-----taking up its speaking time, committee places and resources. This is clearly an effort to minimise the ability of the Opposition to scrutinise the Government.
Another example of that is that this week for the third time, every single week, instead of two appearances by the Taoiseach at Taoiseach's Questions, he will appear only once this week. The fact that it is not a coincidence is confirmed by the Government…
TDs / Richard Boyd Barrett
Richard Boyd Barrett
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,583
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
153,844
words spoken in the chamber
Across 941 contributions
216
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
278
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 1,583 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 941 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 12 | 11 |
| February 2025 | 65 | 141 |
| March 2025 | 31 | 67 |
| April 2025 | 100 | 31 |
| May 2025 | 109 | 2 |
| June 2025 | 97 | 0 |
| July 2025 | 127 | 0 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 50 | 0 |
| November 2025 | 82 | 62 |
| December 2025 | 71 | 54 |
| January 2026 | 107 | 95 |
| February 2026 | 125 | 83 |
| March 2026 | 98 | 48 |
| April 2026 | 57 | 62 |
| May 2026 | 58 | 114 |
| June 2026 | 73 | 53 |
| July 2026 | 131 | 12 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 97 | 62 |
| October 2026 | 37 | 41 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 666 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 Dún Laoghaire 29 November 2024 to now
- party People Before Profit-Solidarity 29 November 2024 to now
That would further reduce the Government's exposure to interrogation, not just by the Opposition but by its own backbenchers whom it claims to care so much about.
It is an alliance of the left.
What about Taoiseach's Questions?
A more honest answer.
7. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach for an update on the establishment of a Cabinet committee on water quality. [6086/25]
Due to the Victorian decrepit water infrastructure in much of my area - this is probably true of much of the city, but it is certainly true of Dún Laoghaire - when it rains, the run-off water mixes with foul water and the foul water all goes into the pumping station in Dún Laoghaire, which cannot cope and therefore foul water goes into the sea, destroying water quality and making the sea in Dublin bay unsafe for swim…
14. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [6087/25]
A lot of Members are not here so we could double up on the questions.
The Taoiseach was caught out misleading the public, to put it kindly, on the housing completion numbers to try to win an election. Will he now admit that the crisis in our health service is also another area where he has been misleading the public about what is actually going on with regard to the lack of staffing across the health services? This has prompted all of the health workers unions to ballot overwhelmingly …
Why do we have a staffing crisis then?
There is no staff.
There is on staff.
32. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [6428/25]
It seems to me that there is a crisis in terms of the EU's commitment to even its own human rights legislation and to international law. The newly elected Chancellor of Germany has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany. This is somebody who has an arrest warrant out for him by the ICC for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the new German Chancellor is inviting him to Germany. Now, that is very serious…
I do not. I talk about one state and a land for all.
That is the ICC gone.
I understand the context.
A group of 54 parents of children with special needs will be outside the Department of Education at 1 p.m. this Friday to fight for their children's right, which the Government is failing to vindicate, to have a school place with the special education resources and supports they need. It is bad enough to have to fight for the right of one's children to have a school place which the Government is failing to vindicate,…
I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Daly for bringing this motion forward, which we are happy to support.
I heard somebody say Tallaght was the worst in terms of the waiting list. I was reported in the middle of last year that Dún Laoghaire was the worst, so we are competing for that accolade. Certainly, waiting times for tests and resits in Dún Laoghaire are shockingly bad. They have not improved, as I took the trouble to…
2. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will intervene to protect employment rights and jobs in an institution (details supplied), which provides courses for TU Dublin and refuses to engage with the WRC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7039/25]
Last week in the Dáil I raised the plight of teachers in the British and Irish Modern Music Institute, which provides degree courses for TUD in commercial modern music. At that point, 53 of them had been threatened with redundancy and were told they would have to reapply for their own jobs and would be facing big cuts in their pay and conditions. Their union and their strike action have now established some sort of d…
That is very interesting. I was not aware the Minister of State was notified. Due to the three days of strike action and the representations of IFUT, the workers' union, it looks as if BIMM has made concessions which it is hoped are satisfactory to the workers. The context here is that 53 workers were told they were going to be made redundant but not because their jobs were gone. They were going to have to reapply fo…
Let us be clear, their strike action, the actions of their union and the fact the matter was raised in this House all put pressure on BIMM to come to the table. It had previously refused to go to the WRC. There is a serious issue here, especially as the workers were working under the auspices of TUD. Essentially, TUD had outsourced this degree to a private company. That contract will be up for renewal in a couple of …
The Minister does not bother his backside to turn up for two housing debates in a row and the Government refuses to discuss for nine months the Housing Commission report which provided a damning indictment of the failures of Government housing policy. Why? It is because the Government does not want to solve the housing crisis. It does not care about the people who have been on housing lists for a decade or more or fa…