I want to raise two other related matters. The Minister of State has referred to one of them, which is headroom. The time taken for these amendments to the county development plan is too long as it can take up to nine months. Can we look to expedite this timeframe? To discuss in more detail the issue of headroom, from my experience of development plans, the previous direction from the Office of the Planning Regulator…
TDs / Edward Timmins
Edward Timmins
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
268
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
27,719
words spoken in the chamber
Across 174 contributions
442
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
117
topics asked about
Across 18 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 268 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 174 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 5 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 3 | 10 |
| March 2025 | 7 | 2 |
| April 2025 | 11 | 7 |
| May 2025 | 18 | 8 |
| June 2025 | 8 | 4 |
| July 2025 | 22 | 28 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 12 | 5 |
| October 2025 | 16 | 12 |
| November 2025 | 23 | 20 |
| December 2025 | 18 | 12 |
| January 2026 | 14 | 7 |
| February 2026 | 18 | 13 |
| March 2026 | 6 | 3 |
| April 2026 | 23 | 8 |
| May 2026 | 16 | 9 |
| June 2026 | 16 | 6 |
| July 2026 | 10 | 4 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 10 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 12 | 10 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 148 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 Wicklow 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
I often see a gap between the way the councils operate and what happens here in Leinster House. The councils need to be closely involved in the delivery of housing. Delivery must be micromanaged. These targets must be drilled down further, with monthly figures produced by all local authorities of actuals versus targets, and explanations given. This is the only way to deliver a large number of houses. The Minister mus…
I want to raise the issue of the proposed closure of Herbert Road in Bray. It is an essential route for residents, emergency services and local businesses and almost everyone in the town and the wider area is against its closure. The closure of the junction will create significant traffic congestion in north Wicklow. Closing Herbert Road and improving the bus corridor should not be mutually exclusive. A more balanced…
It is time to support the entire community of Bray.
I have a proposal that might be a solution. We have all diagnosed the problem fairly well at this stage. A total of 83,000 applicants were waiting for driver tests in April. The proposal I have today may help solve the long driver test waiting times. Will the RSA work with the approved driver instructors, ADI, in a more effective way? Often the ADI are not fully aware of all aspects involved in a driver test. I call …
It is important that these guidelines are rolled out to the county councils as soon as possible to allow them to amend their county development and local area plans. Because of the delay, I have seen a planning application for 335 houses in Blessington, County Wicklow, which was supported by the council and all the elected members, refused by An Bord Pleanála because the local area plan was not up to date with the ne…
We all know the huge benefit international trade has had on this country. On a finance basis alone, of the €97 billion we take in in taxes, more than €50 billion is attributable to our multinationals by way of corporation tax, VAT and PAYE. This supports all the services this State supplies, including health, social welfare and education. I often think this fact is lost on many people.
I wish to raise four specific …
Can I come in?
Will the Minister give an update on three secondary schools in west Wicklow: Blessington Community College; Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass, and St. Kevin's Communtity College, Dunlavin? These are all awaiting building projects to commence. With a growing population in west Wicklow and further development planned in the area, these projects require urgent attention. These are the only secondary schools in west Wicklow a…
I was less than 30 seconds.
I thank the Minister of State for being here this evening. I want to discuss the individual county council building targets from 2025 to 2030 and the actuals from 2020 to 2024. The national planning framework needs to be finalised. I have been raising this since I came here and, prior to that, in my time as a county councillor. Coincidentally, a first revision was published today. I hope it can be put through the Hou…
That answer is high level. What I am getting at here is that more micromanaging is required. In particular, each county has a target but I would suggest this should be monitored on a monthly basis, with an explanation sought if it is not reached. This should be done cumulatively as well. It should even go so far as having quarterly meetings with CEOs and the heads of planning and the Minister and Minister of State wi…
Next Monday will see the launch of a new men's mental health programme in Baltinglass, County Wicklow. This is the Headsup programme. Headsup is an evidence-based mental health education and training programme for men who are finding life stressful, have issues with unemployment, feel isolated or lonely and who wish to learn ways to improve their well-being. Headsup gives men the opportunity to build their mental hea…
We should all know the huge benefit international trade has been for Ireland. On a financial basis alone, of the €97 billion we take in in taxes, more than €50 billion is attributable to our multinationals by way of corporation tax, VAT and PAYE. This supports all the services that the State supplies, including health, social welfare and education. I often wonder whether this fact is lost on many people.
I wish to r…
I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his new role. I congratulate the two Ministers and wish them the best of luck in what is clearly a very challenging role.
After spending over 20 years on Wicklow County Council and having dealt with four county development plans, I would like to make a number of points on the Housing Commission report. Many aspects are good but some show a disconnect with realities on the …
I raise a specific issue here today on the oversight of the various boards that are responsible for managing the spending of public money. We all know about the waste of public money that is making the headlines. Many are expressing outrage, but we are not hearing many solutions. We need to come up with changes and I offer one here today.
I have reviewed many State boards and I am struck by the lack of people on the…
It breeds inefficiencies.
I want to raise a specific issue with regard to the war in Ukraine, that is, the issue of Ukrainian children being held prisoner in Russia. A report by researchers at Yale University gives a detailed account of Russia's child deportation campaign. There is a network of 43 Russian facilities to which Ukrainian children have been moved since February 2022. Many of the camps are in Crimea and southern Russia, close to U…
My contribution will be short. I thank the Minister and I wish her all the very best in her new role. I have no doubt she will perform very well. I raise the specific issue of pharmacies and the receipts they give to customers. This is an issue I raised many years ago and brought a successful motion to Wicklow County Council on the matter. I request that all pharmacy receipts give a detailed breakdown of the medicine…
I am sure I will probably echo some of the sentiments expressed by Deputy Lahart. At the end of his contribution, he referred to something with which I will start, namely that the programme for Government is laudable and I commend it. However, it is based on the premise that we continue as a prosperous country and continue to collect taxes, primarily from foreign multinationals. For example, out of the approximately …
I have a totally new proposal here today. It is to develop an American Presidents' trail, linking all the ancestral homes of US Presidents. There have been a huge number of US Presidents whose ancestors came from this island, North and South. It would also be a way of linking Northern Ireland with southern Ireland in a cohesive way through tourism.
As I say, many US Presidents have their ancestral homes here. This i…
It is a great honour to be elected to represent the wonderful people of County Wicklow. I am very grateful to them for the trust they have put in me.
I wish to raise the lack of funding for national roads in recent years. This has impacted the people of Wicklow, which is a commuter county. The N81 is one of the most dangerous roads in the country, as has been proven in several studies. The N81 is the only national r…
During my first words in the Dáil earlier this afternoon, I was restricted to one minute. Now, I have five minutes and I do not think I even need five minutes.
First, I pay tribute to the people of County Wicklow who elected me here. I thank them for placing their trust in me. Second, I would like to say that I want to work with the other three Wicklow TDs - Deputy Whitmore has just stepped out of the Chamber - for the betterment of County Wicklow. Third, and probably more importantly, I want to work with every Deputy in this House for the betterment of this country. I am h…