No, the Deputy cannot come back. I apologise.
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
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue this evening. I am not sure if he has been to Sallins, County Kildare. I know he has had many a nice day in Kildare previously. Sallins is a growing town with a population of over 6,000 according to the most recent census. The Minister of State can imagine the news in 2024 when the community was awarded €3 million as part of the large-scale sport infrastruct…
You can see it in the response - "The Department anticipates the project will pass approval gate 1 in the coming weeks" - but it is two years since the funding was secured. I will emphasise a couple of points. From the Sallins perspective, it is Kildare County Council running this. It is not a community group that may or may not have the time. It is the local authority running this project. How can the local authorit…
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I join colleagues in welcoming Mr. French and his family and colleagues to the Gallery. We are here to honour Valerie and her family for their enduring commitment and to honour Valerie's children. This is a very rare occasion, certainly in my short spell as a TD, to see such overwhelming support across the House for legislation. I commend the M…
I thank the Minister for being here this morning, for her detailed contribution and for meeting the party in advance of this debate. I also commend Deputy Cairns and my friends and colleagues in the party for bringing forward what is, as we have said, the wording from a report commissioned by the Government. This is what we are trying to do.
In my political naivety, I thought the days when we asked women to share pe…
Did the Minister say it would not pass a vote?
I ask for clarification.
What I have learned, as a still relatively new TD, is that when legislation such as this comes before the House, the Government either amends it into an abyss or it goes to the next Stage to have what I think we can all agree is something of a meritable debate. It needs to debated further. We all have different opinions and conclusions. As part of that, we bring in the expertise and the different stakeholders and tal…
The student council from Scoil an Linbh Íosa in Prosperous is in the Public Gallery today. Those students have written this question directly. I am merely reading it out for them. It is their words. They ask:
We do enough work in school. Our teachers agree. Children, families and teachers are so busy in the evenings. We want to promote well-being and nurture our hobbies and skills as children. There is no expectatio…
Today, Social Justice Ireland has launched its national social monitor painting a very damning picture for young people in this country aged 18 to 24. Rising youth homelessness and decades of underinvestment in mental health services are just some of the issues. I ask for statements on these issues facing young people aged 18 to 24.
I thank the Deputy.
We are moving to the Labour Party.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I commend Deputy Gogarty on bringing forward this motion. The Irish State can no longer facilitate children and young people being silenced within the courts system. I have read the in camera rule report commissioned by the Minister's Department and published by UCC and Trinity College Dublin in May of last year. It is undoubtedly research of fundamental importance that cuts to the heart of our family law system, mos…
That is the Deputy’s time up.
It is time for Tusla to undergo a complete and independent review. I have heard from too many social workers in Tusla who are worried about the reforms recently undertaken. We have heard from too many judges who are frustrated at a lack of action regarding court orders and, most recently, we have heard from too many young people who have shared their harrowing experiences of involvement in State care. Does the Taoise…
I thank the Minister of State for being here this evening to take this question. I appreciate that. The Minister of State will not need me to tell him that the people of Kildare and the eastern region are sincerely sick and tired of waking up to dry taps. In Kildare, in particular, we have had such consistent outages over the past number of weeks and months in many different areas that frustration is really at boilin…
I thank the Minister of State for that response. Even in Kildare, you can see the impact of that funding. You can see the works happening from a capital perspective, whether it is roadworks or significant works that are happening to unlock that residential development within the county. The problem is we are midway through that in Kildare and I wonder whether the capacity is increasing at reservoir level. That is a c…
We now enter a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the Minister of State.
I thank the Minister of State. We are getting through time so let us keep to it. I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.
The last couple of Deputies will have 30 seconds each to make sure we get everybody in. I call Deputy Healy-Rae.
This is not a back-and-forth, Deputy.
I thank the Minister of State. We have three minutes left and three Deputies identifying. They have 30 seconds each. I call Deputy Ó Murchú.
There is no back and forth, Deputy. We are way over time. I invite the Minister of State to make his closing remarks.
I fully support the measures the Taoiseach has outlined. The target of 3% is commendable. Ultimately, we should be working towards a complete eradication of child poverty. While that is aspirational, it should be the target. This time last year, many rumours abounded about the inclusion of a second tier of child benefit as part of budget 2026. Ultimately, it did not make the cut. Can the Taoiseach can confirm what pl…