Ireland is wasting over €400 million every year on surplus energy. The programme for Government says that legislation could be enacted to divert surplus renewable energy to homes that are in fuel poverty. The amount being wasted has jumped from over €250 million in 2023. I ask the Minister of State to outline a timeline for the delivery of the diversion of wasted energy to the households that need it the most.
TDs / Pa Daly
Pa Daly
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2,409
questions asked
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113,714
words spoken in the chamber
Across 504 contributions
405
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
272
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
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Month by month
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Questions asked 2,409 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 504 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 74 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 124 | 40 |
| March 2025 | 118 | 28 |
| April 2025 | 67 | 20 |
| May 2025 | 260 | 31 |
| June 2025 | 125 | 32 |
| July 2025 | 214 | 15 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 77 | 27 |
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| April 2026 | 94 | 41 |
| May 2026 | 67 | 10 |
| June 2026 | 93 | 56 |
| July 2026 | 231 | 7 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 91 | 45 |
| October 2026 | 49 | 6 |
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Plus 337 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
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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 Kerry 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. As I said earlier, the figure for wasted energy was €250 million in 2023 but it is now almost half a billion euro. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of households are in debt and energy poverty has reached record levels. Approximately €1.3 million worth of energy has gone down the drain today. This would have heated 390 million water tanks but that 1.2 GW of power wa…
The reality is that there are difficulties with our grid, which is very constrained. Investment in the grid must take place, which the Minister of State mentioned in response to the previous question. However, the cost of that should not be borne by ordinary householders but by the State and by larger energy consumers. A big part of the problem is that data centres are taking up almost one third of Ireland's energy. …
110. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps he is taking to make critical energy infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72818/25]
113. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he has conducted an analysis on the introduction of CBAM on the price of energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72821/25]
I want to talk in the few minutes I have about some capital projects in Kerry, which badly need to be progressed.
In a county like Kerry, with 13 blue flag beaches, mountains, lakes and coastline that are the envy of many, unfortunately we have a major structural deficit. In order for people to reside in their own home areas, we need a massive injection of funding to bring us up to a level that is taken for granted …
-----but there is still no sign of it. Would the Minister ever get that published so that the people can have answers and be included in the scheme, and so that the children who are at risk of heavy weight gain and an awful lot of other difficulties are not further punished by having to pay for their own medical reports? If they are in the scheme, they do not have to pay for it. It is inexcusable that they have not b…
I am glad the Minister has recognised that there has been confusion, a lack of clarity and three different types of scenarios in the way this money has been dispensed. I received an email from one constituent informing me that on her last visit to the chemist to pick up her 80-year-old mother's prescriptions, she was informed that the blister pack charge would be increasing to €7.50 per week from 1 January 2026. She …
The Bryan MacMahon hall at Scoil Réalta na Maidine in Listowel, which is named after the former principal and writer, was built around 1960. Its roof is in a bad state at the moment. There is no internal membrane in the roof and no felt inside the slates. Plaster has fallen in from the attic and there is significant mould and woodworm due to water ingress and a lack of insulation. It needs a total overhaul. The schoo…
Beidh mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama leis na Teachtaí O'Hara, Ní Fhearghail, O'Rourke agus Newsome Drennan. I have come from the committee the Minister mentioned and apologise for being a couple of minutes late.
Workers and families across the country are being hammered by soaring energy costs and it is happening on this Government's watch. Despite all the promises made before the election to protect workers and families…
Energy is not just about power; it is about sovereignty, security, just transition, the future we leave to our children and fairness to communities. I come from the county of Kerry, which has 15% of the turbines with only 8% of the land mass. I saw the troubles over the years when what Deputy Fitzmaurice described as vultures came in and there was a lot of division in communities. In Sinn Féin, we stand for ending th…
I wish the former Minister, Deputy Donohoe, all the best.
The Government is developing a new diaspora strategy. The Coventry Irish Centre has been supporting Irish immigrants since 1953 and it continues to do that in welfare, health, befriending and helping people with passports. It has supported 500 survivors of residential institutions since the 1990s. However, it has no permanent home and has had to move five tim…
Last night, the Government had a chance to vote for measures that would cut the cost of living. Instead, it stood firm and decided to continue the rip-off. The irony of the Government putting statements out the day after it rejected the very measures that would have brought down the cost of driving and haulage for SMEs should not be lost on anyone here. I cannot say that I am looking forward to the excuses. For the G…
Mercosur is a rotten deal for people and for the planet and it must be rejected. The Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the regional Independents, including the Healy-Rae brothers, is selling out Ireland, abandoning our farmers and signing a blank cheque for environmental degradation and destruction the world over because there is no doubt this is just the beginning and it will put the farm families out of busi…
71. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport if he will defer the January 2026 toll increase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63433/25]
From the eye-watering price of petrol and diesel to the spiralling cost of insurance, drivers are being hammered with skyrocketing costs at every turn. I ask the Minister of State if he will defer the January 2026 toll increase and if he will make a statement about it. It is a clear political choice from Government, the Ministers and all their supporters. Will the Government have the same courage of its convictions a…
I hear the Minister of State's response but it is very disappointing because he, the Government and the Minister over in Brazil are trying to wash their hands of it. However, the general public and the voters will see right through this because during the last general election campaign, the Minister himself called for the toll hikes to be scrapped.
Has there been a change of mind since then or was it never really me…
The Minister of State has not answered the question about deferring the tolls and whether the Government is going to do that. It has the power to do it and there are other measures it can also take to cut the cost of living and the spiralling costs for drivers. We outlined these in a Private Members’ Bill last week, which we will be voting on tomorrow evening.
The progress that was spoken about in the response last …
72. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the scheme for free travel for five- to eight-year-olds; if he will report on the roll-out of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63434/25]
If the Minister for Transport was here, I would ask him to report on the scheme for the free travel for five- to eight-year-olds. I would also ask him to report on the roll-out of the scheme.
This has been heralded for a long time. I do not know how much money was spent on it or what testing was done but there have been problems with it. We have had complaints that the cards do not actually work. There seems to be p…
It is true we in Sinn Féin support this measure but it has to work in practice. I agree it is good there have been 25,000 cards and agree on the gathering of data to ensure public transport is available to more children and citizens into the future. However, the roll-out has not been going to plan. First of all, it took about a year to get it off the ground and the scheme was not officially launched until September. …
The Minister of State mentioned introducing subsidised public transport services. I want to raise the issue of rural children being excluded from the scheme because it has not been extended to commercial operators. At a recent appearance at the transport committee, David Conway from the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland said his operators are excluded from the scheme. He found that surprising given they …
81. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the recent salary increases of CEOs of commercial State bodies under the aegis of his Department; if he has discussed these increases with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63377/25]
Is mian liom ceist a chur ar an Aire Stáit mar gheall ar na salaries that have recently been announced for a number of incoming CEOs. Those salaries concern commercial State bodies under the aegis of the Minister of State’s Department. Has he discussed these increases with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services Reform and Digitalisation?
Of course we need to ensure that we have the best people for the job but it is not all about top dogs and the CEO. In a cost-of-living crisis, will the Minister of State outline the reasoning behind these salary bumps, some of which are over 33%? This morning, I listened to representatives from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ireland on the radio outlining that more and more families, particularly middle-income fa…