I thank the Deputy. I absolutely agree. That is why an extra €79 million was acquired in this budget for apprenticeships, bringing the overall investment to nearly €411 million. That is clear evidence of the Government's determination to fund the apprentice system. It is more than just funding. It is also ensuring that more and more people see apprenticeships as a viable and exciting educational pathway. Much work is…
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 fully appreciate what the Deputy is saying. Accommodation is a significant issue for all third level students. We are talking about apprenticeships in particular. I just had a look at the apprenticeships that are available in Galway-Roscommon ETB. I see that it offers training in various locations. For example, Galway Technical Institute offers training as an accounting technician, auctioneering and commis chef are…
From the north east.
I thank the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and his officials for bringing forward this important and innovative legislation, which I fully support. I believe it has huge potential benefits for the further and higher education sectors. I want to thank all the Deputies for their contributions. I think we all are largely agreed that this is a positive move. Yes, there are some queries and there are some nuances around the de…
I thank the Deputies for their contributions to the debate. I am happy to take the closing statement on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary.
The Government is well aware of the additional costs faced by disabled people. I re-echo the Minister’s statement when he said he was committed within the lifetime of this Government to addressing the cost of disability in both a comprehensive and a permanent way.
Improvin…
I thank Deputy Scanlon for the opportunity to address the issue of public transport along the N17 corridor. Deputy Scanlon and I are well aware of the specific issues and I agree with him that we need to find better solutions.
I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Transport. While the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his offi…
I thank the Deputy for his comments. I agree with everything he said because I understand the local circumstances. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Transport.
The Deputy will recognise that this Government recognises that transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live and work in rural Ireland. As recently as yesterday, the enhanced 563 service between Sligo and Drumahair was launched as…
I welcome the opportunity to address the House, on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on the Deputy's request for information on the Wexford patient transport service and the difficulties his constituents have encountered in contacting Wexford General Hospital's patient transport office.
By way of general background, the Minister is informed by the HSE that the patient transport service, whi…
I hear what the Deputy is saying and I can understand the concerns of many people. All I can do is update the Deputy on patient transport services in the south-east region. As I set out a few minutes ago, Wexford General Hospital continues to make significant efforts to ensure non-emergency services are provided for qualifying patients in the south east who require transport assistance to attend their appointments. T…
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am pleased, on behalf of the Minister for agriculture, to have the opportunity to address the challenges currently being experienced by tillage farmers across the country. To be fair, coming on the back of two extremely difficult years weatherwise, thankfully, conditions for harvest 2025 were much more favourable. It allowed fieldwork to be undertaken and complet…
I reiterate that the Government wants to grow and develop the tillage sector in the years ahead. It was for this reason that the Food Vision tillage group was established in 2023, to provide a clear roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector, while improving its environmental footprint.
I heard what Deputy Ó Súilleabháin said. I am well aware of the challenges that farmers face throughout the c…
I thank Deputy Hayes for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the support provided by the Department to schools in south Dublin. I acknowledge the strong support provided by the Government, including by way of supplementary capital funding, which has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for the Department to €1.6 billion a…
The Department of Education and Youth remains firmly committed to providing continued support and resourcing for south Dublin and across the school system nationwide. The Deputy mentioned a specific case in Ringsend. I do not know the details but, if he wants to send them to me, I will make sure they are passed on to the Minister and the Department.
I agree that education is a silver bullet. Insofar as we can manage…
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am taking it on behalf of the Department of housing and the Minister, Deputy James Browne.
On 10 June 2025, the Government approved policy measures, including modifications to rent controls, to come into effect on 1 March 2026, as the Deputy has outlined. The purpose is to boost investment in the supply of homes available for rent and, at the same time, keep exi…
On the basis of the response I have here, it seems that the Government is trying to ensure a fair balance. The Government is focused on growing the supply of much-needed rental accommodation by keeping existing landlords in the market but also by attracting new landlords. I hear what the Deputy is saying, however. By doing this, we must ensure strong and balanced tenancy protections for tenants and landlords.
The re…
I am happy to welcome budget 2026. It takes meaningful steps to delivering many of the commitments contained in the programme for Government. It is important to say that a programme for Government is a five-year commitment, and we have made a reasonable start in many areas. Looking at my Department, we are providing an additional €79 million in funding for apprenticeships, bringing the total investment in apprentices…
Yes we can.
I am looking at you.
No, we are not. You are a disgrace.
I welcome the students to the Gallery and assure them that, despite what has been said, I and my Government colleagues do not live in an ivory tower. Our feet are firmly on the ground despite one of my colleagues having accused us a few minutes ago of having our heads down. In fact, I took notes on what he said so that I could respond to him. What we hear is this kind of bluster. What is being said here today is just…
I thank the Deputy. I appreciate her question, but I will make it very clear that SOLAS has not reduced funding to Tipperary ETB. In fact, Tipperary ETB has been allocated €35.5 million by SOLAS in 2025, which is an increase of €1.1 million on the 2024 allocation. There are no cuts and there is no reduction. As the Deputy knows, SOLAS allocates funding to ETBs to deliver their programmes within a certain budget. I vi…
I will say again that the Cashel LTI was fully funded by Tipperary ETB in 2024-25. I have been advised that following a comprehensive review to align services with its annual budget, Tipperary ETB made the very difficult decision not to continue funding four of its LTIs due to high costs and low learner numbers. At present, Tipperary ETB is actively exploring alternative provisions to support the learner cohort that …
I thank the Deputy. I recognise she really cares about this, as I do, but Tipperary ETB is in charge of its own decisions when it comes to what courses it will provide. It has looked at what happened last year, what the student intake was and how it can best provide for all of the students in Tipperary, who are being supported. It is important to say that Tipperary ETB has requested contact details of current and pro…
I thank the Deputy. I really appreciate the question because it is something that is very important to me.
Ensuring Ireland's apprenticeship population reflects the diversity in our society is a cornerstone in implementing the Action Plan on Apprenticeships 2021-2025. A key objective of this is improving gender balance across all apprenticeship programmes. In implementing the action plan in January 2022, the Governm…
I thank the Deputy. The main area we are looking at there is the area of hairdressing. It is the one area where that would have increased. Gender balance in craft apprenticeships has increased significantly since the launch of the action plan, with the number of female craft apprenticeships more than doubling from 260 to 533, an increase of exactly 105%. I will be honest with the Deputy. When you start from a low bas…