Written answers
Wednesday, 21 June 2023
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- United Nations
37. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of peacekeeping missions proposed at the UN since 2014; the number vetoed at the Security Council; the country that exercised the...
- Foreign Policy
38. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to furnish a definition of the rules-based international order referred to in the programme for an event hosted by his Department (details...
- Foreign Conflicts
39. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the officially adopted view of his Department in regard to the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999; if that view holds that it was...
- United Nations
40. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide details on the number of times the United States has exercised its veto at the UN Security Council to veto resolutions in regard...
- Foreign Policy
41. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if representatives from Austria, Cyprus or Malta were invited to address the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy; if not, to...
- Passport Services
42. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of each category of Irish passports issued to date in 2023, for example, adult renewal, child renewal and so on. [29925/23]
- Economic Sanctions
43. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has engaged with European counterparts in respect of further sanctions to be applied to Belarus ahead of the next EU Foreign Affairs...
- Passport Services
44. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport will be expedited for a person (details supplied). [29948/23]
- Departmental Budgets
46. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the funds allocated for the purpose of climate finance in the years 2020 to date; the subhead they are allocated under; if it is his...
- Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
- Fisheries Protection
47. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if there are scientific projections available to predict if fish stocks will rise sufficiently to allow draft net...
- Telecommunications Services
48. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the regulations, if any, that apply to telecommunications companies in respect of their obligations to know their...
- Public Sector Pensions
49. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when he intends to approve the pension increase due to An Post pensioners this year; his views on whether it now needs...
- Department of Defence
- United Nations
51. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the Government ever put forward plans to, or gave consideration to, allowing members of the Defence Forces to serve outside the State in...
- Maritime Jurisdiction
52. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 240 of 13 June 2023, if the Naval Service and the Air Corps keep comprehensive records of sighting and...
- Departmental Properties
54. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the estimated cost to extend the runway at Baldonnel Casement Aerodrome to be able to handle A380-type aircraft; and if consideration has been...
- Defence Forces
55. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he is currently giving consideration to Irish participation in any further common security and defence mission; and if he will make a...
- Naval Service
56. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence whether the LÉ William Butler Yeats had been issued a general order to assist vessels in peril or anyone in distress at sea during its...
- Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
- Rail Network
57. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of commuters who have used the Dublin Pearse to Maynooth train service in both directions in 2022 and to date in 2023, in...
- Cycling Facilities
58. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of funding provided for cycling facilities in Kildare in 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [29933/23]
- Bus Services
59. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress made in respect to the installation of a bus shelter at (details supplied). [29934/23]
- Road Safety
60. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there are any rules governing the use of roads by driving instruction companies to avoid unreasonable disruption or to avoid risks to...
- Coast Guard Service
61. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department or the Irish Coast Guard has or had in its possessions drone footage and audio and visual recordings footage from an...
- Waterways Issues
63. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update in relation to proposals to remove the Hebble Sand from the River Boyne; for an update on Parliamentary Question No. 38 of...
- Bus Services
64. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the projected overall increases in numerical and percentage terms in public transport use and active travel and the projected reductions...
- Public Transport
68. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport what percentage of currently rolled out Connecting Ireland and Local Link routes are operated by private and publicly owned operators,...
- Road Projects
69. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he intends to allocate funding from his Department’s €97 million surplus for road maintenance; how much of that will be...
- Department of Finance
- Revenue Commissioners
70. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated full-year cost if the number of Revenue Commissioners drugs detection teams increased to 41. [29931/23]
- Universal Social Charge
71. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will clarify a taxation query (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29979/23]
- Tax Code
72. To ask the Minister for Finance the grounds upon which an employee (details supplied) whose company availed of TWSS in 2020 and who received no increase in their net pay during the same...
- Vehicle Registration Tax
73. To ask the Minister for Finance what steps, if any, he has taken in relation to a request by a person (details supplied) dated 8 May 2023 pursuant to section 144(2) of the Finance Act 2001...
- Interest Rates
74. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline his approach to the phasing out of accommodative monetary policy and the ECB's increases in interest rates; and if he will make a statement...
- Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
- State Properties
75. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he is aware of proposals to develop lands in the vicinity of Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare; if he will...
- Flood Risk Management
76. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the OPW has any plans to address flooding at an estate (details supplied) in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
- Company Law
77. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 3 of 2 December 2021 and the completion of the investigation by the DGCCRF, the status of plans...
