I thank the Deputy for his remarks. I certainly hear that. During the engagements at the cost of doing business advisory forum. That is very much looking at the structural needs within the energy system, but also how businesses analyse and interpret their bills. We are looking to get more details in regard to how bills are calculated. I will point to empowering businesses to control the controllables. That is exactly…
TDs / Alan Dillon
Alan Dillon
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
2
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
112,967
words spoken in the chamber
112,959 as a minister, 8 as a TD
392
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
2
topics asked about
Across 2 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 2 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 415 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 2 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 23 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 31 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 23 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 35 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 35 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 46 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 18 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 21 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 33 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 25 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 31 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 12 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 39 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 22 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 10 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 347 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Mayo 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications 29 January 2025 to 1 June 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment 2 June 2025 to now
I thank the Deputy for his question. Onshore wind is the largest contributor to renewable energy generation capacity in Ireland, with approximately 5.1 GW of wind generation capacity installed. The Government is committed to achieving 9 GW of installed onshore wind capacity. Onshore wind remains Ireland’s dominant source of renewable electricity and is second only to natural gas for overall electricity generation. In…
Our immediate focus is to get these projects into construction. That is why we have established the accelerating renewable energy task force, alongside the Taoiseach's clearing house. That will provide inter-agency oversight to remove any barriers to grid planning or ports. We have very ambitious targets. In one sense, we are trying to put the resources in place financially, technically and institutionally because we…
I thank the Deputy for his comments. Confidence is growing within the sector. The Lí Ban project was the only project across Europe that was awarded last year. We are ramping up our investment, from the State's perspective, to try to ensure the key enablers are in place. While many of these projects are currently in planning, we hope many will go to construction before the end of the decade. Our responsibility is to …
The Government is committed to increasing support for offshore wind infrastructure in coastal communities. This is being done in ongoing consultation with all stakeholders in the development of offshore wind energy generation. This includes our local coastal communities and our valued fishing sector, which the Department recognises as crucial to the enduring success of offshore wind energy.
The Department is committ…
I thank the Deputy for his comments. I agree on the challenge faced by many communities dealing with the prospect of planning consent for large offshore projects. In the Department, my fellow Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, is looking at the national DMAP ORE element.
The development of that, using the ecosystem-based approach, is really important. It is important that it is informative as to what impact it will h…
Again, I agree with some of the Deputy's comments. It is an important piece that we need to get right. MARA can play an important role as to how it engages with those who are being supported through the community benefit fund and those in the locality who may not sit on the committee that manages the development fund but who have a role to play as to how we look at these types of projects. That approach would be very…
In addition to our efforts to mitigate climate change, it is critically important that we plan ahead for a climate-resilient future. Over the past number of years this has become even more evident as powerful storms including Babet, Darragh, Éowyn and most recently Chandra have significantly impacted Irish people, our infrastructure and our economy.
Ireland's whole-of-government adaptation policy response to the imp…
I can give a full response in writing but I agree that nature-based solutions are increasingly central to Ireland's adaptation policy. From my own experience, I know that examples are under way such as the wetland rehabilitation in the Shannon and Moy catchments. They are creating national flooding storage zones. I know we are under time constraints but I can send the Deputy the rest of the reply.
