-----shows what side is Sinn Féin on when it comes to the aggression----
TDs / Jack Chambers
Jack Chambers
Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
152,394
words spoken in the chamber
146,472 as a minister, 5,922 as a TD
358
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 720 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 57 |
| March 2025 | 2 |
| April 2025 | 36 |
| May 2025 | 52 |
| June 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 90 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 11 |
| November 2025 | 109 |
| December 2025 | 69 |
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 44 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 37 |
| May 2026 | 44 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 60 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 80 |
| October 2026 | 25 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 658 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform 23 January 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation 5 June 2025 to now
---and some of the votes it has had in the European Parliament and so on. We are very clear-----
-----around our position and we should not have a veto on our deployment of troops by Russia, China or others. We want to ensure that this evolves in the context of the reforms we are setting out.
The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is advancing the work of the energy affordability task force. We are engaging on it regularly at Cabinet committee level. Separately, the pricing system in the energy market is defined by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. The pricing is not set by Government. We also need to ensure we protect overall economic investment into the country. Digital infrastructure will play…
I have seen some of the reporting on this online and it is shocking what that particular student experienced. UCD or, indeed, any third level institution should work with a student who has undergone shocking circumstances. Any third level institution or education institution should be working in a way that allows such a student to finish her studies, in a way that would reflect all of our institutions in second or th…
I do not have the facts or background on the particular matter relating to forensic psychiatrists but I will ask the Taoiseach and his office to respond comprehensively to the Deputy. I know he raised the importance of this matter and the comments of the judge in the past month with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in the context of forensic psychiatry. There is a Department of justice context as well. I will as…
I appreciate the huge frustration in the Cork community with this commuter service. People should expect, with a properly funded service, that it is punctual, reliable and frequent. The National Transport Authority has clear oversight responsibilities for bus operators to ensure that happens. There are various penalties and fines that can be imposed if a particular service does not run properly. I will ask our collea…
I acknowledge for particular individuals there is a high threshold or bar for the primary medical certifcate. It can be extraordinarily difficult. I think we all, as constituency TDs, deal with that frequently. I will ask the Minister for Health to respond to the Deputy on the feedback he has given and any changes that will come of it. It is important to have a framework and parameters. I know that can create difficu…
What I agreed with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was that there would be record capital funding for healthcare overall over the next five years. That is to underpin significant investment and development for women's' health, maternity healthcare and much more across the system. I am sure the Deputy is referencing the HSE capital plan. I do not have the specific feedback relating to University Hosp…
I acknowledge the contribution so many members of our health system made during Covid. The special scheme for long Covid which was established in July 2022 and extended on a number of occasions. As the Deputy knows, this entered into a Labour Court process which the Government accepted at the time. Following several extensions, the final extension in June last year meant the scheme concluded on 31 December 2025. It d…
I regret that the 50 students have not had their school transport provided for despite sanction to do so. This is a performance and management issue between the Department of education with Bus Éireann and whoever the particular operator is. I will ask the Minister for education to engage on that matter. Where a service has been provided for, it should be delivered. I do not know the background as to why that has not…
There are two primary ways in which we are trying to accelerate the development of water infrastructure. The first is to fully fund Irish Water over the next five years by providing it with €12 billion. This is a record level of investment to unlock and deliver a lot of the wastewater treatment plants that have been on lists for too many years. The second way is to cut a lot of the process out of Irish Water's delive…
The Deputy will know that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has set up a consultation process on a cost-of-disability payment and how that would be structured. We have not had a permanent payment of that sort in the past. We are trying to structure it in the context of negotiations for next year's budget. However, it is not only about direct income support; it is also about improved services. That is why there was a 20%…
I do not have the individual taxpayer information, nor should I comment on any company's individual tax information in the Houses of Oireachtas. We have very clear legislation that sets out the tax arrangements for corporations, businesses and individuals.
If the Deputy has a particular question, both the Revenue Commissioners and the tax division of the Department of Finance can clarify any interpretation of general policy. Individual taxpayer information is a matter of either personal or corporate confidentiality. It is important that we uphold that principle.
I do not have the specific breakdown relating to the various counties in front of me. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has secured a record level of capital investment in transport-----
-----of €24 billion over the next five years. He has also sought to reprofile some of that funding towards investment in local, regional and national roads in order that we can build out our road network further. There is contingency in some of the funding allocations to ensure that some of the issues relating to storm damage will also be addressed. We are trying to have a wider assessment of recent storm damage in t…
-----additional funding from the overall contingency for road infrastructure that has been badly damaged. Obviously, councils have to be supported in remedying that damage. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to come back to the Deputy on the annualised figures. I do not have them here.
On the latter point, I support more autonomy, as we have discussed at the infrastructure committee, and cutting out some of the process. If there are any suggestions from the Deputy's local authority as to how we can improve the turnaround time for decisions, I am more than open to hearing them. An overall assessment of the storm damage done to roads is taking place. We will obviously have to examine what that assess…
I signed off on the An Post one on Monday, so it should be concluding.
I appreciate the Deputy raising this. I know the devastation that has been caused all across the south east, both to community infrastructure and to many people's homes. Significant work is ongoing across Government, led by the Taoiseach's office and the Cabinet committee on coastal erosion, to provide better support for areas affected by coastal erosion. We are working with the OPW. The Deputy will have seen the rec…
As Deputy O'Gorman knows, the pricing system is decided by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which sets the pricing parameters for individual consumers and for large energy users, including data centres. We need to move away from this polarising argument regarding households and digital infrastructure. Ultimately, we need to support households more. That is the work of the energy affordability task force. T…
In drafting the accelerating infrastructure report, there was extensive engagement with ministerial and official level colleagues to ensure clear ownership of actions and the expectations for delivery of these actions.
On publication, Departments were required to set out how they will implement the series of actions under their remit and ensure individuals know what they are accountable for. My Department will be ma…
The task force is continuing to ensure we have challenge meetings and continued oversight of delivery. We have a Cabinet committee on infrastructure and the critical infrastructure Bill, and we will bring the scheme to the Government in the coming weeks. That will place clear obligations around the prioritisation of infrastructure across regulatory bodies and agencies when it comes to trying to speed up infrastructur…
There are variety of mechanisms in that regard. It is about trying to drive compliance. There are obviously sanctions and requests received relating to staffing. For example, if a particular agency is not delivering in line with what we have set out in the infrastructure report, a request for additional staffing might be a consideration or how we restructure or reform a particular agency if it is not contributing to …