Ceisteanna Parlaiminte

Northern Ireland Issues

Joe Higgins

95. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on recent political contacts with political leaders in Northern Ireland. [12519/13]

Official Engagements

Joe Higgins

96. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has met the new United States Secretary of State, John Kerry. [12510/13]

IFSC Clearing House Group

Joe Higgins

3. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent contacts that he has had with the International Financial Services Centre Clearing House Group. [12511/13]

Appointments to State Boards

Joe Higgins

7. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he has made any recent appointments to State boards. [12513/13]

Taxi Regulations

Joe Higgins

604. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if discretion will be allowed with the suitability case for taxis specifically in the case of prohibiting tinted windows (details supplied). [14919/13]

Property Taxation Exemptions

Joe Higgins

163. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will, for the purposes of Section 10 (3) of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2013, prescribe a list of developments in the State, being developments each of which that Minister is satisfied is incomplete to a substantial extent; the way the criteria will be interpreted; in particular, the circumstance (d) listed in Section 10 (4), the extent to which the development complies with the terms of any planning permission applicable to it; if, for example, the developer of an estate was found to owe the council development contributions attached as a condition of planning permission, would that constitute the development not being in compliance with the terms of planning permission and would it be sufficient for the development to be listed on the list detailed in Section 10(3). [14547/13]

Departmental Properties

Joe Higgins

278. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will instruct the Chief State Solicitor's Office to reply to a person (details supplied) regarding a property dispute as promised by his Department in a letter. [14207/13]

Redundancy Payments

Joe Higgins

290. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the industrial dispute between a company (details supplied) in County Kerry and seven employees, members of SIPTU, whereby the employees are informed by the company that they are to be made redundant, the company refuses to engage with them, their union and the Labour Relations Commission over the terms of the redundancy and explore the possibility of saving some of the jobs and furthermore the company has threatened the workers with instant dismissal with no redundancy payment if they exercise their legal right to engage in strike action as a result of the company's approach. [14178/13]

Export Controls

Joe Higgins

291. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures he has in place to ensure that components for weapons manufactured here do not get used in weapons manufactured in countries where EU arms exports bans apply, for example, in the case of components manufactured by a company (details supplied) in County Kerry which were found in an Iranian drone which landed in Sudan, both of which countries are subject to an EU arms export ban. [14206/13]

Planning Issues

Joe Higgins

367. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if decisions by the An Bord Pleanála Appeals Board are binding on county council and city council managers; and if parties successfully taking cases to the An Bord Pleanála Appeals Board have any statutory recourse if they believe decisions made in their favour have not been enforced. [13744/13]

Military Neutrality

Joe Higgins

397. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Defence his views on the resilient threat management conference on 6 March 2013 which took place under Ireland's EU presidency; if he will reconcile the participation of Irish Defence Forces personnel at such events with Ireland's position of being a neutral country. [14205/13]

Hospice Services

Joe Higgins

504. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Health his views on the conflict that has arisen between the parent of a child (details supplied) who resides in Laura Lynn's Children's Hospice and the hospice management over visitation rights; and if he will inquire with the appropriate personnel in the Health Service Executive that they investigate the matter. [13746/13]

Mobility Allowance Applications

Joe Higgins

530. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the number of claims under the Equal Status Acts 2000 - 2008, made since January 2009 against his Department or the Health Service Executive, arising from the application of an upper age limit in the case of the mobility allowance, and which were referred to the Director of the Equality Tribunal; the number of such claims which have been settled by his Department and or the HSE prior to an Equality Officer hearing; the most recent date on which such a claim has been settled ans if there have been settlements; and the terms on which such claims have been settled [13946/13]

Air Accident Investigations

Joe Higgins

5. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Defence if he will order the reopening of the military inquiry covering the crash of an Air Corps Pilatus PC-9 aircraft in County Galway on 12 October 2009 resulting in two fatalities and the concerns raised by the parents of one of the Air Corps personnel killed (details supplied) regarding the conduct of the investigation. [13525/13]

Medical Card Eligibility

Joe Higgins

217. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Health the progress made on plans for medical cards for the chronically ill. [13338/13]

International Relations

Joe Higgins

11. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent visit to Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2339/13]

International Relations

Joe Higgins

14. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will visit the United States in March; and if so, his agenda for the visit. [12512/13]

School Patronage

Joe Higgins

18. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has received a request for a meeting from the parents of Tyrrelstown Educate Together National School to discuss the decision to award patronage to a Catholic trust for the new secondary school for Tyrrelstown, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15. [11799/13]

School Patronage

Joe Higgins

59. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to a decision made in his Department to give patronage of a new secondary school for Tyrrelstown, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 to the Catholic Le Chéile trust, in the most religiously diverse and multicultural area in the entire country; and if so, if he will recognise that the decision must now be reviewed as it would make the school inaccessible to a huge number of families who could be forced to commute to schools elsewhere. [11798/13]

Industrial Disputes

Joe Higgins

231. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Health if he will intervene in the industrial dispute at St James Hospital, Dublin, concerning the suspension of a number of directly employed electricians over a health and safety matter which is ongoing despite the Health and Safety Authority upholding the stand of the workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11739/13]