I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien.
The Deputy will appreciate, and already knows, the supply of public water and provision of wastewater services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at nationa…
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 thank Deputy Donnelly. Again, without knowing any of the specifics, I agree with the Deputy and hopefully we are dealing with the final steps and that, as he said, it would be sealed up and concreted over. I agree nobody should have to live with that.
I will again refer to what is contained in the response I have here. I think I can say with sincerity that Uisce Éireann would like to assure customers that it is co…
-----in order that the Deputy will not have to raise this matter again and that nobody will have to respond to it again.
The updated national development plan has secured record levels of investment of €12.2 billion for the water sector, of which €11.7 billion will be invested by Uisce Éireann to support the delivery of key strategic projects in our cities and regions in order to deliver the additional water service…
I agree with the Deputy about Jim Hargis and the excellent work he is doing at St. Andrew's Resource Centre. I have been there twice. If anybody wants to see how to help to get young men and women into different sectors through traineeships and apprenticeships in a supportive and inclusive way, they need to look at what is happening there. It is an excellent example. I commend the Deputy on mentioning it.
The questi…
Again, I agree with the Deputy. We are making real efforts to try to ensure that apprenticeships are seen as plan A, not plan B or C. They are not something students get involved in if something else does not work out. They are real, meaningful pathways and opportunities to employment. The Department is very actively involved in a number of programmes to highlight and showcase the attractiveness of apprenticeships. F…
The Deputy and I are both in agreement. We recognise the need to increase the number of apprentices. Sometimes, we have to change people's minds before we do anything else. Certainly, a lot the programmes the Department is progressing are attempting to do that. I mentioned the Facts, Faces, Futures and Building Heroes programmes. We also have the Build Back Home programme, which is an international programme aimed at…
I am here.
Not true.
I acknowledge the Deputies who tabled the motion and the genuine debate we have had here this evening. The Government recognises the real depth of concern surrounding the proposed EU Mercosur agreement. In particular, those concerns relate to Irish agriculture and our rural economy as well as the importance of ensuring sustainable adequate environmental protections. For these reasons, and in acknowledgement of the ve…
That is not true.
Gabhaim buíochas le Deputy Ó Snodaigh for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position in regard to Gaelscoil Lir in Dublin 24. I speak on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. My Irish is not as good as Deputy Ó Snodaigh's, so while I could understand most of what he said to me, I will not be able to respond to him in the same way, so it will have to in English.
First, we will look at th…
I hear what the Deputy is saying. There are specific issues in the school. He can correct me if I am wrong, but I understand many students come from a local IPAS centre. It has challenges that perhaps not every school faces, although a lot of schools around the country, including many in my constituency, face similar challenges. That is one of the reasons the capitation grant increased so significantly this year. It …
I thank Deputy Currie for raising this issue. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary.
The Deputy mentioned the town centre first policy. As she said, it is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres and provide an integrated policy approach to the development of Irish towns. The town centre first p…
I will go back for a minute to the town and village renewal scheme. I know Deputy Currie is talking about certain towns or villages being too big and others being too small. I say again that funding has been allocated under the town and village scheme to Fingal County Council to support projects in the county. I mentioned Rush but I can also mention Skerries, St. Margaret's and Donabate. This funding includes funding…
Yes, I know, but I can only quote what is in front of me and what is possible. It may not be her area but the idea here, and she is the best judge of this, is that this is possible in similar areas, and it is what might be done. I heard what she has said and I fully understand her frustration. While there is really good intent in all of these projects, a really good push behind them and successes, perhaps in some ins…
I thank everyone in the House for the opportunity to have this debate and their contributions. Many of them were quite insightful and thoughtful.
As a former science and maths teacher, I am pleased to see so many people across the country participating in Science Week because it is about making science fun, accessible, interesting and real. I agree with Deputies Eoin Hayes and Paul Gogarty that distrust in science i…
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this important matter again tonight. This might be the third time he has raised this issue. I can see he is determined to highlight it. The issue is important.
I am taking this on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy James Lawless. The Government is firmly committed to ensuring that our healthcare system is supported by a steady and sustainable pipeline of highly skilled grad…
I thank the Deputy. I hear what he is saying. The document I have here tells me the Department of Health stated the Dental Council has reported a steady increase in the number of registered dentists since 2016 from 2,949 to 3,971 today. As of 2022, there were 2,420 practising dentists in Ireland, marking a 3.9% increase from the previous year. The number of registered dentists per 100,000 population has risen from 61…
The Government remains firmly committed to apprenticeships and has significantly expanded the opportunities for learners in recent years. We fully recognise the vital role that apprentices play in equipping Ireland’s workforce with the skills needed to meet national priorities. That includes infrastructure delivery. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, and I have prioritised this area and in budget 2026 we secured an additi…
As the Deputy said, this funding will increase the numbers of apprentices already here. We see that phase 2 training capacity has increased from 5,600 in 2023 to over 7,000 in 2025 across the country.
He also mentioned the fact that more instructors are being put in place. Over 80 instructors were converted from fixed term to permanent, and that supports retention, which is the question the Deputy asks: how we will …
The Government's objective is that by 2030 we will have 12,500 apprenticeships in the system. We are already well on track to achieving that, with, I think, about 9,300 last year. The Deputy said we are relying on migrant workers. Certainly, they play an important role in the sector. We are pleased to see that the sector is working but we also have a responsibility to grow the number of apprenticeships. There is our …
I thank the Deputy. My Department has secured a gross allocation of almost €5 billion in budget 2026. That will support the delivery of inclusive high-quality learning opportunities across the entire tertiary education system. In 2026, we secured an additional investment of €79 million for apprenticeship delivery, as well as €2.5 million to permanently reduce student fees for apprenticeships. This is not a once-off. …
To specifically answer the Deputy's question around capital, the allocation for the tertiary sector in 2026 is €810 million. Last year, the allocation was €677 million, so we can see that represents an increase of €133 million, which is quite significant. That will help to deliver research capacity and a pipeline of transformative projects, which will support a thriving, inclusive - that is a really important word - …
I will deal with two issues the Deputy raised, one of which is funding to community education, Youthreach and CTCs. I did say there is no specific additional funding in 2026. SOLAS has advised that the investment in community education increased by 55% from 2018 to 2024, from nearly €11 million to over €70 million now. Therefore, we can see that the funding is increasing. We also introduced the reach fund in 2020. Th…
I hear the Deputy's question because this is an issue that has come to my attention, especially in more rural counties. Apprenticeships are national programmes. As much as possible, SOLAS schedules craft apprentices to an available training location near to the home of the apprentice. If a placement is not available near an apprentice's home, SOLAS will endeavour to schedule him or her to attend the nearest available…