Taoiseach, you know full well comments are through the Chair. We will move on to Deputy Bacik.
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
Deputy Hearne will have an opportunity to come back in.
We will not have a back-and-forth, Minister. If the Deputies let the Minister finish, they will have the opportunity to come back in. The Minister should direct his comments through the Chair.
It is not a back-and-forth.
Under Standing Order 35(3), I wish to amend to Thursday's business to include statements on the failed Government election promise regarding €200 per month for childcare. We were told by Deputy Simon Harris that we would see a roadmap within 100 days. The action plan produced before Christmas was really useful in some ways but completely ignored this €200 per month plan. We have announcements with no details about St…
I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on the Bill before us today. As I start, I acknowledge that we all speak on important issues like this from a place of bias. Personal experience, our values and our world views all incorporate much of what we say on these issues. I spent a great deal of time as a youth worker working in direct provision settings with children and young people. While I speak about this issue,…
The Bill has not put any children's rights safeguarding measures in place whatsoever. It does not speak about children first or rights. It speaks of detention in the same breath as talking about the best interests of the child. The Bill legislates for the detention of children.
Section 24 specifically relates to the detention of children in the screening procedure. Section 24(10) states that if a parent of a child i…
I thank the Minister for his statement in response to our motion this morning. I worked in disability services as a social care worker for many years. We have heard many voices, specifically of those with disabilities, come through this morning. I would like to share a common trend among family members of people with disabilities who often shared a consistent experience of having to navigate the mechanisms of the Sta…
Before discussing the merits of the Bill, I take this opportunity, the first since her announcement last week, to applaud the Minister and her officials for embarking on what appears to be quite an exciting venture in regard to a public model of childcare. I reiterate the opportunity they have in respect of the very effective work the joint Oireachtas committee, of which I am a member, is doing. In the very short tim…
Fintan O'Toole wrote a piece in the Irish Times this week about why Ireland is, in his opinion, governed so badly. One of the points he raised was that elected representatives of all parties and none spend so much time making representations to various services and bodies on behalf of constituents when our priority should be policy-making and developing legislation, whether nationally, regionally or locally. Water is…
The potential for Maynooth education campus is being greatly limited by a lack of investment. On site we have three phenomenal schools, Gaelscoil Ruairí, Maynooth Community College and Maynooth Post Primary School. Maynooth is one of the very few towns in Ireland where a student could attend primary, post-primary and third level education entirely as Gaeilge. According to my friend, Councillor Peter Melrose in Maynoo…
I thank the Minister of State for being here. I appreciate him and the other Ministers of State present giving of their time this evening.
The Minister of State will be well aware of the outrage that met the Minister's announcement regarding the decision to defer the delivery of DART+ South West, a project costed at €1 billion that was set to increase the capacity on rail services running from Hazelhatch and Celbrid…
I was preparing myself to get back up to criticise the Minister of State for giving me a blank reply but, in fact, what he has done is given me a very detailed reply and I thank him for it. There is a lot that I can take back with me to constituents and to my colleagues, Councillors Peter Melrose and Nuala Killeen, who have been working tirelessly on this for many years. I had not seen confirmation in writing before …
I have been keeping an eye on the statements. Many of the issues have been raised and I do not want to go over them, so I will give these two minutes over to young people's opinions on AI for the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond's, interest. The National Youth Council has been leading a programme where it has had youth juries on AI, specifically on themes such as education, the environment, jobs and misinformation.…
I have raised many Topical Issue matters and very rarely is the line Minister here for them so I thank her for that. St. Farnan's Post Primary School in Prosperous is the only post-primary school in that community. The work undertaken at this school under the stewardship of Mr. Andrew Purcell is nothing short of exemplary but the conditions in which people have to work, learn and develop are simply substandard.
The …
I thank the Minister for that comprehensive reply. I am trying to read between the lines as to what that will mean for St. Farnan's specifically where the implementation plan is concerned. We need this. The community needs this. I accept Deputies throughout the House will be saying the exact same thing to her about various projects in their community but we are ten years on with St. Farnan's and this project will hav…
I commend the work of Deputy Whitmore in preparing this legislation that has come before us today. "We're full and still they come" were the words of Limerick Animal Welfare in the media yesterday. It described 2025 as unprecedented, with a year-round surge in puppies and kittens being surrendered to it. This is in advance of what it and many other rescues will see in the swathe of animal surrenders, mostly dogs, in …
Jesus.
Cancer patients in Kildare not only have to contend with a significant commute to access treatment, but they will also likely face the double cost of paying significant car parking charges. According to the Irish Cancer Society, this puts a substantial and unnecessary strain on a person receiving cancer treatment. The programme for Government committed to exploring further ways to reduce hospital car parking charges.…
I commend my colleague, Deputy Sinéad Gibney, who has done and continues to do such extraordinary work in this area.
I am speaking to the Minister of State today through the lens of children’s and young people’s rights. Here we go again. In the past year, the latest moral fear and pan-societal concern for our young people unfolded when we all watched the series “Adolescence” and learned about the risks associated wi…
Before I speak to this Topical Issue, I wish to commend Deputy Ó Muirí on raising a really important issue in the House. I fully agree with his sentiments, having been a youth worker for so long. I will be the first to stand here and critique, but on this issue I can attest to the improvements the previous couple of Governments have made in this regard. I know the app the Minister of State mentioned has a very place …
There were 255. I raise this issue because it appears that this has become an acceptable norm in Naas General Hospital.
Year after year, the same number of patients receiving care on trolleys. The numbers may fall or rise slightly, but it has become something of a predictable crisis. In the same way that young families have to plan early for basics like crèche and school places in Kildare, I ask the Minister of Stat…
I thank the Minister of State for her considered response. It is really useful. I hope she can see I am not trying to play politics with this.
It is an issue that has maintained over years and will continue, notwithstanding the matters of merit in the Minister of State's response in terms of capital works and an increased budget. The budgets are increasing in tandem with the population increase. I do not think that will address this meaningfully.
I spoke with someone today who works in Naas General Hospital and their words are more important than mine. I w…
Hopefully the Tánaiste will agree with me in the same way he has agreed with Deputy Stanley.