Parliamentary questions

Passport Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

110. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are plans to establish a designated telephone helpline or allow access to the Oireachtas passport query service for members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland, since it is restored and functioning, allowing members of parliament to query passport applications on behalf of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18519/24]

Passport Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

111. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if any briefings with members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland, members of parliament and their staff will be provided ahead of the summer months to assist constituency offices in the North of Ireland to provide up-to-date information on the passport process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18520/24]

Passport Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

112. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passport applications queried through the members of the Legislative Assembly passport online portal since it was launched in April 2023, by month, in tabular form; the current waiting time for a query response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18521/24]

Passport Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

113. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department will open a passport office in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18522/24]

Passport Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

114. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is satisfied that the current online passport application system processes queries on paperwork or requests for additional documentation as quickly as possible; his views on whether queries should be put back for significant time periods when queries arise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18523/24]

Inland Fisheries

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

112. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to outline what role Inland Fisheries Ireland plays regarding the by-catch in relation to bass, sea trout, salmon, kelts and salmon smolts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18012/24]

Health and Safety

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

286. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education if her Department will assist the board of management of a school (details supplied) to ensure that the entire site at the school is surveyed and cleared of any potentially explosive devices following the discovery of same on the site last November. [17494/24]

Fisheries Protection

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

498. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine what research has been carried out on the link between the decline in the sea trout population and sprat fishing in south Kerry; what the allowable by-catch is as a percentage of the total sprat catch in south Kerry; the volume of the total sprat for each of the years since 2007 in south Kerry, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18010/24]

Fisheries Protection

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

499. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the current law regarding mesh size in the brailers for use in the south Kerry region; if the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency monitor the use of brailers to ensure mesh size requirements are being adhered to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18011/24]

Equality Issues

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

551. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has finalised his policy and legislative proposals for a tenth equality ground of socioeconomic status; when he will make public these proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17743/24]

Hospital Appointments Status

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

634. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment for vestibular physiotherapy at Tallaght University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17741/24]

Health Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

635. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the process for a disabled person to apply for a personal assistant through the HSE; if it is the same process in all CHO areas; what is the process for allocating hours to a person once a decision is made that a person qualifies for a personal assistant; if he will provide, in tabular form, a guide to the number of hours that can be allocated to a person based on their needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17742/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

672. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the number of persons with type 1 diabetes attending the adult diabetes service in Letterkenny University Hospital; the number waiting fewer than 12, between 12 and 24 and waiting more than 24 months for an endocrinology appointment; and the longest waiting time for an appointment. [17970/24]

Schools Building Projects

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

60. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education for an update on when construction will commence on new school buildings (details supplied). [16349/24]

Schools Building Projects

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

70. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education when she will meet the board of management of a school (details supplied) and urgently review the decision by her Department not to include the school in the school capital buildings programme; and if she has received correspondence from the board of management of the school, confirming that it can provide an alternative and appropriate site for a new school at no cost to the State. [16350/24]

Departmental Funding

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

142. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will commit to contributing to the UN pooled fund that will support local and international organisations, such as an organisation (details supplied) that is working in Haiti. [16417/24]

Defective Building Materials

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

19. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will amend the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme to ensure that it provides the same 100% redress that was made available to the 3,000 families who have had their homes remediated under the pyrite remediation scheme, in view of the attendance of over 1,000 homeowners at a public meeting in Buncrana, County Donegal on 26 March 2024, in support of genuine 100% redress for the victims of the defective concrete block scandal. [15023/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

255. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health how many adults with type 1 diabetes attending Letterkenny University Hospital use CGM technology and how many use insulin pump therapy. [15901/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

256. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health how many patients attending the adult diabetes service in Letterkenny University Hospital declared their interest in commencing insulin pump therapy in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024; how many of those commenced insulin pump therapy in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15902/24]

Teaching Council of Ireland

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

418. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education when the CAR system which allows a person to do their teacher induction here will re-open; and if not, if the closing date will be extended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13890/24]

School Transport

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

533. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education when the review of the school transport scheme will be brought to cabinet and published; and if this will include a resolution to the unfair pay, terms and conditions endured by school transport escorts. [15024/24]

Defective Building Materials

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

652. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason an applicant under the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme cannot be paid a stage payment and rental support payment at the same time under the scheme; and if he is aware that this causes real distress to families as this will delay the remediation works if building contractors are delayed their stage payments. [14530/24]

Social Welfare Code

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

777. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Social Protection how a person who is expected to receive financial compensation due to having two faulty hip replacements implanted will be treated for their current social protection benefits mindful of the current means test for persons in receipt of disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14547/24]

Fisheries Protection

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

983. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider carrying out a scientific survey involving Irish inshore fishermen on pollack numbers in Irish inshore waters to give an alternative view to the stock assessment benchmark study by ICES; if he has given any consideration to re-examining the data used in the study that has led to the closure of the pollack fishery in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14535/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

984. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine what actions he and his Department have and will take to support wild shellfish fishermen in loughs around Ireland to continue fishing given that new Brexit related regulations now have them in legal limbo due to having no physical site/processing facility for veterinarians to visit and issue health certificates for molluscs transiting the British Landbridge; what engagements he has had with other Irish seafood agencies to address this loophole; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14536/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

985. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on the latest work of the Brown Crab Working Group that he established in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14537/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

986. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide the latest update on the total amount of monies drawn down and spent in the Irish fishing industry from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund; to advise how much money he expects to return to the EU unspent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14538/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

987. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to advise how much of the 1,874 tonne quota of spurdog that he announced in December 2022 was caught, landed and processed; to confirm what markets were identified for selling this species into; to confirm what processing facilities are available for spurdog landings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14539/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1043. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will distribute the additional mackerel quota negotiated at the December Fisheries Council as a matter of urgency. [15329/24]

Disability Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1127. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the situation faced by the family of a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14500/24]

Disability Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1179. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when a child in County Donegal (details supplied) will receive services from CDNT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15367/24]

Medical Aids and Appliances

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1201. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health when a child in County Donegal (details supplied) will receive a date to have an insulin pump fitted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13574/24]

Medical Aids and Appliances

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1202. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health if a child in County Donegal (details supplied) can get an insulin pump fitted in Letterkenny University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13575/24]

Hospital Appointments Status

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1203. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health if a child in County Donegal (details supplied) can get an appointment in Letterkenny University Hospital to attend the diabetes team for a consultation with the dietician. [13576/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1204. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health what services is currently available in Letterkenny University Hospital for adults and children that have diabetes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13577/24]

Health Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1314. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health what short-term and long-term plans are in place to care for those awaiting eye surgery at Letterkenny University Hospital. [14058/24]

Hospital Appointments Status

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1364. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal can expect to receive a date for an operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14322/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1526. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the number of patients with type 1 diabetes who transitioned from the paediatric diabetes service to adult diabetes services in Letterkenny University Hospital in 2023 and 2024; how many of those use CGM technology; how many of those are using insulin pumps; how many have had one OPD diabetes review appointment in the adult service; how many of them had more than one appointment; how many are still awaiting their first appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14919/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1527. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the number of adults with type 1 diabetes attending Letterkenny University Hospital; the number of those patients awaiting an annual OPD diabetes review appointment for less than six, six to 12, 12 to 24 and over 24 months; the longest patient waiting time for an appointment to see an endocrinologist in the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14920/24]

Disease Management

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1528. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health how many people living with type 2 diabetes have been treated in the HSE ECC specialist ambulatory care hub in Letterkenny to date; the number of appointments provided in 2023 and 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14921/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1562. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health what will happen to the high-risk diabetes patients that are currently attending the podiatrist in the Gate Lodge at Letterkenny University Hospital when that position is vacated later in April 2024. [15107/24]

Hospital Appointments Status

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1579. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health when urgent spinal surgery will be scheduled in Beaumont Hospital for a County Donegal-based person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15181/24]

General Practitioner Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1584. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health to ask the HSE to provide an update on the status of the its negotiations to reinstate GPs services to the health centres at Kilmacrennan and Churchill in County Donegal; and if he is aware of the widespread concern in these communities at the loss of such services. [15205/24]

Hospital Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

313. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that a dedicated outpatient neurology service is provided by a consultant neurologist at Letterkenny University Hospital to avoid the need for neurology patients in Donegal to have to travel long distances for care. [13481/24]

Consular Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

56. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he and his consular officials will engage with their counterparts in India to ensure that the family of a person (details supplied) will be granted their ongoing request to remotely view the trial of the person accused of their murder in India, on compassionate grounds, considering the inordinate delays in this trial, now approaching seven years. [12020/24]

Tax Exemptions

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

233. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Finance if consideration will be given to introducing similar tax exemptions for petrol purchased by fishermen as is available when they purchase marine diesel. [12091/24]

Defective Building Materials

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

632. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason engineers from the housing agency are overruling the professional recommendations of engineers acting on behalf of defective concrete block homeowners in Donegal, for applications to the enhanced defective block grant scheme, at a time when the NSAI is still reviewing IS 465, amidst growing internationally peer reviewed scientific evidence, that IS 465 is not fit for purpose. [11958/24]

Court Orders

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

822. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice her views on the resources available to the State and to the relevant authorities to pursue a person who is avoiding the order of a court to comply with a child maintenance order for over nine years; if agencies and Government departments can cooperate and share information on the person in question, in order that they can be brought to justice, as would be the case in other circumstances. [12027/24]

Fishing Industry

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

988. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the landings of fish, by species at each pier and harbour across the State in each of the years, 2007 to 2024, inclusive, in tabular form. [12083/24]

Disability Services

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

1127. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she is aware that the CDNT team in Donegal east has no office of its own, a 65% staff vacancy rate and key leadership positions unfilled; and if she will urgently examine all options to resolve this crisis as soon as possible, including pooling resources with other CDNT teams in the county, until the vacancy rates improve. [11926/24]