The motion is not unimportant but it is a symbol of support. The flotilla itself is also a symbol but it is much more; it is actual action. It is an action towards developing and delivering a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, something which the international community has failed to do. If successful, it would be a counterbalance to the abhorrent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as set up by Israel and the United States.…
TDs / Duncan Smith
Duncan Smith
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
547
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
93,576
words spoken in the chamber
Across 293 contributions
361
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
162
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 547 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 293 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 12 | 2 |
| February 2025 | 40 | 11 |
| March 2025 | 46 | 10 |
| April 2025 | 34 | 16 |
| May 2025 | 27 | 14 |
| June 2025 | 31 | 19 |
| July 2025 | 19 | 13 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 34 | 8 |
| October 2025 | 31 | 23 |
| November 2025 | 24 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 17 | 18 |
| January 2026 | 16 | 16 |
| February 2026 | 34 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 19 | 14 |
| April 2026 | 25 | 9 |
| May 2026 | 41 | 30 |
| June 2026 | 51 | 12 |
| July 2026 | 15 | 11 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 | 9 |
| October 2026 | 19 | 9 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 187 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 Fingal East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
I endorse the calls of Deputy Paul Murphy for an Irish representative on the legal observer post for the Global Sumud Flotilla. It is well within the tramlines of diplomatic action that we would do that.
I raise with exasperation and desperation the case of Barry Corcoran in my constituency. In 2019 Barry wanted to take part in a deep retrofit pilot programme. He did his due diligence, checked the SEAI register for …
There are swathes of people raising families in a rental system that was never designed for long-term living, with the inflationary impact of increased rental costs. The average industrial wage in this country is just over €50,000, but the average rental price in Dublin is over half the industrial wage. If we take into account all the cost-of-living increases, particularly relating to food, they have been well discus…
2. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if pension entitlements will be transferred to the widow of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49022/25]
It was not my initial intention to raise this as a priority question this morning but I am glad of the opportunity. It relates to the pension entitlements of deceased Defence Forces officer Peter Flood and transferring those to entitlements to his widow.
The reason I raise the issue - the family understand and have been informed of the circumstances by the Defence Forces - is that the individual in question left school after his communion, had no formal education and, in the words of his own family, had severe literacy issues. He found sanctuary in the Defence Forces. He served there for 22 years and had multiple tours of Lebanon. He was a proud Defence Forces member…
I thank the Tánaiste. I will not delve too much further into the details of this. I look forward to his more detailed response and anything the Department of Social Protection can do. I will come back through him if I believe there are any further avenues we can pursue.
I am sure that the Taoiseach will join all of us in sending our thoughts to the communities of Donabate and Portrane with the breaking news that remains have found in the search for poor Daniel Aruebose.
I want to return to what we raised at the Business Committee last Thursday, which is a commitment from the Taoiseach at the earliest possible convenience to have a debate on Gaza, with the measures that are now bein…
I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that the Central Bank shall not approve a prospectus for securities issued by or on behalf of a state that is an occupying power; to provide for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015 that a dismissal of an employee shall be deemed unfair where it arises from a refusal to handle goods associated with the activities of an oc…
I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."
Speaking to members of the community who were around in the first Pride and subsequent Prides, the movement was rooted in protest, demonstration and anger. We are here tonight in that spirit with regard to transgender healthcare.
I want to read two things. My colleague, Deputy Wall, referred to how we were bottom of the list in Europe with regard to transgender healthcare. In the 2020 programme for Government, the G…
I thank Sinn Féin for this really detailed, strong motion that has been presented tonight, and I thank our party's spokesperson, Marie Sherlock, for sharing time. As a former party spokesperson on health, nothing has struck me more than the cases of women who have come to me to explain to me the pain, the silencing, the suffering and the exclusion they have felt as women in this country suffering from endometriosis. …
On the same issue, if the roles were reversed and a GAA club in Greystones, Swords or anywhere else were trying to go somewhere and the mentors who were travelling with them were falling foul of this, we would be rightly asking questions and, indeed, be outraged. We know this is not a normal case either. There have been many political representations made on this. We also have something else coming down the tracks wi…
I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I am delighted to have the opportunity to move this Bill on Second Stage. To be clear, this Bill will not solve the many issues impacting negatively the daily lives of residents in north County Dublin and east County Meath, including aircraft noise, night-time flights and the passenger cap. Members of the Government who were in opposition when this Bill was introduc…
I fundamentally disagree with the assertions of the Minister of State on the provisions of this Bill. I thank Deputies O'Reilly, Graves, O'Rourke, Pa Daly and Toole for contributing to the debate. These Deputies do not just contribute to the debates when the lights and cameras are on. They have been at every committee and public meetings for years on this issue. There is no other issue that unites politicians in nort…
It is on Committee Stage.
I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for a period of paid leave in order to enable employees to participate in health screening programmes; for that purpose to amend the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997; to extend the protection against unfair dismissals conferred by the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015; to provide for the consequential amendment of certain other Acts;…
I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."
Two weeks before the "RTÉ Investigates" programme, a man in his 80s came to my clinic. He makes a bare minimum of 14 trips a week to the nursing home in which his wife is living. He visits in the morning to make sure his wife's day can begin with care, dignity and love. It is not the nursing home's job to provide love but it is its job to provide care and dignity. He goes again at night to make sure her day ends with…
I welcome the time to speak on this topic. The northern commuter line is one of the most stressed lines in this country. The plan in the all-island strategic review, which is a long-distance project, aims at four-tracking that line. That is a must for towns like Donabate, the population of which is going to increase by up to 5,000 people in the next couple of years, or 25%. It is the first stop outside the DART line …
Given the slaughter, the genocide and the last 20 months of horror, to wake up to the news, as we did this morning, that perhaps there will be a 60-day ceasefire will be welcomed by most people. Of course we will welcome it if it happens but for a number of reasons it is hard to have confidence in a ceasefire in this conflict. One reason is that the person who announced it this morning, Donald Trump, has a poor recor…
That is all eating into all of our time. It eats into the time of all of us who are coming behind. I intend to use only one minute of my time.
Public transport is under huge pressure in our city and surrounding areas. BusConnects, where we desperately need it in north County Dublin, in Donabate and Portrane, has been delayed yet again until autumn 2026. A service there, the 33B, is provided by Go-Ahead Ireland. In M…
People have previously been rushed towards the end of their contributions.
I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. I represent Dublin Fingal East in north County Dublin, which has a very young and fast-growing population. There is a lack of primary school places in the village of Portmarnock, which is an issue I have been raising for a number of months. I have tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister. Unfortunately the responses have been most unsatisfactory. I tabl…
I thank the Minister of State. I sit on school boards, as the Minister of State probably does or has done. I am aware of the matter of duplication. This is why we have presented the data in its baldest form. Duplication is not an issue. I know it sometimes is an issue in other towns but it is not an issue in Portmarnock.
The development and provision of a large new school building for Malahide Portmarnock Educate To…