I will reiterate the point. This is the unfortunate reality. I understand that people want to make profits and all of the rest but, if you are a landlord in Donegal, you can rent to a Ukrainian family and are guaranteed the money because the State provides it. It is the equivalent of €1,200. It is different if you rent to a family whose home is affected by defective blocks. On the €15,000, that €15,000 comes off the …
TDs / Pearse Doherty
Pearse Doherty
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,436
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
224,644
words spoken in the chamber
Across 1,657 contributions
378
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
236
topics asked about
Across 20 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 1,436 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,657 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 10 | 20 |
| February 2025 | 135 | 57 |
| March 2025 | 93 | 120 |
| April 2025 | 59 | 72 |
| May 2025 | 117 | 111 |
| June 2025 | 79 | 75 |
| July 2025 | 132 | 106 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 89 | 38 |
| October 2025 | 75 | 81 |
| November 2025 | 79 | 163 |
| December 2025 | 51 | 102 |
| January 2026 | 64 | 37 |
| February 2026 | 72 | 98 |
| March 2026 | 53 | 95 |
| April 2026 | 64 | 140 |
| May 2026 | 78 | 75 |
| June 2026 | 67 | 102 |
| July 2026 | 60 | 16 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 39 | 90 |
| October 2026 | 20 | 56 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 1,142 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 Donegal 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
I move amendment No. 5:
In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:
“Report on rent tax credit
4. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the rent tax credit operating in the absence of a cap on rents, making a direct comparison between the amount of the credit and rent increases across the State for each year that the credit…
Maybe I missed it, but did the Minister explain why he broke his promise to the electorate that he would increase the renter's tax credit by €100? He was going to extend it and increase it by €100. Did I miss that part or did he just avoid explaining why he broke another promise to the electorate? I will give him an opportunity to respond to that.
The Minister did not answer.
The Minister gave me a lesson on how governments are formed, which I well know.
He did not even state whether he actually asked for it. Was it the case that Fianna Fáil got its way on not increasing the renter's tax credit - the promise that the Minister broke? Did Fianna Fáil also get its way on the promise that the Government would bring a childcare plan within 100 days? Did Fianna Fáil also get its way on the promise the Minister broke - to reduce income tax for people every year? Did Fianna …
I am.
I move amendment No. 6:
In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:
“Report on rent tax credit
4. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the changing real value of the rent tax credit in relation to rent prices and the decision not to increase the rent tax credit.”.
I move amendment No. 10:
In page 13, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:
“Report on relief on medical expenses
5.The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the inability of persons without the adequate tax liability to benefit from relief on medical expenses, making reference to the substantial burden facing individuals using home …
I thank the Minister for his response. I brought this into the Finance Bill because this is where you prompt the debate and so on. As I mentioned to his predecessor, Paschal, the intention here is for Ministers to actually start this conversation. I am not on the health committee, and there is a wider issue in terms of public expenditure.
This issue really makes sense. I do not have the data for the 344 individuals,…
That is helpful. The beauty about flat rate expenses is that they are flat rate expenses. Revenue has determined the figure and you do not have to provide the receipts, although you can be called on by Revenue to provide receipts. Actually, a question I must put down is how many times Revenue has asked for the receipts from individuals. I have never been asked so far, although they are all there.
There you go. Róisín will kill me. Many people do not claim this. I would really encourage people, particularly in terms of the cost-of-living crisis, to claim for the flat rate expenses if they are on home dialysis, if they have a child with a disability or a life-limiting condition, if they are making those journeys, if they or a family member has CAPD, or if they have health expenses or other expenses that they ha…
No, I will withdraw it based on what the Minister has said.
I move amendment No. 11:
In page 18, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
“Amendment of Principal Act
13.The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 216F:
“216G.(1) In this section—
‘qualifying residence’, means a residential premises situated in the State constructed prior to 2023 which has not been subject to a rental agreement in the three years prior to t…
Tairgim leasú Uimh. 12:
In page 28, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:
"Report on the restriction of share-based remuneration to SMEs
19.The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the impact of the PRSI exemption for share-based remuneration for large corporations on the sustainability of the social insurance fund.".
Molaim leasú …
We have raised the issue of share-based remuneration for a number of years in terms of restricting the measure to SMEs. We have since had the reports. In the finance committee, I mentioned that we have waited for four years for the Credit Review Bill to be given a statutory footing. It was announced on 6 July by Government that Cabinet had approved putting the Credit Review Bill on a statutory footing. Today, we fina…
As I mentioned, the Minister is new to the finance brief. However, he may or may not know that the only way for us to put down this amendment-----
-----is to seek a report and all of his predecessors would acknowledge that what is behind the amendment is a proposal to restrict the PRSI exemption to the Social Insurance Fund. If we put down an amendment that gave effect to that without seeking a report, it would be ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, and that is no fault to her. They are the rules of the House. That is why it is required. My issue stands.…
I welcome the Tánaiste's response to this issue. In fairness to his predecessor, Paschal Donohoe acknowledged there was an issue. It was a mistake for the Government to bring forward an amendment to the Finance Bill that included Russia, as Deputies Timmins, Nash, Cian O'Callaghan and I highlighted. As the Tánaiste said, there was unanimity on this issue and it is to be welcomed that Russia is not included.
There is…
I move amendment No. 17:
In page 33, to delete lines 30 to 32, and substitute the following:
""(II) €10,000 for each of the years of assessment 2023 to 2028 (both years inclusive)",".
These proposals apply to benefit-in-kind. There was an issue with a number of previous Finance Bills when the Government tried to do what it is doing here, which is reform the benefit-in-kind scheme.
This will ultimately lead to a t…
I understand the Government’s point that this is reverting back to the original provision in the Act. When it was tried originally, obviously, there was huge uproar at what the Government was attempting. The Minister stated that this is for environmental reasons and so on, but this applies to electric vehicles and electric, carbon-neutral vehicles as well. Will it not increase the tax liability on individuals who are…
I hear what the Minister is saying regarding tapering, but that can be translated into different language. It means that, for individuals, they will see their tax increase in 2027, 2028 and 2029. It will continue to go up because the OMV will basically increase each of those years because the offset is being reduced. It also applies to carbon-neutral cars, which means we are going to tax individuals.
I have said bef…
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 35, to delete lines 10 to 13, and substitute the following:
“ “(B) €10,000 for each of the years of assessment 2023 to 2028 (both years inclusive)”,”.
I move amendment No. 19:
In page 35, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:
“Report on costs of increasing standard fund threshold to €2,800,000
25. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the costs of increasing the standard fund threshold to €2,800,000 taking account of behavioural change, clearly outlining the cost to the Excheq…
The Minister reached for public sector workers in relation to this massive tax break. A figure of €320,000 is unheard of. When you think about it, most people in the country do not earn anywhere near that and this is a tax break worth €320,000 to a really wealthy individual. It is unbelievable. The de Buitléir report, which the Minister may have had a chance to read-----