We are not allowed use the word "lies" in here, so instead we will have to say the Government is systematically misleading people about why we have a recruitment and retention crisis in our health services in general and, specifically, in our mental health services. It fails to acknowledge the reason we cannot recruit or are not recruiting the staff we need - psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, occupati…
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
I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion and I thank the parents who have come in and who are devoted to their children and to vindicating their children's rights. We are talking about their rights, both under Irish law to education and under the UNCRPD to equality and to be able to participate fully in society on an equal basis to every other child. The Government is failing children and parents who are at their wi…
12. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance the preparations and scenario planning he is undertaking to deal with the possible implications for the Irish economy of the policies of the new Trump administration in the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5105/25]
Donald Trump is on a wrecking mission, that is obvious, although I would caution against allowing his Administration to bully us. The reason they have to make America great again is the American economy has declined massively. It used to have 40% GDP, which then went down to 20% by 2014 and it is now down to 15%. The American empire is in decline and Donald Trump personifies that decline. He is trying to reassert glo…
There is not.
It is a contradiction of what the Minister says.
I have been making that argument for years.
Yes.
Is it Deputy Nash again or myself?
We have one supplementary question each left.
I have always argued that multinational capital is not quite as mobile as the Minister thinks. They make big investments and do not just run off and leave them overnight. The Government parties have argued that they have to get down on their knees and offer them zero-rate taxes. The rate is 12.5% in theory but in reality it is less than 1% for Apple, as we know. In reality, it is an effective rate of approximately 5%…
Trump is dangerous but the Government can go on talking to him.
Gaelscoil Phádraig in Loughlinstown in my area has had a lot to put up with. School authorities have been waiting 20 years in temporary accommodation to get into their new and permanent location, which is bad enough. From talking to them this week, my colleagues in my office were saying their big problem now is just getting teachers. While they have sanction for additional full-time posts, they cannot get anybody bec…
The simple reason we have a housing disaster in this country is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have danced to the tune of greedy, profit-driven speculators, vulture funds and corporate landlords. The response to the resulting crisis, which has left us with 100,000 families waiting for more than a decade on housing lists, unaffordable rents and unaffordable house prices, is for the Taoiseach to say we need to pivot mo…
It will be a three-state solution-----
The Taoiseach can just say "Yes" or "No".
Palestinians are the victims; they are not the aggressors.
I bet you I have been on more protests outside the Russian embassy than you have.
The programme for Government refers to work-life balance, quality of life, quality employment and it even contains the phrase "a secure future for all living things", which is quite a noble ambition. I want to shout out for a group of workers very close at hand who do not have any of those things. They are the majority of people who work for Oireachtas TV, who broadcast proceedings from this Dáil Chamber, the Seanad …
Does the Taoiseach agree with me?
We do not have a place on the commission but the Government has a place.
I just thought I would start the ball rolling.
It was only raised with me last week.
Will the Taoiseach support them?
About a week ago, I raised the plight of tenants in Sallynoggin who have been living in council houses for years with infants and children where there is mould all over the walls, all of the time, water running down the insides of the walls and rodent infestations. The tenants are still being forced to live there. It has been earmarked for redevelopment but the point is that the tenants want out of there because the …