I welcome the opportunity to discuss Science Week 2025, whose theme this year is "Then. Today. Tomorrow" and how past knowledge informs present and future science. I commend Science Foundation Ireland, now Research Ireland, on its vision to establish Science Week 30 years ago. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and the Minister for the continuing investment in STEM subjects, personnel and facilities.
Esse…
TDs / Gillian Toole
Gillian Toole
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
147
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
41,514
words spoken in the chamber
Across 115 contributions
407
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
61
topics asked about
Across 16 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 147 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 115 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 4 | 5 |
| April 2025 | 3 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 6 | 14 |
| June 2025 | 10 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 4 | 9 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| November 2025 | 14 | 6 |
| December 2025 | 8 | 5 |
| January 2026 | 4 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 8 | 3 |
| March 2026 | 9 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 19 | 9 |
| May 2026 | 4 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 10 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 15 | 3 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| September 2026 | 21 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 8 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 25 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 Meath East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent 29 November 2024 to now
As every Member today has done, I condemn the barbaric events at Citywest and, more recently, in Drogheda, County Louth. I want to express my gratitude to the members of An Garda Síochána and the emergency services for their swift actions. However, it should not have come to this. As I said on 18 September, there is a real risk to social cohesion if we do not put our house in order in a fair and humane manner as quic…
-----for 16 and 17 November and travel advice is only recommending-----
I will keep my commentary simple and straightforward. I missed the other contributions as I was at a committee. I wish the best of luck to both candidates on Friday. More importantly, I wish them a good recovery next week when the adrenaline and cortisol levels start to subside. I hope they avoid any illness.
It is fair to say that a percentage of the population is disenfranchised facing into this election. What tha…
At this point, every Member of Dáil Éireann has received an email with information about protected disclosure, PD17/2025. That protected disclosure was made by a conscientious health professional. I am raising it as a matter of utmost gravity because, as far back as June and July of this year, that healthcare professional has attempted to get the matters relating to public health addressed by HIQA, the Department of …
All of the processes have been followed, including contacting the OPDC. By referencing the other agencies, my point is that there is silence. This is a matter of serious public health. When I cross-check the criteria and scope with the Covid-19 evaluation committee that the Department of the Taoiseach established, under scope and exclusions are the very matters included within this protected disclosure: the care of o…
I am grateful for this opportunity. I acknowledge the "him" in my life who contributed greatly to getting me in here. I am grateful to the Movember organisation which provided us with recent research into the whole area of men's health. It is an area that I have a particular interest in. I found a module on men's health from 2003 from the North-Eastern Health Board. Despite criticism, I acknowledge how far we came be…
As many others have said, this is the first budget of five. We will not all be happy. There are pros and cons to everything. Fundamentally, to try to balance books, deliver fairness and target assistance to the areas that are most necessary and deserving is an almost impossible task. I will acknowledge the targeting of funding towards education, disability matters, healthcare, housing and, hopefully, public transport…
I welcome and support this amendment to section 7 of the National Training Fund Act. I am extremely interested in and grateful for the discussion that we have had. This process in itself is a learning process for me. It will not be any surprise to either the Minister or the Minister of State that I want to focus my attention on Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, ETB, and Dunboyne College of Further Educati…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle, an Aire agus an Aire Stáit - an triúr agaibh. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for this opportunity. I would also like to acknowledge the information and support given to me by Meath IFA and the Irish Grain Growers group who have presented to the committee.
Rather than repeat the statistics that have been so forthcoming from all parties and none today, as we are all very much aw…
Go raibh maith agat. I watch and I learn.
I am very appreciative of all the discussions I have heard, both in the Chamber and in my room today.
There is a fantastic exchange of knowledge, diversity of debate and agreement on many subjects. I have edited out the bulk of my commentary rather than be repetitious. I will keep it with a community focus.
I welcome the annually increased and increasing budget funding and the improving fiscal and human resources t…
I will begin by thanking all the departmental teams, the team in the Parliamentary Budget Office, and the ushers who were ferrying budget packages up and down today.
I thank everybody who worked long, hard hours in preparation for this, in trying to go back over trends, looking through forecasting, looking at the global situation and then coming up with a plan that would try, first of all, to meet the objective I un…
I wish to convey my most sincere thanks to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the officials at the Department of Health, in the Health Service Executive, and in particular my former colleagues, as I am no longer practising, in the Irish Pharmacy Union, in particular Kathy Maher, the contractors committee and the executive, who have done sterling work over the years, which is now being recognised. This is a cas…
I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. I thank all the family and young carers who carry out their tasks on a daily basis and save the State an absolute fortune. I thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, the Parliamentary Budget Office and my predecessors in the regional group, particularly Denis Naughten, who did substantial work on this issue and contributed to the position we are in today.
…
Education is a freedom and enabling children and teenagers to participate and achieve their own personal goals is of paramount importance. School transport is a significant part of that enablement. The Government has made great strides in the area of special education and the improvements include working with the NCSE to bring forward timelines, so I am wondering why in this area we still have the annual anxiety, cha…
This is probably the most divisive issue in politics. It definitely deserves more frequent discussion. I have been requesting this discussion for the past six months, so I am grateful for my two minutes now.
What will be Ireland's migration management plan for the positive net migration of 79,000 people to our country? How is Ireland's ability to cope in the following areas being measured and planned for: education,…
I welcome the publication of the strategy and, most important, the commitments within it because that, in effect, is the roadmap. It will, most definitely, underpin the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters and it will be our reference point. Indeed, we are already taking elements of it and incorporating them into the work plan of the current term.
Is the plan of action like to be published in…
I will be very careful if I go to west Cork on my holidays. I thank the Deputy for the heads-up.
On a more serious note, I thank the Minister, his team and I presume the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers for the sterling work on what I consider to be a future-proofing and highly considered safeguarding of the next generations of the country. I also express my gratitude to our juvenile liaison officers. I will name two of them from County Meath, garda Barbara Kelly and garda Aisling Connor and the entire com…
I am going to share with the Minister a Meath East constituent's lived experience of domestic violence. I have her permission and I have anonymised everything. She is a 42-year-old and has been 19 years in an engaged relationship with three children. She was mortgage-approved and she had a wedding booked. During that time, she achieved two third level degrees. Her final assault was in 2020, when she was slammed throu…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit and I thank Deputy Smith as well for affording us the opportunity to discuss this issue. I acknowledge and put on record the willingness of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to meet resident groups and the North Runway Technical Group as recently as 18 June this year. Those meetings - any that I have been able to sit in at - have taken the thrust of always being solution-focused. I wil…
I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important subject for discussion. At the risk of being pedantic, I have said it before but I will say it again and continue to say it: there is a very important saying, let food be your medicine. It is the foundation of health. The health basis and the knock-on health effects of this issue are yet to play out. I totally understand the role of the competition auth…
I thank the Minister for the briefing and for the time he has put into committee meetings, which were very informative. I welcome elements of this amendment Bill, in particular with regard to judicial reviews and what I would call the disassociated objectors from one end of the country to the other. With the developer-led model, we cannot lose sight of serving the common good in tandem with the delivery of infrastruc…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo inniu. I take on board the opening remarks of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and his comprehensive explanation of the procedures involved in these three out of the four motions we were expecting today. I understand the need for a common approach to procedures for international protection within the European Union. I will keep my remarks quite simple and, I hope…