- Departmental Budgets
78. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the estimated cost in 2024 if the budget for the innovation voucher scheme were doubled. [29936/23]
- Trade Data
79. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to provide a list of the countries to which alumina refined at Aughinish is exported; the proportion of same to each country; and if...
- Qualifications Recognition
80. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 193 of 15 June 2023, if he will provide a timeline for preparing and issuing a bulletin with...
- Employment Rights
81. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he can detail the position in relation to the implementation of the security sector ERO, specifically, when the case will be heard...
- Department of Education and Skills
- School Accommodation
83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will move with all alacrity on the matter of a school (details supplied), given the long delays are having a major, negative...
- Special Educational Needs
84. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether a school (details supplied) has applied for and been approved-sanctioned for two special needs classes; if so, when this was done; and if...
- School Accommodation
85. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) has asked for the DES section dealing with school capital appraisals to assist it; if so, if she will provide a...
- Pupil-Teacher Ratio
90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29904/23]
- School Curriculum
91. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if art is a core subject for secondary schools, or if it is based on numbers. [29907/23]
- State Examinations
92. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider extending the time available for students with dyslexia and other conditions in the leaving certificate examinations; and if...
- Public Spending Code
93. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the expected time period for the completion of the financial robustness process for projects over €20 million; and if she will make a...
- Schools Building Projects
94. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 488 of 13 June 2023, for a breakdown, by county, of the mentioned 900 school building extensions that were...
- State Examinations
95. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the options available to an individual who has sat a leaving certificate examination for a subject that requires a certain grade for their college...
- Schools Building Projects
96. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently expedite a school works application for a school (details supplied). [30054/23]
- School Accommodation
97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reasons her Department cannot supply two prefabs for use by a school (details supplied) in time for the new school year; and if she will make...
- Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
- Departmental Reviews
99. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has received any correspondence from his Department in relation to the review being carried out on housing adaptation...
- Foreshore Issues
100. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide details of the foreshore licence granted (details supplied) regarding the foreshore activity issued by the...
- State Properties
101. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 492 of 21 March 2023, when a State property lease will issue to a sports club (details...
- Traveller Accommodation
102. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government whether it is intended to reopen the caravan loan scheme in 2023; when it is likely this scheme will open, in view of the...
- Turf Cutting
103. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when specific turf cutting compensation scheme payments will be issued (details supplied). [29974/23]
- Local Authorities
104. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the proposals, if any, there are to exempt early education services premises from local authority rates; and if he will make a...
- National Parks and Wildlife Service
105. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when the nature advisory committee will be established, as recommended in the review of the National Parks and Wildlife...
- Housing Provision
106. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the targets set out in appendix 1 of Laying the Foundations: Housing Actions Report, produced in 2016 by the then...
- Wildlife Protection
126. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will remove all the threatened birds from the open season shooting list; and, if not, the reason therefor. [30004/23]
- Housing Policy
127. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to help people who bought properties to operate as short-term lets (details supplied); and if he will make a...
- Housing Provision
128. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the targets set out in appendix 1 of Laying the Foundations: Housing Actions Report, produced in 2016 by the then...
- Approved Housing Bodies
132. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide, in tabular form, the numbers of social housing units allocated to approved housing bodies in the years 2020, 2021,...
- Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Employment Support Services
133. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration is being given alongside the Departments of Finance and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, respectively, to...
- Social Welfare Benefits
134. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 226 of 11 May 2023, the progress to date in the determination of an application for...
- Community Employment Schemes
135. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will extend a community employment scheme placement for a person (details supplied). [29911/23]
- Civil Marriages
136. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the case of a person (details supplied). [29949/23]
- Employment Support Services
137. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if, in relation to the personal progression plan, PPP, offered by Seetec, she can confirm whether signing the PPP is a...
- Social Welfare Appeals
138. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions she has taken to date following her receipt of an extensive report from a person (details supplied), sent on 22...
- Social Welfare Payments
139. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the April cost-of-living payment will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a...
- Civil Marriages
141. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the procedures in place to facilitate a registered solemniser for religious ceremonies to also solemnise civil marriages; and...
- Covid-19 Pandemic
142. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 142 of 24 May 2023, if her Department has considered replies received from other...
