I will do a rare thing this afternoon and pay the Taoiseach two compliments on housing. It may not be a surprise that both come with qualifications. Last week I was glad to join new Labour Party councillors Peter O'Brien, Martha Fanning and others for the turning of the sod at Dún Brí in Dundrum. The Land Development Agency, LDA, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will deliver 934 new homes at the site of the …
TDs / Ivana Bacik
Ivana Bacik
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
680
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
155,109
words spoken in the chamber
Across 888 contributions
423
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
191
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 680 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 888 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 3 |
| January 2025 | 8 | 8 |
| February 2025 | 85 | 81 |
| March 2025 | 28 | 77 |
| April 2025 | 66 | 44 |
| May 2025 | 61 | 58 |
| June 2025 | 67 | 68 |
| July 2025 | 54 | 50 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 31 | 40 |
| October 2025 | 16 | 45 |
| November 2025 | 13 | 46 |
| December 2025 | 13 | 20 |
| January 2026 | 19 | 33 |
| February 2026 | 16 | 56 |
| March 2026 | 36 | 38 |
| April 2026 | 38 | 50 |
| May 2026 | 24 | 56 |
| June 2026 | 36 | 33 |
| July 2026 | 16 | 30 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 28 | 24 |
| October 2026 | 25 | 27 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 804 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 Bay South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
The Labour Party's policy is to transform the Land Development Agency into a State construction company, not to create a new entity. The Taoiseach always wilfully misunderstands that. I heard nothing from him in his response about the effective resourcing of the LDA and local authorities to ensure they have capacity to deliver once the policy of buying turnkey homes has ended. I am putting the Taoiseach on notice tha…
We are putting the Taoiseach on notice on this.
It is a critical issue for all of those who cannot afford to buy or rent their own home.
The people of Ukraine have endured nearly five years of Putin's brutal war of aggression, and I know the Taoiseach spoke on it earlier today. They deserve our unwavering solidarity, particularly with the growing hostility being shown to President Zelenskyy by US President Trump. It is terrifying that lives in Ukraine are so dependent on Trump's volatile temper. At a time when our solidarity is needed more than ever w…
I welcome the opportunity, on behalf of the Labour Party, to speak on the State apology to the family of the late Brian Stack in relation to the grave failures in the investigations into his murder. This apology from the State is long overdue. It is very welcome.
I express my deepest sympathies to the family of Brian Stack – Sheila, Austin, Kieran and Oliver – who are with us today, and commend them on their long ca…
For victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual offences the experience of undergoing a criminal trial and being subject to cross-examination as a witness in a criminal trial as a complainant has been described as a second victimisation. Even more deeply traumatising is where the cross-examination is not carried out by a lawyer but by the defendant - the accused or the alleged abuser - in person. That is wh…
It is very cynical. We saw the same pattern in the public sector pay dispute with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, waiting for strikes to bring the country to a halt before committing to meaningful engagement and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, similarly waiting for escalated action. This has become the modus operandi of Fianna Fáil in government. Ignore the warnings, dismiss concerns, engage in denial and only engag…
With respect, of course we support reforms that will make the system run better for everyone involved. However, it is how you carry out the reform that is the point here. The Minister has simply refused to engage and is in denial about the impact of the change, the current debacle and the stalemate. Last week the Taoiseach lectured public sector workers. He is lecturing us today in the Chamber. The reality is that in…
Just as the Taoiseach eventually engaged meaningfully and was brought to the table last week, let us see engagement that is meaningful now.
We have always said it.
I want to again express my deepest sympathy to the family and community of Kim, Philip, Callum and Jayden English, whose funerals took place in Waterford yesterday. I know our thoughts are also with the two surviving children who are receiving care in Crumlin children's hospital. We must ensure that the horrific crime carried out against this family becomes a pivotal moment in the national response to drug debt intim…
Could we see a commitment to adequate funding?
I thank my colleague, Deputy Nash, for proposing this important motion. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Chambers, to the House. It is very important he is here. Most importantly, I welcome our colleagues from public sector unions who are in the Visitors Gallery for this debate, including my own union, the Irish Federation of University Teachers, IFUT, which is represented here. We are so glad and so proud to stand wit…
Hear, hear.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I extend my deepest sympathies on the family members who have lost their lives in the horrific house fire in Waterford. It is truly devastating news. Our thoughts are with all those affected, with the two adults and two children who have died, and with the two children who are now in hospital. Our thoughts are also all with the fire services, the Garda and the first responders on the sc…
It did not.
The Labour Party has a very proud record. Our record is with the trade union movement and we understand negotiation. That is why we find what has happened extraordinary. We are not alone in the Labour Party in finding it very hard to understand how the Government could let a pay agreement lapse in June and not take steps to ensure a new pay agreement would be negotiated to follow from it. That is the extraordinary th…
Maybe I will.
We need urgent action on the students in Gaza who have been denied visas despite being granted scholarships in Irish universities. This is deeply shameful. It is really appalling to see students who are now waiting under the bombs having been granted full scholarships in Irish universities. Time is running out for them. The court case this week saw the State delaying matters and delaying the cases being heard. We are…
Yesterday, as it lashed rain, the Ministers for Finance and public expenditure dropped their budget for next year. We might call it a pathetic fallacy that it was pouring rain as the Government's plans were revealed. Indeed, the word "pathetic" is appropriate in many ways because the money the Government says will go back into people's pockets could barely buy a chocolate bar a week in reality. It is a KitKat budget …
In seeking to please everybody, the Government has ended up pleasing nobody, especially not the Minister for missing culture cards, Patrick O'Donovan.
In seriousness, this underwhelming budget has failed many: the PAYE workers the Government forgot last year; the public sector workers still left without any pay deal; the commuters facing a 15% increase in public transport fares; and renters facing eviction into home…
The Taoiseach keeps saying that this is one of a series of budgets and he keeps asking people to wait, but that is just not good enough for households that are struggling now. The Taoiseach asked about Labour policy. Labour has consistently called for the indexation of tax bands, as the Taoiseach knows, and as we did in our alternative budget this year.
The Taoiseach says that the Government is ready to engage on pu…
Instead, the Government could have taken radical action and adopted sustainable solutions. For example, in our budget, Labour proposed that the State should bulk buy targeted, free, plug-in solar units to lower bills for those most in need, a practical and tangible measure that had been taken in Germany. That is the sort of intervention that could have helped to lower household bills and meet our climate targets. Ins…
-----either to reduce bills or to curb climate change.