I am not entirely reassured by the Minister's assurances. He talks about a code of practice which this House will have no hand, act or part in developing. His own Department and his office, in particular, since he has taken office have been incredibly reluctant to provide information to the Members of this House on how decisions are made or how matters relating to the outworkings of legislation actually work in pract…
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
I will make a couple of comments in conclusion. The Minister knows full well that nobody is suggesting that there would be individual authorisation for every single image, for every still and video. The amendment does not suggest that at all. It states that it would be authorised in advance by a chief superintendent or higher and that there would be a written record of the grounds for necessity and proportionality. T…
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:
“Processing and storage of data
43DA.Biometric data processed under this Act shall—
(a) be retained only for the minimum period strictly necessary,
(b) be stored and processed exclusively on servers located within the European Union,
(c) not be accessible to private contractors, and
(d) be deleted immediately once no longer re…
I move amendment No. 4:
In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:
"Prohibition on procurement or use of certain technologies
43DA.(1) An Garda Síochána, the Minister, or any public body acting on their behalf shall not procure, license, contract for, deploy, or otherwise make operational use of any biometric analysis technology, surveillance technology, software, hardware, dataset, or related se…
I move amendment No. 6:
In page 9, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following:
“10.The Minister shall ensure that no national deployment of biometric categorisation technologies shall occur until a pilot programme has been completed and independently evaluated, including assessments of—
(a) accuracy and error rates,
(b) discriminatory impacts,
(c) compliance with data protection law, and
(d) impacts on pr…
I move amendment No. 7:
In page 10, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:
“(ba) clear and specific limits on the circumstances in which biometric analysis or biometric categorisation may be used, including prohibitions on use for general surveillance, population level monitoring, or speculative searches,
(bb) objective thresholds and evidential standards that must be met before any biometric analysis m…
I will make a quick point in respect of amendment No. 9. The review will take place after the roll-out. Any delays in the initial roll-out will not affect the review - and that is not suggested or implied in any way - from the enactment of this legislation to the roll-out. The Bill currently states that following the initial roll-out, the review will take place after five years. There is nothing in the Bill to preven…
I move amendment No. 8:
In page 11, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:
“(5A) When making an order under subsection (5), the Minister shall lay the code of practice, together with an explanatory memorandum outlining the safeguards, limitations and parameters governing the use of biometric analysis and biometric categorisation, before each House of the Oireachtas.”.
I move amendment No. 9:
In page 11, line 31, to delete “5 years” and substitute “2 years”.
I am used to dealing with the Minister for justice and I am used to dealing with convoluted ways of dealing with matters. There is clearly a habit of limiting democratic oversight and scrutiny of this House in announcing and bringing forward proposals at short notice; minimising the period of time for debate; guillotining important legislation; and moving things from committees to this Chamber rather than allowing th…
When did the Minister bring that memo to the Cabinet?
Will we get our questions answered?
When was it brought to the Cabinet?
158. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has carried out any analysis of university courses in which maximum leaving certificate points did not guarantee admission due to demand; if he will list the courses where this applied alongside the number of places available through the CAO for these courses; the number of places available …
My question to the Minister is whether his Department has carried out an analysis of those university courses that have maximum or very high-level CAO points requirement for which some students who meet those points requirement are not successful because of random selection. Will he will list those courses that it will apply to, outline exactly how many places are on those courses and the number of places therein tha…
The Minister cannot finish an answer by claiming credit for providing extra places in courses when he started his reply by saying this has to be an autonomous-based system where there is no political interference because political decisions affect the number of places available on courses. I am sure the Minister will accept that.
Last year, we are told that entry to 25 undergraduate courses with high level points we…
Is there a reason the Minister will not answer my question in relation to international students? I have asked it twice now and it was in the written question that was submitted.
Here is what we know. There are areas of speciality for which we have chronic shortages in many parts of this State.
Dentistry, as the Minister, mentioned is an obvious place. The Irish Dental Association has said that one of the issues is…
I am asking for the information.
Why not?
Hear, hear.
The Taoiseach should answer the question. What is he going to do?
I welcome that a scoping exercise has been established. I reiterate the very clear and just demand that a full public inquiry be delivered and secured to allow the full truth to emerge. I wish to be very clear because the Minister said that people may or may not be satisfied at the end of the process. To ensure that as many people as possible are satisfied, we need to understand what it is they are looking for. We ne…
I welcome the opportunity to have a debate on family law transparency and the need to prioritise child welfare at all times and to discuss the reform of the in camera rule. I thank Deputy Gogarty for bringing this to the Dáil because these issues are raised weekly, if not more regularly, with me in my capacity as Chair of the justice committee. These issues also come to my constituency office.
The remarks of the Min…
129. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the initiatives he or his Department or associated State agencies have taken to encourage prospective new owners to establish a business at the former factory (details supplied) at Carrickmacross; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30067/26]
The Bose factory was a landmark in the region of Carrickmacross for many years. In 2015, the factory closed and essentially has remained closed ever since because despite the huge fanfare from a Government colleague of the Minister’s, a then Minister, about 60 jobs coming, they never actually came. In recent months, we have been told that the factory is in fact up for sale. I seek an update on the Minister’s efforts …