- Data Protection
143. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a jobseeker is obligated to share personal data with a third-party private company, such as Seetec, contracted by the...
- Employment Support Services
144. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a jobseeker can continue participating in a part-time Springboard programme, while being referred to Seetec or JobPath....
- Department of Justice and Equality
- An Garda Síochána
145. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the means, if any, An Garda Síochána has to trace the origins of fraudulent text message-based scams; if the force...
- Visa Applications
146. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for an update on atypical visa applications processing times, which is affecting the nursing sector (details supplied). [29883/23]
- Coroners Service
147. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality what her plans are for reform of the coroners system as a whole; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29912/23]
- State Pathology Service
148. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the budget allocation for the Office of the State Pathologist in 2021, 2022 and 2023, in tabular form. [29927/23]
- Bench Warrants
149. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of penal warrants issued to gardaí within the Kildare division to date in 2023. [29928/23]
- Prison Service
150. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a new recruitment campaign for psychologists for the Irish Prison Service will be launched in quarter 3 this year. [29929/23]
- An Garda Síochána
151. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of stinger courses held for gardaí within DMR in 2022 and to date in 2023; and the duration of this course....
- Citizenship Applications
152. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for an update on the application for citizenship of a person (details supplied); and if she will consider a review of this...
- Citizenship Ceremonies
153. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason an invitation to one of the citizenship ceremonies due to take place on 19 and 20 June 2023 was not issued to a...
- Deportation Orders
154. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of deportation orders granted in the State in the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; of...
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
- Agriculture Supports
155. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29884/23]
- Farm Partnerships
156. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Coillte has engaged with farmers regarding concerns raised about farm partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Agriculture Schemes
157. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration has been given to adjusting or adding aspects to the tillage incentive scheme to ensure longer-term results, such as...
- Food Industry
158. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration has been given to including arable produce within the remit of An Bord Bia; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Tillage Sector
159. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when his Department will produce a pathway strategy for reaching the target of 400,000 ha of tillage farming by 2030, as set out in...
- Agriculture Supports
160. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he would consider introducing an amnesty for owners of ash dieback plantations in order to let them clear their sites and get the...
- Departmental Correspondence
161. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address the queries raised in the correspondence provided (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the...
- Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
- Disability Services
162. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of hours, per discipline, required by the caseload in respect to children with disabilities,...
- Student Accommodation
163. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the details of all contracts between his Department and student accommodation providers; the number of refugees...
- International Protection
164. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children living in international protection accommodation services accommodation, including direct...
- Disability Services
165. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when speech and language therapy will resume for a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on...
- Department of Health
- Nursing Homes
166. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he will take in relation to fair deal rates (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29861/23]
- Health Services
168. To ask the Minister for Health why no costs are covered by the HSE for the over-eights ophthalmic scheme in CHO 8, Louth and Meath, when fees are partly covered in other CHO areas; and if he...
- Nursing Homes
173. To ask the Minister for Health if he will examine a series of matters in relation to private and voluntary nursing homes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Pharmacy Services
174. To ask the Minister for Health if he will engage in talks with community pharmacies and their representative body (details supplied) on a restoration of the dispensing fee to a flat-rate...
- Nursing Homes
175. To ask the Minister for Health the number of nursing homes closed by court order under section 59 of the Health Act 2007 since January 2020; if he will list the name, address and operator of...
- Abortion Services
177. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of protesters currently outside Limerick maternity hospital that are causing distress to people going to medical appointments, workers, local...
- Hospital Staff
180. To ask the Minister for Health the number of WTE vacant consultant posts, by speciality, currently at St. James's Hospital; and when each of these vacancies will be filled, in tabular form....
- Assisted Human Reproduction
181. To ask the Minister for Health when each of the regional infertility hubs will be opened; and the number of WTE staff, by job title, who will be working in each of the hubs, in tabular...
- Health Services Staff
182. To ask the Minister for Health the number of WTE clinical nurse specialists in behaviours of concern working in each CHO area in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [29923/23]
- Hospital Staff
183. To ask the Minister for Health the number of WTE vacant consultant posts, by speciality, currently at St. Vincent's University Hospital; and when each of these vacancies will be filled, in...
- General Practitioner Services
184. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of capacity issues in GP surgeries in the Drogheda area and that some practices are not in a position to take on new patients; his plans to...
