I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for taking this question on behalf of his colleague Deputy McGuinness. I want to offer my sympathies to the people of Waterford on the very tragic deaths that took place this week. I offer Deputy McGuinness our sympathies and assure the House that the Department has been in contact with Buíon Phort Lairge, which is working to provide support. Again, I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for taking the q…
TDs / Jerry Buttimer
Jerry Buttimer
Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and at the Department of Transport
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
21
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
121,393
words spoken in the chamber
121,360 as a minister, 33 as a TD
395
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
17
topics asked about
Across 8 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 21 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 432 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 9 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 12 | 16 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 15 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 24 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 20 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 23 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 23 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 21 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 17 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 31 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 24 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 38 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 46 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 37 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 16 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 22 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 16 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 363 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 Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and at the Department of Transport 29 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and at the Department of Transport 2 June 2025 to now
I assure the Deputy of a number of things. First, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I have been clear that this budget was about providing certainty for SICAP, which we have secured. Second, we will work with those who implement the programme to plan the services they deliver. We have given stability and that core funding guarantee. Third, I assure the Deputy that the Minister, the Department and I remain 100% commi…
The point Deputy Ó Snodaigh made, and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, mentioned, on collective insurance is one we might talk to the Deputy about again. We are acutely aware. Both of us are hands-on Ministers. We understand the pressures and the costs. In the budget just gone, we got €2 million for current expenditure but that is more for community groups rather than SICAP. We are aware of and the Deputy is correct to…
I thank the Deputy. Before Deputy McAuliffe leaves, I thank him because he brought many issues to myself and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, in the budget talks which were very beneficial.
I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his advocacy and support for men's sheds. As he knows, the Minister, myself and our Department are very supportive of men’s sheds and recognise their valuable contribution across communities, in Cork c…
The Deputy is right that the men's sheds are an exemplary model. I will make one fundamental point. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I are very committed to working with the Irish Men's Sheds Association, which has identified a number of issues around distribution being cumbersome and burdensome. What we are committed to doing is to make it more streamlined and effective to work with them. That is why the Minister …
I will make another point. I met with Carrigaline and Togher men's sheds this week and last week. We understand that what we must do is have an approach that is fair and is based upon a future mechanism of funding which must be balanced by reducing that administrative burden on the Irish Men's Sheds, particularly at local level. We have to have a fair, transparent and accountable model of public funding. We will meet…
I thank the Deputy for the question. I agree completely that our country is bound by the sheer strength of the volunteering. I met the community centres network last week. I will give the Deputy a figure; 6,707 community volunteers are on call. There were 29,008 hours logged by community volunteers last year. The Minister and I are very committed, as I have said. This week we launched Ar Scáth a Chéile, the Governmen…
The Deputy makes a fair point. We spoke earlier about the burden the Irish Men's Sheds Association bears in terms of distribution of money. We are committed to making it easier. The Minister spoke about the LEADER programme with Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the cumbersome burden involved. We must balance the need for distribution of Exchequer funding with accountability and transparency, but the Deputy is right. I share his…
The most important point is we must always support and work with our community and voluntary sector, whether it is the vintage rally, the Christmas markets that will be coming up soon, the bazaar or the sporting event. Without volunteers, these events will not happen. We are committed to ensuring we do not overburden the organising group or committee. Obviously, there is a need for health and safety and we cannot aba…
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----
That was not a question.
That was not a question. Come on, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Be fair now.
That was not a question.
That was not a question.
Hear, hear.
Budget 2027 represents a very positive outcome for the Department, particularly for the community development programmes for which I have responsibility. I pay tribute to the Minister for his work in this regard.
This budget, as we have heard, is a €260 million investment in community development, which allows us to protect existing supports by strengthening programmes that make a real difference in the communities …
We are here.
Did Kerry win the all-Ireland this year? Is the Deputy still cranky over that?
I thank Deputy Farrelly for the question. The application of the €18 million expenditure levy is currently forming part of the 2027 Estimates negotiations process under way with our colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. It is fair to say that it will be challenging to absorb this levy into our current expenditure budget for 2027. The Deputy has b…
I am not going to have that particular row with the Deputy on the floor of House, but I want to make it quite to clear to him that the budgetary negotiations are ongoing. They have not concluded. The budget is on 6 October. We are very much committed to enhancing services, and an unprecedented €940 million allocation for PSO services in the budget of 2026, which was a 43% uplift, is by anyone's standard "ambition". T…
I am smiling because, as the Deputy knows quite well, the budget is on 6 October. Our Department's negotiations with the Department of public expenditure have not concluded. For me, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, our priority is very much about service expansion and the delivery of accessible and reliable services to give travelling members of the public certainty.
I want to …
I thank Deputy Ahern for his question. As the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I have said, the recently announced change in fares were the first revision in eight years. The change is aimed at supporting not just the continued expansion but also the improvement of public transport, while maintaining affordability. Any overall increase in revenue generated will go straight back into investment in public transpor…
The Deputy and I speak the same language. It has been a success story and to keep it that way, there has to be an honest conversation around fare structures. To be fair, we must consider the volume of people using public transport. I know that some Deputies will dismiss the €940 million but that is a significant investment by Government in public transport. I would make the point that we have maintained a fare freeze…
The significant point is that our PSO programme funds public transport services, both bus and rail, and as we know, it is composed of Exchequer funding and fares. The Deputy is right and the priority for us, working with the NTA, is to deliver on BusConnects so that it takes people out of their cars and onto the bus network. I have seen it in my own city of Cork.
In the past couple of weeks, with colleges and school…
I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, for her work on the survey she mentioned and for engaging with such large numbers of people. As she said, this is an important service.
The changes proposed for the 70 bus route are part of the wider BusConnects Dublin network redesign. One of the core principles of that work is to provide a more frequent, reliable and better-connected public transport network ac…