Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an tairiscint seo. Ardóidh mé roinnt nithe gaolmhara leis an Aire. As I have stated repeatedly in this House, proposals to opt into measures under Protocol 21 should always be subject to careful consideration. While Sinn Féin is not opposed to this proposal and believes it is appropriate to opt in on this occasion, it is important to recognise that Ireland's national interests …
TDs / Matt Carthy
Matt Carthy
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,949
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
191,198
words spoken in the chamber
Across 883 contributions
389
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
252
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 1,949 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 883 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 17 | 27 |
| February 2025 | 205 | 39 |
| March 2025 | 172 | 56 |
| April 2025 | 111 | 43 |
| May 2025 | 119 | 40 |
| June 2025 | 67 | 39 |
| July 2025 | 104 | 45 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 122 | 11 |
| October 2025 | 99 | 70 |
| November 2025 | 109 | 25 |
| December 2025 | 50 | 58 |
| January 2026 | 200 | 49 |
| February 2026 | 119 | 90 |
| March 2026 | 101 | 48 |
| April 2026 | 66 | 45 |
| May 2026 | 41 | 46 |
| June 2026 | 48 | 46 |
| July 2026 | 86 | 52 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 84 | 33 |
| October 2026 | 29 | 19 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 471 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 Cavan-Monaghan 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
Making a speech and coming up with nothing.
For the benefit of bringing the Minister of State down from her ivory tower and into the real world, I will read into the record an abridged email I received from a constituent:
Hi Matt,
From a worried working family mother of three children, one just did his Leaving Cert ... a fifth year student and a first year student, I'm self employed and my husband is a full time joiner, we are scraping the barrel to stay abo…
17. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment further to previous parliamentary questions the initiatives he or his Department or associated State agencies have taken to encourage prospective new owners to establish a business at the former (details supplied). [66907/26]
I ask the Minister to outline, further to previous parliamentary questions, the initiatives that he and his Department have taken to encourage prospective new owners to establish a business at the former site of the Bose, subsequently Newbaze, factory in Carrickmacross.
I thank the Minister of State. I am a bit disconcerted. There seems to be a takeover by the wee county, with plenty of Louth heads in the Gallery. They are very welcome.
I am surprised the Minister of State needed the script at all. She should nearly know that off by heart at this stage because that is the exact same answer that has been provided to me in respect of this building for several years. Of course, the on…
That is all very well and good, but we need to actually see the evidence of it. It is an absolute scandal. If a factory of this prominence was in the centre of Dublin, we would not have the senior Minister refusing to engage on it at all, despite my repeated requests for him to take a hands-on approach. We would not have the same answer regurgitated by Enterprise Ireland time and again, talking about something perhap…
Is PJ going to buy it?
"We", or Enterprise Ireland?
It has been idle for ten years
As a Monaghan man, I object to that.
14. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if his Department has received any reports from the National Waste Collection Permit Office since March 2025; the issues addressed in any such reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65951/26]
Has the Minister of State's Department received any reports from the National Waste Collection Permit Office? I do not know if his prepared remarks touch on the issue of the number of waste collectors in each local authority area but there is a fear around the impact consolidation is having on consumer prices.
The reason I ask this question is that I believe there is a need for a hands-on approach to one particular issue. I do not know if it is the same across the board but in many rural counties we have seen a pattern of behaviour where large multinational waste collection companies decide to come into a county. In the first instance, they try to purchase all the local waste collection services. Where that does not happen…
We all have a shared objective in that regard; we all want to reduce the amount of waste. The difficulty is that in the scenario I spoke about, where these multinational companies essentially secure de facto monopolies in local authority areas where they are the only real option, the knockdown prices go very quickly. You are then back to what are eye watering, staggering costs for waste collection that would not be i…
66. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children on the waiting list for an assessment of need in counties Cavan and Monaghan, by county; and the number waiting more than three, six and 12 months. [65953/26]
I return to assessment of need, specifically in my constituency, to ask for details of the number of children currently on the waiting list for an assessment of need in those counties, and the numbers waiting for more than three, six and 12 months.
I hope the Minister of State's voice gets better soon. I know it is difficult when one is in this position with a sore throat. However, I have to say that regardless of the tone in which she is able to deliver it, her answer is incredibly worrying on a number of fronts. First of all, there is now a backtracking. I have a parliamentary question response from the HSE in January where I was given county-specific data. N…
To be clear, this is an important point. I asked, through a parliamentary question, as is my constitutional right, for the assessment of need number in Cavan and Monaghan, by county. The Minister of State is telling me that the HSE does not provide that. I am telling her it did provide it, as recently as January. I am aware of that because I have a parliamentary question response. That is telling. If it is not dealin…
As time passes, the situation gets worse.
I am asking the Minister of State to knock some heads together and sort this out once and for all.
Go raibh maith agat. Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo. There are sensible provisions in this Bill that Sinn Féin can support. Giving local authorities access to collision data from An Garda Síochána and the RSA should help to identify dangerous locations and target investment. Allowing a jury to consider careless driving where there has been an acquittal on a charge of dangerous driving is also re…
I thank the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for making himself available for this Topical Issue. It is an example his colleagues in Cabinet would do well to follow but I commend him for doing so. I also wish to take the opportunity to put on record my best wishes to Deputy Michael Healy-Rae following the disgraceful attack on him earlier.
I am sure the Minister came away from the "RTÉ Investigates" …
I never pretend to have a better understanding of the court system than the Minister, as somebody who has practised. As he said, I just look at the facts before me. Even if we were to accept the bona fides of the his rationale for introducing this system, and he says the primary reason is a more effective and efficient court service. Nobody could argue that we have a more effective court system as a result of these c…
-----of the State. I apologise, I meant the civil legal aid scheme, which saw a 60% reduction that has been attributed to the fee model that was applied there. The Minister has repeatedly stated that he has a responsibility to address the excessive adjournments, and I agree with that.
However, he follows it by saying the excessive adjournments resulting from the pay structure. Yet, he has provided zero evidence that…