I know the Minister of State is personally invested in improving the school transport system. It should be acknowledged that we have seen a significant increase in the number of school transport places. I want to put on record my thanks to officials in the Department, to people in Bus Éireann and to the bus companies and drivers around the country who carry tens of thousands of children to school every day. The Minis…
TDs / Malcolm Byrne
Malcolm Byrne
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,895
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
92,967
words spoken in the chamber
Across 348 contributions
416
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
356
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 1,895 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 348 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 81 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 42 | 16 |
| March 2025 | 71 | 12 |
| April 2025 | 50 | 21 |
| May 2025 | 72 | 28 |
| June 2025 | 46 | 22 |
| July 2025 | 94 | 15 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 68 | 15 |
| October 2025 | 95 | 13 |
| November 2025 | 179 | 22 |
| December 2025 | 111 | 12 |
| January 2026 | 143 | 28 |
| February 2026 | 183 | 31 |
| March 2026 | 136 | 16 |
| April 2026 | 94 | 22 |
| May 2026 | 121 | 18 |
| June 2026 | 102 | 19 |
| July 2026 | 128 | 16 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 45 | 13 |
| October 2026 | 34 | 9 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 258 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 Wicklow-Wexford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
Will the Minister of State provide an update on the private wires policy?
The Minister of State can speak off the cuff.
In support of my colleague Deputy Ó Cearúil, I think we need to explore nuclear as a potential option. We are all very supportive, for instance, of the Celtic interconnector between Ireland and France, where there is the possibility that we will be obtaining some of our energy from France. Last year, up to 68% of all of France's energy was generated by nuclear power. If we acquire energy from Scotland, similarly, som…
This relates to the question of energy demand and how we meet it and the importance of progressing as quickly as possible with the private wires policy and indeed the private wires Bill. I welcome the commitment in July by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that he is going to progress on this. However, it is now of the essence that we move quickly. He did say it would be priority legislation. I hope the Minister …
The Minister of State knows how urgent this is. I am particularly thinking in terms of industrial demand and whether we can connect solar farms or wind farms into private industry or on the commercial side. In the development of our digital infrastructure, including data centres, it is critical that we move on this. I even suggest this in regard to housing because electricity supply is becoming a problem. A developer…
It is critical. When we have a number of companies that are ready to build that infrastructure, we need to facilitate them. We do not need them to be held up in the planning process for long periods. We need that private infrastructure to complement the State infrastructure as soon as possible.
Along with others, I congratulate the Minister of State on her recent wedding and wish her every success. I appreciate her being here to take this debate this evening.
We are talking about the role of amateur theatre and musicals right around the State in all of our constituencies. In terms of the numbers who are actually involved in amateur theatre and musicals, it is estimated that after the GAA, it is the largest…
I thank the Minister of State very much. Like her, I encourage everybody to get involved in Culture Night. Many of the activities in Culture Night will be led by people who are involved in local community theatre groups and musical societies right around the country. There has been an enormous and very welcome commitment to significant increased funding for the Arts Council, and the introduction of a basic income sch…
I too look forward to the publication of the national development plan in the coming weeks and to the significant investment we will see in infrastructure. The challenge, of course, relates to delivery. Our problem with certain State agencies is what I can only describe as a "Bulmers" approach to delivery - nothing added but time. Some of our delivery has been particularly poor. I would like assurance, particularly i…
Like others, I thank the Ministers of State for being here for this very important debate and discussion. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will forgive me if I single out the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has been a champion of the LGBT community, particularly now on trans healthcare. I am very proud to count her as a friend. On this issue in particular, she has spoken out and taken on some of the voic…
It is the same every week.
7. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [35405/25]
I agree with my colleague, Deputy Moynihan, about the horrible events that continue to unfold in Sudan.
I raise the EU-China summit which will take place next year. While it is important and increasingly the case that we must have free and fair trade around the world, and I know China and the European Union are committed to try to address some of the trading problems globally, I raise again the issue of continuing h…
What about Tibet?
I asked about Tibet.
13. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach if he has had any engagement to date with the new Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney. [35275/25]
I welcome the Taoiseach's very warm welcome for the new Prime Minister of Canada. I am sure he will also join with me in welcoming the new Canadian ambassador to Ireland Dennis King and his wife Jana, who have just joined us. The Taoiseach's personal commitment to Canada over a long period is very welcome and I look forward to the Government implementing CETA. I understand the memo has been brought to Government but …
Nor Moscow nor Tehran
I welcome the Minister of State's strong commitment to the European Union. In this time of global turbulence, it is more important than ever that we talk about why the European Union is in place. It is the world's greatest peace and prosperity project. It is not perfect and there are lots of reasons we can criticise the European Union, but if we think about what the EU has achieved, not just for Ireland but also for …
I thank the Minister for taking this critical issue. As he knows, we all live in a digital world. It is one where computing in general has made our lives better and easier and we are far more interconnected. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other technologies have the potential to deliver ever more effective and efficient public services. However, as cyberspace becomes more critical to all of our lives,…
Like the Minister, I welcome the fact that the NCSC is now within the remit of the Department of justice. I welcome the fact that he is giving priority to the cybersecurity Bill, but he might provide an outline as to when he envisages it coming before the House. While I welcome the fact that the NCSC regularly carries out assessments of cyber risk, I wonder if an assessment has been carried out as to exactly how vuln…
I have listened in envy to some of my colleagues talk about the wonderful rail services they have and how much more they need, because in this rail review the Rosslare line was an afterthought. Hardly any consideration was given to improving the services south of Wicklow town. While I welcome that we are talking about extending the DART services to Greystones in Wicklow, it is intended in this review to force passeng…
In the past decade, according to figures provided by the Minister's Department, the number of civil servants has increased from about 36,000 to 53,000, which is an almost 50% increase. In figures provided to me by the HSE with regard to whole-time equivalents, the numbers employed by the HSE have increased from 107,274 to 148,268, a 38.2% increase. We have seen today a report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council th…
I thank the Minister of State for being here. He is very much aware of the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and the work that was done by Aoife Hegarty and her team. It was an example of quality public service broadcasting. I know the Minister of State, like me and so many others, was appalled by what he saw on his screen. I know he wants to take action on foot of that. The Taoiseach said that when HIQA carries out parti…