I thank the Minister for that clarification. I will use Boyne Community School in Trim as an example. It has been on the school project building list for over 15 years for works and an extension. Some 24 prefabs have been added to that site which is a recognition that the Department is aware how important extending and improving the school is. The local demand for this school is huge. It is the only secondary school …
TDs / Aisling Dempsey
Aisling Dempsey
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
336
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
12,735
words spoken in the chamber
Across 83 contributions. Plus 2 contributions from the chair, not counted
426
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
141
topics asked about
Across 17 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 336 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 83 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 12 | 6 |
| March 2025 | 16 | 4 |
| April 2025 | 12 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 19 | 2 |
| June 2025 | 29 | 8 |
| July 2025 | 17 | 2 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 12 | 6 |
| October 2025 | 11 | 1 |
| November 2025 | 35 | 7 |
| December 2025 | 11 | 4 |
| January 2026 | 22 | 3 |
| February 2026 | 30 | 4 |
| March 2026 | 8 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 28 | 11 |
| May 2026 | 8 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 22 | 7 |
| July 2026 | 10 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 24 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 10 | 3 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 72 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 Meath West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
Boyne Community School is a DEIS school. It is on a fantastic site and is a lovely, historical building, but it is not fit-for-purpose as it stands. The type of building it is causes complexity in design and cost but we really need to overcome that. It was acknowledged 15 plus years ago that this work was needed.
I have concerns around the 24 prefabs. Incredibly, having looked at them and the classrooms in the schoo…
124. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the building blocks grant. [29531/26]
I thank the Minister. That is positive information and it is a positive scheme. I have had many inquiries over the last while from childcare providers in my area, both private and community-run, as to when it would be announced. It is important that it is for private and community facilities. We need all of our facilities to avail of it. I know people in Trim who are putting their children's names on waiting lists be…
I ask that the Department and the city and county childcare committees engage with providers, both community and private. I know a lot of places have identified to me a need for extensions, but some have not yet done so. It would be helpful if they were made fully aware and there was a good advertising campaign and engagement through the childcare committees to make them aware that this funding is available. I unders…
Child and adolescent mental health services, or CAMHS as we know it, supports young people up to 18 years of age with moderate to serious mental health difficulties. At 18, they are expected to move to the adult mental health services, AMHS. While, logically, we know that these young people are adults, many still need our help and particularly the ones who are in the care of CAMHS. They can be so incredibly vulnerabl…
238. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will commit to the removal of the so-called "deemed disposal" tax in relation to ETFs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26607/26]
I wish to ask about Boyne Community School in my hometown of Trim, which was granted an extension well over a decade ago now. The Department is well aware of the situation and the need for the school to grow. It is so aware that it has granted 24 prefabs over the years to accommodate the growing school community. A few years ago, a site was purchased for the only girls secondary school in the town and the Gaelscoil t…
I am a TD for Meath West and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one of my local hospitals. Like so many Meath people over the years, I was born there and have had many experiences in it. Michael Shine's unspeakable depravity is not an abstract to me. It is personal, it is local and it is still profoundly shocking. There is nearly half a century between his sick acts and the wholly separate issue of the scoli…
I want to share with the Taoiseach some experiences of women in my constituency of Meath West. One granny said to me:
My daughter welcomed a baby boy, my first grandchild, into the family in 2023. It was an occasion of great joy for us. When it came time for my daughter to return to work after her maternity leave, that joy turned to stress as she tried to finalise childcare. The end result is that myself and the oth…
I thank the Taoiseach for his considered response. It is welcome. I reiterate that we need to expedite delivery on that commitment. We need to alleviate the pressures on our families as a real matter of urgency.
The Taoiseach mentioned the workforce. Women tell me they are forced to family-plan on the basis of our high childcare costs and low availability. That is not good for them or for society as a whole. We want…
19. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [69876/25]
I recognise that progress has been made in the last 12 months in relation to the cost of childcare, with the expansion of the national childcare scheme subsidies, improvements to core funding and a lowering of the maximum cap on fees. This has brought weekly costs for childcare to around €200 for families who are paying the highest rates. Many of my constituents in Meath West have told me that there has been good pro…
15. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Health for an update on the Assisted Human Reproduction Act 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4878/26]
118. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of jobs the IDA supported in each county in the mid-east region in 2025; the way in which this compares with each county in the mid-east region in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1529/26]
I thank the Minister of State. As I have said, Louth is at the centre of the Dublin-Belfast corridor. It offers scale, connectivity, a strong industrial base and a pipeline of skills. Dundalk is home to the newest university in the country and it will be a major asset to attract and embed high-value research-driven employment. The IDA sites in Drogheda and Dundalk provide a huge opportunity to grow the economy not on…
I have a really important question to ask the Taoiseach on behalf of all the parents, carers and children across Ireland, especially my two children at home in Meath, Liam and Hannah. We have had lots of special and important visitors to Ireland throughout 2025 but our most important one will arrive here on 24 December, Christmas Eve. I would like the Taoiseach's personal assurances that our airspace will be clear fo…
10. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the way in which the new infrastructure plan will accelerate the delivery of critical infrastructure in the mid-east region and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70504/25]
I welcome the new accelerated infrastructure legislation and ask that the Minister ensure it is applied to one of the most critical transport projects in Meath and wider mid-east region, namely, the Navan rail line. Navan is one of the largest towns in the country and is without a rail connection. Every day, thousands of Meath commuters face long unreliable journeys because their transport network has not kept pace w…
Realistically, under the current legislation and timelines, the Navan rail line will be delivered in 2036. Can we do better with than that this legislation? The purpose is to remove obstacles, streamline approvals, cut duplicated processes and ensure that key national projects like the Navan rail line move efficiently to delivery. In my very biased opinion, there is no project more deserving than the Navan rail line.…
Is the Government concerned about a developer's ability, under current insolvency and receivership law, to convert themselves into a secured creditor during the collapse of their own residential project? This is the shocking scenario that homeowners have faced in my constituency in Ringfort, Rathmolyon, County Meath. The developer now ranks ahead of Revenue and the contracted home buyers, which may leave the State at…
18. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on disability will next meet. [46880/25]
I want to raise the urgent issue of the transition from child disability services to adult disability services. A constituent has told me that her child was not seen by child disability services until he was almost 18 and that was eight years post her first contact. The family had no clarity on what supports they were entitled to when he was a child, let alone what they were facing into from adult disability services…
84. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the Government’s commitment to family resource centres; for an update on the work done by family resource centres across the country; and the potential for establishing more family resource centres. [61878/25]
I thank the Minister for the update on the commitment of the Government and Minister to family resource centres across the country. I welcome the opening of new centres as I know how much they can do and add to our communities. I know how much family resource centres add because there is an extremely active and hard-working one in my home town of Trim. I cannot impress upon the Minister enough how important it is to …