I thank the Minister for being here for the debate and for attending for as long as he did. I thank Deputy Hearne for bringing forward the Bill. We are proud to put it forward as a party and of all the work Deputy Hearne put into it. The first thing I want to speak to is the constitutional element of this because for me the Constitution is where law meets the population.
The Constitution should reflect the values of…
TDs / Sinéad Gibney
Sinéad Gibney
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
858
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
179,395
words spoken in the chamber
Across 528 contributions
409
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
184
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 858 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 528 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 74 | 22 |
| March 2025 | 18 | 18 |
| April 2025 | 100 | 20 |
| May 2025 | 20 | 24 |
| June 2025 | 45 | 34 |
| July 2025 | 212 | 35 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 27 | 19 |
| October 2025 | 43 | 27 |
| November 2025 | 48 | 37 |
| December 2025 | 11 | 9 |
| January 2026 | 45 | 28 |
| February 2026 | 19 | 48 |
| March 2026 | 19 | 16 |
| April 2026 | 52 | 18 |
| May 2026 | 13 | 25 |
| June 2026 | 19 | 35 |
| July 2026 | 34 | 39 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 18 | 23 |
| October 2026 | 41 | 51 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 279 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 Dublin Rathdown 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to now
It is disappointing to see again how little the Government has engaged with our reasoned, evidence-based and solidly worked motion, which Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats have put a lot of work into. Once again, it proposes to "delete all words after Dáil Éireann". It is important that people at home know that this is how the Government approaches most Private Members' motions tabled by the Opposition. It pro…
Some 100,000 public sector workers begin work to rule today. Next week, they will be joined by their colleagues in the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, ASTI, and the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO. On 14 October, we are facing a public sector strike. The Social Democrats and I stand in solidarity with all of those workers. Those commencing work to rule are nurses, hospital workers, local authori…
I welcome today's opportunity to discuss migration and citizenship because although this is an issue that dominated public discourse in 2024 when we were all engaged in the election, it has receded somewhat given the geopolitical tensions that are abounding and the energy and cost-of-living crises. I just do not think we are simply talking about it enough, particularly in light of the actions of this Government since…
I have to echo some of Deputy Boyd Barrett's sentiments, particularly around the disguising of a massive policy shift in our neutrality under the guise of industrial development legislation. In recent discussions with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, around this, I quoted the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, who spoke about the changing face of warfare. We know it is not just about building bullets that kill people now.…
The Minister of State accused us of being disingenuous and conflating issues. I would push back and say that it is the Government that is being disingenuous in putting this forward. Deputy Boyd Barrett makes a perfectly valid point. If the Government does not have an issue and this is not about military spending, then it should accept our amendments. Everything in the public eye tells us that we are seeing a shift in…
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 5, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:
“(3) No grant under this section will be made for consultancy services which relate to military or defence activities.”.
I move amendment No. 5:
In page 7, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:
“(8) No loans, investments or disposals of land shall be made by the IDA under this section to any company which engages in activities of military relevance, including defence manufacturing or providing military goods or services.
(9) Enterprise Ireland and the IDA shall not cause a company to be formed and registered under this s…
I want to speak first to some of the comments that have been made. It is so crazy to think that this legislation has nothing to do with dual-use goods, which is essentially the premise that has been put forward so far by the Minister of State. This is literally money for dual-use and it goes even further and allows Ireland to invest money in single-use. That is what the Government is doing. He also spoke about how it…
I will also keep my comments short. I will cut through what I would describe as a word salad in the Minister of State's answer. I call it for what it is, namely, deregulation. It is across Government policy but in this case, it is deregulation to open up Irish investment and Irish companies to manufacturing arms and dual-use goods. That is what the Government is doing. The Minister of State talks about the ambiguity,…
I welcome the opportunity to comment on today's Bill. I have three key points to deal with: first, fragmentation of services; then the suitability of the people making assessments; and, finally, the root causes of these issues.
First, accessing services is fragmented, difficult and plagued with delays. This Bill and this Government, instead of ensuring that children are not waiting ten years for primary care psychol…
The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have recognised that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide but the Department of justice does not seem to think it has ever happened because it is asking people to access documents when most of the buildings in Gaza have been razed to the ground and more than 70,000 people are now dead. What the Department is asking of these students who are trying to study here is the impossible when…
Student visas.
But the Government changed the goalposts this year.
The Government is moving the goalposts.
I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett and colleagues for bringing forward this motion. The Social Democrats are very proud to support it.
I want to make three key points in my comments. First, data centres are affecting our communities and we have a duty and responsibility as representatives to simply reset the scales. We have all seen research that shows the very people who contact us worried about how to heat their homes ar…
I raise the topic of online safety and the regulation of social media platforms, which is a very topical issue given the EU KIDS Act, which we have been slowly learning about over the course of this week, as well as the focus on it during Ursula von der Leyen's state of the Union address just yesterday and the online safety conference run by the Minister of State's Department last week.
I will start by talking about…
I thank the Minister of State for the response. The first issue I have with it is the focus on age. I raised today the topic of online safety, not online safety for children. I appreciate that, as legislators, we have a particular role to play in protecting people who cannot protect themselves as well as everyone else but if we only talk about blocking children and making things safe for children, we are not addressi…
I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this vital motion. This is the most important issue that will be discussed in the Dáil in the coming months, and it is crucial that we have honest conversations about it.
The Minister used the phrase "muddy the waters" throughout her speech. All of the mud that flows into the water of this debate is coming from the Government's side of the House. All of the disconnect from real…
The other part of this I really have to call out is the Minister's depiction of Europe because I have continuously called out that we are on a path toward militarisation in Europe. I have attended two events this week where representatives of the Government have said that Europe is the most important peace project in the history of the world, which I fully agree with, but it is not right now because of what is happen…
----- or drones. He said it is not all about weapons, it is about drones.
As if drone warfare has not been the scourge of the Middle East for the past number of decades.
Exactly, but that is what I am saying.
They all kill people. Regardless, it is not where we need to be. We need to be fostering an indigenous Irish business sector that is not creating weapons or anything adjacent to weapons. This is what I am trying to say. The Minister is denying the reality that this is what is happening, that there is a military industrial complex and that multiple economies in Europe are propped up entirely or partially by arms devel…
117. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Defence if her Department is satisfied with the level of support being provided by the Department to witnesses from the Women of Honour participating in the Defence Forces tribunal, with particular regard to one-to-one support provided before, during and after testifying; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54533/26]