Parliamentary questions

Speech and Language Therapy

Seán Canney

233. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health his plans to deal with the fact that 75% of the available speech and language therapists in HSE community healthcare west are redeployed to either testing or contact tracing, including speech and language therapists from both primary care and social care, and the detrimental effect it is having in the delivery of services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27533/20]

Primary Medical Certificates

Seán Canney

30. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance the status of the primary medical certificates; his plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for persons to receive this assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27129/20]

Tax Code

Seán Canney

53. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he will reform inheritance tax rules for agriculture by which the relief can be extended to favourite successor relief to reflect the changing demographics and family structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26862/20]

Tax Code

Seán Canney

78. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he will remove agriculture from the commercial definition rate of 7.5% in relation to stamp duty and revise in line with the residential stamp duty charge of 1% up to €1 million and 2% thereafter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26861/20]

Primary Medical Certificates

Seán Canney

82. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance the status of the primary medical certificates; his plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for persons to receive this assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26860/20]

Help-To-Buy Scheme

Seán Canney

87. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the temporary help-to-buy scheme; his further plans to expand the scheme to include second-hand properties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26863/20]

Home Loan Scheme

Seán Canney

379. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to expand the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme to include the refurbishment costs in addition to the capital costs of the house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27130/20]

Planning Issues

Seán Canney

402. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a further extension of time for planning permissions will be considered for housing developments due to the impact of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27083/20]

Community Employment Schemes

Seán Canney

577. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if the time will be extended for community employment scheme workers to remain on their placement due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. [27079/20]

Student Support Schemes

Seán Canney

664. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if funding will be made available to mature and access students to purchase laptops in order to avail of online and blended learning during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27343/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Seán Canney

73. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht her plans to appoint a nominee from the commercial live events sector onto the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25712/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Seán Canney

142. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to immediately reinstate the full rate per week of the employment wage subsidy scheme and pandemic unemployment payment payments to those persons employed in the events and entertainment industry until they are allowed to return to work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25711/20]

Primary Care Centres

Seán Canney

179. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that primary care centres built under a public private partnership arrangement cannot be structurally altered without a formal approval by the PPP company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25710/20]

Warmer Homes Scheme

Seán Canney

146. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Climate Action and Communication Networks the steps he is taking to speed up the process of applications for the warmer homes scheme; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that homeowners in County Galway that are in receipt of fuel allowance and that applied for the scheme in October 2019 were informed in September 2020 that it will take two years before a surveyor is appointed; his plans to allocate resources to clear the backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24740/20]

School Transport

Seán Canney

392. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education if she is considering allowing families relying on the Covid-19 payment to access free school transport for the academic year 2020/2021 in view of the fact that the current payment regime is causing great difficulty for many families particularly in rural areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25235/20]

State Examinations

Seán Canney

399. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education if she will immediately put in place an appeals process for those persons whose teacher predicated grades were downgraded by her Department and which resulted in them losing out on first choice college places; if her attention has been drawn to the huge anger and disappointment felt by many students and their families in relation to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24724/20]

School Transport

Seán Canney

463. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the financial burden being placed on rural families by the cost of school transport; her plans to reduce school transport fees; her views on low income families paying €650 per year for school transport; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that many rural communities agreed to school amalgamations on receiving assurances that their children would receive free school transport to a centralised school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25231/20]

JobPath Programme

Seán Canney

506. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans for Jobpath, the administration of the scheme and the contract with the company (details supplied) which was due to finish in 2019 and was extended due to Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24757/20]

Further and Higher Education

Seán Canney

620. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the difficulties facing medical students here which is creating a situation whereby doctors that achieved their education through graduate entry programmes are defaulting on student loans due to the high education costs they face here which incentivises them to work abroad; his views on the introduction of a HSE style bursary for clinical years three and four; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25236/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Seán Canney

696. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health if his Department has carried out quantitative health risk assessments on the use of face masks; if so, if the results of those assessments are available to the public; if he has sought advice on the wearing of face coverings outside of the advice issued by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24728/20]