Written answers
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
- Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- State Pensions
13. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of single persons living alone who are in receipt of the State pension (contributory) and the State pension...
- Departmental Reports
15. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the cost of disability research being undertaken by her Department; when she expects the research to be...
- Public Services Card
16. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the recent report by the Data Protection Commission into the use of the public services card. [38845/19]
- Carer's Allowance Review
17. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if increasing the financial thresholds for carer’s allowance will be investigated; if the introduction of discretionary...
- Carer's Allowance Waiting Times
18. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she plans to take to shorten the period taken to process applications for various social welfare payments such as...
- Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility
21. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to review capital assessment for entitlement to social welfare payments; and if she will make a statement on the...
- Social Welfare Benefits Payments
22. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has considered that not increasing social welfare payments is in effect reducing the payments; and if she will make a...
- Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility
24. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the work ongoing in her Department to provide additional supports for self-employed persons who may experience difficulties in...
- JobPath Programme
25. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if contracts for the provision of the JobPath programme will be renewed; and when a decision on the matter will be made. [38806/19]
- Child Maintenance Payments
27. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the work her Department is undertaking regarding a statutory maintenance agency; and if she will make a statement on the...
- State Pension (Contributory) Data
28. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the outcome of the review of pension entitlements for persons who were affected by changes in 2012 to the State pension...
- Proposed Legislation
29. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when she plans to initiate her amendment to the Payment of Wages Act 1991 to deal with the issue of tip theft. [38796/19]
- Gender Equality
30. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which she will reduce the gender pension gap; her target for eliminating the gap completely; and if she will make a...
- Social Welfare Schemes
31. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports made available to workers in the beef processing factories who have been made redundant or laid off temporarily;...
- Departmental Strategies
35. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when she plans to publish a new action plan for social inclusion; the reason it was not published in 2018 as envisaged; and if...
- Unemployment Benefits Data
36. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of childcare workers that claim unemployment benefit or assistance throughout the months of June, July and August;...
- Public Services Card
38. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the public services card will not expire on a particular date after it has been issued and reapplied for by a person. [38804/19]
- JobPath Implementation
41. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the JobPath provider Seetec is issuing notices to jobseekers detailing its policy on tackling radicalism; if...
- Community Employment Schemes Supervisors
43. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the community employment scheme (details supplied); if further discussions have taken place with unions on this...
- Public Services Card
45. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to proceed with the second generation of the public services card in view of the recent report by the Data...
- Treatment Benefit Scheme Applications
46. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if measures are being put in place to reduce long waiting times for applications to be processed. [38820/19]
- Social Insurance Data
47. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount recouped by her Department from money lost in PRSI through bogus self-employment practices being identified in the...
- Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times
48. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the applications for various social welfare payments currently taking the longest time to process; the cause or causes of such...
- Employment Rights
50. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to put the code of practice on bogus self-employment on a statutory footing; if a timeframe has been identified for...
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Ministerial Meetings
51. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a report will be provided on his meeting with the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Dublin on 17 September 2019; if he offered...
- Passport Applications Data
52. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of first-time applicants for an Irish passport from Great Britain and Northern Ireland in each of the years 2014 to 2018 and to...
- Department of Finance
- VAT Rate Reductions
53. To ask the Minister for Finance if VAT can be reduced on bicycles to 13.5% or 9%; the estimated associated cost with such a change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38919/19]
- Financial Services Regulation
54. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 63 of 6 September 2019, the process by which an unauthorised financial services provider can be fined by a court...
- Tax Code
55. To ask the Minister for Finance if a matter raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) in County Cork regarding the tax treatment of unmarried couples will be addressed; and if...
- Tax Reliefs Availability
56. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on removing the restriction in which tax relief is only available for physiotherapy sessions on the basis of a general practitioner referral; and if...
- Tax Code
57. To ask the Minister for Finance the treatment of off-road voluntary ambulances for the purposes of VRT, VAT and annual motor tax; the way in which the treatment differs from regular voluntary...
