I am not in the habit of bringing up traffic on the floor of the Dáil, but such is the scale of the traffic chaos in my home town of Swords that I am having to do it for the second time in three months. I am glad the Minister for Health is here. Due to long-term road closures to facilitate works and huge traffic reorientation projects on the R132 dual carriageway, people's lives are being impacted. They are getting s…
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 noted that, in her opening statement, the Minister framed this debate quite narrowly, as she has done in previous statements on the issue and during Private Members' business. She framed it largely in terms of the UN Security Council being an impediment that simply needs to be removed to allow for more agile and sophisticated foreign policy decisions, implying that anyone who thinks otherwise is prehistoric and uns…
There is a modest ask today before the debate takes on its full volume. We ask the Chief Whip not to end the debate on the Defence (Amendment) Bill tomorrow but instead to adjourn it. We can then have a proper Second Stage debate on the Defence (Amendment) Bill instead of ramming it through.
As my colleague has said, now is the time for the Minister and his Government to undo the miscalculations they have made over the past number of months in relation to the public sector. I believe they calculated that the public sector would not get the support of other workers in the economy. Anybody who was on the picket line yesterday or around our towns and villages will know that was not the case, such was the le…
The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, was on the radio this morning cleaning up yet another mess from the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan. He said we need cool heads. Who was he referring to? I do not think he was referring to RTÉ director general, Kevin Bakhurst, who I think has shown a remarkably cool head under scrutiny at Oireachtas committees and in public on this matter. I do not think he was referring to the Minist…
According to the Tánaiste, this was supposed to be the budget for "people who get up early in the morning." We could not believe that the Tánaiste resurrected that torturous, horrible, triggering phrase, which was first iterated by Leo Varadkar somewhere nine years ago when he was looking to be leader of Fine Gael. This was supposed to be a budget also for workers. It was a budget for nobody. Nobody won from this bud…
Hear, hear.
The inflationary impact of the help to buy scheme over the past number of years has resulted in homes on the market in my constituency falling outside the threshold for the scheme. The Government could increase it to €40,000, €45,000 or €50,000. People cannot qualify. People cannot use the Government's much ballyhooed scheme, which apparently helps young people get homes. They cannot afford to buy homes. If the Minis…
The Minister has been sold a pup with the words he has been given to read tonight. He said that increasing the price of smoking has been a success in terms of diminishing numbers. He mentioned a 2007 start date and the figure now of a 17% smoking rate. However, the tobacco-free Ireland strategy was launched by James Reilly in 2013, when prevalence rates were at 22%. The target was to be at 5% by 2025. The Government'…
First, I wish to pass on the condolences of the Labour Party on the passing of Seamus Carroll, a genuinely warm presence in these corridors for many years. He will be sorely missed and out thoughts are with Treasa and his wider family.
There is a need for this industrial action. The 100,000 front-line workers across health, education and local authorities do not want to be on a work to rule. They do not want strike …
In light of the Virgin Meida investigation last night, there is an urgent need for a debate on special education and additional educational needs. We had this Government announcing places at the start of an academic and school year and weeks into it, those places are not filled by children and families we know personally are not getting those places. That is just the tip of this crisis. We need an urgent debate on it…
24. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [68568/26]
At the Cabinet committee, will the Taoiseach back up his words at the UN General Assembly with three separate actions to strengthen support for the Palestinian people? First, in light of the British Government's policy reset and its stronger version of an occupied territories Bill, will the Government revisit its own Attorney General's advice as well as advice from Departments in relation to financial services and se…
Yes, Britain is including services, in accordance with the legal advice it has been given.
Spain, which is an EU member state, has included services. Now the UK is acting.
The Minister may have read in the Irish Independent this week that the remains of a body found in Galway in 1995 went missing from a HSE mortuary. There are 51 sets of unidentified remains on the Government database. In three of those cases, the remains or parts of the remains have gone missing. These include a skull found in north County Dublin in 2006 and partial remains found in Wexford in 1995. It is hoped that m…
I find it incredible that we do not have a commitment for a debate with both the former and current Ministers for justice about the ramifications of the whistleblower documentary last week. The budget will not distract us from seeking this debate. We are objecting this week. We will object next week. We will object every week until the debate happens.
The Labour Party and I want to raise with the Minister the compounding crisis year on year for school transport. It is impacting every constituency. I represent a largely urban constituency, yet I am dealing with ten families in Swords who are unable to get school transport up to Coláiste Ghlór na Mara in Balbriggan. This is happening every single year; kids are being left at the side of the road. My party colleague …
119. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence to provide an update on recruitment numbers for the Defence Forces as of July 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54380/26]
I thank Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, for taking this debate late on a Thursday evening, on the last sitting day of this term.
I would like to talk about the town of Swords in north County Dublin. It is the third largest town by population in Ireland, but it is still treated culturally like a small village with a few airport workers in it. I am not sure how familiar the Minister of State is with Swords, but it i…
I thank the Minister of State for her response, which speaks to the issue I am raising. Again, she will sense the tone in which I am raising it. There is an awful lot happening and being built, but it is the co-ordination of these works that is the problem.
If I could take just three examples from the Minister of State's response, we have the Sword's cultural quarter which is closed at the Seatown Road. That is one …
I welcome to the Gallery former councillor Peter Coyle, a great servant to the Labour Party and Fingal local government for 20 years.
I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing forward this motion on behalf of the Labour Party and the majority of Deputies for their contributions to this debate today. I have to qualify that thanks as a couple of the Sinn Féin contributors chose to take a narrow, decontextualised view of Labou…
You have had your moment.
We have put this motion down in July 2026, at a time of relative plenty. While over the past number of years things have been brought in to attempt to relieve the burden on parents and families in relation to school costs, this Government has continued, almost by stealth, to squeeze families in relation to the cost of education. State examination fees continue to go up. School transport fee…
I raise the lack of ASD classes in my constituency in Fingal, the youngest and fastest growing area of the country. Towns like Swords, Donabate and Portmarnock have ASD classes at primary school level, albeit they are vastly oversubscribed and there are huge waiting lists, but in Malahide there are no ASD classes in any of the primary schools. When Sam’s dad emails my office asking where his son is going to be able t…
The summer programme, previously known as July provision, remains in absolute chaos. We have parents and children still wondering whether they are going to get a service this summer. We have an email address and a phone number but we do not have answers. We would like a debate in this House at the earliest possible opportunity.