Each week, thousands of mothers face the worry of not knowing when court-ordered child maintenance payments are going to arrive, or if they will arrive at all. Their ex-partners can drive their flashy cars, go on loads of holidays, sometimes gamble the money away and often live extravagant lifestyles while the women are forced to take out multiple loans just to pay the mortgage, buy food and pay for fuel. This delibe…
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
I will not use all the time. This is a mixed bag because we want to protect the citizens of this State from the wrong kind of people but, equally, we want to allow those who are not happy with the State to protest in a meaningful way without being lumped in with them. I support the motion if it is taken in isolation, in the absence of the real reform that others have been calling for, but I want to be entirely clear.…
I am not the first to say it, but more than 11,000 children are on HSE dental and orthodontist waiting lists. Over 8,000 have been waiting more than a year. Half of all primary school children now finish school without ever receiving even a screening appointment. In some areas, the waiting time is four and a half years. This is not acceptable. In CHO 7, which covers Lucan, Palmerstown, Clondalkin, Saggart, Rathcoole,…
In its countermotion the Government mentions that tit is close to meeting the first carbon budget, according to EPA projections. There are several issues raised, including that any emissions that exceed this budget have to be deducted from the second budget. There is also the fact that, as others have mentioned, the five-year budget will not be anywhere near being reached. It will be exceeded in all major sectors, tr…
Like previous speakers, I do not like the short notice given for this debate but I otherwise broadly welcome the Government motion on Ireland opting in to the proposed EU directive on combating firearms trafficking under Protocol 21. It makes sense because it aligns us with newer EU-wide rules on tracing, information and data sharing and penalties. The directive is focused on tackling the illegal movement of firearms…
This month's Irish Business Against Litter survey found an increase in the number of cigarette butts around our community. Cigarette butts cause damage to the environment in a number of ways. They are microplastics. They leach into the water system. It has been estimated that one butt can contaminate 1,000 litres of water, yet throughout the country, local authorities are doing nothing in their plans to educate or to…
When I was told that I had 90 seconds to talk about tourism, my first thought was "Aw fliuch", because tá sé ag cur baistí i gconaí an t-am ar fad, so we have to make use of the fliuch or the wetness in Ireland. One of the ways to do it would be to promote Ireland as a more climate-friendly destination to people from the likes of Spain and the south of France. They could come here, get a little bit of coolness and ha…
I understand he may not be able to turn up. I will speak as long as I am able.
Like everyone here, we are appalled at the Israeli state’s absolute dismantling of the West Bank over the years, whether it is allowing settlers to de facto annex parts of it in their own right or whether it is the state policy of dividing it up so as to make the West Bank no longer viable. This has been going on for decades and it is abs…
I am just here in the nick of time. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. As others have said, it is a mishmash, and probably worse for that fact. I want to focus on the section dealing with access to counselling records in sexual offence trials. Last week, Beyond Surviving conducted a focused consultation with survivors - 52 individuals who engaged between 6 and 9 June. These are people who know th…
As I and others have said in this House, the measures were too little and too late. Nevertheless, we are extending them for another period of time. I would have preferred to have seen them extended to September because I cannot see the Strait of Hormuz crisis being sorted out by then, given the incumbent in the White House. The measures are welcome insofar as they are coming forward, but they should have been for a l…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. If Deputy Tóibín comes in, I will cede to him.
I support this motion in principle and if gets to a vote, I will vote in favour of it, in some ways, symbolically. The message has to be sent out in any forum that Ireland stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We know we will ultimately vote on the Government's amendment, which I will not support.
