I thank our colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I have been listening to the conversation and the debate. Who is making this decision? Who is taking this scheme, a diamond in the rough of a terrible housing policy, and saying let us scrap it because it is nearly too successful?
TDs / Aidan Farrelly
Aidan Farrelly
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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
It is being scrapped.
It is being scrapped. As it stands, it absolutely is being scrapped. If what he said makes the Minister sleep at night, that is fine. He is making this scheme so restrictive now, though, that it guarantees homelessness. It guarantees it. We will see the evidence play out. How is there an evidence-based approach to say "No" regarding the tenant in situ scheme? The Government can still call it something. It can call it…
2. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if he will provide further details in respect of his plans to review spending by bodies under his remit and-or aegis. [9994/25]
First, I take the opportunity to wish the Minister well and congratulate him on his new role. I ask him to provide further details in respect of his plans to review spending by bodies under his remit or aegis.
There is a bit of a smoke and mirrors effort happening here; a bit of a damage limitation stunt. I appreciate what the Minister has inherited here is a little bit of a mess but the reality is that his Department already knows what is being spent. That is fair to say. What we have seen though, with both of the incidents the Minister cited, is an abject failure in terms of oversight in governance.
I am really intrigue…
We all know, having worked in different sectors, that extensive reporting mechanisms are in place already. If we draw down public funds, we have to report at every step of that process. We know that, for example, as regards the IT system, there are what we call decision gates at various stages of expenditure, whereby organisations have to report that back. As for my concern about the committee to which the Minister r…
Last week, the Government published its spring legislation programme. I am interested in the planned reform of the legislation relating to corporate governance in RTÉ and TG4. Governance in RTÉ has been like a terrible soap opera at times. Employment arrangements there are often unacceptable. Our national broadcaster needs to be the subject of ongoing scrutiny. Specifically on what we talked about recently with the d…
I wish the Minister well in her new brief. It has been a privilege to sit here and listen to input from Deputies from across the Chamber this evening. I do not think that will come as a surprise to any us. We have learned enough in recent years to have a good understanding of the lived experience of people with disabilities in the main. What people with disabilities do not in fact need is Members pretending here that…
I thank colleagues in Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. I will keep my contribution short.
We are having this debate in the context of a conversation about carbon emissions and climate change. We are in the midst of a necessarily modal shift. Some 60% of greenhouse has emissions relate to passenger cars. When I hear interesting figures to the effect that 250,000 tests were carried out last year, that is welcome fro…
113. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will outline her plans to reform and improve the provision of children’s disability network teams, as outlined in the programme for Government. [8145/25]
I wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their roles. Will the Minister of State outline her plans to reform and improve the provision of children's disability network teams as outlined in the programme for Government?
We received a response this week to a parliamentary question on the issue, in which the HSE cites staff vacancy as one of the major issues. That aligns with what the Minister of State says about being able to work with as many children and young people as possible in the State.
Are we confident that we are maximising workforce opportunities from the point of view of third level education and in terms of those who ar…
I appreciate the Minister of State's response. That level of detail is very welcome. I offer the full support of the Social Democrats in progressing this in whatever way we can in terms of policy. This is incredibly important. We have spoken quite often in the Chamber in recent weeks about SET and disability services. There is an intersectionality between the two. It is not just about the level of care within the CDN…
I thank the Minister for his comments. What is happening is deeply frustrating. Government policy should not rely on luck. Indeed, the people of Ireland should not have to rely on luck when it comes to housing, but it is too often the case. I believe the Minister will agree with me because we are now starting to see the unravelling of the housing policies of successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments. What has …
I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. I extend my best wishes to both the Minister and the Minister of State. I wish them the very best over this term. It is clear to see, and clear from what we have heard this evening, that they have inherited something of an emergency when it comes to special education.
I am here to advocate on behalf of parents, students, teachers, SNAs and the entire school…
It is truly mind-boggling that the Arts Council could spend nearly €7 million on an IT system and have nothing to show for it. What is worse is that the previous two Governments allowed the council to get away with it. At the outset in 2018, the full cost of the project was not included in the business case. This was a major breach of the public spending code. As the project spiralled out of control, with the budget …
I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about such an important issue. We have some opportunities to influence significant change in driver culture on Irish roads. The engineering solutions available to make roads safer will only go so far. While we need to see a significant modal shift away from car dependency to public transport, in lieu of a service that is universally efficient and reliable the reliance on car…
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this matter this evening and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, for his attendance. I appreciate it. The DART+ West project was touted as the first of the projects of the broader DART+ programmes that would be delivered. It is a much-needed rail line improvement. It is an important project for north Kildare in that it would provide a sustainable and enh…
For months, concerned residents of Kilcock and many other towns spoke about the vitality that this service would bring. It is seen as an essential part of the development of Kilcock and indeed wider north Kildare. All along, we were facing the prospect of the DART+ having its depot in Kilcock but no service in Kilcock. Now that this is off the cards, where will this depot go? It can go to the other side of Kilcock, t…
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I appreciate that. Like him, I have spent a lot of time in Maynooth over the years as a student and educator. What emphasises the need for Kilcock and south Kildare is that sometimes it is quicker to get from Dublin city to Maynooth than from Kilcock to Maynooth. That is because the public transport might let you down or is not interlinked. That really emphas…
Today we learned about the latest example of public waste - in the Arts Council - where €6.7 million of public funds went towards an IT system that will not be used. We learned about it today, but it appears from reports that the Cabinet and the Minister learned about this as early as the summer of last year. The council's annual report has not published yet. What is being done to ensure accountability and to make su…
I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Deny, deny, deny. That is how Micheál Martin described, from the Opposition benches in 2017, the Fine Gael-led Government's approach to significant issues of health concern raised by members of the Air Corps. At the time, as Leader of the Opposition, he castigated the then Minister, Simon Coveney, and Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, for their lack of response. He said:
The response of the State h…
I thank colleagues in Sinn Féin for tabling this motion this evening. First, I wish to pay my respects to the family and friends of Kacper Dudek. I also keep in mind those who have been so significantly impacted by the damage caused by this storm. I also join the sentiments of others in praising the dedication on the ground, those working in our statutory and non-statutory agencies, who have worked so tirelessly for …
I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, the very best in her role. I will focus on two aspects of the programme for Government, namely, children and young people. Government parties and some Independents have celebrated the publication of this document as though it heralds some sort of significant societal shift. However, it is impossible to see this as anything other than more of the same. When it comes to the…