I thank the Deputies for their comments. I do not have the specific answers to their questions but I will take them back. I thank them for the geography lesson on Dublin city and routes 73 and 123. The points the two Deputies make are very important. If we are asking people to have independent travel and encouraging the 15-minute concept of the city, then older people need to be able to access public transport. There…
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 thank the Deputy for her question and for her ongoing engagement on the matter of Dublin Bus services. Like her, I am eager to see improvements in real-time tracking, not just of Dublin Bus services, but nationwide across the whole public service obligation, PSO, fleet. The Dublin Bus automatic vehicle location system feeds information to the bus operator's control room, TFI Live app and on-street signs. It dates f…
There is nothing on which I disagree with Deputy Currie regarding the matters she has raised. As she knows, the NTA has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the development of real-time systems. The Deputy made a good point on the app. The rating is quite poor. To be fair to her and other Members, but her in particular, she has raised the matter repeatedly. I k…
She has made a very fair point. The network redesign and delivery by the NTA has continued over the past four years. It has rolled out the sixth phase of the redesigned bus network in Dublin, which includes state-of-the-art ticketing and providing cashless and account-based ticketing across bus and other public transport networks. We have seen new bus liveries, standardising the exteriors and interiors of buses acros…
I fully concur that a rating of 1.4 on the app is not good enough. I know from my city, Cork, that people are concerned about buses not turning up, be it the late-night bus or the last bus, which the Deputy mentioned. We really have to improve on this. I will ask the NTA to engage directly with the Deputy.
I thank Deputy Timmins for the matter he has raised tonight. As Minister of State in the Department responsible for transport, I recognise the vital role that enhanced connectivity plays in supporting communities across rural Ireland, including in County Wicklow. The Deputy raised it during the last Question Time. I reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability and affordability of rural public tr…
I understand the Deputy’s frustration. He is right to be frustrated because it is important that we have connectivity. I am informed that the enhancement of route 132 is planned under Connecting Ireland. Operational decisions regarding service delivery are the responsibility of the NTA in collaboration with transport operators, subject to funding and resource availability. I will happily sit down with the Deputy and …
There is no excuse for people missing buses or buses leaving before the scheduled time. It goes back to Deputy Currie’s point about real-time information. The important point is that we have an increase in demand. There is a real commitment by the Government to ensure that the services we operate, particularly in the areas the Deputy mentioned, meet the need. Again, as I said to the Deputy, I will engage with the Dep…
I thank Deputy O'Connell for taking this question. I thank her for the question. Like her, I am eager to see best practice being implemented across our public transport sector, including passenger technology. As we heard from Deputy O’Connell and from Deputy Currie earlier, it is a very important matter. Public transport apps are not simply about having a technological solution for the sake of it. Rather, they are ab…
The Deputy makes a very good point in the context of that one platform. The NTA has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the development of the related technological systems. As I said earlier, the NTA has awarded a contract to implement and support a national automatic vehicle location system for all public service obligation buses to Trapeze, which is a speci…
The point that Deputy O'Connell has made in terms of the users' perspective is one we must listen to and recognise. The Members tonight have expressed frustration in terms of ghost buses, lack of real-time information, no buses turning up at all and being late or leaving early. It is an issue we need to have further engagement on by the NTA, with Trapeze and the Department, in the context of how we can make it easy f…
I thank Deputy Burke for his question and his ongoing advocacy on behalf of the people of Mallow. He has been very proactive on the matter.
As the Deputy will know, approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds has been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities this year. Included in this is an allocation of €700,000 for the Mallow relief road, which is progressing towards the completion o…
I share Deputy Burke's view that we expedite this as fast as we can. He is right; it is an important infrastructure piece. I have not got the answer regarding the Gas Networks Ireland interface. I will certainly ask the NTA to communicate with the Deputy because he is right. The relief road project will provide an enormous benefit to the town of Mallow. The Deputy has, with Councillor Liam Madden, been very strong in…
The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, like Deputy Burke and I, will be familiar with and recognise the importance of the N20 project. It is critical and it is lacking. It is the deficit in the infrastructure connecting the western corridor. People rightly complain from many perspectives but, from an economic perspective, it is absolutely imperative that we advance the motorway and that Cork-Limerick road.
Equally, I concur w…
I will certainly do that.
Longest.
What a small-minded-----
Ar an gcéad dul síos, tá céad míle fáilte roimh Kara Owen agus déanaim comhghairdeas le Paul Johnston.
I thank Sinn Féin for putting the motion before us. It is my pleasure to deliver the closing remarks on behalf of an Rialtas. I echo the comments of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, at the outset of the debate, namely, that all of us in government share as a founding principle the commitment to…
I join Deputy Gogarty in condemning the actions tonight of those who engaged in thuggery. We are, and should be, as Deputy Gogarty rightly said, thinking about the young girl who was attacked. We send our best wishes to her. We also think of the member of An Garda Síochána who was attacked tonight in the line of duty. All of us who are balanced and fair people recognise there is no place in society for what happened …
The Deputy is right to raise the issue of residents in the area. There is fear, property has been damaged and public transport stopped. People have been discommoded and unable to get to and from work and home tonight. It is important that we send a strong message not just to those who have rioted but to the people who are affected and living in fear.
I have a huge amount of sympathy with the Deputy in regard to this…
I thank Deputy Daly for raising this very important matter. As somebody who was involved with the Cope Foundation in Cork, now Horizons, I recognise the huge work being done in special education and for those with disabilities in Kerry. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth.
The Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with additional need…
I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I acknowledge the concerns he has articulated on behalf of the children and parents concerned. I want to make it clear that the Government, the Department, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, working with the NCSE, have committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. AIM is about ensurin…
I thank the Deputy for her question and her ongoing advocacy, particularly post Storm Éowyn. The Department is responsible for the seniors alert scheme, which encourages community support for older people through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Funding is available under the scheme for the purchase by a register…
Both the Minister and I are acutely aware of that. We have been anxious to ensure the distress many people felt is not replicated. That is why the review is taking place. There has been extensive engagement by our Department, and by the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, with the telecom companies. As part of that review alternative technologies are being examined and considered, because the Deputy is right. Any iteration o…
We must take learnings from every storm and apply them in the round to what we can do better. The Deputy is right that there was huge success. There is merit in her suggestion about community groups being involved because they are critical to connectivity. However, the Minister and I have been clear with the officials in our Department that there must be extensive engagement. Pobal staff are involved, as are the tele…