The HSE claimed that Sarsfield Court dementia clinic in Glanmire in Cork is closing due to a non-compliance notification, despite the fact that the notification was issued following its receipt by family members. Why is the HSE adamant about closing the dementia unit in Glanmire, County Cork?
TDs / Pat Buckley
Pat Buckley
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
454
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
25,737
words spoken in the chamber
Across 72 contributions
421
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
154
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 454 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 72 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 21 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 46 | 5 |
| March 2025 | 32 | 4 |
| April 2025 | 27 | 3 |
| May 2025 | 39 | 5 |
| June 2025 | 25 | 6 |
| July 2025 | 46 | 5 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 28 | 4 |
| October 2025 | 32 | 2 |
| November 2025 | 17 | 3 |
| December 2025 | 17 | 10 |
| January 2026 | 22 | 4 |
| February 2026 | 26 | 8 |
| March 2026 | 12 | 3 |
| April 2026 | 16 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 12 | 3 |
| June 2026 | 15 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 2 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 1 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 18 | 3 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 25 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 Cork East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. From previous experience with the patients in the Owenacurra care centre, when there was so-called consultation, that did not happen with families. It was take it or leave it syndrome. I do not want to see that happen again. I want to acknowledge that the Minister of State is coming to Midleton tomorrow to open another section of a unit in Midleton Community Hospital. I al…
I thank the Minister of State. As I said, I have already written to the HSE and am awaiting a response. I have raised my concerns. We do not want to be constantly negative. People get involved in politics to be genuine and try to help people. I take on board what the Minister of State said. On behalf of the families and following what the Minister of State said, I want to state that it sometimes does not suit people …
We have been told time and again that we should all be using public transport. Yet, there are communities across east Cork that have no adequate public transport whatsoever. The Government, with a straight face, is telling those communities that public transport will now be more expensive, notwithstanding that there is no public transport there at all. It is farcical. For people in Knockadoon and Ballymacoda, which a…
I thank the Independent Technical Group for bringing forward this motion. Where will I start? Constituents have told me that they go cold and hungry and that some days they do both. They cannot afford to heat their homes and their kids are constantly sick. They end up cutting back on food to pay for electricity. Cold homes, empty fridges and impossible choices face some of my constituents in east Cork, who are forced…
I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for tabling this motion. It is not just ordinary workers who are being made to fear for their futures as artificial intelligence continues to develop and expand. Musical artists, writers and filmmakers are also being badly hit by this AI revolution. Their copyrighted work is being used without their consent or any remuneration to build systems that spew out AI art that directly competes with…
I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion here today. I sat here last night and have sat here again this morning, listening to the debates. The first thing I have noticed is there is absolutely zero from the Government bench. It is absolutely shameful. It is crocodile tears we see in here. I do not like scripts but I will speak very bluntly. The Government just does not have the balls to stand up to genoc…
I thank the Minister of State for being here. A Labour Court recommendation on 22 October 2022 recommended that Stryker management in Carrigtohill should enter into negotiations with SIPTU, with a view to concluding a collective agreement that covers procedural arrangements within which normal industrial relations business can be conducted. It would have given members a voice at the negotiating table so that serious …
I thank the Minister of State for her response. She stated, "When disputes arise and engagement at workplace level breaks down, the State provides well-established institutions to support resolution." I understand that the Labour Court recommendations are generally non-binding. She also stated, "Nevertheless, such recommendations are intended to be treated with seriousness by both parties." I understand that she cann…
I thank the Minister of State.
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. This is bonkers. I have sat here and listened. I thank Deputy Doherty for bringing this motion and for the upcoming legislation. We come in here and we talk about having solutions but the Minister is in government and the Government is supposed to serve the people, not profit from their misery as it is at the moment. The Minister heard a while ago about 64% of the price at the pu…
The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, will be aware that the postal services have been crippled with closures and cutbacks. Since 2015 a total of 34 post offices have been closed in Cork, the vast majority of which were in rural areas. The shocking number of closures has also resulted in threats to other community services. I will give the example of Ballynoe. It had a shop that was part of the post office. It did the…
I thank the Minister of State for being here. I listened to her last night when she said that urgency was required with the Bill. I and Deputy McDonald tabled a Private Members' Bill on this as long ago as 2017, so I hope we will not be here as long again to get what we need pushed forward. Sinn Féin supports reform of how wardships of court are legislated for. It is a no-brainer. We certainly have to move away from …
It is called-----
Homelessness is displacement. We all know what displacement is like in Gaza. People are calling it an absolute disaster. We have displacement of more than 5,500 children. That is happening today and is a disaster. The number of homeless adults in Cork rose by 24% in the past year, the biggest year on year increase in the past five years. These figures show a dramatic increase in the number of people accessing emergen…
I welcome the statements by the Minister and the Minister of State confirming there will be no cuts to SNAs across schools this year. From speaking to SNAs and parents, however, they are worried that this is just a pause. What will happen next year?
I listened to the Minister's speech. She spoke about SENOs knowing our education system. A lot of Deputies spoke today and yesterday about the 2014 circular that is tota…
I thank the Minister of State for being here today. I am here again today to discuss flooding. I have been raising this issue since I was first elected back in 2016. I have gone through four Ministers of State on this issue. Ten years later, the people of my town Midleton are still waiting for the flood relief scheme to be implemented. I acknowledge that the Minister of State visited, as did the former Minister of St…
I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. As a Sinn Féin TD representing Cork East, and in line with my party's strong focus on tackling inequality and investing in disadvantaged communities, I ask for his active support in progressing fair DEIS provisions for students in Youghal who are experiencing persistent socioeconomic disadvantage. The Youghal urban area is home to 7,075 people: 5,276 adults and …
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Sometimes, it is hard to comment on individual cases. Going back to this school, it is three years on. The Minister of State spoke about the urban bands 1 and 2. I understand that the Department has to be fair and tick all the boxes. It is similar to what we have been dealing with in terms flooding with tranches 1 and 2.
The Minister of State mentioned the right level of …
They would be very glad to hear that. I thank the Minister of State.
He is making up stories now.
I thank Deputy Clarke for tabling this motion and all the speakers, including the Government speakers, who contributed to the debate on this very sensitive subject. I thank the Mental Health Commission for its work.
I welcome the opportunity to again address the House on the topic of mental health services, having first done so back in 2016. I am sad that there has been very little change in the ten years since. We …
Uisce Éireann Infrastructure Delivery, Accountability and Repair Timelines: Motion [Private Members]
I will stick to two areas, namely, accountability and communication. On a rating from one to ten, both of them are one. There have been ten years of a boil water notice in Whitegate, east Cork, with diabolical communications, even with me as a public representative. Some other speakers have mentioned that already. There is zero accountability and no information any time you can actually get an email to Uisce Éireann,…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. This is about being proactive and taking positive health initiatives. As an ex-smoker and a vape user, I know the difference between the two. I am worried about the reactive, as opposed to proactive, stance this Bill takes. While it moves us forward, it still does not do enough. I have read the latest press release from Responsible Vaping Ireland. It states that simila…
I listened to the debate in my office today. The industry will be decimated, full stop. We have seen it with the fishing industry. We cannot say we went out and bargained for this, that and the other. The fishing industry was sold out. We should have a fishing industry worth billions of euro worth here. The Minister mentioned in his speech about quality of life. How can a person have a better quality of life if he or…