Well said.
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
117. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice if the selection competition for identifying and recommending to the Government a person for appointment as Garda Commissioner has commenced; if he expects that a new Garda Commissioner will be in place when the extension of the current Commissioner's contract ends on 1 September 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24687/25]
The selection competition for identifying and recommending to the Government a person for appointment as Garda Commissioner has been delayed as a result of the Government's failure to enact the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act. This is a crucially important position in our society and particularly in our policing services. Will the Minister give an assurance to the Dáil that a new Garda Commissioner will b…
I thank the Minister. I join with him in expressing our condolences to the family, friends and Garda colleagues of Garda Kevin Flatley. The outpouring of grief we have seen from his local community points to the fact that Garda Flatley represented all that is good about An Garda Síochána and its membership.
Regarding the new Garda Commissioner, I agree with the Minister that the Commissioner is only as strong as his…
That is important, and it is regrettable that we have a situation where senior gardaí are saying - if not on the record, then letting it be known - that the position is not tenable for them. Those issues must be addressed.
What the public at large wants to see is an improvement in Garda visibility in their communities. We need a clear plan for putting more gardaí, particularly community gardaí, on our streets in our…
118. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice the total amount that was spent on IPAS accommodation in 2024; the projected spend on IPAS accommodation in 2025; the plans he has to initiate a value for money review into contracts for the provision of IPAS accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24688/25]
The Minister of State knows there has been massive profiteering in the provision of accommodation for those seeking asylum. People have become millionaires overnight providing what is sometimes unsuitable accommodation in what I would call a deeply flawed system, while many communities have lost vital local amenities, including hotels. Will the Minister of State outline the total amount of public money that was spent…
I have been raising the issue of profiteering within the IPAS system since I was an MEP almost a decade ago. I raised it as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. The Minister of State said we spent €1 billion on IPAS accommodation last year. What he did not say was that most of that money was paid to private operations. He did not answer the question as to whether he agreed there was a need for a value for mo…
I have to dispute virtually every single thing the Minister of State has just said. I know this area has just moved into his Department. The State has paid out billions of euro with virtually no transparency. There have been increasing reports of companies with no track record at all being awarded contracts to the tunes of millions of euro. A recent report concerned a company that had been awarded a contract to provi…
Have any contracts been cancelled?
Have any been cancelled? Will the Minister of State look into the case I asked about?
I wish to ask a supplementary question to Deputy Moynihan's question. It is in respect of an issue that has arisen for many domestic violence survivors who are having difficulty in accessing civil legal aid, those who perhaps want to take out a barring order against an abuser. They have a civil legal aid certificate but are not able to secure representation because, quite frankly, solicitors will not work under the t…
We can talk about statistics, but the reality is that there have been 55 retirements and 31 resignations from An Garda Síochána in the past two months alone. We know that 1,640 gardaí will be eligible to retire over the next five years. The Minister spoke about some more recent work, but we know that prior to the commencement of exit interviews within An Garda Síochána, the GRA carried out its own research in 2023 wi…
In response to the last Deputy, I know she is very passionate about these issues but it is important this House reminds itself that Irish and EU farmers adhere to the highest and strictest animal welfare and environmental water quality standards of any farmers anywhere in the world. That is not say that in all of those areas we do not need to go further but we must recognise that when we talk about our farming commun…
Decades of failures by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments to plan for the expansion of key water, wastewater and electricity infrastructure is part of the reason the same Governments have failed to get to grips with the housing crisis. I asked the then Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about these issues in 2023. Typical to form, he denied there was a problem at all. He replied to me saying there was e…
As the Minister said, the motion seeks to extend the provision for the consumption of alcohol in relevant outdoor seating as provided for in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act for another six months until the end of November. The Act introduced changes in the law to allow for the sale and consumption of alcohol in relevant outdoor seating areas where those outdoor seating areas had been permitted by the loc…
I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. It is always good to see a Monaghan man in charge.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Farrelly report. So many of us from all parties in the Oireachtas are just appalled by what happened to Grace but also by the failure to deliver the justice and truth she deserves through the report of the Farrelly commission. This is a very lengthy and costly report. It is 2,000 pages lo…
I thank the Minister for the update. The opt-in before us facilitates the mutual recognition of changing insolvency practices in different European Union member states. As Ireland and other EU member states update, adjust or develop different civil mechanisms, it is generally right that we should continue to facilitate mutual recognition. Sinn Féin will be supporting this opt-in as we believe that, where such mutual …
Did I nearly get a break there?
I have just got indigestion. I am blaming the Minister.
The Ceann Comhairle is far too efficient for my liking.
I will propose the deletion of the entire section. Section 4 relates to the role of the jury in High Court defamation actions. It would be important if the Minister could give us clarity on whether he is planning to proceed with this section in its entirety. I put on the record very strongly that Sinn Féin is opposed to the removal of juries from High Court def…
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I ask his indulgence because we were rushing at the start and skipped over sections. I want not to oppose section 3 but to ask the Minister for clarification on a point. One of the other recommendations in the report of the pre-legislative scrutiny from the justice committee of the previous Dáil was that the definition of "periodical" should be made clearer, specifically regarding w…
Yes, the definition of a "periodical". It is a small point but I omitted to talk about it when we were skipping through section 3 and I want to put it on the record in case we table an amendment at a later stage.
I do not know if the Minister intended them this way but I interpreted his words to mean he did not agree with this but was bound by collective government, the programme for Government and decisions previou…
I will make a brief point in response to one of the assertions of the Minister where he quite rightly says this House should not be bound to the views of any given set of experts, whether it be the Bar Council, the Law Library, former members of the Judiciary even or the pre-legislative scrutiny of a committee of these Houses. It is ultimately, of course, for the Dáil to make a determination in respect of laws, but t…
The fundamental concerns with section 5 are the same as those we had with section 4. I want to record my deep disappointment that the Minister could not be moved. When Committee Stage concludes and we proceed to Report Stage, the big question will be whether we have a Bill that has cross-party support and the full endorsement of the Oireachtas or a Bill that is contentious and divisive. Sinn Féin will be opposing thi…