- Mortgage Arrears Rate
58. To ask the Minister for Finance if an analysis will be provided of mortgage holders in arrears by age groups (details supplied). [39063/19]
- Tax Reliefs Data
60. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide statistical information (details supplied) in respect of each of the years 2010 to 2018 and from 1 January 2019 to date. [39065/19]
- Tax Data
64. To ask the Minister for Finance if an analysis will be provided of the known losses carried forward for corporation tax purposes at 31 December in each of the years 2015 to 2018,...
- Revenue Commissioners Audits
68. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated increase in the number of high net worth individuals dealt with by the Revenue Commissioners' large cases division if the threshold for inclusion...
- Departmental Reports
72. To ask the Minister for Finance when a report by an organisation (details supplied) into public banking will be available in view of the fact a commitment was given that it would be ready for...
- Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
- Urban Regeneration and Development Fund
73. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the overall allocation of €550 million to the urban regeneration and development fund up to the end of 2022 is ring-fenced...
- State Properties
74. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 204 of 6 September 2019, if there are currently negotiations under way between the OPW and Cork...
- Department of Education and Skills
- Special Educational Needs Service Provision
77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the case of a child (details supplied) will be examined; and if the child will be awarded the support of a special needs assistant. [38931/19]
- SOLAS Training and Education Programmes Certification
78. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if queries from a person (details supplied) regarding a SOLAS training certificate will receive a response; if assistance can be provided to them;...
- Schools Building Projects Status
79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 443 of 6 September 2019, the nature of the tender process he plans to take; the number of steps in the...
- School Accommodation
80. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount spent to date on the provision of temporary accommodation, including site rental costs, for a school (details supplied) in County Cork;...
- Home Tuition Scheme Administration
81. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to delays to the granting of home tuition hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38969/19]
- School Management
82. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when he will respond to a person (details supplied) regarding the responsibility for student safety of the board of management of a school; and if...
- Schools Building Projects Status
84. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new school building project for a school (details supplied); if the acquisition of a new site for the school has...
- Schools Site Acquisitions
87. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new site for a school (details supplied) as announced in November 2015; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Schools Facilities
88. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a school (details supplied) will have access to a proper exercise and recreation area. [39000/19]
- Schools Site Acquisitions
89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the temporary site in Belmayne that a school (details supplied) has been allocated and is waiting on; and if he will make a...
- Special Educational Needs Service Provision
90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a child (details supplied) will receive the necessary education supports and special school place required; and if he will make a statement on...
- Department of Justice and Equality
- Visa Agreements
91. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to allow Pakistani nationals to visit here on a UK visit visa and vice versa; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Garda Deployment
92. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the locations in which the newly qualified gardaí have been assigned since September 2014; and if he will make a statement...
- Work Permits Eligibility
93. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if steps can be taken to review the terms of the atypical working scheme in order to facilitate more qualified doctors to...
- National Drugs Strategy Implementation
94. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the work of the working group on alternative sanctions for drugs; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Closed-Circuit Television Systems Expenditure
95. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications to date for funding under the community-based CCTV scheme; the number of applications that have been...
- Direct Provision System
96. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 128 of 18 September 2019, the number of groups (details supplied) that have been...
- Immigration Status
97. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when a person (details supplied) will receive a reply to an application for stamp 4S made in December 2018; and if he will make...
- Garda Equipment
98. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when handheld devices will be rolled out to the roads policing unit nationally; if the 2,000 devices will be operable by the end...
- Garda Resources
99. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he has received requests from the Garda Commissioner for additional personnel and resources for the traffic policing units of...
- Private Security Authority
100. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when a PSA licence will be granted to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38981/19]
- Crime Data
101. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the typical offences recorded statistically as offences against Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Brexit Issues
102. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will clarify his reply to Parliamentary Question Nos. 272 and 273 of 17 September 2019 (details supplied). [39002/19]
- Direct Provision System
103. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the upgrade works at the Clondalkin Towers direct provision centre, which despite being required to commence...
