I thank Deputy Coppinger and her staff for all their work on this very important Bill. Recognising non-binary and intersex people is essential to upholding human rights, equality and dignity for all. At the end of the day, this Bill is about basic human rights. It is about a person's right to live with dignity, respect and recognition. Everyone has the right to have their identity recognised and to participate fully …
TDs / Charles Ward
Charles Ward
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
392
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
72,453
words spoken in the chamber
Across 233 contributions
308
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
103
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 392 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 233 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 1 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 29 | 20 |
| March 2025 | 14 | 10 |
| April 2025 | 16 | 7 |
| May 2025 | 10 | 15 |
| June 2025 | 17 | 13 |
| July 2025 | 21 | 8 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 5 | 11 |
| October 2025 | 31 | 8 |
| November 2025 | 47 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 8 | 29 |
| January 2026 | 25 | 16 |
| February 2026 | 9 | 10 |
| March 2026 | 30 | 13 |
| April 2026 | 38 | 15 |
| May 2026 | 25 | 9 |
| June 2026 | 21 | 10 |
| July 2026 | 9 | 8 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 12 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 24 | 11 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 124 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 Donegal 29 November 2024 to now
- party 100% RDR 29 November 2024 to now
I want to raise again the ongoing concerns of the nine homeowners in Elm Park, Buncrana, who are living with the combined threat of defective concrete and flooding. It has been repeatedly stated that legal advice from the Attorney General's office is being considered and that discussions are ongoing with the OPW. However, these responses have been repeated over several months without anybody providing any definitive …
Buncrana swimming pool closed in April 2015. This was meant to be for temporary renovation works but it has never reopened. It is now 11 years later and the people of Buncrana and Inishowen have no swimming pool or leisure centre in the second largest town in Donegal. That is a clear example of Donegal being the forgotten county yet again. The population of 40,000 people on the Inishowen Peninsula need a leisure cent…
I did.
After 11 years, there is no leisure centre and 40,000 people are without a basic facility. What I am saying to the Taoiseach is that this Buncrana leisure centre is going to become more expensive every year it is not built. We need to do something right now to make sure this can be delivered. I understand what the Taoiseach is saying, but the co-funding model is putting Donegal County Council under immense pressure. …
I welcome that the budget finally introduced a cost-of-disability payment, something I have been calling for since I was elected. Disabled people face significant additional costs and are at far greater risk of poverty. It has taken the Government too long to introduce the cost-of-disability payment. That said, the lump sum of €500 to be paid in March next year does not cut it. It is an insult because people with dis…
Budget 2027 refers to the defective concrete crisis just twice. It does not even bother to give this humanitarian crisis its own section or detailed budget allocation. It is lumped in with a list of other housing supports and programmes. That shows an absolute lack of respect.
When we discuss the defective concrete crisis, the Government focuses on the current estimate of €3.6 billion. That is an eye-watering figure…
97. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a local authority or an approved housing body's I.S. 465 building professional recommends option 1 remediation (details supplied), his power to seek documentary evidence and request review by the Housing Agency can result in the original remediation recommendation being altered or overturned; the precise statutory basis for this …
It concerns me that option 1 recommendations appear to be subject to an additional layer of scrutiny that does not seem to apply where engineers' recommendations are options 2, 3, 4 or 5. Can the Minister explain the rationale and outline the safeguards in place to ensure constant evidential engineering standards across the remediation options? Furthermore, where an independent I.S. 465 chartered engineer has assesse…
I am aware they are technical but it is very important we get this right.
