The Bill the Minister of State has brought before the House in many ways represents everything that has been so wrong with the Government's approach to the fuel price crisis and to the broader cost-of-living crisis. Everything is too little, too late. It took far too long for the Government to listen and to accept and realise that ordinary workers, families, farmers, small businesses, coach drivers and hauliers had t…
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
8. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she intends to open a passport office in the North of Ireland. [37792/26]
Hear, hear.
We brought forward the legislation a few years ago.
There should be accountability.
Wise up. What sort of child are you?
1. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the preparations that have been made for the ending of the temporary protection directive in March 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35912/26]
The Government has been verging on the negligent in failing to plan in an orderly way for the winding down of the temporary protection directive. Since it announced that all measures relating to the directive will come to an end next year, there has been confusion heaped upon confusion. Will the Minister outline the preparations that have been made for the ending of the temporary protection directive?
I recall that the House was virtually unanimous in support of the emergency measures that were brought in at the outset of Russia's war against Ukraine. The temporary protection directive was an emergency measure, as the Minister quite rightly said. I do not think anybody envisaged that it would be in place for five years.
As the Minister knows, I have been arguing very strongly that we need a roadmap, not only for …
I find some of those responses incredibly interesting. When Sinn Féin suggested that ending the temporary protection directive should include provision for a voluntary return scheme, members of the Government absolutely pilloried both my party and me personally for even suggesting that. It now appears that this is going to be part of the Minister's plan. Likewise, when it comes to the ARP and the various accommodatio…
You have not announced them; you have leaked them.
3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will review the operation of section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, which relates to information connected to investigations and criminal proceedings, to ensure that the rights of victims under this section are applied in a consistent manner and that the provisions it contains meet the needs of victims; and …
Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act includes provisions for information to be shared with victims of crime. It is ten years since the legislation was enacted. Does the Minister have plans to review the operation of this section to ensure that the provisions it contains are being applied on a consistent basis?
To be clear, there is no requirement whatsoever to wait for an EU legislative process to conclude before we change measures in domestic law, particularly in terms of enhancing support for the victims of crime. The justice committee met in recent days to discuss the victims of crime civil protection orders Bill that I am trying to progress through the House. We heard moving testimony from Sonya Stokes, who the Ministe…
I might not have been clear. I specifically asked about victims being informed that their attackers have deceased subsequent to release. In relation to section 8, the difficulty is that many of the testimonies we hear are inconsistent. Many victims have told me that they are incredibly happy with their engagement with the Garda or the Prison Service. Others are unhappy because they do not believe section 8 has been a…
5. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he intends to extend the provisions of section 14 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024, requiring that character references be given on oat to other criminal offences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35914/26]
Does the Minister intend to extend the provisions of section 14 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act that requires character references to be given under oath, to criminal offences other than those included in the original legislation?
In many respects the Minister has made the first half of the argument. My point is whether you move to the second logical part of the argument and expand the provisions of this section to include other serious crimes. I am thinking particularly of homicide. It has been seen in the courts that the distinction between somebody just writing a letter saying a particular man or woman is a sound person or whatever and know…
Clearly when I talk about homicide I am not talking about murder but I have spoken to some victims who were in court for the sentencing of perpetrators who were convicted of actions resulting in the killing of their loved one and the introduction to the sentencing stage of unverified testimony not given under oath or by way of an affidavit really traumatised the family even further. This is often the case where someb…
34. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if, following the Law Reform Commission’s 2026 report on compensating victims of crime, he intends to establish a new statutory body to administer victim compensation; the timeline in which such a body will be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35608/26]
The Law Reform Commission published its report on compensating victims of crime. Does the Minister intend to apply the recommendations in that report, particularly the one relating to establishing a new statutory victims compensation scheme?
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 4, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following:
“ ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the acts specified in Article 7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court;
‘genocide’ means any of the acts specified in Article 6 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court;
‘war crime’ means any of the acts specified in Article 8.2 of the Statute of the International Crimin…
The difficulty is that we know An Garda Síochána has purchased this type of equipment from companies that have close relationships with the Israeli regime. The current legal position is that this can continue. The Minister mentioned that we did not need to put this in primary legislation, but since Committee Stage up to now, I do not understand why the Minister did not cut this off at the pass by introducing these ty…
We are dealing with a Bill that would, for the first time, allow what we all hope would be the appropriate use of biometric recognition technology in order to assist our police force in tackling serious crime, security matters and missing persons cases. Most people in the House recognise that, for those serious issues, there is a need for the use of that type of technology. However, there is also a consensus that we …
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 6, after line 40, to insert the following:
“(3A) A member of An Garda Síochána shall not deploy biometric analysis unless authorised in advance by a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of Chief Superintendent, who shall record in writing the grounds of necessity and proportionality for such deployment.”.
This amendment was discussed on Committee Stage. It seeks to ensure …