- Garda Transport Data
104. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 268 of 17 September 2019, the number of Garda vehicles available in working order and...
- Gambling Sector
105. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding gaming lotteries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39038/19]
- Naturalisation Applications
106. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the work regarding naturalisation applications (details supplied) following a High Court ruling; the impact the...
- Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
- Consumer Protection
107. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a recent survey by an association (details supplied) found that, of a sample of toys...
- International Conventions
109. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when Ireland will ratify the International Labour Organisation Convention and Recommendation; and if she will make a statement on the...
- Department of Health
- Home Care Packages Provision
110. To ask the Minister for Health the plans he has made to address the shortage of home care hours and the postcode lottery involved in home care; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Hospital Appointments Status
111. To ask the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment in the dentistry department of Tallaght Hospital. [38923/19]
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
112. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 550 of 11 June 2019, the basis on which it was concluded that the aspect of complaint in respect of the impact of certain...
- Services for People with Disabilities
114. To ask the Minister for Health if the case of a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if funding will be made available for them. [38941/19]
- General Practitioner Services Provision
115. To ask the Minister for Health if a stakeholder forum will be convened on the crisis affecting the provision of rural general practitioner services; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme Applications
116. To ask the Minister for Health the status of an application under the fair deal scheme by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38966/19]
- Primary Care Centres Staff
117. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 363 of 18 June 2019, when a position (details supplied) will be filled in the primary care centre in Roscommon town; and...
- Nursing Home Subventions
118. To ask the Minister for Health if an application for nursing home subvention by a person (details supplied) will be expedited. [38968/19]
- Nursing Homes Support Scheme
119. To ask the Minister for Health if long-term care will be provided at a facility for a person (details supplied). [38971/19]
- Hospital Appointments Status
120. To ask the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38977/19]
- HSE Staff Recruitment
121. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 416 of 21 May 2019, the status of the recruitment of a key worker for teenagers with physical sensory disabilities in...
- Cross-Border Health Services Provision
123. To ask the Minister for Health if treatment required by a person (details supplied) is covered under the cross-border scheme. [39003/19]
- Disability Support Services
124. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address concerns raised in correspondence from an organisation (details supplied) in Dublin 11 regarding the need to introduce special procedures...
- Health Services Funding
125. To ask the Minister for Health if he will examine the provision of long-term sustainable funding for community health projects, including a foundation (details supplied) in County Donegal,...
- Hospital Appointments Status
126. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will receive a date for admission to Beaumont Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39024/19]
- Hospital Staff Recruitment
127. To ask the Minister for Health the number of staff positions by department submitted to the HSE and its national recruitment service by Letterkenny University Hospital from 1 May 2019 to...
- Patient Deaths
128. To ask the Minister for Health if he will establish an independent review into the clinical care provided to a person (details supplied) in Letterkenny University Hospital in October and...
- Disability Services Funding
129. To ask the Minister for Health the reason funding has been cut for a facility (details supplied). [39028/19]
- HSE Expenditure
131. To ask the Minister for Health the amount spent by the HSE on taxis to date in 2019, in tabular form. [39030/19]
- Hospitals Expenditure
132. To ask the Minister for Health the amount spent on private ambulances by each hospital to date in 2019, in tabular form. [39031/19]
- Disability Services Funding
133. To ask the Minister for Health if funding will be allocated to a centre (details supplied) to allow it open from the current 40 to 52 weeks per year; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Health Services Data
134. To ask the Minister for Health when a dialysis unit (details supplied) last underwent a quality assurance check by the HSE; the term of the contract for the service with the HSE; the cost of...
