On behalf of the Independent Members in government, I acknowledge Sheila Stack and her sons Austin, Oliver and Kieran who are with us today. For over four decades, they have lived with the devastating loss of Brian and the unanswered questions surrounding his death. Today the State formally acknowledges the loss suffered by the Stack family and the failings of the investigations that followed. These are failings that…
TDs / Seán Canney
Seán Canney
Minister of State at the Department of Transport
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
65
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
81,563
words spoken in the chamber
81,563 as a minister, 0 as a TD
343
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
39
topics asked about
Across 9 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 65 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 220 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 5 | 21 |
| March 2025 | 4 | 12 |
| April 2025 | 4 | 5 |
| May 2025 | 2 | 33 |
| June 2025 | 8 | 15 |
| July 2025 | 7 | 2 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 8 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 2 | 8 |
| November 2025 | 5 | 50 |
| December 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 1 | 13 |
| February 2026 | 4 | 6 |
| March 2026 | 2 | 2 |
| April 2026 | 3 | 19 |
| May 2026 | 2 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 25 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 4 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 164 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 Galway East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Transport 23 January 2025 to now
A Cheann Comhairle, thank you for allowing me to speak. I very much welcome the amendment to this Bill reaching Second Stage. I want to speak to the fact that first cousins can now use their DNA for testing at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam. This is very welcome to a number of people who believe they may have family members buried there. Since this legislation was enacted, DNA testing has been limited…
I echo the words of the Tánaiste and my colleague the Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran, about dyslexia, and acknowledge the work they have done and continue to do, which we will continue to do together in government. When I stood here this time last year, I told the House that when my fellow Teachtaí Dála in the Independent group had the courage to support the establishment of a new Government in January 2025, we…
I move:
(1) THAT section 28 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) be amended, in subsection (3), by the substitution of “31 per cent” for “33 per cent”.
(2) THAT paragraph (1) of this Resolution shall have effect in respect of disposals of assets made on or after 7 October 2026.
(3) IT is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect und…
I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, the NTA in its capacity as fare regulator, recently announced the revised national fare structure to take effect from January 2027.
While adult fares will increase by an average of 15%, child fares are being reduced in several areas nationally. This represents the first broad adjustment to fares since 2018 and follows a period in which operating costs have risen s…
I will give the Deputy a few examples of the reduction in the new fares for children. In regional cities like Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, the new reduced fare is 33% of the equivalent fare. In town services like those in Athlone, Balbriggan, Clonmel, Drogheda, Dundalk and Kilkenny, child fares are cut to 50 cent. These are facts. What I said about fares being 8% lower than what they were eight years ago is …
Tralee is just one town and the NTA is looking at it. Regarding public transport, 363.6 million passenger journeys were carried out in 2025. It was a record. That was because services were being increased all over the place. Be it rail, bus or Local Link, all of those services are being expanded. However, if we are going to have a sustainable public transport system going forward, we also have to have what I would ca…
I thank the Deputy. To take forward the implementation of the all-island strategic rail review, my Department published the rail projects prioritisation strategy in December 2025. In the short term, the strategy specifies a number of early interventions, including new passing loops and platforms to boost the rail network’s resilience and capacity. These investments are funded to be fully delivered by 2030 under the n…
I want to reiterate that the Government is not sitting on plans. It is very active at the moment, and the Deputy knows that as well. He also well knows that we are preparing to open the line between Athenry and Claremorris, which is something he supports, and we need to get on with that.
Next year, 2027, is when we will have additional carriages becoming available. The NTA is working with Irish Rail and the latter h…
Just to reiterate, I did say that there will be additional carriages available in 2027. That is the first thing I said to the Deputy.
Yes, for Galway. The second question the Deputy asked was why this has arisen. It has arisen because when one orders new carriages it takes about five years to get them manufactured and delivered to one's specification. That is the timeline. The carriages were ordered four or five years ago and they will be with us next year. I do accept that there has been an underfunding of our service. It has grown over the last f…
I thank the Deputy for his question, which concerns an issue he has been raising on an ongoing basis.
