I accept what the Minister is saying about needing to check out a person's past. I have helped many people with their naturalisation applications. However, if a person has been investigated and has demonstrated a change in gender and name under the Gender Recognition Act, surely the process is simple enough. It should not take two years. There is an anomaly and it should be reviewed. The Gender Recognition Act was me…
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
15. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will consider changes in legislation in relation to the use of character references in sentencing hearings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35581/26]
My question relates to character references. We have seen a spate of them recently from former TDs, many of whom seem to be hanging around the Fianna Fáil party. They do not have any understanding of how damaging this is to the victims of these crimes. Why are we still allowing character references from people who have absolutely no expertise in anything to do with any of these crimes? It is an outrage.
We are not talking about writing a reference for a mother who took a packet of nappies because she is living in poverty. In most cases, these references are from relatives or former school principals who knew the offender 20 years ago, or from a GAA football manager or whoever. In the case of child sexual abuse and gender-based violence, they should be banned entirely because the people who carry out such offences ar…
I was particularly talking about sexual and gender-based violence because it is a particular type of personal crime. These people fool judges as well. Let us be frank. Judges are not exactly top of the class.
These references are designed to get people off. In the case of the two women I spoke to - and I know them - there were suspended sentences after character references were submitted.
I want to ask about this o…
They have.
I am not.
I welcome, on behalf of Solidarity, this Bill. It is the first Bill to advocate for sanctions against Israel. What has happened to Palestine and what is now happening to Lebanon and other countries Israel is attacking is an absolute shame on the EU and world leaders. What an indictment of the EU that, almost three years into a horrific genocide, not only does it not sanction Israel, it continues to give Israel a favo…
Iran, sorry. Iraq could be next; anyone could be next. The Minister sees no connection between the two events, of course.
Academic links have been mentioned. I absolutely agree. The Minister came out and criticised people for trying to break academic links; however, they are not academic links. Tecnium is a laboratory for weapons for the Israeli genocide in the aerospace and engineering arena. The Minister said she …
Just to make it clear, there are actually two matches. Many of us are saying "Stop the game" but it should be "Stop the games". I got an email back from Brian Kerr when I contacted him in relation to this and he made the point, which a lot of us are not emphasising, that we should not be playing Israel anywhere. We should not have anything to do with them. How can the Minister not see that? That was one solitary thin…
Eight years ago, we were pounding pavements and having thousands of conversations. We won the most important right to bodily autonomy for women in this country in history by means of the efforts of a grassroots movement. Now, some people seem to think that they can roll back that right. We are seeing signs of this even in the Dáil today in some of the comments being made.
I want to talk about what the Government has…
-----because it supported Bríd Smith's Bill in the previous Dáil and now it is responding to the far right and other individuals who criticised it on the vote recently. Now, it is circling the wagons and women's rights have to pay the price. It really is shocking but it is good to bring clarity for people as to where parties stand.
Let us be clear: decriminalising is to prevent women being criminalised as well for t…
I have just come from the picket line on Davitt Road, where National Ambulance Service workers are on strike for 24 hours because the HSE has failed for six years to implement a 5% pay rise that they are due under benchmarking. It is not just the HSE, though. The Government is their employer. They are public sector workers and they are calling for the Taoiseach's intervention. The HSE has accepted upskilling and incr…
-----refused a pay rise it was because it was a deterioration in the service.
8. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on the economy, trade and competitiveness will next meet. [29777/26]
26. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [29778/26]
I do not know how the Taoiseach can look the leaders of some EU member states in the eye given their complete and utter disregard for what Israel is doing to the people of Palestine. I also want to mention Lebanon and the brutal methods being used there. One in five of the population has been displaced and a total of 2,846 people have been killed, 552 of whom were killed after the ceasefire. Villages are being razed …
Shush. People are going take the law into their own hands and organise a campaign. Stop the Game was launched last week. Many high-profile sports people, personalities and politicians are now gearing up to organise to stop that game, and I think it will be stopped.
Would Deputy Ó Cearúil ever whisht, for goodness sake?
It was a ridiculous comment.
So?
You said it should go ahead.
And vice versa.
I meet them every day.
They do not.
During this whole discussion, there have been elements of déjà vu as regards Covid. I was not here but, like many others, I looked at the screen and saw the applause for nurses in the Dáil. It was the height of hypocrisy. There was applause but no pay rises. Long Covid supports have just been ended. Nurses were urged to go onto the front line. It was mainly nurses who suffered from that condition. I seriously wonder …