3438. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the total spend by his Department on external legal services in each of the past three years; the main areas of legal activity for which external advice was sought; if she will provide a breakdown by case or category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40841/25]
Topics / Departmental Data
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsDepartmental Data
4,236 questions from 140 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
4,236
questions
4,233 written, 3 oral
140
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
20
departments asked
This is one of the catch-all headings the Oireachtas uses for how a department runs rather than what a question is about, so it is left out of the range and focus figures.
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 34 |
| February 2025 | 83 |
| March 2025 | 109 |
| April 2025 | 199 |
| May 2025 | 70 |
| June 2025 | 294 |
| July 2025 | 286 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 289 |
| October 2025 | 144 |
| November 2025 | 345 |
| December 2025 | 296 |
| January 2026 | 192 |
| February 2026 | 284 |
| March 2026 | 121 |
| April 2026 | 263 |
| May 2026 | 415 |
| June 2026 | 310 |
| July 2026 | 260 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 124 |
| October 2026 | 118 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
-
651
-
167
-
111
-
110
-
96
-
93
-
91
-
86
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
3440. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the amount spent on legal fees associated with litigation, advice and settlements in each of the past three years by his Department and agencies under its aegis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40886/25]
3447. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if all external legal fees incurred by his Department, and by any bodies under its aegis, are charged at negotiated discounted rates; how fees are monitored for compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41510/25]
3448. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his Department conducts regular benchmarking, or market testing, to ensure that the rates paid for legal services, solicitors and barristers, represent value for money for the taxpayer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41528/25]
3449. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to detail the procurement processes used when engaging external legal firms and barristers, including whether panels are used; how often these are refreshed; the criteria used for selection and performance review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41546/25]
3450. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his Department has conducted any audits or reviews in the past five years on legal fee spend; if so, to publish the findings or summaries of those reviews; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41564/25]
3451. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the internal oversight that exists within his Department to monitor the scope, duration, and cost escalation of legal services once engaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41582/25]
3452. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his Department makes use of capped fee arrangements, fixed-fee briefs, success-based fee models or other such arrangements in its legal engagements; if not, the reason such options are not considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41600/25]
3453. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht whether any legal engagements have exceeded their initial estimated or approved cost in the past three years; if so, the number of such cases and total overrun; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41618/25]
3479. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide a detailed breakdown of the Our Rural Future actions completed to date and detailed reasons for non-completion of actions. [43626/25]
3480. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the number of the actions in Our Rural Future explicitly address the unique needs of Gaeltacht communities, given that Irish-language sustainability was a stated priority; and the reason no dedicated funding stream exists for Gaeltacht-specific rural development under this plan. [43627/25]
3481. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the reason Our Rural Future lacks an independent review process to evaluate its impact, given that the OECD has criticised Ireland for 'monitoring gaps' in rural policy; and if he will commit to a debate in Dáil Éireann on an annual audit of the plan's outcomes. [43628/25]
185. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the cause of the breakdown of negotiations between the EU and the US which has resulted in the imposition of tariffs on the EU by the current US administration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40673/25]
212. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Transport the number of people who entered and exited the State through seaports this year to date and in each of the last five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40466/25]
220. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Transport to detail the volume of seafarers that applied and were subsequently registered annually by his Departments Mercantile Marine Office in each of the past six years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40697/25]
221. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Transport the number of ship inspections, by port, that were carried out annually by officials in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40698/25]
251. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of Israeli bonds held by any State body under the aegis of his Department; the details of any purchase or sale of Israeli bonds in the past three years, specifying the date of the purchase or sale, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40682/25]
280. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the supports his Department has provided to SMEs to reduce the impact of tariffs on their businesses; if these supports were financial or non-financial; if they were targeted to particular sectors; and if they were targeted to SMEs or to all businesses, in tabular form. [40675/25]
297. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special needs assistants working in all schools, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40234/25]
298. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the proposed opening of a new special school in Carrignavar, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40235/25]
299. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on proposed central application system for NCSE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40236/25]
300. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update as of July 2025 on the roll out, resourcing, and training required to deliver Leaving Certificate reform by September 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40237/25]
301. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth if the minister or her Department are considering changing parental leave options for teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40238/25]
302. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update as of July 2025 on her engagement with a trade union (details supplied) with regard to school secretaries and caretakers recent ballot to take industrial action; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40239/25]
303. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will be proposing an increase in allocation for funding per student in her budgetary process within her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40240/25]