-----you can distinguish your vote-----
TDs / Ruth Coppinger
Ruth Coppinger
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
938
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
164,714
words spoken in the chamber
Across 1,017 contributions
371
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
239
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 938 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,017 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 5 |
| January 2025 | 4 | 2 |
| February 2025 | 40 | 62 |
| March 2025 | 32 | 55 |
| April 2025 | 59 | 51 |
| May 2025 | 42 | 68 |
| June 2025 | 33 | 69 |
| July 2025 | 48 | 63 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 81 | 26 |
| October 2025 | 26 | 79 |
| November 2025 | 81 | 42 |
| December 2025 | 16 | 58 |
| January 2026 | 64 | 66 |
| February 2026 | 64 | 99 |
| March 2026 | 66 | 46 |
| April 2026 | 79 | 48 |
| May 2026 | 53 | 50 |
| June 2026 | 51 | 60 |
| July 2026 | 26 | 32 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 53 | 20 |
| October 2026 | 20 | 15 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 687 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 Dublin West 29 November 2024 to now
- party People Before Profit-Solidarity 29 November 2024 to now
-----when you make a vote, and can come out publicly to explain your stance, but the reality is it is a vote of no confidence. If the parties are not happy about that, they can put one themselves, which should have happened a long time ago.
I will raise another issue. The Minister of State and the Government constantly say how much Ireland is doing. There are two examples of basic care that we could give to people s…
6. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [32399/25]
Ireland is becoming the most expensive country in Europe to go to college. With the threatened withdrawal of the €1,000 assistance to parents, this will further be the case. Parents and students are making CAO decisions now about whether or not they can limit or pick cheaper courses or courses nearer to where they live, but the Taoiseach will not decide until July. Some 100,000 children are living in consistent pover…
19. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [33614/25]
For a year and a half, the people of Dublin West have been guinea pigs for drone infrastructure. The potential for drones to do very important work for humans is definitely there, such as emergency relief, medicine, reaching isolated places due to geography and so on. Such new infrastructure should be with community assent and approval and not inflicted with no recourse by private companies that are in it for a profi…
Yes, I know but----
Yes.
For fast food?
I am.
No answer.
God forbid you would break a law to end the genocide. It would be terrible.
Would you get real?
I am sure it will go down well on Gript anyway.
To clarify, St. Mochta’s school in Clonsilla has 900 to 1,000 students. The management agreed to take on a huge cohort under pressure of school places in Dublin West. Six pupils enrolled in that school have approval from the NCSE for special or autism class provision, but they were not on the list that was sent to the school last Friday. We have a bizarre situation where these parents would not have autism classes in…
I am glad a meeting is taking place today and, hopefully, things can be resolved. However, I would be extremely concerned if other parents were offered these places and would then have to be told they do not have alternatives. It is a real problem situation. The issue is that, according to the school, it did not have sanction for these two classes by the February deadline and, therefore, it only got the sanction in A…
There are many rail issues in Dublin West. I will briefly mention them and then make some general points. In Ashtown, there is just development after development and high-rise apartments flying up regularly. It is happening at such a rate that the rail service the area does have is jam-packed and dangerous, according to many residents. Either a stop will have to be put on planning permissions granted, which none of u…
"War is a relic of barbarism only possible because we are governed by a ruling class with barbaric ideas." That was said by James Connolly as he looked at the conflagration that was the First World War. How apt it is now. We have been here previously. People are saying this is something new but, unfortunately, it is a feature of history, including the world wars, the Holocaust, Srebrenica, the 30th anniversary of whi…
I move amendment No. 1:
In page 5, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:
“(3) Before this Act comes into operation the Minister shall publish a report which outlines the following:
(a) the degree of financial dependence that families with divorced or separated parents have on those parents;
(b) an overview of the legal issues with not providing the same level of access to social protection payments fo…
I am sorry; what are they?
Amendment No. 1 is different from the others in that it is asking for due diligence to be done before a Bill is brought in. It should be the norm. The Minister is acting as if it is unusual to ask for a report on the impact of a Bill. He should have done that previously. TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and other TDs will troop into the House tonight without having a clue what they are voting on. We had a briefing …
This shows part of the problem with the changes the Minister is making to the Bill. When he says that the Department is not going to carry out investigations or be intrusive, I do not mean any offence but the Department does carry out investigations into other aspects of social welfare.
We debated a lot of the issues in the groupings of amendments. I am a bit perplexed as to why the parties of marriage are not in he…
I move amendment No. 21:
In page 23, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:
“Review of provisions of Act
20. The Minister shall, not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Act, carry out a review of the operation of this Act, and in particular the impact of the definitions of “civil partner”, “widow” and “widower” in this Act.”.
I move amendment No. 22:
In page 23, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:
“Review of provisions of Act
20. The Minister shall, not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Act, carry out a review of the operation of this Act.”.
Does the Minister remember the promise of €200-per-month childcare that vanished into thin air, which he and Fine Gael promised before the election? The problem is that there is no childcare available to parents in any case. In the Blakestown area of Dublin West, we hear that Ready, Steady, Learn, a not-for-profit early learning childcare service catering for 43 children, could close. A parent from the Blanchardstown…