Ceisteanna Parlaiminte

Cancer Research

Arthur Spring

257. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the clinical trial published in the AJR 2009 complies with ethical standards; and if it demonstrates an increase in breast cancer [12564/14]

Cancer Research

Arthur Spring

258. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if a safety statement and risk assessment are available for digital mammogram machines. [12565/14]

Revenue Commissioners Expenditure

Arthur Spring

74. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce new technology to prevent counterfeiting of security features of Revenue stamps on products such as cigarettes; when the provision of such services will be put to tender again; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11629/14]

Garda Recruitment

Arthur Spring

185. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the aptitude test for Garda recruitment is being done online the way we can be sure that the person that has applied to do it is the same person doing the test. [11399/14]

Garda Recruitment

Arthur Spring

186. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in the recruitment process for An Garda Síochána are the Garda reserves given preferential treatment or if a percentage of places have been reserved for them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11400/14]

Severe Weather Events Response

Arthur Spring

195. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if grant aid will be made available to farmers who have had uninsured working farm buildings damaged in recent storms thus affecting their ability to earn an income. [11388/14]

Building Regulations Qualifications

Arthur Spring

130. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the introduction of the new building control regulations, the options available to a person with a diploma in architectural technology to access the statutory register of architects, in view of the fact that that person has operated an architectural services practice covered by professional indemnity insurance for over 20 years and has not had a claim made against the business. [11087/14]

Nursing Home Subventions

Arthur Spring

174. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for funding through the fair deal scheme in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; when a final decision will issue; if their application will be expedited in view of their financial situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11021/14]

Medical Card Eligibility

Arthur Spring

225. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his plans to alter the income limits for medical card applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9796/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

256. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if a safety statement is available for digital mammogram machines or if a risk assessment has been conducted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9927/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

257. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if BreastCheck women's charter represents an abrogation of responsibility to women; if the charter confines the promise to recalling women; if the remainder of the charter is aspirational; if the consortium has any duty of care to women under this charter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9928/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

258. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if a standardised detection ratio is the preferred method to ensure unit performance; if the unit performance has taken precedence over women’s health and safety; if other methods are utilised to ensure unit performance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9929/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

259. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if multidisciplinary teams are utilised to make cancer diagnoses; the way they are configured; the radiologists involved; the pathologists involved; if there is any provision for oversight in the system; if there is any provision to allow access to digital X-rays at the time of acquisition; if there is provision to provide women with tissue samples to facilitate independent confirmation of the diagnosis such as happens with Garda acquired blood samples; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9930/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

260. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the 1,298 women who have developed breast cancer subsequent to a clear screening National Cancer Register and that the interval cancer rate at 38% of anticipated cancer rate with an additional 525 women who also developed cancer subsequent to clear screening places Ireland firmly at the top of breast cancer interval cancer rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9931/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

261. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the clinical trial published in 2009 demonstrated a statistically significant increase in breast cancer on each occasion the digital mammogram machine was used; if it is reasonable to use this machine at all; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9932/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

262. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the publication of the Swiss Medical Board might influence his decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9933/14]

Cancer Screening Programmes

Arthur Spring

263. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if a phase one clinical trial has taken place here on digital mammography; if so, if the women were consulted on the risks involved in a clinical trial; where the trial was initiated; if the outcomes demonstrate an increase in breast cancer in the women screened with the digital machine; the corrective action taken at that point; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9934/14]

Water and Sewerage Schemes Funding

Arthur Spring

497. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will be allocating funding for group sewerage schemes in County Kerry in view of the recent flooding and the resulting health hazards which can be avoided by the introduction of GSS as opposed to septic tanks; and if he anticipates penalties from Europe as a result of newly introduced standards regarding pollution. [9594/14]

Housing Adaptation Grant Applications

Arthur Spring

507. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there are financial or medical exceptions to the housing grants scheme which permit a person aged under 66 to qualify for the housing adaptation grant for older people. [9684/14]

Student Grant Scheme Applications

Arthur Spring

116. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the parent's pension contributions in relation to a child's student grant application that can be disregarded; if the pension contributions have to appear on the parent's P21; and if so, the panels of the P21 on which the pension contributions must be found. [8877/14]

School Meals Programme

Arthur Spring

126. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the criteria involved in assessing non-DEIS schools which qualified for the school meals programme prior to 2005, under the following schemes, school completion programme, designated disadvantaged, home school community liaison, giving children an even break and early start; and if any non-DEIS schools have been included in the scheme since 2005. [8620/14]

Motor Tax Yield

Arthur Spring

478. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the increase in revenue generated from motor tax as a direct result of closing the motor tax exemption loophole on 1 October 2013. [5550/14]

Motor Tax Collection

Arthur Spring

479. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will estimate the current level of motor tax evasion; if a strategy to increase enforcement is necessary; and if the option of replacing tax discs with an electronic system utilising automatic number plate recognition, similar to that recently announced in the UK, has been considered. [5551/14]

Water Charges Introduction

Arthur Spring

490. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date on which water charges will commence nationally; the time frame after that date that the first bills will be issued; if Irish Water will be using interim meter readings prior to that date to gauge average water usage per household; and if his Department will provide this data to CER when setting the charge. [5657/14]

