I listened to the Minister's speech. To be clear, what she and the Government are offering does not meet the core demands of the families who are still living with trauma or those who have suffered in the past, including those who have lost loved ones. In fact, it is dangerously short of what is required to fix the broken system. As for justice for those families, what justice? Along with other Opposition Deputies, I…
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
This is not a debate on the intricacies of what defines trans. I support the principles of the Bill. I am paired with Deputy James Lawless so I will not be voting today but were I voting on Second Stage, I would vote in favour of the Bill. I want to put this on the record.
It is important that no intersex infant is forced by bureaucracy or parental pressure into rigid binary assignment at birth. Equally, our laws ha…
I have raised this multiple times and am flagging it with the Taoiseach again. New figures from EirGrid show that more than 13% of available wind and solar electricity could not be used in the first nine months of this year. That is enough energy to power almost 500,000 homes. It is concerning that we are losing vast amounts of clean, renewable energy because our grid and storage capabilities are not up to pace. At a…
Like others, I value our neutrality, and insofar as it is reflected in our Constitution, we have a number of checks and balances. Article 29 commits Ireland to peace, international justice and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Following the Lisbon Treaty, it also explicitly provides that Ireland shall not adopt any decision relating to a common defence of the European Union. I am comfortable with these arrangement…
Looking at the Second Stage of this Finance (No. 2) Bill, anyone with a smidgeon of social conscience and even a basic understanding of fiscal prudence would say that we are going about things the wrong way. We are considered to be in full employment but the core strategy of this Bill, as I said in previous contributions, is to inject lots of euros into stimulating demand, when we have a choice to actually take on bo…
I presume some of that time is coming back to me?
Gabhaim buíochas. The Minister will be aware of the drug related intimidation and violence engagement, DRIVE, report that found there were over 1,000 cases of intimidation in every county between 2024 and 2025. Almost two thirds of the victims lived with family members. Drug debt was a factor in over two thirds of cases, with amounts between €100 and €20,000. As Deputy Lawless said before me, a lot of cases are not r…
Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta O’Donnell, as a bheith anseo anocht in áit an Aire atá freagrach as seo.
I thank the Minister of State. It is now past midnight but I felt compelled to put this item down for discussion, even at this late stage, because it is topical. We have just had a major vote in respect of the lands at St. Edmundsbury as part of a Government-initiated development plan review …
I thank the Minister of State. I am setting the ball rolling because if the planning regulator makes a recommendation that the lands should still be rezoned, the Minister reserves the absolute right to agree or disagree with that decision. Whether a decision is made in that regard or the lands are designated to stay as is, the Minister of State and his colleagues in Government - including Deputy Currie, who has raise…
It is unbelievable that the Government allowed the public sector pay deal to lapse in June of this year, leaving more than 400,000 public servants without a collective pay deal for the first time in roughly 15 years. There is a lot of ground to make up, as others have said, because trust has been damaged and previous commitments have not been honoured or, where they were honoured, they were delayed. No wonder people …
I ask the Ceann Comhairle to bear with me for one second because I am up slightly earlier than I thought I would be. Is Deputy Tóibín coming?
I have got longer than I thought, which is good.
I welcome the opportunity to speak a little longer on the Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill, which is a constructive piece of legislation. We need provisions relating to the gender pay gap reporting. It is always important to have transparency for policymakers, employers and workers in improving things but we obviously still have the exist…
I do not care if it is a carbon tax cut or a rebate but we have to help people who are suffering and who cannot afford the current short-term increases in fuel. However, some people come out in a rash if you mention the words "carbon tax". It is the great populist stick to hit people with. Everything is: blame the carbon tax or blame my former Green Party colleagues. The carbon tax, when it is working properly, is su…
Cuirim fáilte roimh na mic léinn, go mór mór mo dheirfiúr, Grace. Tá sé soiléir inniu nach ndearna an buiséad seo mórán do mo Dháilcheantar ná do Dháilcheantair eile.
In Dublin Mid-West, our bus services remain unreliable, with key peak-time routes frequently cancelled. Recruitment is taking too long and despite efforts to recruit drivers from South Africa, employment has been delayed because issues were not resolve…
I welcome the opportunity to speak about this budget. I want to focus on a couple of things, such as the macro elements, what type of budget this is and what it could have been. I will also look at the local element in terms of how my constituents, who are a microcosm of the national population, are likely to benefit in the medium term, if at all.
We also need to focus on vision. This budget lacks a long-term vision…
The campaign to reduce tobacco use has not succeeded in the way people had hoped. In that context, we have to look at the bigger picture and see what other measures are required. It is the same with vaping, as I and others have mentioned. We also have psychoactive synthetic chemicals out there and the question of whether there is some sort of revenue or fiscal element involved or whether they need to be banned. A con…
We know that some of the energy price rises are due to international factors beyond our control. It is a bit like a broken record at this stage. As my predecessor said, we know that because the electricity market operates on a system of marginal pricing and the most expensive form of power needed to meet demand at a given moment sets the price for 100% of the market. Right now, we know that is gas. I mentioned that o…
I also extend my sincere condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of the late Seamus Carroll and especially his wife, Treasa.
Last Sunday, a dignified protest was held across all Twenty-six Counties by women and men seeking a transparent, trauma-informed and trustworthy family court system. Those involved walked a mile in solidarity with people affected by ongoing failures in this deeply flawed system to hi…
The Taoiseach mentioned Tusla. I would be the first to say there are many great people working in Tusla who deserve commendation. Tusla needs to be resourced better and it also needs greater scrutiny, as has been mentioned by other Members of these Houses in various contexts.
I am concerned that the Taoiseach is concerned about the abolition of the in-camera rule because we have to look at best practice. A number of…
It is good to have the opportunity to talk about this. I know Senators did a couple of days ago. When the legislation comes forward, I hope we have ample debating time. I told the Tánaiste that we need a citizens' convention on citizenship, immigration and asylum issues. We need to have a proper debate, get rid of the myths and the conspiracy theories and look at facts and figures. Sometimes the facts and figures wil…
The Taoiseach will well know from his earlier stint that investment in early years education is hugely important and also has a net economic benefit. We have seen recent reports stating reading and mathematical results for Ireland have gone down. Maybe we are still higher than a lot of countries but it is no consolation that if everyone is getting dumber, we are getting less dumb. The reality is there is a whole load…
Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Is ceann an-tábhachtach atá ann. I welcome the Bill. It is important legislation that facilitates legitimate criticism of institutions and corporate interests. If it is done right, it balances the fear of legal threats and, on the other side, vexatious or potentially defamatory statements. We have heard that this Bill is a direct and necessary response to EU Directive 2024/1069, the…
It is almost like we are watching an episode of "Austin Powers". He has woken up from the sixties and then he sees the Minister - Dr. Evil - with this cunning plan. The trains are overcrowded and the buses are full when they turn up. It is a case of "Sure lads, how are we going to help with the demand situation here? I know. We're going to raise the price of public transport to discourage people from using the servic…
It is unfortunate that successive Governments, going back to the abolition of domestic rates in the seventies, have been very dependent on excise duty revenue. We do not have a very broad tax base. When pressure is felt, there is a question mark in the accounts about how, if this income is reduced, it might impact on our overall day-to-day spending budget. I am sure everyone in the Government is at least aware of how…
I welcome aspects of the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2026. The Minister of State can argue that it is absolutely required, but in another way it is just a reflection of ongoing State failure. For over 20 years, it could be argued that the State has breached its own laws under the Disability Act 2005, which has left so many thousands of vulnerable children without access to services. In this context, we could call any…