Written Answers Nos. 134-140
134. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health his plans to appoint a second palliative care consultant with supporting non-consultant hospital doctors for the midlands region, and the recruitment of palliative care nurse specialists in the acute hospitals in the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6325/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on the matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
135. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to ensure that the objective of the 2001 report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care has been implemented in the midlands to date; whereby the midlands was designated as being in line for an inpatient unit-hospice in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6328/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on the matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
136. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of reports that the Government of the United States of America is evaluating the question of military aid to Ukraine, the steps he will take to ensure that no military aircraft of the United States of America landing at Shannon Airport or overflying our airspace are transporting lethal or non-lethal military equipment to the Ukraine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6159/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of reports that the provision of military assistance to Ukraine is currently being evaluated by the United States government. Arrangements under which permission is granted for foreign military aircraft, including US military aircraft, to land at Irish airports or to overfly Irish airspace are governed by strict conditions. These include stipulations that the aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives and must not engage in intelligence gathering, and that the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.
Requests to permit the landing or overflight of military aircraft are considered by my Department on the basis of the conditions outlined above.
137. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the Irish embassies that underwent major refurbishment in 2013, 2014 and to date in 2015. [6310/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of major refurbishments, including major installation and enhancement of security measures, undertaken by my Department in respect of Irish Embassy premises in 2013, 2014 and 2015 are provided in tabular form below, as requested by the Deputy. My Department is responsible for two Votes: Vote 27 - International Co-operation and Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade. No major refurbishments were carried out from Vote 27 - International Co-operation in 2013 and 2014, nor are there plans to undertake refurbishment to Irish Aid premises in 2015; therefore the figures below are in respect of Vote 28.
|
Year |
Location |
Amount |
|
2013 |
Abuja |
€100,527 |
|
2013 |
Beijing |
€258,931 |
|
2013 |
New Delhi |
€145,841 |
|
2013 |
Ljubljana |
€84,217 |
|
2013 |
Paris |
€379,555 |
|
2014 |
Beijing |
€365,288 |
|
2014 |
Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels |
€171,351 |
|
2014 |
Moscow |
€107,378 |
|
2014 |
Paris |
€536,995 |
|
2014 |
Washington D.C. |
€110,112 |
There have been no major refurbishments undertaken so far in 2015.
138. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will contact the Israeli authorities to express concern regarding a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6314/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn regard to this question, I refer to my answer to Question No. 489 of 10 February, which was as follows:
The treatment of Palestinian children in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem is of deep concern, and an issue on which Ireland has been active for some time. In October 2013, during the universal periodic review of Israel’s human rights record, Ireland expressed this concern and urged Israel to fully implement the recommendations of the February 2013 UNICEF report, entitled "Children in Israeli Military Detention".
We recommended that Israel end urgently night arrests of Palestinian children, the admissibility in evidence in military courts of written confessions in Hebrew signed by Palestinian children, the use of solitary confinement and the denial of access to family members or to legal representation.
Bilaterally, our concerns regarding the detention of Palestinian minors have been raised as part of our ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities on the overall situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian population, both with the Israeli Embassy here and through our own Embassy in Tel Aviv.
We cannot attempt to follow each specific case in which these issues arise. The case cited by the Deputy has not previously come to the attention of my Department, although it is a clear example of the reasons why these practices are of such concern.
In my view, Palestinian children should be afforded the same rights and protections under the law which Israel rightly considers to be appropriate for Israeli children living alongside them.
The overall human rights situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the treatment of children in detention, remains a matter of concern and will continue to be raised in the relevant multilateral fora, and to feature in the EU's broader concerns about human rights in the area.
Similar concerns would exist in relation to the detention of children in many other states in the region.
139. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to deal with the lack of regulation in relation to agencies and persons that recruit students from outside the European Union for college courses here, particularly in relation to those dropping out of, or failing to turn up for, the courses, and the lack of any monitoring or check-up on their attendance, in conjunction with colleges and language schools in the State. [6158/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland has an excellent international reputation for the quality of education services delivered to both our own citizens and those who come here from abroad. The vast majority of providers of education and training to international students in the State operate to a high standard and are motivated by the desire to enable learners to reach their potential. However, it is evident that a minority of providers do not operate to the same standards, with serious implications for students and the reputation of the wider sector. For this reason, I announced robust regulatory reforms to the international education sector together with the Minister for Justice and Equality on 2nd September 2014. These reforms are designed to provide certainty and clarity for international students coming to Ireland, to prioritise education over work, to give effect to an enhanced inspection and compliance regime and to safeguard the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers. A key pillar of these reforms is a strengthened and more integrated inspection regime, including an enhanced inspection function for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), which will be linked to Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and the National Employment Rights Authority. Officials from my Department and the Department of Justice and Equality are co-operating closely on the arrangements for the implementation of the reforms and when finalised, these will be brought to Government for approval. Another key pillar of the regulatory reforms for international education is the International Education Mark and related Code of Practice. The Code of Practice, which is currently being finalised by QQI, includes requirements relating to the protection of enrolled learners, treatment of fees and tax compliance, and will also address other 'non-academic' issues such as recruitment, marketing and accommodation. Providers will have to demonstrate compliance with the Code before being authorised to use the Mark. The Mark will be used both as a driver of quality within institutions and as a marketing tool to underpin the promotional activities of Enterprise Ireland in seeking to attract international learners to Ireland. In addition, the Mark will be used for immigration purposes. From 2016 it will become a requirement that providers wishing to recruit students from outside the EEA have authorisation to use the Mark. Providers authorised to use the Mark will also be subject to ongoing monitoring and review.
140. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a request for assistive technology in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6160/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. The State Examinations Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students. Full details of the scheme are available for downloading from their website: www.examinations.ie/candidates/reasonableaccommodations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
