We need a proper debate in the Dáil this week about damage caused by flooding in Ireland, especially in the past week, particularly in County Cork. The community in Ballinascarthy was flooded once again for the second time in two months, as was Dunmanway and Halfway. The River Bride also flooded in Blackpool. The main cause of this flooding is the lack of rivers being cleaned. They are full of muck and silt. A nation…
TDs / Michael Collins
Michael Collins
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
326
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
214,846
words spoken in the chamber
Across 610 contributions
370
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
93
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 326 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 610 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 7 | 5 |
| February 2025 | 16 | 31 |
| March 2025 | 9 | 37 |
| April 2025 | 3 | 28 |
| May 2025 | 27 | 36 |
| June 2025 | 6 | 29 |
| July 2025 | 12 | 25 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 18 | 23 |
| October 2025 | 10 | 28 |
| November 2025 | 5 | 44 |
| December 2025 | 18 | 33 |
| January 2026 | 35 | 54 |
| February 2026 | 25 | 37 |
| March 2026 | 2 | 33 |
| April 2026 | 76 | 54 |
| May 2026 | 29 | 29 |
| June 2026 | 12 | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3 | 15 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 14 |
| October 2026 | 10 | 21 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 264 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 Cork South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent Ireland 29 November 2024 to now
-----confident that efforts are being made to make sure that something like this will not happen again?
Last week it was reported that more than 14,000 children are waiting for an assessment of need. As is the same with everybody else I am sure, one of our constituents has a son who was diagnosed with a moderate intellectual disability and had an assessment of needs conducted in 2016. The family was informed he required psychological, speech and language, and occupational therapy but he has never received these service…
In August 2024, a headline in one of the newspapers stated that the longest waiting time for a driving test was 22 weeks. However, six months later, 22 weeks is now likely the shortest waiting time. During the Thirty-third Dáil, I spoke 11 times about the lengthy waiting times for driving tests. Now, in the Thirty-fourth Dáil, we are making no progress. The solution is clear. We need more testers in the centres worki…
4. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide details of the employment opportunities created by his Department since 2024 in Cork South-West, specifically in the areas of Beara, Mizen Head, Sheep’s Head, Bandon, Dunmanway, Skibbereen, Drimoleague, Clonakilty, and Kinsale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7073/25]
Will the Minister of State provide detailed information on the employment opportunities created by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment since 2024 in Cork South-West, specifically in areas such as the Beara Peninsula, Mizen Head Peninsula, Sheep's Head Peninsula and areas from Inishannon to Bantry? It is important that we create and are seen to be creating good jobs there for the people of that constitu…
I thank the Minister of State. I failed to welcome her to her new role when I spoke earlier. I wish her the very best of luck going forward.
I was very specific in my question. I have raised the same question with the Minister of State's predecessor in the Dáil before, and I received a lot of answers but they were not specific to these places. I am very concerned, especially living on a peninsula myself, about the p…
I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could come back on that. Obviously employment is good no matter where it is. I know there are massive employers in Cork city such as Apple, the pharmaceutical companies and others. They are second to none and are to be always welcomed and secured. Many people are spending two hours in a car going up to Cork every morning to work and coming back to west Cork because there…
Uisce Éireann's strategic funding plan requirement was €11 billion in 2024, comprised of €6.1 billion investment in infrastructure and €4.9 billion in operating costs. While all spending has to be questioned, I will try to concentrate on what Ireland is getting for this huge budget.
Every housing target that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats have set are nothing short of fa…
I thank the Minister. I raised three issues within Uisce Éireann. Regarding the generators, there was not even a switchover point in many of the plants that are there at the moment. If there was a switchover point and the emergency struck, they could bring a mobile unit in. Without it, they could not even plug it in. It is an astonishing situation. Apparently there are employees full time to organise this for the las…
They have raw sewage pouring into their communities every day-----
-----while Uisce Éireann and its buddies at the EPA and elsewhere are shutting a blind eye to them. What do I say to them?
