Next week sees the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That means the brutal bombardment of Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year. We have seen appalling casualties and appalling attacks by Russia on the civilian population and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. It is in that context that I raise the alarming revelations on the front of today's edition of The Irish Times, following an i…
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
This is the reality of life under Russia's grinding war.
What can the Taoiseach's Government do to ensure that Irish-made components do not end up in Russian weapons?
The decision to overturn planning permission for a new critical care wing at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital is deeply disappointing. The staff there provide exceptional care to women and babies. However, the building is failing them. The Rotunda is the busiest maternity hospital in Ireland and one of the busiest in Europe. Yet, vulnerable premature babies are being treated in facilities that are simply not fit for pu…
Oh, no.
I listened carefully to the Taoiseach's response and it is more of the same. It is Government as bystander and that is not good enough. It is not good enough for the Taoiseach or for the health Minister to say how disappointed they are with a decision of an entity created by the Government. It is simply not good enough either for the Taoiseach or the health Minister-----
You are critical of planning decisions.
Sorry, I did not interrupt you.
As I have said, and I hope I get more time, it is not good enough for the Taoiseach to govern as a bystander because he is in government and, indeed, he was in the previous Government. The planning process was established by Government. It is now up to the Government to do something about this decision. What I did not hear from the Taoiseach was any clarity about the long-term plans for the Rotunda. An Coimisiún Plea…
It is not a soundbite.
Proposed by the Government.
That is not what we are saying.
Where is the clarity?
Some 60 years on, everyone agrees there must be a resolution to the State’s scandalous handling of thalidomide. What is needed now is a fair and full resolution for the survivors, for their families and for their mothers, many of whom are now in failing health. As the Irish Thalidomide Association has warned, the clock is ticking for this small group of just 40 survivors. They have had too many false dawns. There was…
And the Taoiseach will be meeting them before the end of February.
As we all know, it has been raining solidly since what feels like forever and communities across the country continue to deal with the fallout of flooding. In that time, my office has also been flooded - with pleas for help from terrified renters who are starting the new year with eviction notices. Things were already bad enough for tenants, but the Government's appalling new rent law has given landlords an effective…
I think we can agree on one thing. There is a housing emergency.
There is no doubt about that. I have certainly welcomed, as have my Labour colleagues, positive aspects of the legislation. However, the unfortunate truth is that these are undermined by the provisions that enable rent hikes, which incentivise rent hikes and incentivise evictions for the purpose of rent hikes. That is the problem, and it is a problem that renters across the country are experiencing. The real truth al…
Last week, on 5 February, the first annual report of the mother and baby institutions payment scheme was quietly released. It had been completed in June 2025 and relates to the year 2024. It had gathered dust on the desk of the Minister, Deputy Foley, for seven months. I had asked the Minister a number of times in parliamentary questions why the report had been delayed.
The special advocate, Patricia Carey, expresse…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the recently published Kenova report. I pay tribute to Jon Boutcher, Iain Livingstone and the Operation Kenova team. Their work was victim-centred and groundbreaking. They have proven that an ECHR-compliant investigation into a Troubles-related incident is possible, despite decades of denial and obstruction by successive British Governments. I will speak to various issues raised …
I raise the case of Seamus Culleton, the Irish citizen and Kilkenny man who has now spent five months imprisoned in an ICE detention camp in Texas. Yesterday, the country was silenced, listening in as Seamus phoned "Liveline" to speak about his ordeal. Last night, I spoke directly to Seamus's sister Caroline and heard more details about the appalling conditions in which he is detained. There are 72 men packed into a …
If I may say, that is a most unsatisfactory response. The Taoiseach has conflated, wrongly in my view, quite a number of issues. Of course countries have migration laws. Of course, the successive Irish Governments have for many years been trying to regularise undocumented Irish citizens in the US.
However, we are talking about an Irish citizen who has been detained in inhumane conditions for five months in the US in…
The objective is to get him out.
Of course.
Just two days from now, 14-year-old Joseph Oyekanmi, his two brothers and his mother face deportation from their Dublin home. There is enormous concern in my constituency and in the area of Sandyford, Dundrum and Kilternan, where they have been living, where they have been integrating with the local community and where there has been a huge groundswell of support. Councillor Lettie McCarthy and I have been engaging o…