Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

3:00 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Lucinda Creighton — the urgent need for an investigation by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government into the practices in the Dublin City Council planning department which arrived at such an inconsistent decision on planning application 5051/07 (former Jury's and Berkeley Court site, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4), in light of last Friday's decision by An Bord Pleanála (PL29S.228512); (2) Deputy Alan Shatter — the failure of the Minister for Health and Children to make public the Hynes report, received in her Department on 30 October 2008, which investigated why the McCoy report into allegations of abuse at Brothers of Charity services in Galway took eight years to complete, from 1999 to 2007; (3) Deputies Tom Sheahan and Seán Sherlock — the proposed closure of St. Columbanus's Hospital, Killarney and of Heatherside Hospital, Cork; (4) Deputy Joe McHugh — the future of the Lough Foyle and the Lough Swilly ferry services; (5) Deputy Frank Feighan — to ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her Department will make necessary changes in the qualifying criteria for CE schemes given that there are many vacancies on CE schemes, in particular in County Roscommon, while FÁS does not have eligible candidates to fill these vacancies, despite the high rate of unemployment in the county, owing to extremely strict eligibility requirements, including being unemployed and receiving social welfare payment for 12 months; to ask the Tánaiste if she will amend the regulation whereby a person, unemployed for 11 months and offered temporary employment for, for example, two to four weeks is automatically ruled out of qualifying for a CE scheme and is forced to commence again the 12 months unemployment status; to ask the Tánaiste if she is aware there are people due to come off CE schemes in County Roscommon shortly and there are no candidates available to replace them due to the strict guidelines; and to ask the Tánaiste if, in the current climate, she will reduce the unemployment criteria and the 12-month in receipt of social welfare payment clause and ensure if persons get temporary employment during that time they are not automatically disqualified; (6) Deputy Timmy Dooley — the psychological assessment of children with suspected autism in County Clare; (7) Deputy Ciarán Lynch — to ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will lay before the House the details, including financial implications, of his plans to enable local authorities to lease estates from developers as outlined by the Minister of State in recent days and if he will lay out his programme to spend €20 million in leasing currently idle properties from developers; (8) Deputy James Bannon — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to ensure that after a wait of 12 years a full complement of appropriate services for secondary care facilities is provided under phase 2B of Longford-Westmeath Regional Hospital, Mullingar, County Westmeath, to ensure patient safety and best possible outcomes; (9) Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to instruct the HSE to respond positively to the call by general practitioners in Counties Cavan and Monaghan for a full independent risk assessment of the safety implications for patients affected by the planned closure of 56 acute medical beds in Monaghan General Hospital and of the GPs' capacity to provide a safe service in such circumstances, concerns which have led GPs in Cavan-Monaghan to withdraw from HSE planning groups; (10) Deputy Jimmy Deenihan — the arrangements that will be put in place to ensure the continued efficient transport of blood samples on a daily basis for a patient (details supplied) in County Kerry; (11) Deputy Joe Costello — the need for the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Employment to ensure the FÁS training, employment and community facilities in Jervis Street, Dublin 1 are not closed down; (12) Deputy Noel J. Coonan — that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government provide funding for a new fire station facility in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary — an application was first made by North Tipperary County Council in May 2005 — taking into account the extreme and deteriorating conditions at the establishment and consequent health and safety concerns; (13) Deputy Seymour Crawford — the urgent need to have the four hours home help at least returned to an 83 year old County Monaghan person (details supplied), who had her seven hours home help first reduced to four hours per week and has now been further reduced to two hours per week since the 28 January 2009. This lady has no family or relations to support her and depends on her home help and kind neighbours; (14) Deputy Kieran O'Donnell — that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government release the committed funding for the Limerick regeneration project to enable housing, infrastructural and other programmes to commence immediately in order to restore public trust in the project; and (15) Deputy Ulick Burke — to ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to indicate her plans for FÁS apprentices who have been made redundant by their sponsors and who cannot find an alternative placement in the current climate.

The matters raised by Deputies Tom Sheahan, Seán Sherlock, Timmy Dooley, Jimmy Deenihan and Joe McHugh have been selected for discussion.