Congratulations to Deputy Quinlivan and everybody on the disability matters committee for this great document. I have read it. There is so much in it. It must have been a huge amount of work. It is very thorough. My colleague Deputy Liam Quaide is not able to speak today but he would love to have been able to do so.
One of the things that struck me with this report is that in schools, education and in this place, we…
TDs / Jen Cummins
Jen Cummins
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
895
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
102,602
words spoken in the chamber
Across 269 contributions. Plus 67 contributions from the chair, not counted
406
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
168
topics asked about
Across 18 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 895 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 269 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 11 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 35 | 18 |
| April 2025 | 100 | 12 |
| May 2025 | 49 | 18 |
| June 2025 | 49 | 16 |
| July 2025 | 69 | 15 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 55 | 8 |
| October 2025 | 22 | 11 |
| November 2025 | 65 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 44 | 23 |
| January 2026 | 58 | 12 |
| February 2026 | 22 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 46 | 8 |
| April 2026 | 90 | 18 |
| May 2026 | 64 | 20 |
| June 2026 | 34 | 15 |
| July 2026 | 29 | 17 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 18 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 35 | 13 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 133 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 South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to now
I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the making of regulations by the Minister for Health providing for nutritional standards and related requirements for school meals provided under school meal schemes funded by moneys provided directly or indirectly by the State or local authorities; to provide for the enforcement of such regulations by the Food Safety Authority of Irela…
I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."
I thank my colleague Deputy Gibney for the work she has done on this motion. I congratulate Deputy Ennis on his maiden speech. It is a great honour for people to be able to come here and I congratulate him.
Football is important to many people. This game has involved many people who would never watch a programme about politics or tune into anything to do with politics. This means a lot to people. The roll-out of thi…
Dublin 8 is a magnificent place of history. It is where I live. I am very proud to live there and am extremely proud to represent the area. There are so many places in Dublin 8 that tourists come to visit, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christchurch, Kilmainham Gaol, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, IMMA, the Guinness Storehouse, Dublinia, Marsh's Library, the Liberties and the National War Memorial Gardens.
I cou…
There are continuing problems in the area of special education in this country. We now have an issue with summer provision, which used to be called July provision. There are children who are still locked out of that. They will not be able to attend school by day because of staffing issues. They will also not be able to apply for home-based provision because that portal has closed. We need an urgent debate in this Hou…
83. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to publish the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. [37945/26]
I would like to have a conversation about the Minister's plans to publish information on the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. This would be similar to how the relevant Department issues the homeless figures every month. It is in order to show transparency as to where the Department of education is with regard to being able to tell everybody how many children throughout the cou…
I am delighted that there is portal methodology and all of that. It will allow us to get a handle on what the picture is. In the context of children who have not yet got a placement, the question remains as whether the schools involved need new buildings. If they do, how long will that take? Where will the children involved be housed or educated while that is happening? Did the Minister of State have to use his power…
It is good to hear that the Minister of State is using section 37A. It is important that all schools take their fair share of caring for children in their communities, particularly in areas where there might be a high number of fee-paying schools. If it is a fee-paying school that is located nearest to a child, the child also needs to be given a place. It is the same with every school. As we move towards a model wher…
I have been contacted by special schools in my constituency that have said that they have not been given their staffing allocations for next year. It is 28 May. It is very late. My understanding is that mainstream schools got their allocations in March and, on that basis, are able to plan for things like classroom allocation and supports. However, special schools do not know at this late stage when it is coming into …
I thank my colleague, Deputy Rice, for bringing forward this legislation. The angle the Government has taken in opposing this legislation is that there is a lack of evidence that 0.0 beer has any health implications. This is a misunderstanding of why advertising 0.0 beer is not appropriate near schools, crèches and in sporting facilities. It is the same as when it was banned for full alcohol or whatever the levels of…
The division is postponed until the next weekly division time.
I thank the Minister of State for taking my questions and facilitating the change. It did not suit both of us at the time so I appreciate him being here. We have discussed dyslexia quite a lot at the education committee over the last while and over the time since the committee started discussing it I have been contacted by so many parents, support teachers and students about dyslexia and the supports available in our…
I appreciate that the Government is putting a lot of resources into this, and I know the Minister of State is working tirelessly on it. I accept that. However, we can always do things better. It is my job in opposition to always hold the guys on the other side of the House to account, and I like doing that.
There are challenges. We do not have enough reading schools. Dyslexia Ireland is saying exactly what the Minis…
I was late for the Minister's speech because I had to be somewhere else. I have read it and I like the fact that reference was made to the four Ds. I am sure some people in this building will remember the three Cs or whatever the other letters were years ago in education. The three Rs-----
That is exactly it. We now have the four Ds. I agree with many of the points the Minister made. We are educating our children and young people leaving secondary school. In terms of where they go on, the starting point is what level people are at when they do the leaving certificate or leaving certificate applied. Many do not know how to open a bank account, change a tyre on a bike or car or do many practical things b…
I welcome the roll-out of any public transport across the country. A fully functioning republic needs bus and rail services that are reliable and affordable. To reach our climate targets, we need to be moving a little quicker. However, people are not going to get out of their cars if buses do not arrive. They are not going to get out of their cars if it is dangerous to cycle. They are not going to take the bicycle. T…
The Minister of State could nearly drive the bus. Would he turn up on time? That would be fantastic.
The difficulty is that since I was elected, I have held eight public meetings and a number of them were solely about public transport. Our constituency is close to the city. The focus for Bus Connects is getting people from the commuter belts into the city. That seems to have failed is when you live close to the city and the system is not functioning fully.
The community of Bluebell-Inchicore has been protesting ver…
I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. The Social Democrats have been vocal about disability rights for a long time. Before the last general election, one of our red-line issues was having a Minister for disability. That was because in this country people with disabilities are failed so badly and we want to protect their rights and deliver what they have identified that they need.
The Disability Federation of Ire…
In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 27 May 2026.
No problem.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre today said in its annual report that it had 24,000 contacts last year. That is up 5% from 2024 and up 29% from 2023. Almost 31% of them were first-time contacts. There was a huge fear among people who were at risk of becoming homeless. They then stay in their accommodation, whether it is live-in landlords or housemates abusing them. A large number of young people also spoke …
------in this House about that issue.
22. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [32603/26]