Parliamentary questions

Hospital Services

Dessie Ellis

62. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that lamp treatment facilities for psoriasis patients are not in use in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, because of non-deployment of staff; if he will address this as a matter of urgency with the Health Service Executive and the hospital in order that this treatment can be made available to the patients who need it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13777/13]

Hospital Trusts

Dessie Ellis

150. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if he will detail plans for hospital groups in respect of all hospitals in the Health Service Executive Dublin North East area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13773/13]

Regeneration Projects

Dessie Ellis

355. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding Ballymun shopping centre, Dublin; and the future plans that are in place in view of the fact that it is in the National Assets Management Agency's control. [14096/13]

Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

371. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons in social housing or awaiting social housing in the areas of Ballymun and Finglas, Dublin, respectively. [13973/13]

Medical Card Eligibility

Dessie Ellis

447. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase the income threshold for those applying for medical cards. [13875/13]

Rail Services

Dessie Ellis

560. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason for decreasing the length of DARTs being run at peak hours resulting in services at rush hour periods being cramped to a very uncomfortable and possibly unsafe degree. [14099/13]

Taxi Regulations

Dessie Ellis

561. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if taxi drivers will be able to apply decal branding to their taxis which is bilingual; or if they will be able to affix one in English and one in Irish on either side. [14100/13]

Scéimeanna Teanga

Dessie Ellis

30. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Dessie Ellis den Aire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta cé mhéad eagras stáit nách bhfuil scéimeanna teanga faoi Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla daingnithe ag an Roinn dóibh; cad atá déanta ag an Aire faoi seo; agus an bhfuil sé i gceist aige treoir a thabhairt do na heagraíochtaí seo scéimeanna teanga a dhaingniú. [13102/13]

Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

421. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on his Department's pursuit of the use of social housing bonds to develop more permanent social housing units particularly those in public ownership. [12956/13]

Homelessness Strategy

Dessie Ellis

422. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on whether the development of sustainable, permanent social housing owned by local authorities is an important part of the drive to end long term homelessness. [12957/13]

Local Authority Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

423. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for measures to ensure that local authorities properly draw down funding allocated to them to provide for the needs of local people to whom they are responsible, especially in the case of Traveller specific accommodation. [12958/13]

Local Authority Housing Rents

Dessie Ellis

424. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will make a commitment to local authority tenants that their rents will not increase or other services be cut as a result of the levying of the property tax on local authority properties. [12959/13]

Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation

Dessie Ellis

425. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the removal of pyrite from affected homes; the numbers that have successfully been completed in targets for 2013; and when the remediation scheme proposed will be operational. [12960/13]

Unfinished Housing Developments

Dessie Ellis

426. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on works to an estate (details supplied) in County Longford including the specific works that have been carried out; the timetable for future works; and any additional funding which may be available or needed. [12961/13]

Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists

Dessie Ellis

427. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown on a Dáil constituency basis of the number of persons on social housing waiting lists, specifying numbers waiting five years and more and ten years and more. [12962/13]

Community Development Initiatives

Dessie Ellis

428. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures he is taking to ensure better community relations between the Traveller and settled communities, particularly in areas which have experienced difficulties with this in the past. [12963/13]

Housing Statistics

Dessie Ellis

429. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of publicly owned social housing units that were delivered in 2011 and 2012, respectively; and the targets for same in 2013. [12964/13]

Local Authority Housing Maintenance

Dessie Ellis

430. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures he is undertaking to ensure an improved system of social housing maintenance in local authorities with faster reaction times to serious maintenance issues and less stop gap measures to deal with recurring problems. [12965/13]

Local Authority Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

431. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown based on local authority area of the current average turnaround time for local authority housing that has become vacant; the current number of vacant public housing units; and the number that have been vacant for six months and more and one year and more, respectively. [12966/13]

Taxi Regulations

Dessie Ellis

684. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will make any allowance for persons who hold an SPSV licence who recently replaced their vehicle but are now found to be in contravention of new regulation such as those on tinted windows and are unable to pay to replace these windows at this moment in time (details supplied). [12897/13]

Croke Park Agreement Issues

Dessie Ellis

19. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide information on the implications arising from the loss of supervision and substitution payments for teachers arising from the pending Croke Park two agreement, particularly in relation to employment rights for staff who may lose their right to a lunch break. [11755/13]

State Examinations Issues

Dessie Ellis

51. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way many leaving certificate students received an exemption from Irish from 2008 to 2012; the number of those students who studied another language other than Irish and English; the stage at which the review of the 12/96 circular announced in 2006 is at; and the efforts made by his Department between 2008 and 2012 to reduce the number of students receiving an exemption from Irish. [11754/13]

Departmental Contracts

Dessie Ellis

38. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures his Department or An Garda Síochána have taken to ensure that any private companies contracted by them to carry out work on behalf of the State are compliant with employment rights legislation. [11570/13]

Free Travel Scheme Administration

Dessie Ellis

114. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Social Protection the provision being made for persons who had been availing of the free travel scheme under Bus Éireann, but because of the removal of these routes and the subsequent replacement by alternative providers cannot avail of free travel; and if the route is not new but is with a different provider will an amnesty be made to allow these persons to avail of the scheme. [11371/13]

Community Employment Schemes Review

Dessie Ellis

115. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Social Protection the future of community employment schemes; the way the CE schemes and the Tús programme are being integrated in communities alongside each other and if there has been any feedback of an overlap; if she has plans to integrate these schemes in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11379/13]

