I am familiar with the serious congestion in Galway city and the broader Galway region. As the Deputy knows, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has been developing the Galway metropolitan area transport strategy to inform what is possible for the future in the context of public transport but also road infrastructure in the Galway region, in conjunction with Galway City Council and Galway County Council. Part of t…
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
I think we all share the objectives of significantly improving transport infrastructure for Galway city. The work that has been undertaken around the feasibility study for light rail is important in that context. The National Transport Authority is considering that with the two relevant councils. There has been significant investment in Ceannt Station, as the Deputy knows, to try to improve connectivity for commuters…
The Department of housing, with the Minister for housing’s approval, decided not to proceed to award the contract for social housing bundle 3 through a public-private partnership. The basis for that decision was that the cost per unit was more than €1 million and almost double the cost of similar units delivered in 2020. Unit costs at that scale would not be compatible with the overall delivery of what we need in our…
I acknowledge the urgent local need to advance these particular projects and also the fact that they have full planning permission. The Department of housing is now working with the National Development Finance Agency and all the local authorities to see how we can advance these projects through an alternative delivery strategy. They are also reviewing future public-private partnerships bundles so that we can deliver…
I will allow the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to set out the specific representations that have been made at official or ministerial level. As the Deputy knows, a new ambassador arrived this week. The Minister met him this week and will be able to comment on his direct discussions with the US administration. The Ireland-US relationship is and continues to be important. I acknowledge the plight of residents …
As the Deputy can appreciate, I am not familiar with the specific school he referenced or what has occurred relating to SNAs, apart from stating that the overall number of SNAs will continue to increase nationally, along with the support we are providing for special education through the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, around school buildings, teachers, SNAs and other supports in schools. I will ask the…
As the Deputy knows, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is committed to significantly improving the processing times for international protection applications and bringing the appeals component back to the Department of justice in order to streamline the process. Next year, progress on the EU migration pact will make a difference in terms of the timeframes around processing. I cannot comment on the specifics the Deput…
There has been ongoing work across government relating to the lessons from Storm Éowyn and the recovery efforts. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is here, has been prioritising the outcome of this in terms of his submission to the national development plan and how we build more resilience into our public infrastructure, whether that is in communications, community infrastructure or energy infrastructure. Every Mini…
I thank Deputy Callaghan and I appreciate the question she has raised. As she has heard from the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, this will be considered in the context of budget 2026. All of us as a collective Government - Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independent Deputies - will work on strengthening the affordability of public services as a core priority. We want to make permanent changes to some of the costs that exi…
This work is ongoing. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, will publish the report on the cost of education and this will inform the budgetary discussion that will take place.
I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn. I know the Minister met various stakeholders in Donegal in May, including representatives from the action group and many representatives on the council. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to set out the specific timeline relating to legislation and give Deputy Mac Lochlainn a specific answer to his question.
I thank Deputy Carthy and I appreciate and agree on how essential an SNA is to any individual with additional needs in the classroom. I am not sure whether the school Deputy Carthy has referenced has appealed the particular allocation this year to the NCSE.
I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as I did with regard to Deputy Paul Murphy earlier, to respond on the specific case Deputy Carthy has referenced. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest number ever allocated, which will bring to 23,000 the number of SNAs in our schools.
I appreciate that. We are committed to continued investment in special education in terms of staffing and, in many instances, the need for new buildings for special classrooms. I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to respond to Deputy Carthy on the specific case.
I am acutely aware of the financial and emotional trauma associated with a TB breakdown and the associated hardship, as the Deputy said, for many farm families. TB disease levels in recent years have continued to increase. Over a 12-month period, a herd incidence of 6.43% has been recorded, with more than 43,000 reactors. That is a serious deterioration in the situation which we cannot allow to continue. That is why …
I appreciate the urgency of this for residents in Midleton and throughout east Cork. I was there with Deputies O'Sullivan and O'Connor after the storm nearly two years ago. A priority for the Government with regard to broader infrastructure more generally and for flood relief schemes in particular is how we can shorten the project life cycle. In many instances, flood schemes are taking far too long. The Minister of S…
I regret that crime has had a serious impact on the local community in the last 12 months. I engage with the OPW regularly and I will ask for an update on Castletroy Garda station. I will revert to the Deputy on it.
First, what happened was a shocking incident for everyone present in Carlow. I am limited in what I can say relating to these matters, some of which continue to go through the legal process. I can ask the Minister for justice to respond to the specific question the Deputy raised following the "This Week" programme. He will be in a better position to give the Deputy any detail or informed information on it.
I appreciate the urgency of forward planning when it comes to school transport. Extensive work has been undertaken between the Department of education, Bus Éireann and other delivery partners to support that in communities across Ireland. I do not know the specifics behind what is happening in the Deputy's own constituency-----
-----but I will ask the Minister and Bus Éireann to respond to the Deputy's specific needs. There is an ongoing engagement through the summer to ensure they provide the appropriate school transport services, which are of huge importance to counties across Ireland.
As the Deputy is aware, the Department of education fully appreciates that costs and funding can pose an issue for schools. It is constantly working to address this with enhanced financial supports which were advanced in budget 2025 for this year. Schools in any financial difficulty are asked to engage with the financial support services unit. I know that a priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is to continue to…
I know we cannot have an over and back on this. I am not sure who it has been sent to. Is it the Department of housing? I assume it is. To what Government Department has it been sent?
We will try to find out who within government has received the particular business case, or which Government Department, and indeed under what funding scheme it is proposed to support that particular project of an integrated services hub. We always welcome any initiative of local authorities, or indeed local communities, to provide rounded supports and services for vulnerable people in our community. We have countles…
I will set out the backdrop to this in the context of the measures that the Government has taken over recent years to make permanent and sustained reductions and interventions that are affordable for many students. If you look at the measures that have been taken, more students than ever are benefiting from financial support through the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant support scheme. One in three stude…
The economic position our country is in cannot just be dismissed. We must approach budget 2026 with caution. We know if we strip away the windfall nature of many of our tax receipts, there is a potential risk around a deficit position in our economy, which we cannot ignore and the Deputy should not ignore as a finance spokesperson for the main Opposition party.
It is in this context that we are working on the medium…