That is disingenuous.
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
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 is due to end this year, and a new strategy is needed to drive improvements in access to, and the quality of, care from 2027;
— in 2025, 15 per cent of chemotherapy, and 23 per cent of radiotherapy, patients did not get access to treatment in the target timeframe;
— in 2025, 45 per cent of breast cancer surgeries and 39 per cent of l…
First of all, I will correct something I said in my opening remarks when I was talking about chemotherapy patients in Cavan. In fact, 100% of those were seen on time; it was in Waterford that 66% of patients were seen on time, which means 33% were not. For radiotherapy, 98% of patients in Waterford were treated on time, compared to just 67% in St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network, which covers Dublin, the east and t…
It is not a case of the Government coming a day late and a dollar short. Rather, it is a year late and several hundred dollars short for the vast majority of families. The clock did not start ticking in the last number of weeks, although it has got worse for families and fuel prices have gone up. In the budget last year, the Government had an opportunity to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, but it did nothing for …
Their only concern is what the Government will do right now for them.
That is what they want to know. What will it do? The Tánaiste has come to the Chamber today with nothing. He has no proposals. He talks about how the Government might do something but we do not know what that will be.
Sinn Féin has come with proposals, not just this week but before the last budget, when the Government had the opportunity to support families and workers but decided to look after vested interests instead. Fine Gael is the party that looks after a cosseted, privileged class. It has showed that time and time again.
How long do I have?
I thank Minister, Deputy Calleary, for taking this Topical Issue debate today. As he knows, my party leader and I have written to him a number of times over recent months. I have received his correspondence and responses, which I know have been drafted by officials in his Department who have been responding to this issue for some time. The issue here is that many former Waterford Crystal workers who paid into their p…
It is not a case of whether the workers were the victims of an injustice; in my view, they were. As I said earlier, at the time those workers should have been given three options: the preserved benefits option, a transfer value or a refund. They were only given one option, which was the refund. The quarrel seems to relate to the fact that the Minister and the Department are of the view that this was a matter for the …
1. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her current policy on the colocation of the Rotunda Hospital; the amount spent to date on colocation planning, including any preliminary stages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17627/26]
My first question is on the Rotunda Hospital. Since the question was tabled, however, a memo was brought to Cabinet and the Minister has decided to abandon the plans to colocate the Rotunda Hospital with Connolly. If I am right that this is her position, she might outline that. Now the key thing has to be what happens with the critical care unit. I welcome that, as part of an enhanced planning application and the cri…
The colocation plan unfortunately was an anchor around the hospital for far too long so I welcome the fact that anchor has now been removed. It is policy since 2015 but very little money has been spent on it and there was no real timeframe. An Coimisiún Pleanála's decision did mention colocation not as the main reason but certainly as one of the factors it took into account, so removing that obviously helps.
It is p…
The decision for the Rotunda in relation to colocation has raised issues around other colocation proposals as well. The Minister mentioned Holles Street, which is moving to Elm Park and which is much more advanced. There is a plan for Limerick and for the Coombe. Now questions are being asked about where they stand, particularly the Coombe, which is to move to the site adjacent to the new children's hospital, which i…
It would be a good issue for the Oireachtas health committee to examine in the next number of months, namely the whole colocation strategy.
3. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her plans to bring forward legislation to enhance the powers of the Dental Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17628/26]
The Dental Council of Ireland does not have sufficient powers to protect the public from unregistered dentists. It has been unable to act in 80% of cases of credible concern of unregistered dentists in the past three years. I have met council representatives on a number of occasions. I assume the Minister has as well. It has been raising this matter for some considerable time. I also know compulsory continuing profes…
I welcome the wider work but the Dentists Act, an issue I have been over several times, does not provide the Dental Council of Ireland with sufficient powers to deal with unregistered dentists. In fact, it has been saying recently that it has not been able to take action against a total of 37 unregistered dentists over the past eight years, including one who was practising unregistered with a sexual assault convictio…
I welcome that as well. It will add real value. The Minister spoke about oral health generally. The are issues with screening in schools. Enough simply is not being done. There is a need for more publicly hired dentists. I have made the same argument in relation to GPs. I would like to see a public GP contract but for dentists we need to look at that space. Dentists are not engaging with the dental treatment services…
4. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health her plans for a new cancer strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17629/26]
This question is on cancer services and the national cancer strategy. We have had two strategies, the one coming to an end and the previous one, and they have added real value and are among the best success stories in the Irish health service. I am blown away by the work people do in this area, with research, development, new technology, new drugs and new treatments. It is mind blowing and it is of benefit to patient…
We would all accept that early intervention in healthcare is very important, especially for cancer patients, from the first GP referral to a consultant, diagnostics, treatment and surgery. I acknowledge that in some of the areas we are still doing very well but there are areas where there is slippage. Data from 2025 shows that 15% of chemotherapy patients and 21% of radiotherapy patients did not start their treatment…
One of the benefits of having health regions is that we can have this type of focus, we can drill into the data and we can have real accountability. There are regional imbalances, county imbalances and very localised imbalances. The cancer strategy is a national strategy. We have specialist centres. I want this to be maintained, of course. It is really important. Where the areas of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are a…
Across the State, households are watching the price of fuel surge in real time. In the days since the US-Israel strikes on Iran, the cost of home heating oil has skyrocketed. We are hearing from people across the country and, in most cases, the price of a delivery has effectively doubled. The average price for 500 litres is now just under €800. Since my colleagues and I have raised this issue publicly over the past n…
I am not knee-jerk because I understand what families are going through