-----actually dealt with how we deal with public sector pensions, especially the issues with members of the Garda and fast-accruing pensions. The way he suggested doing that was to change the valuation rate for defined pensions. That is not what the Government has done, so do not be going into the box and saying this is about gardaí and all the rest and public sector pensions. If the Government wants to deal with pub…
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
The Minister did not have to bring forward other amendments in respect of the SFT. The Government has legislated for it to increase every year. That is why people are getting this €320,000 tax cut from Fine Gael. I must have missed that promise the Minister made. Which plinth was he standing on? During which press occasion during the general election campaign did he tell people he would provide a €320,000 tax break t…
It was legislated for in the Finance Bill just before the election, during the campaigning. That was a promise the Minister did not even make, but it is one he kept. He broke all of his promises to ordinary people. I will press the amendment.
I move amendment No. 21:
In page 43, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following:
“Report on policy objectives and financial safeguards for Living Cities Initiative
30.The Minister shall, within 1 month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on policy objectives and the financial safeguards that are in place given the scale of the reform and expansion of the scheme in terms o…
I will leave it at that.
I raised this issue earlier. We have later amendments in relation to the reduced VAT rate on apartments that have been ruled out of order. This amendment from Deputy O'Callaghan deals with the tax reliefs that have been brought in by the Government for property developers.
The former Minister made the claim at the start of the debate on this Bill that this measure was designed to reduce the cost of apartments. Nothi…
No, we did not.
Do you want a shovel?
I will. I will make the point, first of all, that I am not sure whether the Tánaiste withdraws the fact that it is about affordability, or does he agree with his predecessor that it is actually about so-called viability?
Okay, but you cannot have it both ways. You cannot make it up as you are going along, in fairness. It is too big an issue.
The Tánaiste did not address the fact that these companies are making huge profits in the first instance. I challenge the Tánaiste on this because he gave the impression in his comments that I was misrepresenting the promises he made to the electorate. In his response, will he explain? Did he not make the promise to reduce tax each year to workers? Did he not make the promise to provide a roadmap on childcare within …
The Tánaiste introduced this subject.
You did.
You introduced the subject that you did not make these promises. He introduced the subject.
I just wanted to remind the Tánaiste of the commitments he made-----
-----to the public that he is breaking, and the commitment he never made to developers, at least in public, that the Government was going to stuff hundreds of millions of euro into their pockets through a reduced VAT rate.
The Tánaiste did not answer the question from Deputy Gould-----
-----in relation to whether he believes that the 17,000 or 18,000 apartments that are being built are actually viable. If so, then why has the Government decided to provide hundreds of millions of euro into the pockets of developers for valuable apartments?
I move amendment No. 26:
In page 86, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following:
“Report on taxation of bailed-out banks
50.The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the amount of tax revenue lost as a result of bailed-out banks facing no restriction on their ability to off-set corporation taxes using historic losses related to the crash a…
I intend to press this amendment. I do not dispute the history the Tánaiste outlined. The issue of capitalisation of the banks or the State having to provide additional capital, which was the excuse used at the time, does not pertain any more. The paper he referenced is a number of years old. The idea in it was about dividends to the State as a result of our shareholding and also recognising asset value. There is no …
That is the most ridiculous comment. I presume the Tánaiste was handed it in good faith but it was obviously provided by bankers or people sympathetic to them.
Let me finish.
If I may finish, it is obvious the advice was given to the Tánaiste by bankers or somebody who is sympathetic to their situation. What does it translate to? If we ask banks to pay corporation tax on their €5 billion profit, they will increase the charges on Irish people. That is what the Tánaiste is saying. It is why the Government does not want to do anything and will allow the banks not to pay tax for another decad…
I move amendment No. 28:
In page 91, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following:
“Report on legislated increase to rates of Mineral Oil Tax
53. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the legislated increase to rates of mineral oil tax, including an analysis of the distributional impact.”.
I have raised and referenced over and over agai…
Do not get me started on disability services. The Government is breaking the law every day.