Bus Éireann provides a once-daily service in west Cork from Goleen to Cork city. It leaves Goleen village at approximately 7.50 a.m and returns in the evening at 7 o'clock. Recently, Local Link Cork started a new three times daily in and out service in the Goleen area to Skibbereen, which is more than welcome. The only problem is doubts have now started to emerge that Bus Éireann will stop the Goleen to Cork morning …
I welcome the Minister of State to her new position. I wish her the very best of luck.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a concept for the future. It is here and it is already transforming businesses across every sector. From automating routine tasks to analysing vast amounts of data in seconds, AI is driving efficiency, reducing costs and enabling businesses to innovate like never before. However, with change co…
First, I congratulate the Minister of State on his new brief. It is the first time I have had the opportunity to do so in the Dáil. I wish him the best. When he held a ministerial role previously, we worked together very closely and I hope we can again work closely together on issues going forward.
I have serious concerns with this Bill going forward. Lessons have not been learned. We need to go back before we go ah…
In his reply, the Minister of State did not refer to the Whiddy Island disaster in any way, shape or form. I agree fully with Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I ask the Minister of State to consider meeting Michael Kingston, who is in the Public Gallery, at his earliest convenience to discuss the work he has been doing down through the years regarding Whiddy Island and other merchant shipping investigations. His expertise is…
We will have a debate on Thursday about the importance of agrifood to the Irish economy and I call for an extension of time on that debate. Some Deputies will only have one minute 35 seconds to discuss this. We have a lot of issues relating to agriculture that need to be discussed, especially the highest level of TB in a generation in this country - it has gone up 44%. Irish agriculture is off the agenda here and it …
I welcome both Ministers of State to their positions and wish them the very best. One of the most significant criticisms concerns the persistent underdevelopment of mental health infrastructure. While the Government has announced initiatives such as the expansion of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, and the development of new specialist teams, the reality on the ground often tells a different story.…
I congratulate both Ministers on their new positions and wish them the best.
There are nowhere near enough special school places or classes in west Cork in my constituency. In cases where teachers suspect a child may have autism, there is a wait of 27 months to get an assessment. This is a serious issue for families who are left in limbo for 27 or even 28 months. Imagine that. We find ourselves in an astonishing sit…
I have often raised the issue of speed limits this week. I was on two radio programmes this morning explaining the situation and the crisis we in west Cork find ourselves in. There are so many roads, including local roads, and we did not have an issue. There will always be someone complaining. We accept that many of the speed limits had to move from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. I sympathise with anybody who has been involved …
I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. Speed limits have been reduced on many roads in the past week. All these roads were deemed local roads and most people I have spoken to have no issue in the wide, earthly world with that. Where I am living, one of the roads had a limit of 80 km/h but motorists could not do 80 km/h unless they were out of their minds. The best they could do was 60 km/h in the fi…
I thank the Minister of State. He said this decision was delayed and we know why. It was because a general election was coming. It is a hugely unpopular decision about our regional and national roads. Our councillors made queries about local roads and were told that it was basically dictated from the top. That is what the Independent Ireland councillors were told when they raised concerns. That is what politicians do…
On the programme for Government, I listened with interest to the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, saying the reason we would not go into Government with Independent Ireland was our climate plan. I am amazed that he went into Government with Independents who had no policies put in place. That is astonishing. It looks like they wrote them on the back of an A4 page a couple of days before the formation of the Governmen…
I will beg the indulgence of the Ceann Comhairle to welcome Ryan McKeown and Zoe Bell to the Gallery.
In 2025, super junior Ministers in Ireland receive a total annual salary package of approximately €200,000. Junior Ministers have an additional ministerial salary of €45,846. There is a super junior allowance of €16,000 and an additional travel allowance worth up to €32,535. The public need to get value for their mo…
We in Independent Ireland would like a discussion on the new speed limits that are causing serious concerns all over the country. They went down from 80 km/h to 60 km/h on the local routes, which most people accepted, but now we are being told that speed limits on regional routes, which are the main routes into a lot of our constituencies, are going from 100 km/h to 80 km/h and from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. If that is to …