Recommendations for option 1 can be subject to additional scrutiny by the Housing Agency. Where it is not equivalent relates to engineering and safeguarding for options 2, 3, 4 or 5, where homeowners and tenants must have confidence that remediation recommendations are subject to the same evidence and engineering standards regardless of outcom…
As the Tánaiste will know, over 100,000 public sector workers, including teachers, SNAs, healthcare workers, council workers, civil servants and people who work in this building, are now on a work-to-rule because the Government has refused to offer them a pay rise that would allow them to keep up with the current cost-of-living crisis. I fully support them. Over the past few days, I have talked to many public sector …
I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. It is very important. We are now dealing with a cost-of-living crisis that has gone on for years. While it has been going on, we have had electricity companies profiteering and the country has been awash with money, but the people on the ground are suffering in a way that has never been seen before while the companies profit off their misery. One in seven…
I thank Deputy Daly from Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on public transport and fare increases. Instead of working towards a goal and trying to increase bus services in rural areas, this Government is taking a step backwards. The decision to increase public transport fares by an average of 15% to 30% next year is a major step backwards. The people of Donegal simply cannot afford this type of daily increas…
I will be voting for this motion tonight, but I am disappointed with it because there was a chance to get this right. There is a standard currently under review. We could have waited, got everything tied up and got everything out. I know we have it now and we have to go on.
As of April, 3,150 households in Donegal were waiting for social housing. Given the ongoing housing crisis and sustained demand, that number wil…
Will the Government amend the remediation of dwellings Act 2022 to provide a State-led rebuilding option for vulnerable homeowners who cannot negotiate or navigate the scheme? Will the Government consider a public body or a State construction company taking responsible for rebuilding homes where people do not have the physical, financial or emotional capacity to do so? I have a constituent in Donegal who is an elderl…
I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and his colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I have said before and I will say again that it has never been more important to maintain our neutrality than it is right now. From Gaza to Ukraine, and from Sudan to the escalating tensions in Iran and the wider Middle East, we are facing an era of overlapping conflict, instability and displacement. Humanitarian crisis has n…
During the fuel protests, the public came out and told the Government what needed to be done. It knew this was coming, it did not listen and it left it to the eleventh hour, and here we are. The Government will have been in place for two years this November. What it has achieved is that we have record levels of homelessness, food inflation and the highest energy prices in Europe. The homelessness number is 17,500. In…
I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing forward this motion. As a parent, I have seen the costs relating to sending children to school skyrocket over the past ten years. The situation is absolutely out of control. The recent back-to-school survey carried out by the Irish League Of Credit Unions shows that 59% of parents find covering back-to-school costs a major financial burden, with more than one in four getting into deb…
I welcome Jennie's law. The publicly available register of judgments will be a life-saving resource, as people in relationships or considering relationships will be able to see whether people have histories of domestic violence convictions.
I thank Jennie Poole's family, particularly Jason, for the work they have done on this in recent years. I have no doubt that, without them, we would not be where we are today.
T…
4. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether he will consider introducing supports for farm buildings or agricultural buildings impacted by defective concrete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52560/26]
Will the Minister consider supporting farm agricultural buildings impacted by defective concrete? We are seeing a rise in the number of these buildings. Defective concrete has no discriminating factors. It is in tanks, slurry tanks and farm buildings. That is often overlooked as part of the defective concrete crisis. The impact on these buildings, particularly the environmental impacts on slurry tanks and cattle shed…
When we talk about defective concrete the national conversation quite rightly centres on family homes, but across rural Ireland the same materials were used in farm sheds, milking parlours, storage units, boundary walls and, critically, slurry tanks. They are not minor structures but central to functioning farms, animal welfare and environmental protection. The environmental impact is serious. There are failing slurr…
During the Celtic tiger construction boom, Ireland experienced unprecedented building activity. Rural development schemes, farm modernisation grants and many co-funded EU agricultural and rural development programmes supported investment in farm infrastructure. The funding itself was legitimate and well-intentioned but the materials used in these construction projects on farms were defective concrete materials. We ar…
I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this very important motion. It calls for the Government to publish a five-year national strategic community living strategy for adults with intellectual disabilities. We are in desperate need of a strategic outline project for regional planning and annual targets to reduce waiting lists. Inappropriate placements for those with intellectual disabilities are happening t…
Last week, I asked the Taoiseach when homeowners could expect the review of the remediation of dwellings Act, following the publication of IS 465, to be completed. His response was that it could take approximately three months to report to the committee and that the homeowners already know this. Will the Tánaiste provide a clear timeline as to when the necessary amending legislation will be published, enacted, commun…