I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am aware of the many community groups up and down the country that give so much to organising festivals that benefit the wider community and attract significant numbers of visitors to rural areas. A number of Members put queries to me on this issue during the week. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, has been doing a lot of work with a number of festivals in h…
TDs / Peter Burke
Peter Burke
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
99,195
words spoken in the chamber
99,195 as a minister, 0 as a TD
306
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 403 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 20 |
| March 2025 | 1 |
| April 2025 | 16 |
| May 2025 | 26 |
| June 2025 | 15 |
| July 2025 | 3 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 27 |
| October 2025 | 4 |
| November 2025 | 22 |
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 61 |
| February 2026 | 25 |
| March 2026 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 26 |
| May 2026 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 62 |
| July 2026 | 29 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 |
| October 2026 | 52 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 360 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Longford-Westmeath 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 23 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment 2 June 2025 to now
I will revert to the House on this matter. This year, we are under significant pressure in terms of our budgetary perspective. However, we may be able, over the coming years, to look at what is needed to keep running these established festivals and how we can support them. I can commit to having a look at that in the next couple of years to see what my Department can do, together with the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, …
I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his important question. We have about 300,000 people in Ireland who are living with rare diseases - about one in seven of the population - which is very significant. We have made commitments in the programme for Government and we are working with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, whom I know is very committed in this area. One of the critical areas we are working on is ac…
I will raise this issue with the Minister of Health. As the Deputy pointed out, she is committed and has been meeting families on this. In budgets between 2021 and 2025, an additional €158 million was made available for new drugs and of the 263 new drugs, 72 were new drugs that were licensed in that regard. We also have the rare diseases strategy from 2025 to 2030, which the Government is working on to ensure we brea…
I thank Deputy Doherty for this important question. It is an area on which I can empathise. Many community groups have given so much of their time to bring in festivals that contribute to the local economy. I spoke with Barry O'Neill about the Rory Gallagher festival earlier this week and the concerns he has, some of which the Deputy outlined. I have to be careful about what I can do as regards contacting the parent …
No one in this House, in any political party or none, wants to see any child in poverty or deems it acceptable, might I add, that any child would be in poverty. That is why we are doing everything we can as a Government to ensure we are assisting. Let me demonstrate some of the facts. First, regarding the target, in figures produced by the CSO, we have reduced child poverty from 8.5% in 2024 to 7.8%. That is too slow…
I appreciate the Deputy's contribution. I will raise the matter with the Ministers for education and children.
As a Government, we really need to ensure that children get access to early intervention. I know the July provision has been a huge success but we have to do better. I will take the Deputy’s contribution and bring it to the attention of both Ministers.
The Deputy has a significant concern in relation to his constituent who is absolutely waiting too long. I will raise the issue with the Minister for Health. However, we have done a huge amount in relation to primary care improvements and reducing waiting lists. We have had an intervention specifically to reduce waiting lists. I will raise this specific issue which the Minister for Health and bring it to her attention…
We have had a very strong response to immigration with the asylum and migration pact, which this House has adjudicated on and voted on, and which the Council of State has also adjudicated on. We are now very clear in terms of processing applications quickly in a 12-week period-----
-----ensuring that we have a very strong robust network throughout Europe to deal collectively what immigration. One thing I will not do is lean into people's fears like the Deputy is. I will not validate prejudice like he tried to do.
What I will do is work to ensure-----
I will work with the Minister for justice, Deputy O’Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to ensure that we have a firm immigration system-----
------that we have a fair immigration system and one that is hard on traffickers and smugglers, and where we decide the policy ourselves.
I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue for his area. I will raise it with the Minister in question. I do not have the knowledge of the specific issue in question but will raise it with the Minister and get her to revert to him directly.
I thank the Deputy for her very important question on tourism. Since December, we have had a new plan, A New Era for Irish Tourism, which seeks to increase employment to 250,000 from 228,000, bring our domestic revenue up to €5.8 billion annually and bring our overseas revenue up to €9 billion, which will be significant growth for the tourism sector. Mayo will be front and centre to that development. I look forward t…
I acknowledge the Deputy and the work we are trying to do on this significant asset. As he knows, we had a meeting with the key players who have the decision on this - the Department of Transport, Galway County Council and my Department through Fáilte Ireland. At that juncture, I advised them that our capital expenditure schemes would open from September of this year but I need a proposal that I can work with. I cann…
The Deputy has raised an important area. I will have to revert to the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, to get a timeline because it is not under my jurisdiction. It has progressed through the Houses significantly. We will find out where it is at for the Deputy.
I will forward the query to the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, but I am not aware that we underfunded any local authority. We give local authorities funding, particularly for roads, but they have to, essentially, prioritise their budget on where the acute need is. It is important that Dublin City Council has a budget to repair roads. To have it committed this early is pretty alarming. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O…
I thank the Deputy for raising an important point around the support for people with muscular dystrophy. It is a very debilitating condition. Obviously, from the interest and number of people who turned up to the audiovisual room, the will to support can be seen. I will raise it with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. A significant amount of resources went into the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, and …
I absolutely know the value of our Local Link services. I see it clearly in my constituency in bringing people of all ages to their destination, be it for education, appointments or just to bring people into their local town to do their grocery shopping. I will raise the issue of the 199 service with the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, and ask him to get a response from the NTA. In good faith, I hope the service goes ahead…
I am happy to raise it with the Department of agriculture and the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, to get a response for the Deputy. I am not fully appraised of the situation and, therefore, I do not want to put anything on the record that I may not be fully aware of. If it was suckler cows, I might have been able to come back to the Deputy directly. When it comes to poultry, I cannot do so, unfortunately.
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this important issue. I know he is a strong supporter of healthcare, particularly through his work on the health committee, to ensure that people of all ages get the adequate care they deserve. I will raise the concerns he has with the Minister for Health. Hopefully, we will have a capital programme. The Deputy quite rightly pointed out the saving that we have embarked upon in the acu…
I thank the Deputy for his important question. I know the Minister for justice is linked in with the Garda Commissioner in this area because adequate cover for An Garda Síochána to do the enforcement work that is necessary in this area to fulfil the requirement to ensure communities are safe has been raised. I will bring it to his attention that the Deputy raised it. I know the Minister is working on a solution with …
I thank the Deputy. I do not propose to engage in "He said, she said" on the floor of the Dáil because I am not-----
I am not aware of the debate myself in connection with-----