On prevailing side: this member voted with the winning side in 509 of 516 decisive votes (0 abstentions excluded). Read it as a government-or-opposition indicator rather than a measure of influence — the figure is near 100% for members supporting the government of the day and near 0% for those opposing it.
This is the point of the site: contributions keep the party held on the day, not the one held now.
| Party | Recorded as | Contributions | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| FF | Fianna Fáil | 19,180 | 2020-02-20 – 2026-09-30 |
Membership spells on record: FF 1989-06-15–1992-11-05 · FF 1992-11-25–1997-05-15 · FF 1997-06-06–2002-04-25 · FF 2002-05-17–2007-04-30 · FF 2007-05-24–2011-02-01 · FF 2011-02-25–2016-03-09 · FF 2016-03-10–2020-01-14 · FF 2020-02-08–2024-11-08 · FF 2024-11-29–present
-----the Liz Truss Cabinet, which caused a huge crisis in the UK. The bottom line is that we are very conscious of the pressures on people in respect of mortgage interest rate increases.
We have intervened across the board on a whole range of fronts to reduce costs, in the first instance, for people availing of public services, be it with hospital inpatient charges or the free book scheme coming in at primary level from September. Mortgage holders will also benefit from the measures we have introduced. However, we are looking at a taxation measure. In the past, the Deputy was supportive of a reorientation of taxation policy and reliefs in order to target them more.
That has been a consensual view for quite some time, but I have no doubt Sinn Féin will always develop an ad hoc policy in respect of topic of the day. We will have to deal-----
Sinn Féin will stand up for everybody.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As she said, my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, will make a statement to the Dáil later today. He has already clarified the sequence of events around this issue.
As he has pointed out, it was in September 2008 at a statutory meeting of Limerick County Council that the sale of a property in Patrickswell was approved and sold following a transparent and open sales process that was open to all and advertised in the local press, like any other land for sale. The Minister of State was not a member of the council in 2008 because he had been elected to this House in May 2007. It is important the full story is told in all of this. At the outset of this matter, the full story was no…
-----organised by platforms. I do not see The Ditch as an independent media platform at all. Paddy Cosgrave does. He is a backer. Chay Bowes was a founding member of The Ditch . Chay Bowes is quoted on Russia Today. The Russian ambassador is full of praise for Chay Bowes for his characterisation of the Russian war on Ukraine as a war organised by NATO and the EU. I am a fair person. I have been a Member of this House for a long time. The world of politics has changed. I understand what has changed. I know what is g…
I have issues with that and it is why I genuinely say that the political world has changed. As far as I can see, and I can give various quotations from those who back The Ditch , this was a political campaign.
I have given the Deputy the political context. She referred to public confidence in our political system. To me, that is the purpose of the various campaigns that have happened in recent times. They are orchestrated and organised.
I am answering the question.
I am saying that the political context has changed. This is a political organisation attacking Government and wanting to undermine confidence in it. That is what is going on here so we are entitled to respond. I am fully cognisant of what is going on here-----
-----and I see this now through a totally different prism. I see how all of this is being organised and set up by people who are very clear in their campaign-----
-----against me and my party. It can be seen in all of the comments that have been made. Paddy Cosgrave is a strong supporter and there are deep connections between the Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave and this organisation. What did he say? "...Maybe it's time to body bag...". That was a tweet. It continued: "... a few minions in media, civil service, charities, judiciary, private sector..."
We are not facilitating this; that is the answer to the Deputy.
The Deputy is slavishly following this agenda.
I accept her bona fides as a Deputy; do not get me wrong but it is only when-----
-----the thing came to a crescendo during the week that all the questions started to come in. The Deputy is part of it. She is inadvertently being dragged into it. I would respectfully suggest that there are a lot of issues around this that need interrogation.
There is nothing to cover up but the Deputy has made his decision.
Deputy Paul Murphy made his mind up a long time ago. I saw him on "Prime Time" last week and to all intents and purposes he has labelled Deputy Niall Collins as corrupt and as having committed a criminal offence.
So what questions does the Deputy want to ask? He has made up his mind. Stop now-----