I will discuss an epidemic in this country that one in five of us experiences, which is loneliness. A report recently came out from the European Commission that said that Ireland was the loneliest country in Europe. The effects of that on young men and older men are significant and have far-reaching consequences. The former US surgeon general said that loneliness was the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Tha…
TDs / Eoin Hayes
Eoin Hayes
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
539
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
46,272
words spoken in the chamber
Across 176 contributions
420
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
163
topics asked about
Across 20 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 539 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 176 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 44 | 0 |
| May 2025 | 61 | 2 |
| June 2025 | 7 | 1 |
| July 2025 | 21 | 4 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 8 | 13 |
| October 2025 | 64 | 6 |
| November 2025 | 35 | 10 |
| December 2025 | 16 | 14 |
| January 2026 | 38 | 11 |
| February 2026 | 26 | 35 |
| March 2026 | 9 | 15 |
| April 2026 | 33 | 17 |
| May 2026 | 7 | 13 |
| June 2026 | 78 | 10 |
| July 2026 | 72 | 7 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 15 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 5 | 8 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 118 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 Bay South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to 10 January 2025
- party Independent 10 January 2025 to 10 April 2025
- party Social Democrats 10 April 2025 to now
Ten years ago this country proudly affirmed marriage equality through a referendum. The LGBTQI+ community in the United States also won equal marriage rights in that same year. I have been deeply concerned by the rising anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment there and elsewhere. One couple in my constituency were married in the United States and are particularly worried that if a state or US court invalidates their marriage they may…
My constituency of Dublin Bay South is unique in many respects. We are standing in it right now. It stretches over approximately 10 km² in this wonderfully south-easterly corner of our capital. About 125,000 people live here, about 20,000 of whom are under the age of 18, and there are in and around 12,000 families. There is a relatively high proportion of people with no religion or a religion that is not Catholicism.…
I hope the Minister of State will relay my thanks to the officials in the Department of education for the hard work they do in the prioritisation of capital investment in developments in south Dublin city, which she has just described. My view is that education is a silver bullet. Schools should be palaces. In past centuries, we built cathedrals. I propose that our schools should be the cathedrals of the 21st century…
All around the country this evening, at this very moment, there are children sitting hungry at a table in a kitchen or in a cramped hotel room of emergency accommodation. They are hungry or their parents are hungry. That is the choice for too many families. Now, as the hunger rumbles in their bellies, the heating is off and those families are cold. The tables may be bare and rickety, the curtains or bedding may be wo…
On my first day in the Dáil last year, the Taoiseach quoted the former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, saying, “You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose.” He then went on to say, “I am not sure that there was much poetry during the recent [general election] campaign”. I saw it differently. Poetry is not always uplifting. Sometimes it recounts sorrow. It is not always magnificent; sometimes it is dark and sad. Po…
I endorse everything my colleague Deputy Quaide said. My secondary school history teacher is a wonderful man named Mr. Burke. He ignited in me a passion for history and politics. In his class, I learned about the invention of much of the welfare state in Germany in the late 19th century. It is hard for a society to imagine what things were like in previous eras but one of the welfare state's greatest contributions to…
As a chemical engineer and a former climate technologist I am gravely concerned by the problem of accelerating energy costs and energy poverty facing our people. In my constituency, the most pervasive reports of energy poverty come from disadvantaged communities in the south inner city, Ringsend and Irishtown. There is also the renter in Sandymount who correctly pointed out to me that he is powerless to improve the e…
16. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [48904/25]
Last week, the Taoiseach published an op-ed in the Irish Independent declaring that the time to end child poverty is now. That sentiment is very welcome but his analysis was incomplete. Yesterday, my party leader rightly pointed out that consistent child poverty has doubled in the past two years to 8.5% when the Government's target is 3%. Earlier this month, the ESRI published a report that one in every five children…
I never said that.
I did not say that.
The Taoiseach should not put words in my mouth.
I did not say it.
I am quoting the ESRI.
The Government funds the ESRI.
The OECD brought us that information. The Department of Finance gives it to us.
I told the Taoiseach about the-----
The Taoiseach is not answering the question.
I will start by paying tribute to a good friend of mine who passed away suddenly this month a year ago, after I was elected a councillor. There is a memorial service for him this weekend. He was a member of the Social Democrats and we served on the national executive of the party together. He was born in Britain of Nigerian and Ghanaian descent and he was deeply committed to making this island of ours better. His nam…
His name was Kodzo Selormey.
I appreciate the Minister of State's commitment to this area and I do not doubt his sincerity but, like every single occupant of his office before him, he has been sent out with prepared remarks to defend the indefensible. He and this Government unfailingly refuse to reckon with the enormity of the problem in housing. The Government is tinkering around the edges of failed policies while the situation deteriorates eve…
I will raise dementia services in my constituency. Last week, I received a report that respite beds for those with Parkinson's disease and dementia in the Royal Hospital Donnybrook would be unavailable from August as funding was withdrawn by the HSE without warning in January. This has created significant distress for the families who rely on this service. The uncertainty regarding HSE funding seems completely at odd…
At a recent residents' association meeting in my constituency in Sandymount, it was reported to me that only one flood insurance provider is left providing coverage in the community. This week research from the University of Galway was reported in The Irish Times showing that storm surges during Storm Éowyn were the "highest ever recorded" and would have been twice as high had the storm landed a week earlier during a…
As this is my first time speaking in the House, I want to start by thanking the Minister of State and the many Members of the House from all parties and none who have been so welcoming to me since the start of the Dáil term. While friendships may be tested through the course of political life, I hope I can earn and keep the respect of my colleagues, as I promise respect for them and for the mandate entrusted to me by…