- Healthcare Policy
185. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on the steering group on the dedicated child health workforce, as committed to in First 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter....
- Hospital Appointments Status
186. To ask the Minister for Health if he will expedite an appointment for a person (details supplied). [29947/23]
- Care Services
187. To ask the Minister for Health if he will outline the progress being made on a 2023 tender for home care services and on the development of a statutory scheme for home care, which would...
- Medical Qualifications
188. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the regulation of athletic therapists with CORU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29954/23]
- Hospital Staff
189. To ask the Minister for Health the number of whole-term equivalent tracheotomy nurses in paediatric orthopaedics in Cork University Hospital; and the number of tracheotomy nurses available...
- Ambulance Service
190. To ask the Minister for Health the average response time for an ambulance from each base in County Sligo in 2022 and for the first four months of 2023, in tabular form. [29957/23]
- Care Services
191. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons on a home support waiting list for funding and for a carer in CHO 6, in tabular form. [29958/23]
- Emergency Departments
192. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons who presented at the emergency department at Mercy University Hospital in the years 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form....
- Care Services
194. To ask the Minister for Health when day care services will resume in west Sligo and at the day care centre in Easkey; if there are plans to resume a five-day service; and if he will make a...
- Hospital Staff
195. To ask the Minister for Health the number of WTE respiratory nurses working in Galway University Hospital in the years 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [29965/23]
- Medicinal Products
199. To ask the Minister for Health if he has explored the possibility of recognising a product (details supplied) as medical treatment under the drugs payment scheme, instead of a food...
- Dental Services
200. To ask the Minister for Health how many dentists in County Mayo are available under the dental treatment services scheme; to outline the dentists in County Mayo, in tabular form; and if he...
- Abortion Services
201. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of the protests at Limerick maternity hospital, which are causing distress to people trying to access medical care; if he will take immediate...
- Public Sector Pay
203. To ask the Minister for Health to outline his meetings and those of his Department, respectively, with community pharmacists and their representatives to date in 2023. [30046/23]
- Departmental Data
204. To ask the Minister for Health if HSE statistics for 2022 on the volume of medical items dispensed under State schemes are, or will be, available to him before the said statutory deadline of...
- Abortion Services
206. To ask the Minister for Health if the Health Service Executive has established an implementation group to progress the operational recommendations made in the Report of the Independent...
- Medical Cards
208. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1755 of 18 April 2023, if he will outline any progress around preventing medical card holders being charged for blood...
- Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
210. To ask the Minister for Health when the special recognition pandemic payment will issue to a person (details supplied), as the delay is causing financial hardship; and if he will make a...
- Vaccination Programme
211. To ask the Minister for Health the absolute number of people who have already taken up the Laura Brennan HPV vaccination catch-up programme to date; and if he will make a statement on the...
- Cancer Services
213. To ask the Minister for Health when the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 Key Performance Indicators Report for 2022 will be published and made publicly available; and if he will make a...
- Hospital Appointments Status
221. To ask the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30103/23]
- General Practitioner Services
222. To ask the Minister for Health the actions his Department has taken to address the GP shortage and excessive waiting times for those looking for a GP appointment. [30182/23]
- Covid-19 Pandemic
223. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 198 of 24 May 2023, if his officials have concluded their review of options in relation to the special scheme of paid...
- Hospital Appointments Status
224. To ask the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30194/23]
- Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
225. To ask the Minister for Health if he can clarify the reasons employees of a company (details supplied) have been deemed ineligible to receive the pandemic special recognition payment; and if...
- Nursing Homes
226. To ask the Minister for Health how many private nursing homes have closed in County Kildare in the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [30216/23]
- Health Services Staff
227. To ask the Minister for Health to provide the locations of the 47 community specialist teams, 60 in total, currently operating in each CHN or CHO, in tabular form; and the locations and...
- Hospital Waiting Lists
228. To ask the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) has been informed there is a minimum waiting time of eight weeks at the Mater Hospital in Dublin to receive an urgent...
- Department of Education and Skills
- Grant Payments
229. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason parents of Irish citizens are excluded from the SUSI grant scheme on the basis of their civil status and where the State has granted...
- Student Accommodation
230. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure students are not displaced from their accommodation in purpose-built student accommodation; if he is aware of the concerns in...