In accordance with section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Work on such roads is funded from councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. For 2026, €718 million was allocated thro…
I understand the Deputy's frustration. I am sure he will agree that the funding allocation for Laois County Council for local and regional roads is good enough. His frustration seems to be in relation to the €3.5 million allocated to active travel projects. He is of the view that the works are perhaps being over-specified and the standards are too strict. I will take his points back to the Department. When doing this…
I reiterate that any funding we allocate should be spent wisely and in such a way that we get as much out of it as possible for the benefit of the taxpayer. I do not believe anybody is wasting money. It may be that the specifications and design standards need to be looked at, which is something I will take back to the Department. We must get as much done as we can with the money we have. As the Deputy rightly said, c…
Before I commence answering the question, I too extend my sympathy to the bereaved family of the boy and to the community. It is an appalling incident or collision and the consequences are life-changing. On the loss of the young boy, I say to the family, "May he rest in peace."
I thank the Deputy for the question. Rail safety is an important priority for me and my Department. The total number of collisions involving heavy rail in Ireland between 2016 and 2025 amounts to 842 according to the 2025 annual report of the Commission for Railway Regulation, CRR, which was published in June. This figure covers a variety of collisions, with the vast majority due to train collisions with large animal…
I have given some data on this, and there is more data in the reply, which I will not read out. It is there for the Deputy to read. It is important that I do not comment on a matter that is under investigation. We have to respect the investigations that are ongoing. A preliminary examination by the rail accident investigation unit, which is the independent national investigation body into the accident that occurred a…
I agree with the Deputy. I was at the ITS Ireland conference in Limerick yesterday at which I saw the technologies that are available. Irish Rail is working with technologies to improve its lines. However, it is very important that we make sure whatever actions we take in relation to improving are correct and that they actually bring the safety standards up to where they are required.
There are 868 level crossings i…
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Yes, I am aware of concerns regarding capacity and reliability on the route 15 service, which provides an important 24-hour, high-freguency connection between Ballycullen and Clongriffin, serving communities, including Templeogue, Terenure, Rathmines, the city centre, Fairview and Artane.
I understand that the current route 15 timetable is being reviewed by the NT…
I hear the Deputy's frustration with this service. I have outlined changes that are going to happen in December with additional drivers and bus runs. It is important. The Deputy says the demand is there so we have to make sure that whatever service we put in place actually meets that demand and is providing a service.
It is a capacity issue. It has been in terms of getting drivers, having the buses, having mechanics…
I thank the Deputy. I will bring his concerns back to the NTA. It is no problem. I will also seek to find out whether it can bring forward that date if it had already given a date in September. The date the authority now says it is going to introduce the service is 6 December. I do not know why it has been delayed. I can imagine why. An additional 12 drivers and additional bus services coming on will make a differenc…
As the statutory body responsible for regulating fares across services operated under the PSO contracts the National Transport Authority is central to shaping a public transport system that is fair, efficient and accessible. Through its management of fare strategies, it helps to ensure pricing structures support social inclusion and modal shift while also underpinning the financial viability and resilience of the net…
I will repeat what I have said about the changes that happened in July 2026 in Cork. They make the fares cheaper and make it easier for people to use multimodal transport. If there are issues with buses not coming on time we have discussed that earlier and we are working on that. The cost for children, students and young adults in Cork of time-based tickets such as the 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets is comi…
The local authority should be putting in place the park-and-rides. The Department of Transport will support that and we need to see what the proposals are.
Let us just go back to understand what the PSO services support. They support a wide range of Government policy including climate action, sustainable mobility, regional development, social inclusion, compact growth and economic competitiveness as well as the acco…
The Estimates are the Estimates. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating when the tender is brought in. I will not give any commitment until we see what the real overall cost is from the tenders. The range that is there at the moment is between €14.4 billion at the lower end to €17.49 billion. The firm proof of the pudding will be when the tenders come in next year. This project is a key component in deliverin…