You cannot do that. You cannot on one hand talk about the value of the procedures of this House but be involved in heckling those who seek to implement them. You cannot talk about respect for the office of the Ceann Comhairle but at the same time look to abuse her and the way she has performed her functions. Finally, you cannot make the case for the importance of the orderly functioning of democracy and attempt on tw…
TDs / Paschal Donohoe
Paschal Donohoe
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
80,712
words spoken in the chamber
80,238 as a minister, 474 as a TD
110
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The charts stop when they left the Dáil.
Contributions to debates 460 in all
Dec 2024Nov 2025
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 45 |
| March 2025 | 80 |
| April 2025 | 52 |
| May 2025 | 88 |
| June 2025 | 19 |
| July 2025 | 114 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 34 |
| October 2025 | 22 |
| November 2025 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 370 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Central 29 November 2024 to 21 November 2025
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to 21 November 2025
- office Minister for Finance 23 January 2025 to 18 November 2025
You cannot ride both horses together.
I noted what Deputy McDonald said earlier on, and again this is the behaviour. The same people who are only too happy to heckle and disrupt this House are the same people who stand up and make charges against this Government. Earlier on, Deputy McDonald said the Government, or indeed the Ceann Comhairle, was involved in behaviour to tear democracy apart. Really?
When you see the behaviour taking place elsewhere in the world that has that affect-----
-----how can you talk about the behaviour in the House in a way that is consistent with that? Deputy McDonald alleged the Ceann Comhairle demolished the rules of this House. Really?
How can you substantiate that? Perhaps, most chillingly-----
-----Deputy McDonald went on to say that the Ceann Comhairle's position is untenable-----
-----and the outcome of the vote does not change that.
I do not happen to agree with Deputy Murphy too often but in his brief appearance earlier he put the question that there is more to democracy than majority rule and he is, of course, correct. A vital element of all of that is respect for rules, adherence to rules and adherence to them even when you might not agree.
That is the bedrock upon which constitutional democracy in our State should function and while there are issues we will debate over time, to stand over here, to contest there is behaviour under way where the Ceann Comhairle has not been impartial-----
-----does a disservice to the traditions that have served this State well.
I thank the Deputy very much for raising this very important matter. I am very conscious that before this report was made available, many families had very deep worries about surgeries their beloved children had undergone. They were raising questions about the need for and impact of these surgeries. They will at least have questioned their trust in our health service and health professionals. As the Deputy raises thi…
The Deputy does not need to remind us of the impact this can have on families and those who have been affected by the issues now being raised. We know how important it is to maintain trust in our health services particularly for our very youngest who could be dealing with complex health needs. There is a need to ensure they trust those whose care and expertise they depend on. It is equally important in dealing with a…
I thank the Deputy for, ultimately, during this week raising a serious economic challenge that confronts this country. I note he raised it in a very political context so let me respond first on that before I deal with the substantive issue regarding the threat and difficulty our country could face and our response.
I have in front of me the alternative budget of the Social Democrats. I attempted to see what referenc…
I stood up and was willing to defend my record. I notice the Deputy was not willing to do the same in his points to me. That is very clear.
The Government laid out last week our analysis of what the impact could be on our economy.
On many occasions, both in the Dáil and elsewhere, we have outlined three priorities. Our first priority is how we engage with the United States of America and we acknowledge - as does Deputy O'Callaghan, in honesty - the difficulty of that engagement. Second, what we have made very clear is that engagement is now under way be…
I answered the Deputy's question very clearly regarding what we would do.
I welcome the Social Democrats finally recognising the value of an enterprise economy.
I hope I get this right; I think the Deputy referred to Michael and Neil in his question. I am very conscious that they are very young children who are very special to their families and communities and who need additional help in getting the start they need in life. All of us, whether in government or in opposition, are aware of those within the communities that we are lucky enough to serve who have young children w…
The opening line of the Deputy's answer was glib and does little justice to the importance of this issue. I stood up and gave the Deputy the best answer that I can-----
-----to the two questions that he put to me.
He asked me two questions.
He asked me a question in relation to prosecution and I answered that question. He asked me a question about what we are doing in relation to schools and therapists.
Again, I answered that question.
If the status of an individual school mattered enough to the Deputy, he would have let me know about that individual school before I came into this Chamber. Deputy Healy knows that I cannot be aware of the status of every school in this country.
If it mattered to him in the way he suggests it does-----