Hear, hear.
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
The Minister of State articulated very well the purposes of this Bill particularly in implementing elements of the European Media Freedom Act. It is important to note that Ireland has always performed well on press freedom indices. Reporters Without Borders, RSF, which is journalists making their own assessment, has placed Ireland’s ranking over the past number of years as "good", which is the top placing, when it co…
I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable the state to accede to the Antarctic Treaty done at Washington on 1 December 1959 and to certain related instruments, including the protocol on environmental protection to the Antarctic Treaty done at Madrid on 4 October 1991; and to provide for related matters.
The Antarctic Treaty (Accession and Implementation) Bill proposes that Ireland …
I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."
I thank the Minister of State for being here. He is well aware of the problems that have existed for a number of years. Somebody could work in a childcare facility and, at the same time, could be training juvenile athletes as well as being involved in a stage school involving young people. For each of those roles, that person would require Garda vetting. In terms of bus drivers and certain types of employment, it is …
I thank the Minister of State very much. With all due respect, I do not think we needed a review group to operate for five years to tell us that. It is something I think we all knew. We needed a more efficient system. The Federation of Irish Sport, charities and community organisations have been saying for a long time that there should be a very simple vetting process. Anybody who is working with children or vulnerab…
11. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Health the Government strategy to raise awareness of haemochromatosis. [17294/26]
I am somebody who has haemochromatosis. I was very lucky about ten years ago that I had the diagnosis. I was simply feeling fatigued. It was a general checkup and I was lucky that my GP decided to check my iron levels. It is a perfectly manageable disease, as Deputy Daly has pointed out, and I am very fortunate that I can have a venesection in my local GP's surgery. The challenge, particularly among men, who perhaps …
14. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Health the strategies in place to tackle the high levels of osteoporosis and fracture falls in Ireland. [17293/26]
The Minister has outlined what a serious issue it is, and the numbers impacted in this country by osteoporosis. We know there are approximately 32,000 fragility fractures every year and that is estimated to cost our health service approximately €464 million every year. That is not to forget the impact it has on the individual patients. Given our ageing population, if we do not address some of this, those costs could …
To start, I agree entirely with the Minister that first and foremost in this debate our thoughts have to be with the 24,000 citizens of this country in the Middle East. I too commend the diplomatic teams working there to ensure their safety. This has to be our priority, and the Government is right in adopting that approach.
Before I turn to the geopolitical situation, I will comment on a number of specific impacts h…
The current and previous Governments rightly committed to investment in the arts, including significant increases in funding to the Arts Council and expanding the basic income for the arts scheme. Indeed, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, is to proceed with the arts capital programme later this year. I want to raise the question of funding for amateur theatre and musical movements around the country. After the GAA, the…
That is a compliment.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence entitled "First Interim Report", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 12th December, 2025.
Tá áthas an domhan orm an chéad tuarascáil ón gComhchoiste Um Intleacht Shaorga a mholadh. Tá an teicneolaíocht iontach seo ag athrú ár sochaí agus is ceart go bhfuil an tír seo ag glacadh ról ceannaireachta s…
This has been a very informative debate. It reflects the nature of how our committee has worked. If we think about our role as legislators, our responsibility is towards the safety of our citizens and those who live here. It is about equipping people to be able to deal with the challenges that we face in our lives and in our workplaces. It is about supporting innovation and creating an environment where jobs and weal…
This is an important debate in that it focuses attention on those within our school system who need additional support. We need to acknowledge the very significant progress that has been made in the increase in the number of SNAs from 16,000 in 2020 to where it will be over 25,000 this year.
I also want to talk about the 16 new special schools that have been created since 2020, which are incredibly important, includ…
I welcome the publication last week of the Government's AI and digitalisation strategy, which balances supporting innovation with maintaining trust and having the necessary guardrails in place. The executive chair of Coimisiún na Meán was before the Oireachtas AI committee today and he said that tougher laws are needed on AI-generated sexual imagery and further laws are needed on the misuse of intimate and other imag…
I welcome the publication of the Government's AI and digitalisation strategy but the issue relates to harmful products coming onto the market, as Deputy Joanna Byrne outlined. I appreciate we are going to be placing a lot more responsibility on the regulator but some of this has to be about putting responsibility back on the platform before the product or service is released onto the market. We are going to invest in…
I strongly the support the question raised by my colleague. It is critical that we enhance opportunities for those with a disability. I particularly encourage a further examination of the wage subsidy scheme. The Government made a significant increase in the context of budget 2026. Although it does not come into effect until the beginning of April, it could be considered in the budgetary process for 2027. For instanc…
Will the Minister establish an AI observatory to run in parallel with the national AI office to look at real-time figures with regard to jobs displacement and the skills needed for Ireland to avail of the opportunities AI presents?
I thank the Minister for the priority he has been giving to this proposal. As he says, the advisory council has strongly recommended it, as have those of us on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Change is happening at pace and things are happening quickly. We saw the recommendations within the Government's strategy on AI and digitalisation, which was published yesterday, but we also had a repo…
I am hugely supportive of all of that. It is very welcome. It is unfortunate the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, cannot be here today but I welcome the fact that she is at the global AI summit in New Delhi. It is critically important that Ireland takes a leadership role in this space. There is already anecdotal evidence that we are seeing significant changes in the jobs market so I welcome the fact that we are looki…
I thank the Minister. This question is based on a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. I am encouraged by the approach Government has taken, particularly the publication yesterday of the AI and digitalisation strategy.
The Minister correctly stated in response to the previous question that this is related to our investment in digital infrastructure plus our investment in the energy gri…
I very much welcome the Minister's approach on this. It is critical we bring the public with us and, as he said, that it be cross-government. Will he consider public information campaigns to make people aware of the possibilities and challenges? He and I will probably remember the famous ads, "I don't know what a tracker mortgage is", so that people could understand financial products. We need to look in a similar wa…
I commend the fact that the Minister has significantly increased the sums available when it comes to the humanitarian relief under storms. He did reference Storm Claudia, particularly with regard to the impact that had on County Wexford and the humanitarian relief which was open to businesses and sports clubs under that scheme. Unfortunately, one of the clubs that was impacted in a big way was Woodenbridge Golf Club …