I am pleased to say that the midlands are well served by Technological University of the Shannon because it offers students from Offaly and surrounding counties high-quality university education. What I am talking about in particular today are the tertiary programmes. They offer students the opportunity to begin a course in further education before transitioning to complete their degree in higher education. We have i…
TDs / Marian Harkin
Marian Harkin
Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
44
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
57,145
words spoken in the chamber
56,760 as a minister, 385 as a TD
396
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
27
topics asked about
Across 12 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 44 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 171 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 2 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 7 | 4 |
| April 2025 | 6 | 0 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 26 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 20 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 23 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 3 | 0 |
| March 2026 | 8 | 13 |
| April 2026 | 5 | 8 |
| May 2026 | 4 | 16 |
| June 2026 | 2 | 2 |
| July 2026 | 1 | 15 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 2 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 1 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 135 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 Sligo-Leitrim 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science 25 February 2025 to now
I hear what the Deputy is saying. Tertiary education is a great pathway. It is such an opportunity for students. It is not within the CAO system, so it allows students to access tertiary education. They can start in their local ETB and, if they like, progress on to further education in third level institutions. That is available to students across the country - in Offaly just as well as anywhere else. TUS and SETU ar…
I thank Deputy Scanlon. He has made representation on this issue to me on many occasions.
To provide the background to this, in February 2025, under section 8(1) of the Technological Universities Act 2018, the Minister, Deputy Lawless, approved Atlantic Technological University’s request to acquire a 16.35 acre site near its campus, to be funded from existing reserves. However, the HEA has since confirmed that the p…
I cannot disagree with anything the Deputy has said but I reiterate that in February 2025 the Minister granted ATU Sligo permission to proceed with the acquisition of that 16.35 acre site at Ardaghowen in County Sligo. The approval did not convey or imply approval for any proposed capital investment that ATU might be considering for the lands. ATU was directed to fund the cost of the acquisition from within its exist…
I appreciate Deputy Scanlon's considered and reasonable approach to this. I am just as familiar as he is with the history, what has happened and the fact that we had student accommodation that is no longer available to students. A lot of people are extremely concerned about that. What the Deputy has said underlines the urgency to move forward with whatever mechanism we have to provide student accommodation in the sho…
No.
No.
No.
I thank Deputy Scanlon for raising this important issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Finance. The Deputy will be aware that capital gains tax, CGT, is a tax on the gain that arises on the disposal of an asset. The chargeable gain of an asset is the difference between the amount a person received for it - in other words, the sale price - the amount a person paid for it, the purchase price, and any al…
I thank the Deputy for bringing this issue to the House. The rate that capital gains tax is charged at has varied upwards and downwards. The truth is that the existence of capital gains tax can help maintain a balance between the rate of taxation of capital assets and the higher rate of income tax. It can also prevent tax planning behaviour. There are a number of targeted reliefs from capital gains tax, including pri…
I thank Deputy Buckley for raising this very important issue. I have been asked to respond on behalf of my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon.
Volunteerism has long been a defining feature of Irish industrial relations. It respects the autonomy of employers and workers, places a strong emphasis on dialogue and engagement and has served the State well over many decades. This model remains central to maint…
I go back to what I said initially, which is that our system of industrial relations is built on volunteerism, which is a model that values engagement, respect and good faith over compulsion. It has delivered stability and progress precisely because it prioritises dialogue rather than conflict. As I said, however, volunteerism only works when all parties participate responsibly.
The Labour Court plays a central and …
The Minister for Health has asked me to thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and for the opportunity to update the House on it. He has outlined it very clearly. On behalf of the Minister, I fully acknowledge that waiting lists for primary care therapies, including occupational therapy, are far too long. She recognises that people waiting years to access these services is simply unacceptable.
It is impo…
Again, on behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Deputy Ward for raising this important issue and the cases of the various people he spoke about.
The Minister fully acknowledges that the increasing waiting times for primary care therapy services is a source of real concern for service users, their families and, indeed, the Minister herself. As outlined, a national initiative is under way to address long waiting …
I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government's commitment to expanding apprenticeship opportunities is delivering strong results. My Department secured €79 million additional investment through budget 2026, bringing the total investment for apprenticeships to over €410 million, more than double the level of 2020. This investment has supported significant growth with annual registrations rising by 78% from just…
The new business and operations apprenticeship will open up new pathways, beginning with the Civil Service, as well as contributing towards the overall target of 12,500 new apprentice registrations. There are other relevant programmes, including paramedic, spatial planning and data analytics. Information on public service apprenticeship uptake is not available prior to 2022 so I do not have figures prior to that. Reg…
The point Deputy Kenny has made is very important. We have a number of programmes, especially in construction, and I will come back to the public service in a minute. One of our best programmes was a social media programme, Building Heroes, whereby 15 young men and women in the construction industry were involved in a social media campaign so that young people could see what it was like to be involved in these jobs. …
The Deputy did bring this to my attention previously. I assure him that there have been no cuts to GRETB's core funding allocation. My Department remains committed to supporting a further education and training, FET, system that enables individual success, supports economic growth and strengthens communities, underpinned by almost €1.1 billion in current funding for ETBs in 2026. In 2026, GRETB's core allocation is €…
The point I made earlier is that there is no cut to the GRETB budget. In fact, it has significantly increased this year from last year. It is also important to say that while ESOL provision has reverted to pre-2022 levels before the Ukraine war, when it was significantly expanded on a temporary basis, ESOL continues to be delivered nationally as part of core funding. It is not that we have stopped it; it is just that…
I accept the Deputy's bona fides on this, and I hear what he says. However, I cannot emphasise often enough that there are no cuts here. There is an increase of €4 million in the budget. Each ETB has to decide how they spend their individual budgets, within certain parameters, obviously. ESOL programmes are simply going back to pre-2022 levels. We have seen similar tapering off of supports across other Departments. T…
I thank Deputy O'Hara. The Minister, Deputy Foley, thanks him for raising this important issue and I will respond on her behalf. The HSE is very much aware of the importance of respite service provision for the families of children with disabilities and the impact the absence of respite service provision can have on other services being delivered.
As Deputy O'Hara said, respite is a vital support for families and se…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is a priority for the Minister, Deputy Foley, the Department and the whole Government. I agree that respite services are essential for people with disabilities and their families. The Government is committed to the continued expansion and development of respite services, as set out in the programme for Government and the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled …
Tairgim: "Go léifear an Bille don Dara hUair anois."
This is an important Bill, and I am happy to bring it to the House on behalf of the Minister. The main aim of the Bill is to implement the European Media Freedom Act, EMFA, in Irish law. EMFA is an EU regulation which puts in place new rules to protect media freedom and pluralism in the EU and strengthen the internal market for media services.
A free and independ…
The Deputy never fails.
I thank Members for their valuable and considered contributions and their constructive approach to the Bill. As a general point, I want to emphasise that the core aim of this Bill is to implement EMFA, which is a landmark part of EU legislation that is designed to protect media freedom. The European Commission proposed the European Media Freedom Act as a response to worrying trends in relation to media freedom in cer…