Parliamentary questions

Hospitals Funding

Ruth Coppinger

129. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health if demographic trends were considered when allocating resources for Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital for 2014 in view of demographic trends in similar jurisdictions that result in increased demands for in-patient treatments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47437/14]

Gender Balance

Ruth Coppinger

148. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills the measures she will implement to bring a higher representation of women in senior positions in the universities and institutes of technology. [47387/14]

Gender Balance

Ruth Coppinger

149. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the Higher Education Authority's report Gender and Academic Staff (details supplied). [47388/14]

Driver Licences

Ruth Coppinger

169. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a national driving licence service centre for the Dublin 7 and Dublin 15 areas. [47428/14]

Commemorative Events

Ruth Coppinger

89. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will report on funding for the 1916 commemorations; the percentage of her Department's budget that was devoted to this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47010/14]

Job Initiatives

Ruth Coppinger

91. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the percentage of staff at cultural organisations in receipt of Arts Council or other such State funding who are on the JobBridge scheme or any other unpaid internship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46867/14]

Easter Rising Commemorations

Ruth Coppinger

112. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the involvement the military of other European States may have in the commemorative events related to the anniversary of the 1916 Rising. [46870/14]

National Cultural Institutions

Ruth Coppinger

114. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will expand the funding for the National Archives, the National Library, the National Gallery, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46871/14]

Community Employment Schemes Eligibility

Ruth Coppinger

133. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will confirm that community employment participants who commenced prior to 16 January 2012 and have had continuous service may retain their primary social welfare payment alongside the CE personal rate allowance until they finish their time on community employment; the number of participants that will be effected by this change; and the steps that have been taken to inform those participants. [46959/14]

Community Employment Schemes Eligibility

Ruth Coppinger

134. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will report on the number of community employment participants who will have a dual payment ended after December 2014; and the savings to the Department's budget as a result of this change. [46960/14]

Social Welfare Code

Ruth Coppinger

140. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will amend social welfare regulations to address the anomaly where a married couple (details supplied) in receipt of carer's allowance and jobseeker's allowance have income earned on a once-off basis as a polling clerk deducted from their welfare payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46989/14]

Taxi Regulations

Ruth Coppinger

481. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in order to increase the supply of wheelchair accessible vehicles, WAVS, if he will intervene to extend the deadline for taxi drivers wishing to avail of the WAV grant from the National Transport Authority in order to have the ownership of their new vehicles. [46992/14]

Public Transport

Ruth Coppinger

9. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the recent fare increases by Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Luas and Irish Rail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46330/14]

Public Transport

Ruth Coppinger

30. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department has conducted an impact analysis on the use of public transport and the recent increase in fares. [46331/14]

Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Ruth Coppinger

100. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of social homes targeted to be built, in which local authority areas and the timeframe, under the Government's housing strategy. [45852/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

124. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce measures that will allow the deduction of water charges fees from council housing tenants who refuse to pay their Irish Water bills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45853/14]

Teachers' Remuneration

Ruth Coppinger

447. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will intervene to address the anomaly in the case of a secondary school teacher (details supplied) in Dublin 15 who attained a postgraduate diploma in education, qualified as a teacher and registered with the Teaching Council in 2011 but was placed on post-2012 pay scales as they had to complete some extra modules relating to their original bachelor degree. [45810/14]

School Accommodation

Ruth Coppinger

466. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for the provision of primary school places in Ashtown, Castleknock area, Dublin 15. [46197/14]

School Enrolments

Ruth Coppinger

467. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the creation of a local centralised school allocation system in Dublin 15 to deal with the anomalies between schools' waiting lists; and her plans tackle the issue. [46198/14]

Industrial Disputes

Ruth Coppinger

14. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she has met representatives of the locked out bricklayers and builders at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45362/14]

Schools Establishment

Ruth Coppinger

47. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will report on the number of secondary school places in Dublin 15; and her plans to create more places to resolve the shortage that students and their families are faced with. [45363/14]

Mortgage Lending

Ruth Coppinger

70. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on the implementation of the maximum 80% LTV for mortgage loans; the measures he will implement to assist prospective home owners that are unable to save an adequate amount in view of the rise in house prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45601/14]

Gender Balance

Ruth Coppinger

102. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the real social dynamics group and their attitudes towards women; and her views on the impact of such attitudes towards gender equality. [45582/14]

Local Authority Housing Maintenance

Ruth Coppinger

196. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of local authority-owned homes vacant at present; and if he will provide in tabular form the figures by local authority area and the reasons for the vacancy. [45586/14]

Local Authority Housing Maintenance

Ruth Coppinger

197. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will report on the work under way to make vacant local authority-owned homes available for new tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45587/14]