In the c…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on preparation for any type of future impact on our State. The one we had recently was obviously the ongoing fuel crisis related to Trump's illogical and downright dumb actions in the Strait of Hormuz and the way the United States and Israel are attacking the Iranian regime. It is an admittedly corrupt and murderous regime but that is not how you topple dictators, and we are sufferi…
Here we are again with yet another extension. Nobody in this House disputes the value of the legislation but we have been bringing this Covid-era legislation on for five years to allow outdoor dining. At this stage, we have to get to the real legislation. My understanding is it has been tied up at committee with other stuff added on. We should have stand-alone legislation and get it through quickly to give permanent …
The run-up to the Residential Tenancies Act 2026 was overshadowed, as we debated, by a massive increase in evictions. We will see if the Act delivers stronger protections going forward. In the meantime, I will highlight again a loophole that becomes more attractive now. It concerns overcrowding and refurbishment. Overcrowding complaints still fall under the Housing Act 1966 and the 2019 housing standard regulations, …
There is the issue in the legislation itself, there is the bigger picture nationally and then of course there are the more parochial local issues. I am not quite sure, but I know I have been shifted around in the speaking rota so I will deal with the local issues first in case I have to cede the time later on in the discussion and, if not, I will use it to elaborate on the bigger issues. The Government is talking abo…
People with disabilities face additional rising costs and are struggling in light of reduced supports. The Government provided one-off cost-of-disability supports in the aftermath of Covid-19. In budget 2026, all of those were removed and nothing else was put in place. At least one in four people with disabilities is at risk of poverty. That is a terrible statistic. Previously, I have referenced that the cost of livi…
I concur with my colleagues about the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza and their mistreatment of 14 Irish citizens. I would like to see the Minister do as much as she can on this.
The issue I want to raise is that in Ireland right now, a worker can give 20 or 30 years of service, pay full PRSI, pay the higher rate of tax, contribute to the economy every single day and then the moment they face a serious illness, t…
I am flagging the issue. I am not expecting overnight action but in the context of the budget, it could be a process moving on. I am a firm believer in developing an entrepreneurial and creative society and giving people the opportunity to move forward. However, we have to protect the most vulnerable, as I and others have said all the time. The old Marx quote is probably the only bit of Marxism that is still relevant…
On 29 April during the debate on my Private Members' motion, we had a very good debate on the need to reform the in camera rule in the family law system. Equally, the issue of court-appointed experts was also brought up. If someone wants to make a complaint about a social worker, for example, and they are trying to be in line with the in camera rule, they can do that by making a complaint to CORU. I am aware of a sit…
There is a lot of emotive debate over this issue. The Irish people have consistently spoken out in terms of wanting to preserve our neutrality. In terms of Ukraine, for example, we have been keen to emphasise we are militarily neutral. As my Labour Party colleagues mentioned earlier, what we do not have is the military capacity to defend ourselves in any way, shape or form, or to patrol our coastlines. I note the Gov…
First, I want to acknowledge, given the headline topic we are discussing, that NAMA played an important stabilising role at a moment of national crisis. I was there at the time and was involved in the Government that made the decisions. I saw the logic and supported its establishment at the time under the circumstances that were forced on people. However, it is also clear that NAMA's record is mixed, due to what were…
Things have got worse since I spoke about this last year. I had a few more minutes then, so I have to rush. The 2025 Article 17 habitats report has come out since last year’s debate and it shows we are sliding backwards. There have been improvements in a small number of habitats and targeted conservation work by volunteers has helped some species but overall we are neglecting our country and basically spitting in the…
As other Deputies have referred, when the RTB published data, it confirmed a huge upsurge in evictions in the first three months of this year alone. A figure of roughly 7,000 was mentioned but in Dublin, which includes my constituency, 2,500 householders were handed notice during this period.
During the debates last year and at the very start of this year, the Government's argument was that allowing landlords to res…
This coming Monday, the European Parliament will vote on a framework that will allow gene-edited foods onto Irish supermarket shelves with zero consumer labelling and no safety screening. While we have our own ban on the cultivation of traditional genetically modified organisms, GMOs, we cannot, under this legislation, ban the import and transport of EU-approved genetic material for food and animal feed. There is a r…
I welcome the chance to speak on this Bill because I can see the logic in the State being prepared for the way industry, technology, national security and environmental concerns are changing. I take on board what the Government said about this Bill giving our enterprise agencies the flexibility to operate in a globalised system that is more competitive, more AI enhanced and more security sensitive than ever before. T…