I congratulate Deputy Hayes on making his maiden speech in the Dáil. I did not expect to be saying that at this stage. However, I congratulate him and his supporters who join him today.
As a small open globalised economy that is home to substantial levels of foreign direct investment, elevated levels of intellectual property, and by extension capital allowances associated with that intellectual property, are inevita…
TDs / Robert Troy
Robert Troy
Minister of State at the Department of Finance
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
431
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
91,732
words spoken in the chamber
91,034 as a minister, 698 as a TD
368
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
128
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 431 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 255 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 29 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 28 | 11 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 27 |
| April 2025 | 6 | 10 |
| May 2025 | 19 | 6 |
| June 2025 | 12 | 10 |
| July 2025 | 39 | 22 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 18 | 19 |
| October 2025 | 18 | 3 |
| November 2025 | 41 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 20 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 14 | 6 |
| February 2026 | 26 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 23 | 18 |
| April 2026 | 20 | 16 |
| May 2026 | 22 | 16 |
| June 2026 | 5 | 38 |
| July 2026 | 18 | 10 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 53 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 20 | 5 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 117 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 Longford-Westmeath 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Finance 29 January 2025 to now
I find it somewhat bizarre that the Deputy is critical that this is the first time this is being raised in the Dáil when he has been here six months himself and this is the first time he spoke.
Regardless, as I mentioned in my opening statement, capital allowances for intellectual property are a normal part of any tax system. The tax system provides relief in the form of capital allowances against trading income for capital expenditure incurred on the provision of intangible assets for the purposes of trade, both acquired and internally developed. IP allowances may only be deducted from income generated by …
At least the Deputy acknowledged that I am only deputising for another Minister of State. He sends his apologies as he cannot be here.
It is obvious, given the level of interaction and number of representations the Deputy has made on this project over the past five years, why he is frustrated. I will give him the response I have been given. He will appreciate that I am not au fait with the issue. I will give the ans…
I reiterate that draft heads of terms, including on the purchase price, have been agreed in respect of the new site. Therefore, there has been progress. The matter is now with the Department of Transport. I have no doubt that the Deputy will exert pressure on the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, to the same extent that he has exerted it on the OPW. It now needs to sanction the necessary funding and giv…
That is the problem we have faced with many projects that have been delayed and stalled. The price is only going one way, not down. The OPW needs to carry out due diligence. It is important that it do so for us to get value for money regarding what I acknowledge is very important infrastructure for Courtown. I will relay to the relevant Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, the sentiments the Deputy has expres…
As Minister of State with responsibility for insurance reform, I confirm to the Deputy that work is well advanced on the new action plan. I have met with a number of key stakeholders and it is hoped we will seek submissions from the public on the action plan in the next number of weeks with a view to having it finalised in the next two months.
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 7, to delete lines 13 to 21 and substitute the following:
“ “credit institution” means any of the following that provides, or offers to provide, current accounts in the State:
(a) the holder of a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971;
(b) the holder of an authorisation under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971;
(c) a credit institution authorised and supervised …
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 7, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following:
“(a) deposit or receive funds,
(b) withdraw or transfer funds, and”.
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following definition:
“ “funds” has the same meaning as it has in Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market;”.
Amendment No. 4 proposes to change the required distance for the percentage of the population to be 5 km from an ATM or cash service point. It also proposes to add the criteria of a minimum percentage of ATMs that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairments and other forms of disabilities. Section 6 of the Bill sets out population criteria that will require a specified perce…
Not agreed.
Níl.
There is an old saying, "Cash is king." I agree with that. It is very important that cash is facilitated. As a postmaster myself, I fully appreciate what Deputy Conway-Walsh said about the good work the post office network did in making sure people's pensions and unemployment benefit were paid out, even though these were not on the system, so to speak, and manually did it to make sure cash was in circulation.
One th…
Access fees are a charge, usually a flat-rate fee irrespective of the amount being withdrawn, levied by an ATM operator to use a specific ATM. Most of us pay bank fees and charges to our current account providers. However, customers of Irish banks and payment service providers have not been subject to what are known as domestic access fees or ATM access fees. Access fees have not been charged for domestic withdrawals…
I move amendment No. 8:
In page 40, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following new section:
“Amendment of section 61G of Act of 1942
48. Section 61G(1) of the Act of 1942 is amended—
(a) by the substitution of “a designated enactment, a designated statutory instrument
or the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 (in so far as
that Act is not a designated enactment)” for “a designat…
Under pressure.
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 3, to delete lines 17 to 20 and substitute the following:
“(a) in subsection (1)—
(i) in the definition of “financial service provider”, by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (g):
“(ga) a person who, before the commencement of the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015, engaged in any of the activities referred to in subparagraphs…
I just need to get the translation.
It was the Opposition that highlighted this at the time when the legislation was coming through. To the credit of the Minister for Finance at the time, former Deputy Michael McGrath, he undertook to take on board the Opposition’s concerns. I looked back at the debate in the Official Report. In February 2024, he acknowledged the Deputy had raised this matter in the House the previous week when we were bringing through…
That is correct.
I thank Deputy Doherty and understand where he is coming from. The Minister does have regular engagement with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman and we can commit to keeping the matter under review and on our radar in the regular engagement.
In respect of the amendments, as the Deputies are aware, we undertake post enactment to carry out scrutiny of all legislation. This includes the requirement under Dái…
I have been told that the FSPO was created by merging the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Pensions Ombudsman and the levy system design reflects that since the 2017 Act. I do not know if that clarifies the matter for Deputy Doherty but if not we can come back to him with a more comprehensive answer.
Section 3 outlines and updates the methodology for calculating expenses via a percentage split charged to the fin…
I will undertake to ask the officials to respond to the Deputy. I honestly do not know but I will put it into context. In the 2024 budget for the FSPO, only 4%, or €525,000, of the overall costs came from the Department and 96% of the funding was covered by the industry. A very small percentage of the funding is coming from the Department. I do not know what the rationale was back in 2017 but we will get that informa…
The FSPO has advised that where a complaint is made to it concerning a joint account or joint policy, it must recognise that all parties who own the account or policy have rights, entitlements and potential liabilities arising from that account or policy. The rights, entitlements and potential liabilities of joint owners arise not only from a legal and contractual perspective but also from other legislative and regul…