I thank the Minister of State. I am all for public services and I welcome the fact the Minister of State is chasing down the maximum number of public services we can and increasing the number of consultants and clinicians we have in that area. Unfortunately, too many families are waiting too long for those much-needed services for speech and language, OT, physiotherapy or whatever their child might need. I know we sp…
TDs / Mark Wall
Mark Wall
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
875
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
89,139
words spoken in the chamber
Across 262 contributions. Plus 59 contributions from the chair, not counted
426
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
199
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 875 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 262 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 19 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 56 | 24 |
| March 2025 | 49 | 10 |
| April 2025 | 65 | 6 |
| May 2025 | 70 | 21 |
| June 2025 | 33 | 9 |
| July 2025 | 92 | 13 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 39 | 18 |
| October 2025 | 31 | 9 |
| November 2025 | 32 | 19 |
| December 2025 | 30 | 11 |
| January 2026 | 49 | 14 |
| February 2026 | 63 | 14 |
| March 2026 | 61 | 9 |
| April 2026 | 30 | 9 |
| May 2026 | 31 | 12 |
| June 2026 | 64 | 21 |
| July 2026 | 28 | 10 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 25 | 14 |
| October 2026 | 8 | 19 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 156 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 Kildare South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
I always welcome the Minister of State finishing with a question like that. I am going to use the opportunity once again to raise Sensational Kids, a new building in Kildare town. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of this particular building. It remains unbuilt since November 2024. This building could have allowed up to 300 children per week in the greater Kildare and Leinster area to receive those services I …
I welcome the opportunity to discuss the national human rights strategy for disabled people. Of course, it has long been awaited and many disability organisations have been campaigning for its publication. It is the first strategy since Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was way back in 2018. I welcome the fact, as the Minister herself said, that the strategy has take…
I thank Deputy Kenny for sharing his time. I also thank Sinn Féin for tabling this very important motion. In recent months not a week has gone by when my office has not received calls from worried parents looking for a special school place for their children. I am worried about the numbers the Minister of State has given us this evening. Like other colleagues, I am dealing with at least four families who do not have …
Hear, hear.
I start by welcoming two very good friends of mine, Jacinta and Geraldine, who are visiting the House today in the week they celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. I also welcome friends from our own Labour Party LGBTQI group, who are with us in the Public Gallery this evening as well.
In many regards, Ireland has led the way to social progress for members of the LGBTQI+ community. I am pleased to say that the L…
Hear, hear.
80. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide the amount of funding allocated to local libraries, in each county, for the past four years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38310/25]
I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. I welcome the fact that €40 million has been spent on libraries. We all agree in this House that every euro spent on libraries is a euro well spent. I start by commending everybody in my hometown of Athy where over the past number of years a former Dominican church was converted into a library. Anyone who has visited that location will see it shows the benefit of …
The latest information I have is that it is hoped the project will proceed in quarter 1 of 2026, which would be very welcome. I mentioned in this House before that Newbridge now has a population of almost 26,000 people, so it is very important we have a functioning library for that size of population. The fact the new building will be four times larger than the existing building, which has run its course but has done…
87. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will report on the progress of implementing the national public library strategy; the amount of funding allocated to the strategy; the current expenditure on the implementation of strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38316/25]
We have spoken about libraries before but I want to get an update on the public library strategy and maybe discuss one or two issues around that.
I did not come in on Deputy McGreehan's question because I wanted to leave it until this one. I totally believe it is important to have multipurpose facilities. I want to raise an issue that has come up in respect of a couple of locations. We have derelict buildings, old former schools in rural areas. A number of people have come together to form book clubs and heritage and historical societies in those buildings. Th…
I thank the Minister of State for the positive reply. I want to mention two issues he brought up, namely, the age-friendly aspect and sensory rooms. They are important as part of our libraries. I welcome the fact that the Government has recognised that. I urge the Government to continue to invest in sensory rooms in particular. I know from visiting my local library and other libraries the importance of inclusivity. H…
I thank the Deputy. Back over to the Government side, Deputy Daly has four minutes.
I want to raise the issue of childcare places, including after-school care, with the Taoiseach. I particularly want to raise the issues of childcare and after-school care in Kilcullen, a town of 4,000 people in my own constituency of Kildare South. I am currently dealing with 14 families who cannot get a crèche place and 16 families who cannot get an after-school place. Unfortunately for the town, there is a fit-for-…
Kilcullen.
We need a fair deal for care. This means ending the privatisation of nursing home care and giving older people the choice to age in their own homes and communities, with a statutory right to home care. This right to home care has long been promised by successive Governments since 2017, but we have yet to see any real progress on this. Instead, the only option that older people and their families are faced with is nur…
I want to talk about my hometown of Athy. I have been dealing with Irish Rail over the last period about increasing the frequency of rail services from the commuter town of Athy into Dublin. I was pleased with a recent response from Irish Rail that told me the imminent DART+ fleet coming on stream would free up additional carriages. We are looking for an hourly service from Athy and also on the Waterford line. That w…
I welcome the fact we are on Report Stage of the Bill. I put on record my thanks to John O'Meara, and I recognise his late partner Michelle, and I also thank my colleague, Deputy Kelly, who has put tremendous work into this, as the Minister has acknowledged.
The Minister might clarify the point Deputy Kerrane raised in her contribution. My understanding is that anyone would be entitled to the pension after January 2…
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 5, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:
“Report
3. The Minister shall, not later than 3 months after the passing of this Act, make a report in writing to each House of the Oireachtas on the estimated number of persons affected and the estimated savings to the Exchequer achieved by the provisions of sections 4 and 8 to the effect that an entitlement to a pension under th…
Like Deputy O'Reilly, I am prepared to listen to what the Minister might say in reply.
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 13, to delete lines 3 to 41, and in page 14, to delete lines 1 to 5.
Again, like with amendment No. 7, I would like to get the Minister's comment on the amendment.
I know the Minister is only joining us now but my colleague, Deputy Ahern, has laid this out very distinctly. Realistically, it is vital we have laws and proper functioning courts in place to deal with crime in this country and that is what Deputy Ahern has said. Also important is the fact that non-jury trials should be the exception rather than the rule. I will concentrate the rest of my contribution on Garda number…
I thank the Taoiseach. I am informed the time for Taoiseach's Questions has finished so we will move on to statements on nursing homes and care for older persons. We will wait for the Minister of State to join us.