I have been in contact with the road hauliers last Thursday, yesterday and this morning. They were taken to the end of their tether before this announcement and they are responsible people. They have made it very clear to me that they considered going out on strike but they did not want to go on strike on the basis of the effect it would have on the people they deliver the goods for. At the same time, however, there …
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
There are elements of this Bill that deserve recognition and support. At its core, it seeks to strengthen something that is fundamental to any healthy democracy, namely plurality in our media. In an era when media ownership is increasingly concentrated and when global platforms hold unprecedented influence over what people see, read and hear, it is right that we take steps to ensure diversity of voices and opinions a…
I am asking my colleagues in government and in opposition to support this Independent Ireland motion for one very simple reason. When it comes to protecting children, there can be no confusion about who is responsible and right now there is too much confusion. When something goes wrong in child protection in this country, what happens? The Department points to Tusla and Tusla points to the procedures and the Minister…
We have a deep energy crisis in this country with the price of fuel skyrocketing. We need a debate. We need the Ministers for energy and Finance before the Dáil. The seriousness of it surely evident in everybody's constituency. It surely is in mine. People are in desperate situations. The Government seems to be kicking the can down the road as if it is an issue that can be sorted down the road. Measures are urgently …
The proposed transport projects in Dublin and Cork cities, with the Swords-to-Dublin city route and Ballincollig to Mahon, will cost billions of euro when completed. Of course these projects are to be welcomed, but not if they mean that Local Link services will not now go ahead or will be withdrawn. Last week, I found out that a route already tendered for months and months ago for Dunmanway, Clonakilty and Timoleague…
I echo the sentiments of Deputy Lawless on Dolores Keane. She was a truly great singer and my sympathies go to her family on her passing, which is a great loss to the country. I also pay tribute to three extraordinary Irish women who continue to lift the country's spirits, namely, Jessie Buckley, Katie Taylor and Katie McCabe. Jessie Buckley made history just days ago by becoming the first Irishwoman ever to win the …
The most important thing to come from this debate, which I thank Sinn Féin for arranging, is that people might see some hope that something is going to happen. Listening to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, during Leaders’ Questions today, he kept saying that we would not have a knee-jerk reaction. It is 19 days since the war started, but outside of the real, horrible war going on, there was a war going on anyway in …
Pathfinder in Galway is made of six members who are therapists and advanced paramedics. This group is at the front line of emergency calls for our elderly. When a 999 call comes in for an elderly person who has fallen, Pathfinder is dispatched first to access and treat, if possible, the elderly person in their own home. Councillor Noel Thomas tells me that for over 80% of its callouts, it can treat the person where t…
I thank People Before Profit for bringing forward this long-awaited, valuable Bill. I may not always agree with Deputy Gibney but I certainly agree with a lot of what she had to say today, in fairness. I was talking recently to a politician who said there was something quite nasty put up about him online. It was something he had done, and then under the newspaper article stuff came up that was untrue. He contacted th…
Yes. This is online. We are talking about online platforms, and only for online platforms the people of the Middle East-----
Yes. I know that too. That is tomorrow evening. We have done that through our Business Committee, but this is very relevant to online platforms as well. I set up groups and I talk to them day and night, trying to keep some of them informed and reassured. Thank God they are finally getting on flights tonight and making their way home, but others are still trapped. I have people stuck in the Philippines being absolutel…
Here is the point. Without online platforms and without the ability to share honest information among ourselves and to pass on updates, warnings and bits of advice, these people would be completely on their own. The only lifeline they have right now is the information we can give them online and the information they can send back to us.
Yes, online spaces can be dangerous and toxic - we know that too well - but they…
They did nothing.
They destroyed the country.
They destroyed it.
I have raised Adrigole's public water crisis over 15 times in the last few months. There have been 22 mains water bursts since last July, with three alone last week, leaving local people and businesses without water, including the local crèche. Some were without water for ten days and the crèche had to close. Uisce Éireann is involved in a juggling game with the people of Adrigole, telling me a few weeks ago that wor…
No. It promised me. Now it is saying May but it could be June.
So, they have no water as it stands.
Since I came into Dáil Éireann, I have been lobbying here for post offices. I did not hear it but somebody told me the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, said if we do not use it, we will lose it, and I respect that. I am 50 to 60 miles west of Kinsale but it is part of my constituency. I was in the Kinsale post office recently and they told me they were moving into new premises. I am delighted with that be…
I acknowledge the representatives of the spina bifida paediatric advocacy group and the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, in particular the mothers who have carried this fight with dignity and determination. After our engagement with these parents, we know these concerns are rooted in the experience of children whose health has been affected by systemic failure.
The very least those families deserve now is an open and pub…
I welcome the chance to speak on the legislation. We are dealing with a Bill that aims to make sure vulnerable people are not left in limbo because the State itself cannot process cases on time. While I will not go into technicalities that others have covered, the heart of this Bill is simple. It is to ensure that no person who depends on the courts for capacity-related decisions ends up caught in a gap created by mi…
With the outbreak of the war in Iran, energy costs are going to go through the roof. An elderly lady told me she was quoted €950 on Friday evening. She was putting together the money for the weekend to ring them yesterday morning and it had gone up to €1,080. The Minister of Finance needs to come in here and talk about the temporary freezing of carbon tax to give people a little bit of ease in this shocking time.
I want to highlight a serious housing crisis, not alone on Oileán Chléire, one of our most culturally important and geographically vulnerable Gaeltacht islands, but also on all islands in west Cork and throughout Ireland. Cape Clear is facing a future on a knife edge, with homes in desperately short supply and the long-term viability for the community under real threat. Despite the presence of dozens of vacant houses…
I could keep going.
Our GP system is at breaking point. Every community in the country feels that. People cannot get appointments. Many cannot afford to see a doctor when they are sick. We need more GP training places, fairer supports for struggling practices and real action to keep doctors in local communities. If we want to fix healthcare, this is where we should start.
I will highlight a very serious issue affecting newly qualified …