THERE WAS AN early ripple of confusion in the Dáil this afternoon when Opposition TDs realised that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was not in the chamber for the start of Leaders’ Questions.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald noted that Martin had been due to attend the Dáil session. Instead, climate and energy minister Darragh O’Brien took the questions.

“Cá bhfuil an Taoiseach?” McDonald asked O’Brien.

“I understand the Taoiseach is back in the country, he should be here taking questions,” she added.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik also remarked on Martin’s absence when she stood to speak.

“Tá an Taoiseach as láthair, it seems. Nice to see you today, minister,” Bacik said.

Following the remarks, O’Brien defended Martin’s schedule, saying the Taoiseach had only just returned home from attending the G20 summit in South Africa over the weekend, as well as an EU-Africa summit in Angola.

EU leaders also held emergency Ukraine talks on the sidelines of the Angola summit in yesterday, with the Taoiseach among those in attendance.

“He’s on government business,” O’Brien said, greeted in return by a collective groan from opposition TDs.

“Should he not go to the G20 as head of the Irish government?”

O’Brien then took the opportunity to turn on McDonald, stating: “I know you’re just back from New York yourself — you were probably fundraising to fill the Sinn Féin bags full of cash.”

McDonald did indeed only recently return from a short visit to New York, where she had spoke to students at New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House.

Energy costs

McDonald centred her questions on home-heating costs, warning that families reliant on oil were being “hammered” as prices rise during the cold snap.

It was widely reported yesterday that the average cost of 1,000 litres of heating oil jumped by €80 in the last month, with median prices hovering just below €1,000.

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McDonald criticised what she called “a hands-off approach” by government.

O’Brien insisted supports were in place for houses impacted by the rising costs, and stressed that carbon-tax changes on home-heating oil have been postponed until 2026.

Bacik said households were stuck in a “freeze-or-squeeze dilemma” and claimed the government was failing to rein in corporate profiteering in the energy sector.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also questioned O’Brien on the government’s record on violence against women, calling for faster reforms and more refuge spaces.

O’Brien said the rollout of the new domestic-violence agency, Cuan, would accelerate improvements in services and protections.