I return to this State's commitment to evacuate seriously ill children from Gaza because we all want to know what is going on. It is nearly a year since the Government promised to evacuate 30 sick children from Gaza and since then, just 12 children have been evacuated. We now hear that petty bureaucratic concerns about visas are delaying the evacuation of other children. The Taoiseach has been clear today that visas …
TDs / Aidan Farrelly
Aidan Farrelly
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,387
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
53,883
words spoken in the chamber
Across 192 contributions. Plus 135 contributions from the chair, not counted
391
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
227
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 1,387 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 192 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 32 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 140 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 124 | 10 |
| April 2025 | 85 | 13 |
| May 2025 | 53 | 11 |
| June 2025 | 114 | 5 |
| July 2025 | 50 | 6 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 81 | 12 |
| October 2025 | 11 | 4 |
| November 2025 | 60 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 57 | 10 |
| January 2026 | 65 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 82 | 28 |
| March 2026 | 60 | 3 |
| April 2026 | 107 | 8 |
| May 2026 | 108 | 7 |
| June 2026 | 54 | 11 |
| July 2026 | 42 | 9 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 26 | 9 |
| October 2026 | 36 | 5 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 96 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 Kildare North 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to now
When?
I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:
Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss a ban on pair trawling.
Deputy Catherine Ardagh - To discuss the need for all special schools to accept children at different levels on the autism spectrum.
Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss the level of preparedness for a …
The Deputy will have a chance to come back in.
I thank the Members of the Labour Party for bringing forward such an important motion. I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement, which is comprehensive, but it is unfortunate to see the Government amendment and what is contained in it. We have spent a considerable amount of time speaking about this since the TV programmes aired and the experiences highlighted. Profit can never be the guiding principle …
I will open with the words of Professor Joseph Travers, who wrote about inclusive pedagogy in Ireland in 2023. He says:
Given the exponential growth in special classes and the increase in special schools since Ireland’s ratification of the UNCRPD, a contradiction ... is apparent, which calls for a more radical appraisal of the purpose and role of these classes and schools.
He continues:
... we need to envisage a f…
I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be here this evening. I am really grateful for the opportunity to raise the very important issue of suicide prevention. I am raising it from a place of concern and from a place of care - care for anyone who is grieving the loss of a partner, a family member or a friend and care for everyone who has dedicated their professional life to contributing to better outcome…
I want to reiterate my thanks to the Minister of State for taking this tonight. I really do appreciate it and I ask that she pass on my thanks to the Minister of State for such a considered reply. I do not doubt for a second the sincerity with which the Ministers of State are approaching this at all. I hope she can hear that I am not here to critique Government policy on this issue whatever but rather to take the opp…
I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:
Deputy Erin McGreehan - To discuss the use of Louth County Hospital in Dundalk as a surgical hub for the north east.
Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the long-awaited ban on pair trawling.
Deputy Catherine Ardagh - To discuss the need for all special schoo…
We do not have written responses for the first two Topical Issues. I am sure we will have them provided as soon as possible afterwards.
Absolutely.
The Government's redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes is discriminatory and unjust. That is not my assessment; it is the view of the special advocate for survivors, who has examined the scheme.
In her report, Patricia Carey says the scheme has caused anger and distress, retraumatised some survivors and created a hierarchy of suffering. This is all down to a deliberate decision of the previous Govern…
Does this Government intend to act on the special advocate's report?
I thank Deputy O'Gorman for bringing forward this motion. It is certainly a motion that my party and I are very much looking forward to supporting. One of the starkest differences between Ireland and other European countries is our poor public transport system. Under successive Governments, one abandoned or delayed public transport plan has followed another. The Minister will agree that transport policy has generatio…
The Taoiseach has said that a key issue for him in the budget will be child poverty. I agree with the focus, but his words ring very hollow because we have heard all this before. The previous Government made reducing child poverty a priority. What has happened since? The number of children living in consistent poverty has nearly doubled to more than 100,000 in 2024. That is not a blip. Nearly 5,000 children are now h…
I thank the Minister of State for his opening remarks. What has concerned me and many others since the airing of this damning and tragic show is that when I speak to those who are working in the sector, and when we speak to families, what I consistently hear is that this is the tip of the iceberg. The fear that is out there in the sector, among the staff and families, is about what we do not know. What is left to be …
I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:
Deputy Joanna Byrne - To discuss the inclusion of a school (details supplied) in Drogheda in the pathfinder programme for retrofit upgrades.
Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss provisions for footpath and road improvement works in Cahersiveen town on the N70 R…
I thank the Deputy.
Time is up.
As a spokesperson on children for the Social Democrats I will begin by bearing in mind the 50,000 children and young people who have been killed or injured in this genocide since 2023. To quote UNICEF, "The children of Gaza need protection. They need food, water, and medicine. They need a ceasefire. But more than anything, they need immediate, collective action to stop this once and for all." A total of 1.7 million c…
What is going on in the Department of public expenditure? More aptly, should we be calling it the Department of public mis-expenditure at this stage? That is what we all want to know, because the Department is in charge of tens of billions of euro and now we learn that its own HR agency cannot do its sums right. Senior civil servants and Ministers, current and former, were overpaid huge sums of money. We are told tha…
So far this Government has said that housing will be its number one priority but it appears that its members are not even talking to each other and continue to think up housing policy on the fly. It cannot even get its story straight on today’s announcement about rent pressure zone reform. So far, we have seen thinking-out-loud policy briefing about sheds in gardens; a housing czar that no one wants, including prospe…
I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:
Deputy Ciarán Ahern - To discuss water infrastructure in Knocklyon, south Dublin.
Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss plans has for surplus lands/buildings at the former St. Finan's campus, Killarney, County Kerry.
Deputy John Brady - To discuss the developme…
After the Government was formed, the new Department of Education and Youth brought youth over from what was a very busy Department. In the main, this was met with positive feedback from youth workers on the ground. As the Taoiseach knows, youth and youth affairs have transitioned between many Departments over the years. Let us hope that its new home becomes something of a permanent move.
The Taoiseach will agree tha…
I thank the Acting Chair for sitting so late. I also thank the Minister of State for her time here this evening. County Kildare is in desperate need of the Government's attention. Despite being the fifth most populated local authority area in the State, with a population four times larger than our neighbours in Carlow, we rarely receive the appropriate national attention required.
Kildare's growth continues to outpa…