTs, the failure to retain staff in both primary care and the CDNTs, the reliance on private assessments because the State cannot get its act together and the devastation for parents as they watch their …
This matter relates to the basic income for those involved in the arts. This is a ground-breaking scheme that threw a lifeline to 2,000 artists in 2022. I wish to get assurances from the Minister of State as to what will happen in August when the three-year lifetime of the scheme expires. Many artists are anxious about what is likely to happen. A review is under way, which is absolutely acceptable and understandable.…
I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. Notwithstanding all of the detail provided, the question still remains as to whether artists can have any assurance that the payments they receive will end in August or in December, given that the scheme is fully funded to the end of the year.
When the review is complete and a decision is made, it will take time to revise some of the criteria relating to…
113. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the action she has taken to ensure that community pharmacists will administer the free hormone replacement therapy, HRT, scheme from 1 June 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24511/25]
I put it to the Minister that 1 June is 19 days away. The majority of pharmacists I have spoken to - and I have spoken to many - tell me they are not signing up to the free HRT scheme. I understand that no communication has been made to the pharmacists about the software. It is my understanding that the providers of the software have not been given any information by the Department about adding free HRT to the system…
I thank the Minister for the reply. At the heart of this mess are women on HRT and the women who could be on it. For non-GMS patients, the cost is €35 to €70 per month. This is a serious amount of money for many women. I am hugely passionate about this scheme but this crack of announcing first and working out the details later is simply unacceptable. There are four key issues here, the first of which is the lack of H…
The first thing was to have written to every pharmacist in the country-----
I wrote to pharmacies across-----
----- my constituency. The first they heard of it was on "Liveline". The key thing is that the Department-----
----- has form on this. With regard to the Covid vaccination, the first pharmacists heard of it was through the airwaves. The prescription extension scheme was introduced last September, and no homework was done on it. GPs are writing "do not repeat" scripts. There was no fee agreed with the pharmacists. The scheme is not operating as intended. On the fee itself, there is a sense out there that the diktat of €5-----
----- is the straw that is breaking the camel's back. We are all clear that pharmacists are not on the breadline.
It is extremely foolish to assume that the pharmacy sector is like what it was 20 years ago. This is about recognition and respect for what pharmacists are delivering. A figure of €6.50 was agreed for the contraception scheme. I get that a negotiation has to take place - I come from a trade union background - but to my mind, no negotiation took place here.
With regard to the IT system, I have looked at the software.
An additional line has to be put in. I have spoken to a number of pharmacists - not just one - and they have told me that there has been no communication with them about what will be added to the software to link them to the PCRS by 1 June.
I thank Deputy Cummins and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. They have a long track record in this area.
From a Labour Party perspective, I wholeheartedly welcome this motion. It addresses an issue that was close to the heart of our former education spokesperson, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who very much championed it in a cold place when his was a lone voice calling for greater divestment of s…
I am calling for an urgent and speedy review of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Many of us recognise and applaud the intent and ambition of the Act in supposedly giving greater power and autonomy to vulnerable individuals and to significantly increasing the numbers registering enduring power of attorney, EPA. The reality has proved very different, however. I want to relay to the Minister of State th…
I thank the Minister of State for that. It is important to understand and listen to the experience of those who have the working knowledge of how this Act has operated. Five years is simply too long a period for a review of this legislation to take place. I want to relay to the Minister of State some of the views of the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland, which talks about how the Assisted Decision-Making (C…
I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this important motion. It is a pity that the Minister is stepping out because I have some important questions for her, but no doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will be able to take them up.
There is considerable frustration among parents, early years workers and providers because, while this issue got an awful lot of attention in the run-up to the election, it has really fal…
We have a large number of parents in the Gallery this morning who come from brilliant groups like the NIC Side by Side group, FUSS, the ICON FAACT group and Embrace Autism D9.
Many of these are part of the Equality in Education in Dublin Central group. These groups were set up out of sheer desperation because of the lack of health and education services for children. They have provided a lifeline to many parents, wh…
This is my final point. While we rightly focus on the many children with autism, there are other children with learning needs such as dyslexia. There is an inherent hostility within the Department of Education that we have seen for many years with regard to the opening of new reading classes in schools. That needs to change.
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 6, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:
“Role of jury in High Court defamation actions
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and notwithstanding section 94 of The Courts of Justice Act 1924, or any other provision made by or under any enactment or rule of law, where a
defamation action is tried by the High Court sitting with a jury—
(a) all questions of fact shall be tried…
I very much welcome that we are having these statements. It is important to say that over the past number of weeks, I have spent a good deal of time talking to staff of CHI - doctors and nurses - and many of the parents of patients. As we all accept, every day brilliant work is done across the three sites in question. I know that as a parent who has had to use Temple Street hospital on a number of occasions in recent…
May I just make two quick points, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle? First, with regard to the weight of expectation, the Minister raised earlier the 22 new theatres. They will be brilliant when they are up and running, but it will take years for them to open, from what I hear when I talk to the commissioning team in CHI. I think we have 15 theatres at the moment. There is a very serious question about the resourcing and staff…
The reality is that three years ago the commissioning team in CHI put in a request for 382.8 whole-time equivalent staff and they believe they have got little or no response from the HSE or the Department of Health. In fact, in the words of one, they have never been so far behind in the staffing of a new hospital project. We need to make sure that that staffing is put in place next year because the public expect at t…