I move:
Tuesday’s business shall be:
- Motion re Presentation and Circulation of Revised Estimates for Public Services 2025 [Votes 24, 41 and 46] (any division demanded shall be taken immediately)
- Motion re Confidence in the Ceann Comhairle (any division claimed to be taken immediately)
- Motions for Revised Estimates for Public Services 2025 [Votes 24, 41 and 46] (to be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes…
TDs / Mary Butler
Mary Butler
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip; and the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health
Portrait: Mary Butler (CC BY 4.0) · source file
1
question asked
Oral and written, to government departments
216,769
words spoken in the chamber
214,650 as a minister, 2,119 as a TD
433
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
1
topic asked about
Across 1 department
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 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 946 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 37 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 24 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 33 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 46 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 304 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 55 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 15 |
| October 2025 | 1 | 29 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 60 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 38 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 31 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 30 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 75 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 25 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 29 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 24 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 30 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 31 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 386 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Not enough questions on record to compare.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Waterford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip; and the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health 23 January 2025 to now
I note the dissent as set down by the various Deputies. They also dissented at the Business Committee last Thursday. We will do our best to find some speaking time. I will engage with the Opposition Whips to find speaking time regarding tariffs. We had speaking time on that two weeks ago. I said last Thursday that, as soon as 2 April had passed, we will know exactly where we are and that we will find time.
Deputy Co…
For anybody who was not present at the Business Committee last Thursday, what I said was that we had statements on tariffs two weeks ago and that we were all waiting with trepidation as to what would happen on 2 April and that then we would discuss speaking time in the very near future about what we will all find out tomorrow.
I thank the Deputy for raising this really important mental health Bill, which, as he knows, is a priority of the Government. The restoration of the Bill to the Order Paper was one of the first actions undertaken by this Government. I was delighted to reinstate it. I met the Attorney General only last week on this. We are just trying to finalise the last of the amendments, which are quite technical in nature and some…
No.
I move:
That, notwithstanding Standing Order 222 of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business, the following Revised Estimates for Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2025, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 1st April, 2025, being a date later than that prescribed for the presentation of Estimates:
Vote 24 — Justice (Revised Estimate).
Vote 41 — An tÚdarás Pó…
I welcome the opportunity to express my confidence in the Ceann Comhairle. Fairness as a politician is essential. What we see today is not fairness. There is no fairness to what the Office of the Ceann Comhairle represents and no fairness to the Ceann Comhairle, only verbal abuse, bullying and permanent outrage. What we witnessed last week would not be tolerated in any workforce or workplace. The pictures circulated …
The Deputies opposite believe they have a veto. Let me say there is no such veto. We all fought an election and the people had their say. We came together on this side of the House to form a Government and those opposite tried to disrupt the process and lost. We put forward modest changes to Standing Orders to ensure everyone's mandate in the Dáil would be respected.
They objected to that. We put it to a vote and they lost.
Sinn Féin has a chequered view of the ballot box and it really only plays second fiddle to its agenda. Its stated objective is to undermine the Dáil and Government and create mayhem. We know of its lack of loyalty to the institutions of the State.
The Government is about respecting the rights of Deputies democratically elected to this Hous - all of them. We take our direction from the people, the people who voted for us last November urging us to form a Government and run the country. It is from the people that we take our orders, not from Belfast or anywhere else.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important question about mental health, especially men's mental health. He is absolutely right. Unfortunately, in 2022 we had 410 deaths by suicide and 80% of them were men. We have been looking at this very closely. We encourage people like the Headsup programme. We also encourage men to attend men's sheds and to be able to speak openly about their mental health challenges. One th…
The legislation has not been voted on, Ceann Comhairle.
I move:
Tuesday’s business shall be:
- Motion re Amendments to Standing Orders (any division claimed to be taken immediately)
- Statute Law Revision Bill 2024 [Seanad] (Second Stage) (to adjourn after 2 hours and 30 mins)
Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re National Ambulance Service, selected by Sinn Féin.
Wednesday's business shall be:
- Statements post European Council meeting of 20th–…
Agreed.
I move:
That, until further notice in the 34th Dáil, and with effect from the week beginning Monday 31st March, 2025, the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business be amended as follows:
(a) Standing Order 28: Constitution of the Business Committee
In Standing Order 28, by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (2)(c):
"(d) a representative of Other Members as defined in Standi…
I move:
Wednesday’s business shall be:
- Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate)
- Statements on the Housing Commission Report (resumed) (not to exceed 2 hrs and 25 mins)
Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Social Housing Tenant in-Situ Scheme, selected by Sinn Féin.
Thursday's business shall be Statements on International Security and International Trade …
As the Deputy will be aware, eating disorders are complex, individualised and are and can be one of the most serious mental health illnesses anybody can go through. As Minister of State, I am firmly committed to improving services for eating disorders in Ireland. The national clinical programme was set up in 2018, and when it was set up it was envisaged there would be approximately 60 people who would require the sup…
Some of the Deputy's information is inaccurate. I have put a major focus on eating disorders. Just to be clear, no child under 18 has had to have treatment abroad since 2019. This is because we now have-----
Please let me answer. We now have the nasogastric tube feeding, which is available in the Eist Linn centre in Cork, in the Linn Dara unit and in Merlin Park. Unfortunately, this is a feature associated with an eating disorder, but we do have this provision. For the past six years, we have spent €1 million annually treating some very complex cases abroad. We also spend money every year on supporting adults with eating…
Many people choose to use the treatment abroad scheme themselves. They actually choose to use it. We have to be fair. People do choose to use the treatment abroad scheme.
I am expecting-----
Does the Deputy want me to answer her question or does she want to heckle me? It is up to her.
I expect to receive a plan from the HSE regarding future eating disorder bed provision very shortly. Yesterday, I met Dr. Michelle Clifford, clinical lead, and Dr. Amir Niazi, national clinical adviser and, on Monday, I met Bernard Gloster, the CEO of the HSE, to discuss this specific issue. I have had four priorities since I was reappointed. I thank the Minister for my delegated functions this week. These priorities…
I thank the Deputy for his question and for his clarification. Can I clarify the question number?
The question relates to the mental health intellectual disability teams, which are different from other teams because they are very small. There may be nine or ten people on an eating disorder or CAMHS multidisciplinary team, for example, but mental health intellectual disability teams can normally, believe it or not, be made up of just one person and some staff to support them. I am disappointed to hear that the per…