11. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will provide an update on progress of the Kilkee flood relief scheme; the timeline for construction; and the plans in place to commence the coastal flooding mitigation works. [74652/26]
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
The flood relief scheme in Kilkee has been ongoing for many years. I would appreciate a detailed update on what has happened so far, when can the people of Kilkee expect construction to begin on this important scheme for the town and on when will it be completed.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I welcome progress that has been made so far, and I commend the staff of Clare County Council and the OPW on their approach to this project. The community engagement has been fantastic and is a best practice example.
The scheme has taken more than seven years to get to this point, it might be nine or ten years before construction is completed, and in all that time, the ho…
It is good to hear that. I would like to ask about the coastal flooding scheme for Kilkee. It is one of the country's best loved coastal resorts, as we are all well aware, with a history of visitors going back over 200 years. The beach, the seafront and the easy access to the ocean are all at the core of its offering. Of course, this brings with it the risk of damage from the more severe storms that we are seeing at …
87. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of primary school pupils in County Clare who are currently receiving additional teaching support for literacy difficulties, including dyslexia; the way in which this compares with the previous three school years; and the waiting lists for specialist reading classes for the same years. [74989/26]
I have heard from a number of constituents in County Clare whose children have serious difficulties with reading and writing. The impact of this is profound. I hear about children who have low confidence. They are teased in class and end up not wanting to attend a school as a consequence. I would like to get a better understanding of the scale of these issues in County Clare, the available supports and the plan for p…
I thank the Minister of State for the update. I welcome the record investment in special education in the recent budget. The new courses to support the development of reading and writing skills are brilliant. I also welcome the pilot programme being developed, which the Minister of State mentioned. It is a fantastic idea and it is great to see that sort of innovation. While I note that it will support up to 40 school…
The Minister of State said that of 14 SLD classes in 11 mainstream primary schools across the country, two are in my own county of Clare, which is welcome. There are approximately 13,000 primary school children in our county. Research estimates that between 5% and 10% of pupils experience significant difficulty with reading and writing. Somewhere between 650 and 1,300 children are impacted in Clare, served by classes…
69. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will confirm that pay increases agreed under the public sector pay discussions will automatically apply to health and social care workers employed by section 39 organisations. [65462/26]
In March 2025, a commitment was given that section 39 workers would be brought into future public sector pay agreements automatically. I accept that budget 2027 is not finalised and that public sector pay discussions have not started but I would like confirmation from the Minister today that the commitment given in 2025 will be upheld for the people and organisations delivering front-line disability, older person and…
Section 39 workers have been left behind. After the crash their pay was cut in line with the public service but it has never been restored in the same way. It has taken over a decade, with the Labour Court and threatened strike action, to begin to close the gap. We are still not there. Even the agreement reached in 2023 was not fully honoured because the funding released to the section 39 organisations did not cover …
The consequences of a failure to deliver a fully funded package for section 39 staff and organisations will, unfortunately, fall on the vulnerable people who rely on them. These organisations operate on a tight service level agreement with the HSE. Pay parity for staff must be supported by a ring-fenced, fully funded package from Government that includes the full cost to their employers, which is important. Anything …
8. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to review the valuation ceilings applied to reactors under the bovine TB eradication scheme, to ensure farmers are compensated for the full market value for animals removed as reactors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52213/26]
The scheme designed to compensate farmers for animals lost to TB is simply not fit for purpose. The market value caps are totally out of step with the real world and farmers are being left thousands of euro out of profit. The Minister has publicly stated that he is monitoring and reviewing these caps. A review without an end date provides farmers with no commitment. When will the review be completed? Can we expect th…
The Minister said that budget 2026 money is tied to reducing disease and I commend him on that. It is having a positive effect. Reactor numbers are down significantly year on year to June and the herd incidence rate is also down. That is welcome. However, this disease reduction policy does absolutely nothing for farmers who have animals who are reactors. The Minister can clearly accept there is a problem with the sch…
I compliment the Minister on the great work he is doing. With respect, farmers battling with this disease cannot live on engagement or reviews with no end date. Every month this drags on, more and more reactors are being removed at values set three years ago, while cattle prices continue to climb, which is good. The scheme also has a significant negative impact on farmers who are producing the best animals. I ask the…
Ireland is at a crossroads. Dublin is bursting at the seams, housing is scarce, costs are out of control, infrastructure cannot cope and commuters spend hours of their lives on packed roads every day but two hours west of this Chamber, we have an asset of great national potential, Shannon and the wider region. Developing Shannon as Ireland's second economic engine is not just good for County Clare, it is essential po…
I thank the Minister for his update and his commitment to Shannon and the wider mid-west region, which is very much appreciated. The overdevelopment of Dublin is not a Dublin problem, it is a national failure of planning and political will. Shannon and the wider region are not asking for charity. They are asking for the investment and commitment to do what they have always been able to do: contribute in a meaningful …
12. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to outline if his Department has undertaken an impact assessment of the current high cost of electricity on the Government's own electrification and decarbonisation targets; the measures that are in place to ensure that the cost of necessary grid infrastructure investment does not fall disproportionately on domestic consumers; and if he …
38. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps being taken to ensure that retail electricity prices are brought to a level that makes electrification a genuinely affordable proposition for ordinary households, given the Government’s ambition to accelerate the electrification of Irish homes through heat pumps, electric vehicles, and other demand-side measures; and if he will…
I welcome the opportunity to raise this important matter. Has the Department looked into the impact of high electricity prices in Ireland on the uptake of technology like heat pumps, electric vehicles, EVs, and home batteries that are needed to meet our decarbonisation target, and how that might impact on our 2030 targets?
Ireland has set an ambitious decarbonisation target of a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030, which is nearly full electrification of heat and transport. I heard from constituents who have recently undertaken works to electrify their homes and from others who are considering it. The price of electricity means the payback calculations, unfortunately, no longer stack up. We face a situation where, unfortunately, the tec…
The electrification of our economy is the right policy direction but it will only succeed if ordinary households are not priced out of it. Ireland already has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. The scale of grid investment required over the coming decade is enormous and there is a real concern that the cost of that infrastructure will be loaded onto domestic electricity bills through network charges.
…
69. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update on the basic income for the arts scheme, the number of applicants by county in tabular form; the timeline for approvals and to outline if each county will be given an equitable allocation of recipients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44127/26]
I welcome the basic income for the arts, BIA, scheme and commend the Minister on securing funding to make it permanent. This is a genuinely progressive policy and is especially important to County Clare, with our rich arts tradition, from traditional music to visual arts and literature. I ask for an update on the application process, a breakdown by county and an outline of how rural counties such as Clare will be tre…