Ó Cúiv most vocal in Dáil – but silence is golden for Grealish

Date Published: 23-May-2012

Deputy Éamon Ó Cúiv may have dominated column inches in the media in recent weeks but the Galway West TD has also made over twice as many contributions to Dáil debates as any other Galway TDs, according to new figures.

The new figures reveal the number of contributions made by Galway TDs in Dáil debates up until May 9 and show which TDs were the most active contributors. Although the contribution records cannot be said to reflect a TD’s overall performance, they do show that some of Galway’s TDs are much more vocal in the Dáil than their constituency counterparts.

While the figures record how many contributions individual TDs have made, they don’t necessarily show the inherent value of their input. Obviously, there is no direct correlation between the quantity of the contributions and the quality thereof, but the figures do show a marked difference in approach from the county’s different representatives.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cúiv clocked up 184 contributions, making 131% more contributions than the average TD and he made more than twice as many contributions as Deputy Colm Keaveney, the next highest contributor from Co Galway with 88 contributions.

One reason for Deputy Ó Cúiv’s high number of contributions was that his former position as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fail resulted in his involvement in Leaders’ Questions debates.

At the other end of the spectrum was Galway West TD, Deputy Noel Grealish. The independent deputy made just seven contributions over the same period, which corresponded to a somewhat underwhelming 9% of the average contributions per TD.

The Government TDs from Galway West recorded more contributions than Deputy Grealish but came nowhere close to emulating Deputy Ó Cúiv’s figure. Fine Gael’s Deputy Sean Kyne made 23 contributions to come out just ahead of party colleague Deputy Brian Walsh’s 19 contributions. Labour’s Deputy Derek Nolan made just 16 contributions in total.

Labour Deputy Colm Keaveney led the way for the Galway East constituency, making 88 contributions to leave him 10% more vocal than the average TD. He was closely followed by Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Ciaran Cannon, who made 74 contributions. The latter’s Fine Gael party colleague Deputy Paul Connaughton made 30 contributions.

Leas Cheann Chomhairle Michael Kitt made 593 contributions in his official capacity.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.