Parliamentary questions

Constitutional Amendments

Neasa Hourigan

241. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will outline his plans to engage with relevant stakeholders in drafting of legislation in respect of the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding the seventh amendment to the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49388/23]

Residency Permits

Neasa Hourigan

333. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide an update on the average length of time for an application under the Afghan Admission Programme; the average length of time for the provision of a PPS number under the same programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49459/23]

Teagasc Activities

Neasa Hourigan

376. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the position of his Department on the involvement of Teagasc in the production of the Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock; his views on the conflict of interests as outlined by the recent Greenpeace UK investigation into the declaration (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49490/23]

Departmental Policies

Neasa Hourigan

421. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current position on the requirement on services providing accommodation to beneficiaries of temporary protection for their staff to be Garda vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49488/23]

Child and Family Agency

Neasa Hourigan

422. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current position of Tusla in terms of requiring services providing accommodation to children under the Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection scheme for their staff to be Garda vetted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49489/23]

Budget 2024

Neasa Hourigan

499. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of funding allocated to social inclusion groups in Budget 2024. [49418/23]

Mental Health Policy

Neasa Hourigan

506. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the publication of the National Action Plan on Traveller and Roma Mental Health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49457/23]

Regulatory Bodies

Neasa Hourigan

603. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the Health Products Regulatory Authority’s role in conducting an inquiry into breaches of Article 17 of the Global Code of Conduct for Research that requires scientific research on animals conducted in non-EU countries to be performed in line with Irish and EU standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49997/23]

Housing Schemes

Neasa Hourigan

123. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to include decluttering support as part of the housing aid for older people grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33773/23]

Disability Services

Neasa Hourigan

46. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the work undertaken to assess the impact of annualised funding for disability services; the research undertaken on multi-annual funding options for disability services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40453/23]

Energy Conservation

Neasa Hourigan

158. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the schemes available to retrofit redbrick and stone-built houses constructed before 1940, mostly categorised as traditionally built buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47940/23]

Energy Conservation

Neasa Hourigan

159. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his plans to extend the warmer homes scheme to traditionally built buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47941/23]

Energy Policy

Neasa Hourigan

644. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the preparations of the guidance document on improving energy efficiency in traditional buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47939/23]

Social Insurance

Neasa Hourigan

712. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Social Protection the consideration being given to the recommendations of the Tax Strategy Group's paper in relation to pay related social insurance, in particular their proposal to eliminate the lower employer social insurance rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47443/23]

Social Welfare Code

Neasa Hourigan

722. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide a timeline for the implementation of each of the nine recommendations outlined in the Review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Disability Awareness Support Scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47620/23]

An Garda Síochána

Neasa Hourigan

849. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Justice the number of “stop and search” operations conducted by An Garda Síochána under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, in 2022. [48387/23]

Departmental Correspondence

Neasa Hourigan

990. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to a correspondence (details supplied); his response to the issues raised therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47591/23]

Organ Donation

Neasa Hourigan

1109. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health whether paired-organ donations will be permitted under the Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47357/23]

Mental Health Services

Neasa Hourigan

1145. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 604 of 25 April and 468 of 18 May and 702 of 27 June 2023, the number of people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties under the care of the Cobh/Glenville and Midleton/Youghal adult mental health teams who have been transferred to continuing care or high-support hostels outside those HSE catchments since February 2021 when the Owenacurra Centre took its last referral for residential placement; the number of people in this cohort of service-users within those HSE catchments who have been transferred in the same timeframe to nursing homes, either within those HSE catchments or outside them; the reason that this information was not provided in the response to the Parliamentary Question, given that the information could be obtained by requesting it from the consultant psychiatrists on the two mental health teams under whose care the service-users in questions would have been, and given that similar information on the transfer of east Cork service-users was provided in response to previous Parliamentary Questions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47588/23]

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Neasa Hourigan

1146. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health his views on the planned ending of a special Covid leave with pay arrangement for healthcare workers on 31 October 2023 with the chronic and debilitating nature of that condition for this cohort of staff, who were previously given assurances by his Department that their needs would be met and that these healthcare workers contracted Covid in high-risk settings in circumstances that amount to being considered a workplace injury in other EU Member States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47589/23]

Medical Research and Training

Neasa Hourigan

1165. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health whether his Department will conduct an inquiry into the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland use of a US institute to conduct animal research not in accordance with Irish or EU regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47685/23]

General Practitioner Services

Neasa Hourigan

1187. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on ongoing work to resolve the contractual arrangement issues with general practitioners associated with the upcoming revised tax treatment of general medical services income of general practitioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47857/23]

Further and Higher Education

Neasa Hourigan

1380. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide an update on the ongoing work to align adult education tutors to a pay scale of an existing grade in education and training boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47359/23]

Local Authorities

Neasa Hourigan

319. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans, if any, to direct all local authorities to accept childcare expenses as a budget line when engaging third-party contractors for works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46168/23]