Homelessness Strategy

Dessie Ellis

340. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there are any plans to close a facility (details supplied) in Dublin 8; if yes, the reason for the closure of this youth homeless facility; and where the young persons currently availing of this facility will be placed. [11021/13]

Rail Network

Dessie Ellis

605. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to a report into the embedded block system failure in the LUAS; the works that were required and carried out; if any further works are required and planned; and if a fund is in place to pay for same. [11499/13]

Rail Network

Dessie Ellis

606. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if any risk assessment has been carried out to establish potential for danger to users of the LUAS due to embedded block system failure which has been identified. [11500/13]

Credit Unions

Dessie Ellis

61. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Finance the total volume of Irish Credit Union deposits or bonds in the former Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and if he will outline the impact of the liquidation of IBRC on credit unions. [10576/13]

IBRC Staff

Dessie Ellis

69. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Finance the terms under which the senior executives of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation are being rehired on short contracts to assist the special liquidator; if the executives are receiving the same monetary terms as their old contracts; and the number being rehired. [10577/13]

Postal Services

Dessie Ellis

163. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to introduce post codes across the State. [10817/13]

Local Authority Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

172. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the number of local authority bedsits that there are in the State listing them by local authority area. [10816/13]

Fuel Rebate Scheme

Dessie Ellis

89. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on plans to extend tax rebates on fuel to other industries which rely on road transport and for which fuel makes up a significant part of their overheads. [8577/13]

Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure

Dessie Ellis

212. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total cost of social housing leasing initiatives for the years 2011 and 2012 respectively; and the projected cost for 2013. [10485/13]

Rental Accommodation Scheme Expenditure

Dessie Ellis

428. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total cost of the rental accommodation scheme for the years 2011 and 2012 respectively; and the projected cost for 2013. [10486/13]

Job Creation Data

Dessie Ellis

56. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of jobs created by Industrial Development Agency Ireland that require foreign language skills at native speaker level over the past two years. [9064/13]

Northern Ireland Issues

Dessie Ellis

65. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised the continued detention by the British authorities of a person (details suppied), who is a qualifying prisoner under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and the Weston Park Agreement; and if he has requested the immediate release of this person. [8958/13]

Foreign Conflicts

Dessie Ellis

69. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the recent demolitions of Palestinian homes by the Israeli military in the Jordan Valley; his views that the demolitions are unlawful and amount to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention; and if he has raised the issue with the Israeli authorities. [8858/13]

Taxi Regulations

Dessie Ellis

102. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the discussions he has had with the Department of Justice and Equality and experts on the Good Friday Agreement over the course of the drafting of the Taxi Regulation Bill in view of the devastating effect its measures may have on former political prisoners related to the conflict on this island; the reason for not including any recognition of the terms of the agreement on relation to reintegration of former prisoners into the jobs market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8964/13]

Waste Management

Dessie Ellis

154. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to reopen Dunsink Lane linking Finglas to Castleknock, Dublin, in view of the resolution of many of the issues which resulted in its closure. [8576/13]

Local Authority Housing Provision

Dessie Ellis

499. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the Pullen and others versus Dublin City Council section 62 Judgement, when he intends to bring forward legislation to facilitate local authorities in refusing to house applicants who are involved in drug dealing and severe anti-social behaviour. [8293/13]

Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists

Dessie Ellis

500. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons currently on the housing waiting list for the Ballymun and Finglas area of Dublin city. [8295/13]

Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists

Dessie Ellis

501. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons currently on housing waiting lists for local authorities across the State; the reason they were assessed as having a housing need; and if he will provide a breakdown by local authority and the number of applicants currently waiting over five years and over ten years respectively. [8296/13]

Hospital Waiting Lists

Dessie Ellis

732. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9 will have to wait until 10 October 2014 to see a consultant respiratory physician at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, despite their persistent respiratory difficulties. [8729/13]

Taxi Regulations

Dessie Ellis

751. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the serious problems taxi drivers are having with registration on the new taxi portal site and the worrying failure of the phone helpline or email service to properly explain the process exacerbated by many phone calls going unanswered and emails bouncing back not received. [8965/13]

Prescription Charges

Dessie Ellis

6. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a double charging of the prescription charge on medical card holders where the prescription item, as prescribed by the general practitioner, is not available in the milligram dosage prescribed, for example, 15mg of a given tablet available only in 10mg and 5mg, 7.5mg of a given tablet available only in 5mg and 2.5mg, that is each of the examples shown the patient concerned was charged €3 rather than the €1.50 per prescription item; if he will clarify the situation and instruct the pharmacy sector to charge only per item as prescribed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7454/13]

Hospital Services

Dessie Ellis

43. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health the reason the new epilepsy monitoring unit at Cork University Hospital and the redevelopment unit at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, remain unopened, in view of the completion of the units in the autumn of 2012 at an estimated spend of €900,000; if he will address this situation in the interest of epilepsy patients here; the timeframe for the opening of these facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7452/13]

Child Care Services Provision

Dessie Ellis

32. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of places currently available on the after school scheme that was announced in budget 2013; the timeline for availability of the proposed 6,000 places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7305/13]

Hospital Procedures

Dessie Ellis

654. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (detailed supplied) in Dublin 11 will have to wait two years to see a neurologist in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, despite his experience of continuing unexplained seziures and MRI and EEG results which show an abnormality on the left side of his brain. [6805/13]

Green Paper on Defence

Dessie Ellis

37. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Defence the date on which the Green Paper on Defence will be published. [6125/13]