Parliamentary questions

School Staff

Richard Bruton

661. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Education if she has considered the possibility of setting up a panel through which second level teachers could seek to apply to swap positions where they had a need to move, as has been suggested by an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63209/22]

Teacher Training

Richard Bruton

749. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there are many Irish students who have completed teacher training in the UK, but are prevented from returning home to assist with the present teacher shortage given that they have not yet completed a UK based probation; and if she has considered measures which would allow them to work in Ireland to complete their probation. [1228/23]

Dental Services

Richard Bruton

1366. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health the provision that is being made in 2023 to fund waiting list initiatives for child orthodontic work; and if new categories will gain access to the option of private treatment. [63948/22]

Nursing Homes

Richard Bruton

1420. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if the indexation-up of outstanding amounts under the fair deal scheme is being reviewed in view of the fact that the rate of inflation is now far in excess of interest rates and the cost to the State of funding the outstanding amounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1181/23]

Health Services Staff

Richard Bruton

1423. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he intends to extend the enhanced travel and subsistence scheme for student nurses and midwives to student doctors also known as medical students, who face the same costs in relation to meals, subsistence, scrubs purchase, laundering and travel to placement sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1197/23]

Health Services Staff

Richard Bruton

1424. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if, as part of the Government's commitment to retaining doctors in Ireland, a medical intern doctor job will be made available to every eligible graduating doctor in an Irish medical school in 2023 similar to that which was offered during the Covid-19 pandemic. [1198/23]

Disability Services

Richard Bruton

1428. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if there are plans to address the urgent need to recruit additional staff for children's disability network teams in order to address lengthy waiting lists for early intervention in the north Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1232/23]

General Practitioner Services

Richard Bruton

1433. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he is in a position to indicate a start date from which free GP care will be extended to those under eight years of age. [1250/23]

Medical Register

Richard Bruton

1661. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the backlog in re-registering Irish doctors who seek to return to work in Ireland; and if steps will be taken to urgently clear the backlog in view of the urgent needs at present. [2011/23]

Vaccination Programme

Richard Bruton

1720. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if his Department has considered the case for making the flu vaccine free to accelerate uptake at this time of acute pressure. [2370/23]

Pharmacy Services

Richard Bruton

1721. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the FEMPI changes, which were introduced affecting the income of pharmacists; if there is a process in place for considering the restoration of such changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2371/23]

Broadband Infrastructure

Richard Bruton

50. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if her Department has assessed the potential of the high-speed broadband network to create potential for rural development; and the number of projects emerging for support from her Department's programmes which utilise its potential. [62743/22]

Rural Schemes

Richard Bruton

67. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she has an early indication of the uptake of connected hubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62744/22]

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Richard Bruton

110. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he has considered the policy implications of the ESRI's assessment of the embodied emissions in Irish imports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62746/22]

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Richard Bruton

113. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he has received any early indications of the trend in emissions during 2022 and the factors influencing those trends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62747/22]

Departmental Funding

Richard Bruton

145. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the funding that was provided by county from his Department in 2022, broken down by project in tabular form. [62872/22]

Flood Risk Management

Richard Bruton

212. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the risk of flooding in Sutton and Baldoyle has been assessed a part of his nationwide flood assessment; if measures are being considered which would reduce this risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63092/22]

Fire Service

Richard Bruton

218. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if some members of the Dublin Fire Brigade have been excluded from the €1,000 bonus for front-line workers; if so, the reason for same. [63093/22]

Public Sector Pensions

Richard Bruton

32. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he has a role in deciding whether the pension fund in the State bodies under his authority are providing sufficient increases to their members to match rising costs of living, where the fund has adequate resources to pay more; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62550/22]

Water Services

Richard Bruton

74. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the risk to public health caused by blockages on private drains which are no longer addressed as an environmental health hazard by the environmental health officers attached to the HSE, and which are not addressed by the councils or by Irish Water; and his views on whether this lacuna should be addressed by giving local authorities the power to serve a notice on all the houses connected to a blockage informing them that they have an obligation to address a potential public health hazard. [62769/22]

Business Supports

Richard Bruton

90. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the way in which the new mandate for local enterprise offices will improve services to small business and enhance enterprise sustainability; and his estimate of the job potential of the initiative. [62030/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

96. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the early experience with the small company rescue scheme is demonstrating that it has the capacity to allow viable businesses restructure arrangements in order that jobs and livelihoods can be sustained. [62031/22]

Hospital Waiting Lists

Richard Bruton

7. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will indicate the new capacity planned for 2023 in clearing waiting lists within the public system and through the NTPF; the estimated number of additional outpatient first-time consultations and the number of additional procedures which will be facilitated in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60854/22]

Disabilities Assessments

Richard Bruton

78. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the improvements in the context of early intervention with children who have need for assessments and for therapeutic intervention. [60832/22]

Forestry Sector

Richard Bruton

153. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a land use strategy is being developed within which aspirations for forestry for the protection of biodiversity, climate, renewables and for the bioeconomy could be evolved in a coherent manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60852/22]

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Richard Bruton

158. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the anticipated steps needed in order to implement carbon farming as a reliable source of income for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60853/22]

Renewable Energy Generation

Richard Bruton

198. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department can facilitate a hybrid application involving a partnership between a community group and a State enterprise in a renewable energy project, in view of the fact that such models are in place elsewhere in Europe, and the concern that there has been a high failure rate in community projects seeking to go it alone. [61490/22]

Housing Policy

Richard Bruton

231. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to increase the means threshold for cost rental, in view of the recent increase in the threshold for social housing. [61461/22]

Insurance Coverage

Richard Bruton

19. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he has had discussions with the insurance industry regarding the withdrawal of flood cover in locations in which mapping has revealed a long-term vulnerability to flooding from rising sea levels; and if a protocol is in place to ensure that householders can benefit in insurance costs when substantial flood alleviation investments are made by the Office of Public Works. [61104/22]

Crime Prevention

Richard Bruton

17. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Justice if she will outline the impact to date of new approaches to crime in areas of high incidence of crime and high risk of young people being recruited into a life of crime, and if there are lessons for the future. [60453/22]

Sentencing Policy

Richard Bruton

21. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Justice if she will outline the work that her Department has done on the appropriate levels of sentencing as embodied in our laws and in the practice of the Courts; and if she will outline the changes that are needed and anticipated. [60452/22]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Richard Bruton

198. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the sick leave entitlements of public servants who get long-Covid and if he plans to extend the leave period of support in light of the long-lasting effects which have been documented. [60850/22]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Richard Bruton

701. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if an evaluation has been carried out of the procurement of supplies during the Covid pandemic to establish the successes and the disappointments of the emergency arrangements used to establish the lessons that can be learnt for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60985/22]

Planning Issues

Richard Bruton

17. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the work that is being carried out to streamline the planning system in the face of significant needs for infrastructure and housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58932/22]

Housing Policy

Richard Bruton

44. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures that have been taken to counteract the decline in housing commencements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58931/22]

Further and Higher Education

Richard Bruton

140. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress that has been made regarding the efforts to move towards common entry to a range of college course to reduce the pressure of the points race on Leaving Certificate students; and if he will outline the other steps which his Department might take to facilitate Leaving Certificate reform. [58930/22]

Apprenticeship Programmes

Richard Bruton

145. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will consider establishing a fund for which sectoral organisations should submit proposals to develop a coordinated approach to recruiting apprentices, which would make it easier for those contemplating an apprentice career to source a sponsoring employer. [58929/22]

Housing Provision

Richard Bruton

196. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the progress that is being made under project Tosaigh to bring sites with outstanding permissions forward to deliver homes at affordable prices. [56961/22]

Ukraine War

Richard Bruton

197. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures, if any, under the remit of his Department that he proposes to introduce to address the needs of persons arriving from Ukraine. [56962/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

46. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Taoiseach if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies. [59664/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

48. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59653/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

57. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59654/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

64. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Transport if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59666/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

69. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59655/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

77. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59661/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

79. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of her Department for which a means test applies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59665/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

87. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59659/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

94. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59656/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

98. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Defence if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of his Department for which a means test applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59651/22]

Departmental Schemes

Richard Bruton

107. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Education if a list will be provided of all schemes and programmes under the remit of her Department for which a means test applies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59652/22]