Following the recent local authority rent chaos in County Wicklow, when rents rocketed by more than 100% for some pensioners in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, will the Minister of State examine the introduction of a more uniform State-wide differential rent scheme, one that shows greater consistency and fairness in local authorities across the State? I know his brief is older people and housing but is the Min…
TDs / Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin
Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
315
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
37,670
words spoken in the chamber
Across 118 contributions
432
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
109
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 315 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 118 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 17 | 2 |
| March 2025 | 37 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 18 | 6 |
| May 2025 | 10 | 3 |
| June 2025 | 9 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 5 | 6 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 12 | 3 |
| October 2025 | 5 | 7 |
| November 2025 | 34 | 5 |
| December 2025 | 13 | 4 |
| January 2026 | 37 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 43 | 26 |
| March 2026 | 19 | 6 |
| April 2026 | 14 | 5 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 7 |
| June 2026 | 7 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 15 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 13 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 4 | 13 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 33 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-Wexford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister of State. I welcome any plans for standardisation that will make it fairer across the State. What we have at the moment is not a fair system. There is a considerable discrepancy between different local authorities. Two members of the same family with the same income might be living either side of a county boundary and they could be paying completely different rents. That should not be happening.
…
10. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the measures his Department is taking to support the thousands of volunteers who deliver community development activities throughout rural Ireland, particularly to administration, governance, insurance and rising operating costs. [72529/26]
As the Minister knows, our society is held together by an army of volunteers. Tens of thousands of people give up their time in the areas of sport, recreation, community heritage, the environment, active retirement, etc. What measures is the Department taking to support the thousands of volunteers who do this throughout rural Ireland, especially given all the complications with administration, governance and insuranc…
Groups are getting strangled by bureaucracy and red tape. I would not blame them for throwing in the towel when they are organising a St. Patrick's Day parade or any event, putting up Christmas lights or organising children's discos or sports clubs. All over Wicklow and Wexford, groups are dropping out because they say they give up their time but obstacles are put in their way to trip them up. They are strangled by b…
I welcome that but just as we are talking about simplification in the area of farming, it has to be the same for community groups. Simplification is crucial.
The Minister of State made a point on litigation. Something needs to be done about the culture of litigation in this country. Say you are organising a St. Patrick's Day parade in a village or any other event. There are a huge number of vintage events in Wexford…
8. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of targeted CAP funding for 2027 (details supplied); and the specific emergency financial interventions his Department is implementing to support family farms through the cost-of-living crisis. [70424/26]
The proposed CAP cut to farming in County Wexford is massive, at €20 million. Across the border in Wicklow, it is €7.8 million. As the Minister knows, this is not just agricultural support. The CAP payments represent economic funding for the whole area - local shops, villages, towns, etc.
Does the Minister recognise the unprecedented pressures that farmers are facing due to this cost-of-living crisis, the soaring di…
The farmers and contractors I met this week feel it is not enough and they certainly were not happy with the budget. They pointed out that as we hold the Presidency of the EU we really need to be very forceful in negotiations, which I hope we will be. I met with Macra na Feirme in County Wexford last week and we discussed generational renewal and the many other challenges. They pointed out that the CAP income is abso…
A farmer I know in Kilrush just outside Bunclody did mention that he was grateful for the fuel supports but that this is the single greatest pressure he is facing. He said that the tank he is filling was €4,200 last year but this year it has been over €8,000. This is really not sustainable. He and others felt the budget did not do enough to help them. Any sort of temporary relief measures is needed as a matter of urg…
Can I have a clear timeline for the commencement of construction works in a number of secondary buildings in my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford? Nearly all are stuck at phase 2b planning and design stage, but there is no further movement as there has been no Government approval, which is shocking as the population rapidly expands in south Wicklow and north Wexford. Students, parents and teachers deserve answers. We n…
I have not spoken to one single person or advocacy group who is happy with this budget. I woke up this morning to a WhatsApp text sent to me by a very popular businessman in my constituency, Wicklow-Wexford:
As a married couple that work 60 hours plus each a week just to get by in this shambles of a country.
