I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position with regard to school places in Scoil Mhuire Allenwood, County Kildare. The Deputy is aware that Scoil Mhuire Allenwood is a coeducational primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. The school had an enrolment in September 2025 of 263 pupils. This …
TDs / Niamh Smyth
Niamh Smyth
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
Portrait: Niamh Smyth (CC BY 4.0) · source file
994
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
67,002
words spoken in the chamber
67,002 as a minister, 0 as a TD
328
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
161
topics asked about
Across 19 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 994 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 160 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 41 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 40 | 24 |
| March 2025 | 61 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 59 | 1 |
| May 2025 | 47 | 3 |
| June 2025 | 30 | 6 |
| July 2025 | 34 | 10 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 101 | 26 |
| October 2025 | 46 | 2 |
| November 2025 | 61 | 15 |
| December 2025 | 39 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 45 | 15 |
| February 2026 | 51 | 4 |
| March 2026 | 63 | 4 |
| April 2026 | 56 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 56 | 12 |
| June 2026 | 58 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 35 | 14 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 59 | 12 |
| October 2026 | 12 | 1 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 110 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 Cavan-Monaghan 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment 29 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment 2 June 2025 to now
I am slightly concerned about the difference between the information the Deputy has and the information the Department has, because the figures do not lie. Enrolments are either increasing or decreasing year on year. I do not for one minute question the Deputy's bona fides regarding the information he has brought to the Dáil today, so I ask him to liaise directly. I will reflect what he said today to the Minister for…
I am familiar with the family resource centres the Deputy spoke about in my constituency. They are a valuable gem in any community. They take a holistic approach. They think of every demographic in a family and are a huge resource to have in an area.
The building blocks extension grant scheme was launched in late 2024, and successful applicants are working with the Department in delivering their projects. An applica…
In my limited knowledge on the funding streams that are available to the centres I know in my constituency, the model is that there is a maximum of what the Department can fund towards it. Any of the projects I am aware of they have had to source other funds. In the Border region, we have had the opportunity to source PEACE and local authority funding. There has always been a jigsaw approach to it to have that overal…
I appreciate the request for a pathway to be put in place whereby other agencies can contribute to the overall cost. The Deputy can be sure I will reflect that to the Minister. I thank him again for raising this important issue. It is a priority for the Minister and the Government. The programme for Government commits for the first time to providing capital investment to build and purchase State-owned early learning …
I will, of course.
I thank Deputy Lahart for raising this important issue and will certainly reflect his observations to the Minister for Transport. The Deputy will be aware that neither the Minister for Transport nor his Department are involved in the day-to-day operation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector. The National Transport Authority, NTA, the independent transport regulator, has responsibility for setting taxi fa…
As I said, I will certainly bring the Deputy's views to the Minister. As Deputy Lahart quite rightly said, the Minister issued a letter on 19 November to the NTA and we await its response. He also met this morning with the advisory committee on SPSVs, whose role is to provide advice to the Minister and the NTA in relation to issues relevant to SPSVs and their drivers, where the matter was discussed. I have no doubt t…
I thank the Deputies. I am delighted, as Deputies Kenny and O'Reilly are, that when we live in a Border county like Monaghan and Cavan, we can cross over the jurisdiction. That invisible crossing happens many times. A person could be living 1 mile up the road and be in a different jurisdiction. Deputy Kenny was quite right when he said carers are never going to be living a million miles away from the person they are …
It is the same problem.
I will not commit to it being resolved by Christmas but as we all work and strive towards a united Ireland, this is a very pragmatic request and we should take a very pragmatic approach to it. As I said, I will certainly reflect the views of the Deputies, the particular instances they have outlined today and the facts they have to back them up regarding the small numbers in question that we have to address. Going bac…
I move amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following:
"Dáil Éireann resolves that the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for further consideration of the Bill.".
This is to allow for sufficient time for full consideration of the Bill and for the development of Government proposals before the end of 2026, specificall…
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. It has been a very thought-provoking, pragmatic and respectful debate and I very much appreciate that. I commend Deputy Stanley on raising the matter and the work that he has put into this Bill. I appreciate that it is an area that generates a lot of interest and debate across the country. The Government believes in the importance of public participation within our planni…
Hear, hear.
Budget 2026 will safeguard and expand our economic growth and enhance Ireland’s competitiveness into the future. It is future-focused and, critically, it reflects the importance of Ireland’s digital and enterprise economy. With regard to the measures in budget 2026 that fall under my remit, I will mention two particular areas. First, we have ring-fenced €1.4 million to establish a national artificial intelligence off…
I thank Deputy Gibney for her question. The Department is the national competent authority with responsibility for the control of exports of dual-use and military items under EU and national legislation. The primary focus of export controls is not to block trade or exports but to enable the free movement of legitimate goods while ensuring that certain sensitive categories are subject to appropriate regulation. These …
I thank the Deputy for her question. I know she has raised this matter on a number of occasions before. I too take this risk incredibly seriously. I will speak to officials in the Department in detail in this regard.
The Department of Defence currently only facilitates Irish SMEs during their initial interaction with initiatives such as the European Defence Fund. This interaction is primarily administrative in natur…
Applications for dual-use licences in respect of exports to any country are assessed on a case-by-case basis in line with the assessment criteria set out in the regulation and the eight criteria set out in the European Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment. In addition, my officials seek real-time geopolitical observations from th…
I thank the Deputy for his really important question. This is something we all hear about regularly in our constituency offices. The action plan on competitiveness and productivity - a commitment in the programme for Government - recently published by the Minister, Deputy Burke, is a whole-of-government strategic response to the challenges that Ireland is facing. A key focus of the action plan is improving Ireland’s …
The red-tape challenge will be introduced across Government to significantly reduce regulation for SMEs, because we have to get the balance right. I am glad the Deputy stated that regulation is the third most important issue. Companies and CEOs recognise the importance of regulation without killing businesses with additional burdens. The red-tape challenge will include a review by each Department to identify regulati…
I agree wholeheartedly with what the Deputy said in terms of digitalisation, and that is not to take away from Deputy Conway-Walsh's point that there are businesses which will struggle with that. That is why the Department launched the digital charter, which is a call to action for bigger companies that are digitally proficient to buddy up with smaller businesses across the country to help them get on the digitalisat…
I thank the Deputy for his important question. As somebody from a rural constituency, I am aware of how incredibly important IDA Ireland site visits are. I know the Deputy feels very strongly about those engagements as important opportunities for his county and the midlands.
IDA Ireland remains committed to regional development as one of four key strategic objectives of its strategy for the period 2025 to 2029, Adap…
I understand the passion and frustration of Deputy McCormack. While he gives us the figures regarding what is going to Westmeath and Offaly, there can be many reasons for that, although I am not defending it in any way. If the Deputy would like me to facilitate a meeting between him and IDA Ireland regarding the visits to County Offaly to see if there is more we can do to bolster those visits, I would be more than ha…
The goal in the coming years is to build on the region's strengths and competencies to win that investment. I take the Deputy’s point that you have to have the facilities - sometimes you have to build it and they will come. Very often, the metric that gets people to come is if they see nice facilities and all the wraparound things, such as infrastructure, housing, footfall or whatever. I take the Deputy’s point. As s…
I thank Deputy Moynihan for his very important question. In June, the Government of China initiated an anti-dumping investigation on imports of pork and beef products from the European Union, and it has now announced provisional duties on imports of pork from the EU. The European Commission is in the process of assessing this announcement and will consider measures to protect EU industry and economic interests ahead …