Greyhound Industry

Neasa Hourigan

428. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost to Greyhound Racing Ireland of sponsoring the Greyhound Derby quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on a television channel (details supplied) on 19 and 26 August and 2 September 2023, respectively; the viewership figures for each respective broadcast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46325/23]

Childcare Services

Neasa Hourigan

470. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to professionalise the early childhood home visiting sector; his plans to ensure ring-fenced budgetary supports for the same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46176/23]

Abortion Services

Neasa Hourigan

350. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an annual breakdown of the number of reimbursements made via the primary care reimbursement scheme for first consultations for abortion care from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. [45928/23]

Abortion Services

Neasa Hourigan

351. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an annual breakdown of the number of reimbursements made via the primary care reimbursement scheme for second consultations for abortion care from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. [45929/23]

Abortion Services

Neasa Hourigan

352. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an annual breakdown of the number of reimbursements made via the primary care reimbursement scheme for third consultations for abortion care from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. [45930/23]

Abortion Services

Neasa Hourigan

353. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an annual breakdown of the number of abortions provided in hospital-based abortion services under Section 12 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. [45931/23]

Abortion Services

Neasa Hourigan

354. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an annual breakdown of the number of abortions provided by the community-based healthcare providers such as GPs, family planning clinics, women’s health clinics, student health services under Section 12 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. [45932/23]

Departmental Strategies

Neasa Hourigan

65. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Taoiseach to outline the work completed on implementation of the Well-being Framework Policy post-Budget 2023 and prior to Budget 2024; the data sets used in that process; the outcomes of those processes, in tabular form [45485/23]

Equality Issues

Neasa Hourigan

120. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to outline the work completed on gender equality budgeting by his Department post-Budget 2023 and prior to Budget 2024; the data sets used in that process; the outcomes of those processes, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45464/23]

Tax Code

Neasa Hourigan

160. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Finance for the Revenue Commissioners' plans to reassess their planned revised tax treatment of general medical services income of general practitioners which is to be effective from 1 January 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44857/23]

Income Inequality

Neasa Hourigan

208. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No.41 of 15 February 2023, if his attention has been drawn to a report (details supplied) which noted that the Commission on Taxation and Welfare analysis of universal basic income was based on an insufficient number of studies and recommended that further examination of the proposal be undertaken; his plans for further examination of universal basic income, and to conduct a pilot in the lifetime of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45243/23]

State Pensions

Neasa Hourigan

349. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to publish the report on the benchmarked/indexed rate of State pension payments which was introduced as an input to the Budget process this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44699/23]

Departmental Schemes

Neasa Hourigan

645. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the grants and funding streams available to assist community centres with the maintenance and upgrade of their facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44701/23]

Transport Policy

Neasa Hourigan

76. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline the work undertaken by his Department to introduce mandatory accessibility requirements, similar to road safety standards for motorists, rather than design guidelines for persons using walking infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44477/23]

Transport Policy

Neasa Hourigan

77. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline the members and participation of the National Guidelines and Standards Group in his Department; the work completed to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44478/23]

Transport Policy

Neasa Hourigan

78. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline representation and participation by disability advocates or persons with disabilities in the work of the National Guidelines and Standards Group currently operating in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44479/23]

Transport Policy

Neasa Hourigan

79. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Transport if he will outline work undertaken by his Department and by the National Guidelines and Standards Group to remove shared space guidelines from national documents, standards and circulars including the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44480/23]

Tax Code

Neasa Hourigan

92. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline any approaches or negotiations engaged in by Ireland with other EU Member States to waive the exemption on aviation fuel tax for intra-community flights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44476/23]

Climate Change Policy

Neasa Hourigan

54. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will outline which public body has responsibility for ensuring compliance with section 15.1 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 on film productions which are in receipt of funding under Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997. [44259/23]

Overseas Development Aid

Neasa Hourigan

8. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made to date in achieving the target for overseas development assistance of 0.7% of gross national income by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43722/23]

Defibrillators Provision

Neasa Hourigan

192. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Education her plans to provide funding to ensure that defibrillators are in place in all special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43662/23]

School Funding

Neasa Hourigan

195. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Education the funding and grants available to schools for ICT infrastructure, such as desktop PCs, projectors and printers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43687/23]

Homeless Persons Supports

Neasa Hourigan

273. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the research his Department has undertaken to examine the experiences and impact of in-work homelessness; if he will outline the supports in place for people who are working whilst experiencing homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43696/23]

Healthcare Policy

Neasa Hourigan

469. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce mandatory fortification of foodstuffs with folic acid following his Department's Folic Acid Policy Committee report on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43498/23]

Health Services

Neasa Hourigan

489. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 465 of 27 September 2022, if he will outline which five recommendations are still in progress as part of the full implementation of the Chief Medical Officer’s report on The Use of Uro-Gynaecological Mesh in Surgical Procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43586/23]

Defibrillators Provision

Neasa Hourigan

512. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health his plans to provide funding to ensure that defibrillators are available in public places, such as community centres and schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43663/23]