Parliamentary questions

Food Poverty

Gary Gannon

4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are plans to seek more sustained, long-term solutions to support families experiencing food poverty during school holidays, given the Children’s Rights Alliance food provision scheme received applications totalling over €350,000 - six times its capacity, in the run up to the Christmas holidays in 2023. [18664/24]

Disability Services

Gary Gannon

36. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection how the green paper on disability reform will impact students in higher education receiving disability payments. [9087/24]

Artists' Remuneration

Gary Gannon

30. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the plans for the universal basic income pilot scheme for artists after it is due to end in 2025. [17059/24]

Sports Funding

Gary Gannon

45. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she is aware of the campaign by an organisation (details supplied) and its push for sporting facilities for the young people of the south inner city on the site on Marrowbone Lane. [17058/24]

Sports Facilities

Gary Gannon

46. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if there are plans to upgrade public sports pitches with suitable disability infrastructure to accommodate people of all abilities, allowing community sports clubs to achieve the status of fully inclusive organisations. [17057/24]

School Staff

Gary Gannon

57. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education her current and future actions to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in primary and secondary schools in the wake of Ireland’s annual teacher conferences which took place recently. [16490/24]

Special Educational Needs

Gary Gannon

65. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education the reason funding for students in special classes for Summer Programmes has been reduced from €60 per student in 2022, to €45 in 2023 and €30 in 2024; and the reasons for and evidence used to inform this 50% cut. [16494/24]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Gary Gannon

89. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education how her Department plans to address teacher workload and class sizes following statements from an organisation (details supplied) that our education service is ‘delivering second-class services in a first-world country’. [16492/24]

School Curriculum

Gary Gannon

109. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education to provide an update on considerations regarding potential reforms to the Leaving Certificate, given the concerns raised by teachers at this year's annual teachers conferences. [16491/24]

Special Educational Needs

Gary Gannon

121. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education to explain the adaptation of standardised testing to dictate the assignment of SET hours, which prevents early intervention as testing does not begin until second class. [16495/24]

Homeless Persons Supports

Gary Gannon

124. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education the actions her Department is taking to provide supports for primary school students experiencing homelessness in Dublin's north inner city, where a large percentage of pupils are homeless. [16493/24]

Teacher Training

Gary Gannon

337. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education to outline the work of her Department in relation to attracting prospective students to studying teaching, given Ireland's crippling teacher shortages. [9091/24]

Defence Forces

Gary Gannon

4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if the training of at least four members of the Israeli Defence Forces by the Irish Military College since 2017 has, in his opinion, compromised Irish neutrality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13291/24]

Defence Forces

Gary Gannon

10. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence how many legal cases have been taken against the Defence Forces since the beginning of 2024; and if that figure is higher or lower than the same period in 2023. [13287/24]

Defence Forces

Gary Gannon

21. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the purpose of nominating the head of the Irish Defence Forces for election to the position of Chair of the European Union Military Committee; and how much their nomination and subsequent campaign will cost the State. [13289/24]

Defence Forces

Gary Gannon

45. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if he will instruct the Defence Forces to award the veterans of the Siege of Jadotville with medals to recognise their bravery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13290/24]

Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Gary Gannon

161. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Transport how Transport Infrastructure Ireland's current practice of negotiating with groups and organisations outside of An Bord Pleanála oral hearings, not disclosing any details of subsequent agreements to An Bord Pleanála, and citing non-disclosure agreements as the reason (NDAs), is appropriate in the planning of publicly-funded projects such as MetroLink. [13359/24]

International Relations

Gary Gannon

4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason the Israeli ambassador has not been summoned by his Department after the killing of a person (details supplied) despite the Russian ambassador rightfully being summoned in the wake of another death in Russia; and the reason the same standards are not applied to both. [11135/24]

Middle East

Gary Gannon

7. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government has made a decision on if and when Ireland will support South Africa's case against Israel in the ICJ, which alleges that the latter is committing genocide in Palestine. [11134/24]

Foreign Policy

Gary Gannon

22. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to provide details on the interactions between the State and the Polisario Front of Western Sahara, and if his Department intends on recognising Western Sahara as a sovereign state. [11133/24]