My Department has responsibility for the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. The Act prescribes the minimum hourly rate of pay for the majority of employees in Ireland subject to a small number of exemptions. Apprentices are excluded from the Act and from the right to receive the national minimum wage. Apprentices are excluded from the National Minimum Wage Act in recognition of the unique nature of apprenticeships and t…
The Government is taking important steps with regard to supporting the apprenticeship programme. We have seen huge investment in recent years. In budget 2026, we allocated over €78 million to the apprenticeship programme. This investment is delivering significant results. We have seen annual apprenticeship registrations increase from 5,326 in 2020 to 9,352 at the end of 2024. We are very ambitious to drive that to 12…
We are all in agreement that we need to address the construction skills gap and that is very much central to the Government's strategy. We do not want to price young people or employers out of the system and that is important to reflect on. We are investing in career pathways, educational access and targeted incentives. We are very much focused on building confidence in careers within the construction sector through …
I thank the Deputy for her question. The programme for Government sets out a strong enterprise and fiscal framework that prioritises economic and employment growth, with a target of creating 300,000 extra jobs by 2030. I am pleased to report that the Irish labour market saw sustained employment growth, rising labour force participation and record job numbers last year, indicative of a resilient performance. In total,…
I disagree entirely with the suggestion that Government is not doing anything and is complacent on youth employment. We can see from the CSO's recent data that it has clearly identified a temporary demographic and seasonal effect, while there is also a surge in young people entering the labour force for the very first time. That is not a collapse in youth opportunity; it is, in one sense, supported through the creati…
I agree with some of the Deputy's suggestions in regard to continued investment in key actions under Pathways to Work. I know that needs to provide enhanced supports for young people and jobseekers. The establishment of the employment and youth engagement charter is important to bring employers and young people together to tackle the barriers in regard to getting into the workforce.
As I said earlier, we need to con…
The Government fully recognises that small and medium enterprises have faced significant cost pressures in recent years, driven by high energy prices, global supply chain disruptions and international economic developments. Despite these ongoing challenges, progress is being made to support SMEs, with the Government taking proactive steps to implement measures to reduce business costs and ease regulatory pressures. T…
Delivery and postage costs are primarily a commercial matter for An Post and that is the reality. We are in the Department of enterprise but there is a Minister of State in another Department who actually deals with An Post specifically. We will engage in open dialogue and listen further to business representative groups either through the enterprise forum or the retail forum the Minister, Deputy Burke, and I chair. …
I acknowledge the points the Deputy has raised. The Minister, Deputy Burke, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and I are listening to businesses and SMEs. We have established the cost of doing business advisory forum, which is independently chaired. It engages directly with the key SME employer representative bodies, including IBEC, Retail Excellence Ireland, ISME and Chambers Ireland. It is a really important foru…
Ireland’s economic migration policy is designed to address verified and persistent skills shortages across the economy. The system is vacancy-led and managed through the critical skills occupations list and the ineligible occupations list, which the Department reviews on a regular basis. A new review of the occupation lists is under way. This began with an open public consultation, which closed on 19 September and at…
Again, I thank the Deputy for the points he has raised. Targeted migration is essential for sectors, such as housing. It does not worsen the housing challenge that we are presented with. Through controlled and skilled-based migration into sectors such as construction, engineering and housing delivery, it directly increases our housing supply. That is reflective of the example where access to qualified tradespeople an…
We look at it through an interdepartmental group. We identify our domestic talent within certain specific areas in terms of where the skills needs are. My Department engages extensively with the Department of further and higher education, the National Skills Council and the skills and labour market research unit. We ensure that every recommendation on the occupations list is paired with where our domestic supply stra…
I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government continues to support workers throughout their careers with initiatives to improve work-life balance and flexible working arrangements, which encourages greater labour market participation including the participation of people with disabilities, resulting in greater diversity and inclusion within our workforce. The Government has a wide range of supports in place to …
I thank both Deputies for raising these important matters. I absolutely share the concerns they have raised and about how long change has taken in this area. I want to underline that we are finally moving from language to implementation. Through the reporting and monitoring implementation group chaired by the Taoiseach, he wants to see the pillar around employment progress. As I said earlier, we have an employment ga…
I thank the Deputies for raising these important matters. The most important lesson we have learned as to why there have been low rates of participation is that employers have not been engaged enough. We need to turn the dial as regards the challenges they may face and the barriers that may present themselves. We must ensure they are supported to have better disability and inclusion policies that are focused on emplo…
I acknowledge the Labour Party for bringing forward this Private Members' Bill. Remote working has shaped modern work practices and the labour market. I, for one, take the Bill seriously, as does the Government. For far too long opportunity was centred in major cities and larger urban areas. However, remote working has shifted that balance and today we see flexible and remote working transforming how people build mea…