Today it is 80 days since the humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza began. This regime has long since passed the threshold for what would constitute legitimate defence following the horrific and condemnable Hamas attacks on October 7. This was already genocide before the deliberate and inhumane blocking of lifesaving food, medical supplies and shelter, not to mention continued bombing, but new lows continue to be reached…
TDs / Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
476
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
165,982
words spoken in the chamber
Across 383 contributions. Plus 3 contributions from the chair, not counted
315
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
111
topics asked about
Across 17 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 476 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 383 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 13 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 21 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 30 | 25 |
| April 2025 | 27 | 21 |
| May 2025 | 27 | 30 |
| June 2025 | 18 | 19 |
| July 2025 | 48 | 11 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 29 | 9 |
| October 2025 | 6 | 24 |
| November 2025 | 17 | 37 |
| December 2025 | 5 | 17 |
| January 2026 | 31 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 20 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 37 | 15 |
| April 2026 | 29 | 25 |
| May 2026 | 16 | 19 |
| June 2026 | 46 | 12 |
| July 2026 | 5 | 15 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 23 | 17 |
| October 2026 | 28 | 16 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 129 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 Mid-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent 29 November 2024 to now
Making statements on biodiversity in Ireland is a bit like that time when Ghandi was asked about western civilisation and he retorted: "I think it would be a good idea." Biodiversity in Ireland would be a good idea if we followed through. I welcome the €2.9 million funding announcement to local authorities for biodiversity projects under the National Parks and Wildlife Service local biodiversity action fund 2025. The…
I take a slightly different approach from that of Deputy Tóibín. We have to remember what the ARP is for. It is part of our contribution to help war-torn Ukraine which has been aggressively attacked by Putin's regime. As we are not a military country - we are militarily neutral and not participating in any transfer of weaponry - we have made a contribution as part of the effort to help Ukraine. That includes taking i…
Services for people with disabilities are in disarray. There is an ongoing battle for disability services to be provided where needs have been assessed. The National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers, which represents a mixture of voluntary public services organisations and voluntary grant-aided bodies, has gone on record recently to state their ability to deliver existing services and meet the needs in their…
Like others, I raised this matter back in February. There has been very little, if any, progress since that time. What is happening is quite frustrating for TDs constituents. This is not really a local issue, although I do want to raise a local aspect in a moment. There has been no real progress since February. I mentioned at the time the need to implement the service level agreement requirement of ten weeks as is se…
Ireland is 19th on the global innovation index but we are behind similar-sized countries such as Estonia, Denmark and Finland, which is in seventh place. I asked previously what is Ireland's equivalent to Nokia. In terms of research and development, what are we doing that is Irish born and that is creating jobs on the basis of Irish initiatives rather than international companies coming here?
I welcome the Global Ci…
The Institute for Management Development’s world competitiveness yearbook 2024 ranks Ireland 38th out of 67 countries in basic infrastructure. To take water as an example, Dublin City Council wants to build 6,000 homes in Ballyboggan but this is under threat due to a lack of water and sewerage infrastructure. The greater Dublin drainage project needs to be progressed. Nationally, it is estimated that we need up to €1…
I was at a presentation by Haven Horizons yesterday in the audiovisual room, as were others. This domestic, sexual and gender-based violence prevention centre does wonderful work - without proper State funding, I might add, something that needs to be looked at. At the discussion afterwards, an issue I was mulling over came up, and that was the contribution that social media make to such violent and coercive activity,…
In early 2023, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said that parents know best when it comes to banning youngsters from social media or imposing phone restrictions. That was in response to touted legislation in the UK that was less stringent than the Australian model being touted. However, teachers, who see the impact first hand in the classrooms, will beg to differ. The Tánaiste, the original TikTok Taois, as he has been…
As the Minister said at the outset, this is just repeat legislation that is renewed every six months. As others have said, primary legislation could have been enacted some time ago but I am glad the Minister is living up to his reputation as being a hands-on Minister so far and is moving on this. It is something that most people would very much welcome but I always include the caveat that we have a toxic relationship…
In the minute I have it will be very hard to say much.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I agree with a lot of what the Social Democrats are trying to do. We do need to recognise the diversity we have and possibly take religion out of schools. It is an issue for parents to decide. Religious instruction being done outside school time makes a lot of sense. What we have in Ireland, however, is an Irish solution to an Irish problem where all the new schools -…
Some time back, the Garda vetting review group was tasked with examining the current system to see what improvements, if any, could be made, while ensuring continued appropriate and robust checks on people taking on positions of trust working with children and vulnerable persons. While I would be interested in hearing the timeframe for the report, if officials have it to hand, the main thing I want to know is whether…
I am in two minds as I contribute to this debate. On the one hand, as my colleague said, we are here to celebrate what Europe is supposed to stand for. This year is the 75th anniversary of the Schuman declaration, which laid the foundation for European integration. From the early days of the European Coal and Steel Community, there were efforts to integrate everything to the point where it went beyond the mere poolin…
We have a moral obligation to put it up to our partners to be stronger on this issue. I have not heard that coming from the Council of Ministers.
Deputy Paul Lawless, who was due to speak, gave me a few extra minutes.
Okay. We need to do better and we need to speak more loudly.
I have mentioned this on numerous occasions but I am going to mention it again. I go back to the HighScope Perry Preschool study in the US which found that for every $1 invested in quality early education in the childcare sector and in primary school there was a $7 return. In euro terms, it has the same positive impact on children's outcomes and development. It is extremely important but we do not afford it enough im…
The total Israeli blockade on humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip has now passed 60 days, in what the United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, has described as a "new unseen level" of humanitarian crisis. A recent report by Amnesty International stated that Israel was carrying out livestreamed genocide in Gaza, routinely targeting civilians and engaging in torture and enforced disappearances. We are on…
Maidin mhaith, a Aire Stáit. Is lá álainn é ag deireadh mhí Aibreáin. Ceapaim gur lá iontach é le dul ar thuras traenach. Is é sin an t-ábhar I am talking about today. It is a great day for a train journey but if one lives in the newer areas in my constituency, such as Adamstown, and if one is an IT professional who needs to go to the likes of Galway, one has to go all the way back into Heuston Station or wait a long…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a fhreagra. The reply mentions that there could be up to five minutes' delay. The whole selling point for Adamstown and Kishoge was that we have four tracks. Some of it was part of the strategic development zone scheme, as was the Phoenix Park tunnel interconnection. To put this in context, the people currently living in Adamstown and Lucan are badly served by the train ser…
Will the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach remind me how long I have? Is it one minute and 30 seconds?
That is short enough, but it is sufficient to say that I support the motion. I have been around as an elected representative for a long time and was involved with the education committee when the original Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act was enacted. As others have said, it is shocking that so many aspects of that legislation still have not been enacted. I was checking my notes as I was starti…
I am grateful for a few minutes to speak on this very technical but necessary rubber-stamping of amendments to Regulation (EU) 2015/848 to modify its Annexes A and B, following the changes in seven EU member states, as the Minister outlined. It will ensure that the regulation continues to facilitate effective civil and judicial co-operation at EU level.
The Minister mentioned that we must do this within three months…
It looks fantastic. It is a great plan with great graphics. If one reads it line by line and bit by bit, it has so much to offer but we all know it is aspirational without the investment. I give the example of water infrastructure. We need massive investment in water infrastructure to facilitate housing. The plan references offshore energy potential. We need massive investment in our ports. To work towards it or to p…