One issue that always arises during my weekly clinics in County Clare is the lack of childcare places. This is such an enormous stress for almost all working parents. An adequate level of such facilities is important from an educational perspective, but also as critical enablers for parents to join the workforce. Will the Minister provide a breakdown of the number of childcare providers that have entered and left the…
TDs / Joe Cooney
Joe Cooney
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
555
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
13,177
words spoken in the chamber
Across 90 contributions
440
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
197
topics asked about
Across 19 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 555 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 90 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 15 | 2 |
| March 2025 | 15 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 45 | 0 |
| May 2025 | 35 | 6 |
| June 2025 | 40 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 48 | 4 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 56 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 21 | 1 |
| November 2025 | 29 | 4 |
| December 2025 | 30 | 6 |
| January 2026 | 14 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 19 | 4 |
| March 2026 | 22 | 13 |
| April 2026 | 31 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 21 | 16 |
| June 2026 | 29 | 10 |
| July 2026 | 53 | 4 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 22 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 10 | 8 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 88 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 Clare 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
Having spoken to several childcare providers, the main concern for the viability of the sector is staff retention. I am not surprised, given the information I have received. I understand an SNA can be applied to a primary school having completed a 12-week certificate course, while a childcare educator must have a minimum FETAC level 5 qualification, which is a one to two year process.
A childcare educator is paid an…
I thank the Minister for her positive reply. I wish to raise one final point with the Minister regarding extra capacity that may be within the system without any extra facilities, highlighted by this direct quote from the manager of one facility:
Allocation of a blanket of 45 hours childcare per week to a family without full consideration of their circumstances is completely clogging up the system. I regularly see 4…
80. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality regarding Tusla services in County Clare, the number of social workers employed; the number of vacancies for social workers; the length of time those positions have been vacant, the number of children with no allocated social worker; the number of children in need of either foster or residential care who are not currently placed; and if sh…
Recently, I had discussions with a number of people who have engaged with Tusla's alternative services in Clare. What I heard about the type and level of care being provided for some of the most vulnerable children in our society caused me great concern. I am here to get some answers as to the number of social workers, the number of vacancies, the turnover rate for social workers in Clare and the number of children w…
I have heard about a very low number of social workers and extremely high rates of staff burnout and staff turnover in Clare. This has resulted in severely traumatised children being handed from one social worker to another, with little or no continuity of care. I have heard of children with a foster family or residential placement being put into special emergency arrangements, through the out-of-hours service. This …
I thank the Minister, but everything I have heard on the ground tells me that the system is broken. A review of the issues I have highlighted is needed to make a start on improving things. Good people across the county are holding on by their fingertips and will leave unless a real attempt is made to address their concerns.
These children need consistency in social worker staff in order to make progress. That is not…
The programme for Government seeks to build 300,000 homes by 2030. It is an ambitious task and one that will need every tool available to Government to deliver.
Every week I hear from local builders who want to help Government to deliver on that ambition by building houses in hundreds of rural communities, helping the Government reach its housing target as well as ensuring the viability of our rural communities.
Th…
The Department is saying it is an operational matter for Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann says it is a local authority matter but the local authority is not the water service authority. The blockage needs to be resolved by the Government direction.
We keep on hearing of the need to be innovative in the face of housing challenges, yet there is clearly a lack of willingness by State bodies to embrace innovation that is already out there.
We have the solution. We just need to get on with it.
Thank you.
Innovation is not just about invention; it is about approaching old problems with fresh eyes. Today, on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of people across Ireland who are still searching for a home, I ask the Government to seriously consider the proposals I have put forward. We need to enable developers to provide wastewater infrastructure for housing developments that are currently stalled due to the lack of such …
The recent storm highlighted the risk to our electrical and utility infrastructure, most obviously within our rural communities, often to our most vulnerable. We have heard calls for electric and fibre broadband cables to be buried underground. There may be merit in undertaking that as a long-term objective in some cases. However, I argue that there is a much simpler and more cost-effective solution. What I propose w…
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, for his response. I welcome the meeting held with the ESB and I hope action will be taken sooner rather than later.
There is also a serious issue as regards Internet connections and phone lines. I hope further consultation will take place with National Broadband Ireland and Eir because I am aware of businesses and residents in certain parts of my county and th…