- Hospitals Data
135. To ask the Minister for Health the number of tubal ligations carried out on public patients in each of the years 2016 to 2018, in tabular form. [39049/19]
- Vaccination Programme
138. To ask the Minister for Health when he plans to introduce proposals for the introduction of a vaccine damage compensation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39052/19]
- Ambulance Service Data
139. To ask the Minister for Health the number of voluntary off-road ambulances nationally; the number of call-outs these ambulances have undertaken in each of the past three years and to date in...
- Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
- Energy Policy
140. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his policy regarding the upcoming EU meeting to ratify the fourth list of projects of common interests; his plans to...
- Telecommunications Infrastructure
141. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his policy with regard to the roll-out of 5G nationwide; his views on whether 5G technologies will pose no harm to the...
- Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
- Tourism Promotion
142. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to enhance tourism experiences in County Meath. [38921/19]
- Road Improvement Schemes
143. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if funding is available for the upgrading of rural roads along the Wild Atlantic Way for the benefit of developing tourism in the area...
- Cycling Facilities Funding
144. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the percentage of the current and capital budget of his Department spent on cycling in each of the past five years; and if he will make a...
- National Transport Authority Remit
145. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has considered extending the mandate of the NTA to include the provision of cycle routes and infrastructure; and if he will make a...
- Cycling Facilities Provision
146. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost of completing and upgrading the EuroVelo network in Ireland EV1 and EV2 and adding a new section from Rosslare to Larne; and if...
- Cycle to Work Scheme
147. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce invectives for the purchase of e-bikes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38917/19]
- Urban Regeneration and Development Fund
148. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the engagement he has had with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform,...
- Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Invalidity Pension Applications
150. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an invalidity pension application by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the...
- Disability Allowance Applications
151. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an application by a person (details supplied) for a disability allowance will be expedited. [38976/19]
- Carer's Allowance Eligibility
152. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has considered reforming the means test for carer’s allowance (details supplied); and if she will make a...
- Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times
154. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she can take to speed up the processing of various applications made to her Department; and if she will make a...
- Social Welfare Benefits Data
155. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons that have made applications for means tested or non-means tested payments in each of the past three...
- Pensions Data
156. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applicants for the widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension in the past five years; and if she...
- State Pensions Data
157. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applications for the State pension (contributory) received in the past three years to date; the number refused...
- Domiciliary Care Allowance Data
159. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress to date in the determining of eligibility for domiciliary care allowance; the number of cases refused; the...
- Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals
160. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of appeals recorded since the beginning of 2019 in respect of DCA; and if she will make a statement on the matter....
- Social Welfare Appeals Data
161. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of appeals made against by deciding officers pending in respect of various social welfare payments. [39019/19]
- Departmental Staff Redeployment
162. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if extra staff will be transferred to her Department to facilitate dealing with backlogs in dealing with various...
- International Agreements
163. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the extent to which Ireland has a bilateral arrangement with other EU and non-EU countries for the payment of social welfare;...
- Carer's Allowance Applications
164. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a carer's allowance will be expedited for a person (details supplied). [39036/19]
- Social Welfare Benefits Applications
165. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding an application for a widow's pension (contributory) by a person (details supplied); when same will be...
- Disability Allowance Applications
167. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she will take to ensure that an application for the addition of a qualified adult dependant is included in the...
- Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
- Urban Regeneration and Development Fund
168. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on whether it is a realistic expectation that the bid by Waterford City and County Council via the urban...
- Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation
169. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the pyrite scheme for County Mayo. [38937/19]
- Urban Regeneration and Development Fund
171. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the projects applied for under the urban regeneration and development fund by the 28 September 2018 deadline; and the bids...
- Planning Issues
174. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a regulation and commencement order was signed, as raised in correspondence from a person (details supplied); and if he...
- Local Authority Housing
175. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if consideration will be given to facilitating dialogue between local authorities in Dublin regarding the possibility of an...
- Housing Assistance Payment Eligibility
177. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if all means from employment are assessed when calculating a HAP payment for a person in receipt of a disability allowance and...
- Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
- National Monuments
178. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of works to enhance the Hill of Tara complex. [38920/19]