I would really like if you could bring it to the goverment that while the rest of us barely get by, they liv…
Lastly, we would provide €200 a month for childcare. Unfortunately, I am out of time.
Increasing rail fares on the antiquated Rosslare, Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin rail line would be an absolute joke. It would be a bad choice and would make no sense. Despite great expansions at Rosslare Europort, the gateway to Europe which connects Rosslare to Dublin, our capital city, it is an absolute farce and has regressed hugely. It takes longer to get to Dublin by train than it took 40 years ago, when I started…
The home heating oil Bill seeks to remove the carbon tax from home heating oil to help households struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have not removed a single cent off home heating oil and they and Independent TDs have voted Sinn Féin down eight times this year as we sought to bring down the price of fuel.
Every week people are faced with rising grocery bills, higher insuran…
I am supporting this motion calling for the introduction of a €500 energy credit for households funded through a fair levy on data centres. As the Minister of State will know, ordinary workers and families continue to struggle with soaring bills while data centres consume almost a quarter of Ireland's electricity. They are driving up household energy bills while paying much lower relative rates than householders.
Th…
This is Groundhog Day in terms of school transport. It is the same as last year. The only thing that has changed in the school transport system is the families affected. We are still inundated with emails from frustrated parents from Rathdrum to Kilmuckridge. Children who have always qualified have suddenly been refused tickets. Others received tickets but no service is available. In other cases, one sibling got a ti…
Irish author Emma Donoghue stated, "They are robbing us in hopes of replacing us." That is a shocking statement. Irish artists, writers, musicians, actors, composers and performers are being ripped off by big tech billionaires through plagiarism or, to give it the proper term, theft. Their copyrighted creative work is being used to train AI systems to spew out "art" without the consent of the creators and in many cas…
I highlight the serious case of a ten-year-old called Poppy, whose experience is a compelling example of a wider service failure for children in my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which covers south Wicklow and north Wexford. Poppy has complex feeding difficulties and has been referred between the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, the children's disability network team, or CDNT, primary care and th…
In north Wexford and south Wicklow, if a child needs specialist care, say, in the area of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, OT, speech and language, psychology or with a dietitian, if they are in desperate need, what procedures are in place if the necessary specialist intervention is not available due to staffing shortages? Does the HSE consider it acceptable that children remain without these services? If they ar…
We welcome additional funding for the post office service. Sinn Féin has committed to major investment in the post office network as part of our alternative budget. Communities across counties Wexford and Wicklow have had to endure many post office closures over recent years, with 11 closing in Wexford in 2018 and five local communities in Wicklow losing their services or seeing them consolidated. Each of those closu…
Many Irish people have mixed emotions on the European project. It is a love-hate relationship of sorts. I spoke in the European Parliament recently as part of the Erasmus programme. I certainly love the element of mutual co-operation and cultural exchange with countries with which we have had links since the time of the monks shining a light into the dark Continent. However, many people dislike the increasing militar…
Once again there is a crisis for families and primary school children in Counties Wicklow and Wexford and across the State. From Bunclody right up to An Bhearn Dearg, from Rathdrum to Kilmuckridge, children are waiting not months but years to have their teeth checked and attended to. My background is in primary school teaching and half of children at primary school level are not receiving dental screening appointment…
When will the long overdue emergency funding for rural roads in Wicklow and Wexford be delivered? The Tánaiste may have driven on some in the south-west of Wicklow. It is absolutely disgraceful that we are now in June, in the middle of a dry period, when it is perfect to do works. We have waited since November, when Storm Claudia struck. Wicklow County Council sought between €15 million and €20 million and Wexford so…
I visited the new data centre in Clondalkin last month at the invitation of Echelon which is installing two centres outside Arklow. I heard extraordinary and fantastical claims of the benefits in terms of employment and income for Arklow and the wider area. We shall see about that. Even if I was to believe it all, once the plant is operational the benefits to the community of Arklow and south Wicklow in local employm…