I start by acknowledging the hugely positive contribution that many people who have come from outside of Ireland to live here have played. I say that as Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, obviously deeply conscious of all of those who work in our hospitals and in primary and community care settings. Our healthcare system simply would not function if it was not for many people who have come from outside of the country o…
TDs / David Cullinane
David Cullinane
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,614
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
117,211
words spoken in the chamber
Across 499 contributions
417
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
145
topics asked about
Across 16 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 1,614 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 499 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 22 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 73 | 27 |
| March 2025 | 70 | 92 |
| April 2025 | 121 | 18 |
| May 2025 | 218 | 26 |
| June 2025 | 129 | 16 |
| July 2025 | 174 | 23 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 28 | 9 |
| October 2025 | 75 | 25 |
| November 2025 | 35 | 40 |
| December 2025 | 68 | 16 |
| January 2026 | 72 | 11 |
| February 2026 | 115 | 29 |
| March 2026 | 35 | 42 |
| April 2026 | 85 | 43 |
| May 2026 | 30 | 12 |
| June 2026 | 119 | 15 |
| July 2026 | 67 | 20 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 52 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 26 | 25 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 304 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 Waterford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
A report has been published into a coping exercise on an inquiry into failures in Children's Health Ireland. The House knows that in 2017, the then Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, made a promise to children with scoliosis and their parents that no child would wait longer than four months for treatment. Bizarrely, the recommendation in this report is that the look-back would start on 1 January 2019 and all of the failu…
Hear, hear.
It makes no sense whatsoever in the midst of a cost-of-living squeeze and crisis that the Government would add to people's woes and increase transport costs. There is no justification for it. A 10% increase is a significant additional burden for people who are already finding it very difficult to deal with other rising costs, as the Minister well knows. A government should not be adding to people's stress and problem…
They are saying that they cost €30,000 each and are coming from Sweden. I have been asking questions and raising this with some of my council colleagues, Councillor Joeanne Bailey being one who has raised this at a council level. We cannot even get bus shelters that are on order. It just makes no sense. The Department needs to get its act in order and deal with these issues rather than hiking up charges.
I welcome the opportunity to speak today. I thank the Minister for her contribution. Pharmacists are medicines experts and are among the most accessible health professionals in the State. There are approximately 1,900 community pharmacies providing around 2 million visits every week. Their role has evolved well beyond dispensing and medicines management. Community pharmacies are now involved in prescribing for common…
The most important issue here is the rights of children with disabilities. Any objective review of this Government and, in fact, previous Governments over a long number of years would show a poor record. In many areas, it would show a disgraceful record. In 2005, the Government at the time - the Minister's party was in government - put in place an Act that provided rights for children with disabilities, including the…
The Minister of State and the Government have had their heads in the sand about the cost-of-living crisis and squeeze for far too long. In recent years, Sinn Féin has used every opportunity we could to point out the challenges facing workers and families, with groceries, insurance costs, rents, mortgage costs, and petrol, diesel and home heating oil going up. Every time we raise these issues, the Government has to be…
I recently met the parents of children with disabilities where the children are either on a list or attending the Waterford south city children’s disability network team. I find these meetings very difficult because the story is always the same, unfortunately, with parents battling for access to services and children missing out on developmental supports. What they told me in relation to this team is shocking. We kno…
I welcome the fact this Bill codifies Garda use of powers to stop and search, arrests, searches and seizures and detention. The point was made that it should not have taken eight years to get here but we are here and I want to welcome those elements of the Bill. Accountability in An Garda Síochána is really important so when we discuss Garda powers, it is also really important that we discuss oversight and accountabi…
"We are not going to regain any of the abilities we've lost, but Skyclarys will give us time. Time when you're dealing with our progressive relentless disease is everything. We all deserve time with our loved ones." Those are the words of Emily Felix, a 28-year-old trainee solicitor from Kilkenny who is living with Friedreich's ataxia. It is a rare, progressive and life-limiting neurological condition. It gradually t…
I met many of those patients and people with the illness yesterday. Many of them were here in Leinster House. They told me, as they have in the past, they cannot walk and they cannot swallow and, as the Taoiseach acknowledged, it is also very difficult for their families who have to watch as their condition worsens and the disease progresses. This drug was approved by the European Union in 2024, over two years ago. I…
Today must belong first and foremost to the survivors of the horrific abuse perpetrated by Bill Kenneally. To Jason Clancy, Paul Walsh, Colin Power, Kevin Keating, Barry Murphy and every survivor, those who have spoken publicly and those who have carried their pain privately, I want to say this: our hearts are with you every day, but today especially. I recognise the enormous courage you have shown and the terrible w…
85. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the data collected on private practice in public hospitals; the level of private activity occurring in public hospitals; her plan for removing this in its entirety; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52167/26]
I acknowledge all that work. Data is important in this area because it allows us all to hold hospitals and consultants to account and to ensure that the terms of the contracts that people have entered are being honoured. As the Minister knows, the Oireachtas health committee met recently and had witnesses in from the Rotunda hospital, the Department and the HSE. I have been asking questions for the last number of wee…
That is a sensible approach. I do not disagree with it. I welcome the fact that there will be an audit because data is rich when it comes to allowing all of us to see what is happening under the bonnet of hospitals and the level of private activity. I am not against private healthcare, by the way, but it needs to happen in private hospitals. Where it happens in public hospitals, it has to be within the rules.
The Mi…
87. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her plan for tackling primary and community care waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52168/26]
This question is in relation to community care waiting lists, which I have been tracking for some time. There are now 280,000 people, unfortunately, on community waiting lists, with many of them waiting far too long. I know the Minister has talked about new initiatives to reduce community waiting lists, which I respect and want to see implemented, but, unfortunately, the numbers have been going in the wrong direction…
As I said, 280,000 people are on primary and community care waiting lists. Of those, 86,000 people are waiting for physiotherapy, 60,000 people are waiting for occupational therapy, 34,000 people are waiting for psychology, 32,000 people are waiting for speech and language therapy, 24,000 people are waiting for audiology, 22,000 people are waiting for dietetics, 20,000 people are waiting for ophthalmology and 8,000 p…
I accept all of that. In my constituency of Waterford, I deal with these issues all the time.
We receive representations from people who have been waiting far too long for an occupational therapist or a speech and language therapist. The Minister mentioned children. Very often, children are on these waiting lists. A number of weeks ago, we had a debate in the House on dental services. The number of children waiting for orthodontic treatment and dental treatment is shocking. So much more needs to be done in th…
93. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her plans to increase clinical training capacity across health professions in the south east; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52161/26]
Workforce planning is an important component of planning for health services. This question is about the south east. What additional clinical training capacity is being looked at for the coming years across the south east?
Recruitment is important and every additional staff member recruited in acute primary or community settings in the health service is to be welcomed. My question, though, was on increasing clinical training capacity. I know that also falls under the Minister for higher education.
I think the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was in the Chamber this week when I raised issues in relation to South East Technological Un…
Obviously, there has to be an element of cross-departmental and cross-ministerial work on workforce planning. The health service cannot recruit quickly enough if we are not training and training capacity is very important. I imagine a lot of collaborative work is being done between the Ministers and the Departments. What I am saying is that I will raise this with the Minister for higher education-----