I welcome An Coimisiún Pleanála's decision to refuse planning for a data centre in Mayo on climate grounds, so all hope is not lost. I thank People Before Profit Deputies for tabling this really important motion. On behalf of the Labour Party, I brought a relatively similar motion to the House back in June, calling for targeted energy credits funded through a data centre levy as well as the introduction of a moratori…
TDs / Ciarán Ahern
Ciarán Ahern
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
860
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
128,105
words spoken in the chamber
Across 238 contributions
355
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
204
topics asked about
Across 20 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 860 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 238 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 17 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 74 | 7 |
| April 2025 | 25 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 29 | 18 |
| June 2025 | 16 | 11 |
| July 2025 | 79 | 9 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 52 | 9 |
| October 2025 | 18 | 6 |
| November 2025 | 45 | 16 |
| December 2025 | 54 | 11 |
| January 2026 | 95 | 15 |
| February 2026 | 82 | 13 |
| March 2026 | 48 | 6 |
| April 2026 | 75 | 20 |
| May 2026 | 26 | 19 |
| June 2026 | 52 | 28 |
| July 2026 | 24 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 34 | 22 |
| October 2026 | 15 | 4 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 109 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 Dublin South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
What we are asking for today is simply that the Government lives up to the commitment made in the programme for Government to carry out a new, independent feasibility study for an extension of the MetroLink from where it is currently due to end in Charlemont, out to Dublin south west. I raised this with the Minister for Transport a few weeks ago, and he advised that the study would be carried out but would be done as…
As the Minister knows, parents are paying hand over fist for ancillary school costs, be it for school uniforms, laptops, school transport or the so-called voluntary contributions. We cannot say we have free education in this country if the whole architecture that enables proper participation is hugely expensive for parents. What is so regrettable is that some of the good work that is being done, like the school books…
The list of schools goes on. A lot of these issues are on the Minister's desk and I really hope they will be looked at favourably.
My thanks to Sinn Féin for tabling this motion tonight. This is about far more than artificial intelligence. It is about the value of human creativity, hard work and intellectual property and whether they will continue to be recognised and protected or we allow them to be exploited without consent, without transparency and without fair payment.
The success of the arts and the culture sector over recent decades is so…
Okay; I apologise.
The Minister for justice, as part of his long-running campaign for the Fianna Fáil leadership, is in the process of critically undermining our system of criminal justice. He has introduced a new fee structure for District Court criminal legal aid without proper engagement or consultation with the practitioners involved. The Minister is asking criminal law solicitors to run entire cases for the same amount that he wou…
I echo a lot of the points made already about the temporary nature of this and what we have been promised. I am looking at a briefing from the Department of energy on 4 February. We were given numerous briefings by the Department about this. The Minister tried to avoid pre-legislative scrutiny and our committee had to fight for it. We have a report with 43 recommendations, all of which seem to have been ignored in th…
I have a couple of points on what the Minister said. As part of our pre-legislative scrutiny, we looked at the energy security review that this is all based on. The review was conducted a number of years ago. The international situation has changed markedly since that review was conducted. Even the price of LNG on the markets has increased massively since Trump's war on Iran. We had asked for that review to be update…
I move amendment No. 4:
In page 8, after line 39, to insert the following:
" "hydraulically fractured gas” means liquefied natural gas, or natural gas in any other form, that has been produced, in whole or in part, by means of hydraulic fracturing within the meaning of section 5A of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960;"
This amendment is about fracked gas, which is not something we have spoken ab…
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 6, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:
“ “international connectivity” means the range and frequency of scheduled passenger and cargo air services operating to and from Dublin Airport, having regard to—
(a) the number of direct routes available from Dublin Airport to destinations outside the State,
(b) the number of carriers operating such routes, and
(c) the frequenc…
I thank the Minister for his comments and for listening so attentively to what people were saying. On my amendment, the issue I have is how much connectivity is ever going to be enough. We still do not have an answer on that. He mentioned a figure of 40 million passengers being the first application.
The Minister's assumption is that will be the first application. There is no guarantee anywhere here, however, that it is going to be a 40 million cap. There is presumably nothing preventing the DAA from applying for a higher figure. However, that is the Minister's understanding and that is fair enough. Our issue is that there are no limits anywhere in this Bill. There are no parameters for the number of passengers w…
I want to press my amendment.
I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Kerrane for bringing this important motion forward. For my generation and for young parents like me, or youngish parents anyway, childcare and housing are the crucial issues. Childcare and housing are both issues of accessibility and affordability. Both are also issues that have been left to the private sector for far too long and, in both cases, there is an urgent need for strong, direct…
A childcare facility in Knocklyon in my constituency was recently taken over a by a new provider, which was recently bought by a UK group in a deal worth €75 million. Since the facility was taken over, there have been numerous room closures. Parents have effectively been stranded without childcare with no notice. The services have taken away flexibility in terms of reduced hours over the summer or attending part time…
I sincerely believe that from a climate perspective, this is perhaps the most regressive legislation produced by the Government. Any legislation or infrastructure that requires us to overturn a ban on fracked gas is just inherently bad for the climate.
I heard the Minister of State on "Morning Ireland" this morning and I sympathise with his desire to enhance our energy security, particularly in the current context. …
The issue of a school not having a sports hall is one very close to my heart because I went to the boys' school next door to Sancta Maria College, Coláiste Éanna, as did Deputy Lahart. For my entire time there, we had no sports hall. It means the school cannot offer PE, which is so important for children's mental and physical health. Even in the time since a sports hall was completed in Coláiste Éanna, we can see tha…
I thank the Minister of State for his comments. The project has been at stage 2B for a considerable period, for the last year in fact, and the school is just waiting to hear back from the Department. We know that another tranche of projects is going to be approved. As the Minister of State said, there will be new projects approved in early 2027. The school wants to know what it needs to do to ensure it is on the list…
I begin by saying how proud I am that the Labour Party and my colleague, Deputy Bacik, are bringing forward this Bill today. I also welcome the visitors to the Public Gallery. This is a Bill about fairness, accountability and justice. It is a Bill that is rooted in the bravery of survivors who have refused to be silent and simply roll over and take whatever paltry offers come their way.
This country’s history during…
Hear, hear.
I will share my time with Deputy Smith. This is an aggressively anti-climate Bill. This Government is making it clear to us that climate, environment or biodiversity considerations have absolutely no place when it comes to our aviation policy. It is ironic that we are debating this proposal to add potentially limitless additional carbon into our atmosphere on the same day that we are suffering with record temperature…
105. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport for an update on the programme for Government commitment to commission a new independent feasibility study on continuing MetroLink to Dublin South-West; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46573/26]
I thank the Minister. Getting MetroLink built and even getting it started in earnest will be a fantastic legacy for him as a Minister for Transport. He will have the full support of the Labour Party and, I think, others in opposition in getting that done in as speedy a manner as possible. We know how vital it is for our city. I am asking that he does not just stop when he gets to Charlemont. We know these tunnel-bori…
That is great. I thank the Minister for giving clear timelines. That will be much appreciated in the area. Dublin South-West has historically been underserved by public transport. We have a Luas line that starts in Tallaght but conspicuously avoids the rest of the constituency. We support the roll-out of BusConnects and would like to see that done as quickly as possible. There are some issues with routes, but broadly…