Pyrite Issues

Ruth Coppinger

198. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the process of pyrite remediation is expected to commence in respect of a property (details supplied) in County Dublin. [45588/14]

Enterprise Support Services Expenditure

Ruth Coppinger

101. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the proportion of his Department's budget used on financial support to businesses, including EGE grants, subsidies and any other forms of financial support, either directly or via agencies under his remit. [44355/14]

Action Plan for Jobs

Ruth Coppinger

103. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a detailed report on the Action Plan for Jobs 2014. [44356/14]

International Students

Ruth Coppinger

481. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will report on the work being done by her Department to find alternative course places for students affected by the closure of English language schools as a result of their courses no longer being approved by her Department. [43829/14]

HSE Investigations

Ruth Coppinger

131. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health the steps his Department has taken to resolve the case of a person (details supplied) who is currently out of work due to the Health Service Executive's decision to withdraw their indemnity cover. [44483/14]

Garda Operations

Ruth Coppinger

93. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount An Garda Síochána has spent to date policing protests against water meter installation; and if she will report on instances of the use of pepper spray and other excessive force against protesting residents. [43953/14]

Direct Provision System

Ruth Coppinger

96. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will report on the investigations that have taken place into conditions and the changes that will be made following protests at direct provision centres throughout the country. [43827/14]

International Agreements

Ruth Coppinger

108. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when Ireland will sign up to the Istanbul Convention on violence against women; and the measures required to adhere to this. [43828/14]

Asylum Support Services

Ruth Coppinger

115. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps that are being taken to vindicate the right to travel abroad to obtain an abortion enshrined in article 40.3.3 of the Constitution in view of news that Miss Y travelled to the UK seeking an abortion but was turned away because of her immigration status; and if she will report on changes that her Department is seeking to make in view of this case to assist the most vulnerable women, particularly migrants, with crisis pregnancies. [43830/14]

Medicinal Products Licensing

Ruth Coppinger

349. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health in order to honour Ireland's human rights obligations not to interfere with the right to obtain the highest possible standard of health, his views that the appropriate changes be made to the law to allow Mifepristone and Misoprostol to be available here for use in safe, early abortions. [43955/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

215. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to involve the Revenue Commissioners in the collection of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43566/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

216. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the discussions his Department has had on tariffs with Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43567/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

217. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will report on discussions between his Department and Irish Water on the issue of free allowances for households or individual household members. [43569/14]

Water Charges Introduction

Ruth Coppinger

218. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a detailed report in tabular form broken down by local authority areas on the number of households that have registered completed and returned the Irish Water packs with Irish Water. [43570/14]

Water Charges Introduction

Ruth Coppinger

219. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of households that have registered with Irish Water but are not eligible to pay. [43571/14]

Building Regulations Application

Ruth Coppinger

220. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a detailed report of all water conservation standards/regulation in building since his last attempt to introduce water charges and this Government's future plans on the issue. [43572/14]

Irish Water Administration

Ruth Coppinger

221. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way he reconciles the Government's narrative of Irish Water as a conservation measure and the fact that Irish Water is a for-profit organisation. [43573/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

222. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department has carried out a detailed analysis of the distributional effect of water charges. [43574/14]

Water Charges Administration

Ruth Coppinger

223. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the criteria and process used to arrive at the figure of €4.88 per 1,000 litres for the water charges, higher than most European countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43575/14]

Medicinal Products Availability

Ruth Coppinger

108. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health in order to honour Ireland's positive human rights obligation not to interfere with the right to obtain the highest possible standard of health, if he will make the appropriate changes to allow mifepristone and misoprostol to be available here, in view of their inclusion on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines. [42794/14]

Departmental Expenditure

Ruth Coppinger

157. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach the average cuts paid by his Department and the bodies under his aegis to recruitment and temporary employment agencies, that is, the proportion of the fee paid from State funding to such agencies that is received by the worker and the proportion by the agency. [42862/14]

Abortion Legislation

Ruth Coppinger

443. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number and the locations of any representations made between 26 and 30 October 2014 to the State's embassies and consulates seeking a change in Ireland's laws on the termination of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42972/14]

Departmental Expenditure

Ruth Coppinger

21. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide the details of average cuts paid by his Department and State agencies under his aegis to recruitment and temporary employment agencies, that is the proportion of the fee paid from State funding to such agencies is received by the worker and the proportion by the agency. [42066/14]

Public Sector Reform Implementation

Ruth Coppinger

23. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on comments made by an official (details supplied) from his Department on 30 October 2014 that the idea of the sector being permanent and pensionable is not written in stone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42067/14]

Departmental Expenditure

Ruth Coppinger

56. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the details of average fees paid by her Department and those under her aegis to recruitment and temporary employment agencies, that is the proportion of the fee paid from State funding to such agencies received by the worker and the proportion by the agency. [42712/14]