When you are in government, you are in government.
TDs / Cathy Bennett
Cathy Bennett
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
641
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
54,833
words spoken in the chamber
Across 379 contributions
414
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
163
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 641 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 379 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 33 | 17 |
| March 2025 | 12 | 21 |
| April 2025 | 79 | 10 |
| May 2025 | 54 | 24 |
| June 2025 | 20 | 17 |
| July 2025 | 16 | 12 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 6 | 9 |
| October 2025 | 9 | 28 |
| November 2025 | 58 | 43 |
| December 2025 | 57 | 18 |
| January 2026 | 45 | 35 |
| February 2026 | 35 | 42 |
| March 2026 | 13 | 25 |
| April 2026 | 50 | 21 |
| May 2026 | 39 | 11 |
| June 2026 | 34 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 17 | 10 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 44 | 15 |
| October 2026 | 20 | 13 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 188 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 Cavan-Monaghan 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
126. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Justice the number of domestic abuse refuge spaces in the State; his target for the delivery of additional refuge spaces by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12811/25]
I congratulate the Minister on his new post. Will the Minister outline the current capacity of domestic violence refuge spaces and his intentions to increase this to an adequate standard?
I am delighted to hear that the Minister is committed. I hope he will be able to make the necessary changes. The Government delivered seven spaces by the end of 2023. It delivered 12 in 2024. The language I have heard the Minister use referring to 54 units under construction, or due for refurbishment this year, suggests to me a net increase of less than 54. In the best case scenario that would mean he plans to delive…
I again put it to the Minister that 280 is well below the 500 needed under the Istanbul Convention. A number of weeks ago, I sought a Dáil debate on the provision of these services in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. The Minister will be familiar with the fact that the people in our community are among those without any refuge spaces at all. It is a deep concern that the current ambition of the Government is that t…
So, because they do not do it, we do not do it either.
The number of adults accessing emergency accommodation across the north-east region that comprises Louth, Cavan and Monaghan in a single week in January was 263. That is an increase of nearly one third on the same period last year. The number of children involved was 130, a near 70% increase year on year. What can the Government do?
The tenant in situ scheme is one mechanism that provides a vital protection for ordi…
Is onóir mhór dom a bheith anseo inniu le labhairt faoi Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan.
International Women's Day is an opportunity to recall and pay tribute to the women who came before us. The rights we have today are their legacy, won and taken by them, never freely given by others. It is not a cause for celebration, but rather a warning and a reminder. A warning that there are those who would see those rights taken aw…
Mental and physical health is one of the strands considered in the Government's well-being framework analysis. In counties Cavan, Louth, Laois, Meath and Monaghan, the well-being of people and our communities will be negatively impacted by the recent downgrading of the services of SOSAD Ireland. They have been downgraded because of a lack of sustainable funding. The potential for this had been well telegraphed and co…
Deputy Bennett.
It is going on since Christmas. Why is it not -----
It needs to happen.
I wish both Ministers well in their new roles. However, I must say that this Government has yet to show the political will needed to resolve the housing crisis. This has been made more apparent in recent weeks as the Government's pre-election confidence in reaching its housing targets was revealed to be utter fantasy. I hope the Government takes note of the Housing Commission's report because something needs to chang…
I wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their new roles. I hope they can change healthcare in this country. I have been listening to and taking part in Dáil debates over the past few weeks and it seems easy for the Government to portray that the increased demand for public services has just come out of the ether.
Population modelling seems to be only considered as an excuse as to why services are strai…
-----including more pharmacies, rehab care and sport, housing and the environment.
I ask the Minister-----
-----as a starting point that if she will not implement Sinn Féin's plan, will she please-----
-----do her very best to cause no further harm?
In April of last year, the then Fianna Fáil Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and now Minister for public expenditure, described the prior hiring of 30 testers as not enough. He assured us that we would see significant progress between October and the end of the year and that we would get back to a ten-week waiting time early in the following year. It is now early 2025 and the backlog has increased by…
9. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of and value related to dual-use export licences granted to end users based in Israel, by quarter, since Q3 2023; and his engagements with Cabinet colleagues in relation to such. [6708/25]
I would also like to congratulate the new Ministers, especially the Minister of State, Niamh Smyth, from my constituency. Well done and congratulations to you all.
Will the Minister outline the total number and value of goods and services with military applications that have been sanctioned with Israel since the onset of its genocide in Palestine?
I understand the Department's position is that the officials provide a thorough risk-assessment to ensure that, in the Minister of State's own words, as far as possible, items are only used for their stated purpose. The Government has intervened in a case before the International Court of Justice where Israel is on trial for the crime of genocide. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Fine Gael Party lea…
In 2022, Ireland's dual-use exports to Israel amounted to €10.7 million, yet in the first eight months of the genocide, those exports ballooned to €32.1 million. Now, the Minister of State tells us that over the period of the genocide, seven licences have been approved from Ireland. At a time when Israel's economy is struggling, does the Minister of State not find this in any way suspect? What evaluations were carrie…
In counties such as Monaghan, rather than tar as a new dawn, as one Minister described it, people instead continue to damage their suspension and blow out tyres following yet another false dawn. Despite all the bluster of Ministers, maintenance and road repair funding in County Monaghan will not increase significantly to improve road repairs. That is because 43% of the additional funding that has been promised this t…
Comhghairdeas, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. We all wish to see an environment of co-operation fostered between the Department of agriculture and farmers in order that farmers would feel that they, as the primary producers, were viewed by the Department as its primary stakeholder. All too often, however, the relationship is antagonistic. Part of the reason for this is that the Department is all-too-quick to impose fines o…