Greenways Provision

Arthur Spring

759. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide the details of the route of the north Kerry line which was one of the two applications for a greenway project submitted by Kerry County Council. [5381/14]

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Arthur Spring

55. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether a person (details supplied) should be allowed to submit his or her passport records to Student Universal Support Ireland as proof of independent living from his or her parents. [4690/14]

Departmental Staff Redeployment

Arthur Spring

93. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) in County Kerry could be considered for redeployment outside of her Department to vacant positions in other Departments. [4696/14]

Third Level Fees

Arthur Spring

75. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he considers it necessary that an exemption from international student fees should be given to children of an Irish person working for an Enterprise Ireland assisted company who has been required to live outside the EU for more than three of the past five years in an attempt to grow the company. [4529/14]

Home Care Packages Provision

Arthur Spring

202. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for home help in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [4452/14]

IDA Site Visits

Arthur Spring

330. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether the number of Industrial Development Agency led visits by potential investors to County Kerry will be increased in future years; the changes to regional aid grants that are required to make County Kerry more attractive to potential investors; and if strategies to rectify the imbalance between the number of IDA led visits to major cities in comparison to designated hub towns will be implemented. [3578/14]

IDA Site Visits

Arthur Spring

335. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether the number of Industrial Development Agency led visits by potential investors to County Kerry will be increased in future years; the changes to regional aid grants that are required to make County Kerry more attractive to potential investors; and if strategies to rectify the imbalance between the number of IDA led visits to major cities in comparison to designated hub towns can be implemented. [3991/14]

Departmental Reports

Arthur Spring

446. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he is considering implementing the main points of the Bacon report on rural towns to encourage the refurbishment and modernisation of disused commercial premises in order that some commercial and residential activity in traditional town centres will be restored to correct the imbalance consequent upon the proliferation of shopping malls on the outskirts of these towns. [3990/14]

Medical Aids and Appliances Provision

Arthur Spring

720. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the number of insulin pumps the Health Service Executive currently has in stock; if the current roll-out of these pumps is adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3860/14]

Medical Card Eligibility

Arthur Spring

756. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the reason, in the event of a delay of a medical card being renewed, that payments are not backdated to the time of the expiry of the medical card, thus leaving the patient who is worthy of a medical card to pay for medical services when he or she cannot afford to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4080/14]

Severe Weather Events Expenditure

Arthur Spring

431. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if an application will be made to the EU solidarity fund to seek financial assistance with the clean-up and repair costs of the damage caused along the Irish coastline by recent storms. [2437/14]

Departmental Properties

Arthur Spring

625. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the costs incurred by the Health Service Executive in maintaining the building and in the provision of security at Dingle District Hospital, County Kerry; and if the HSE plan to sell the building or if sections of the building can be assigned for use of community groups in the area [2606/14]

Departmental Properties

Arthur Spring

626. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the costs incurred by the Health Service Executive in maintaining the building and in the provision of security at St. Finian's Hospital, Killarney, County Kerry; if the HSE plan to sell the building or if sections of the building can be assigned for use of community groups in the area. [2607/14]

Third Level Fees

Arthur Spring

179. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is possible for an exemption in relation to international student fees to be given to children of an Irish person working for an Enterprise Ireland assisted company who has been required to live outside the EU for more than three of the past five years in an attempt to grow the company. [55220/13]

School Accommodation

Arthur Spring

193. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a school (details supplied) in County Kerry last received an overall school accommodation examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55446/13]

Road Traffic Offences

Arthur Spring

917. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if legislation will be introduced to criminalise the act of clocking cars; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55499/13]

Passports for Investment Scheme

Arthur Spring

435. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the production of plays and theatre would be considered a suitable high potential start-up business in order for a non-EEA applicant to qualify for the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme and secure residency status here. [53894/13]

Long-Term Illness Scheme Eligibility

Arthur Spring

543. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if a person currently living in the UK and planning to move here in the immediate future to join their spouse who is employed here, can submit medical evidence signed by a registered general practitioner in the UK when applying for the long-term illness scheme; the current processing time for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53679/13]

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Arthur Spring

59. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a student who previously enrolled in third level education, received a student grant and did not complete the first year due to exceptional circumstances is entitled to a student grant for year one when commencing a different third level course five years later. [50872/13]

IBRC Mortgage Loan Book

Arthur Spring

150. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance if mortgages previously held with Irish Nationwide, now with Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. will be refinanced by the borrowers; if the liquidator is in a position to negotiate settlements prior to the anticipated sale of the mortgage book; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50156/13]

IBRC Mortgage Loan Book

Arthur Spring

151. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance if the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation mortgage loan book is sold on to an international investor, if the borrowers will have the protection of the Central Bank of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50157/13]

Departmental Properties

Arthur Spring

219. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has prefabs in his possession as a result of the school building programme. [50313/13]

Sheep Fencing-Mobile Equipment Scheme Applications

Arthur Spring

531. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a review of the level of bureaucracy associated with the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme is necessary in order to modernise and reduce the level of paper work required for sheep farmers as the small hill sheep farmer can find the current administration procedures difficult and discouraging. [50307/13]

Medical Card Eligibility

Arthur Spring

575. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if an applicant for the over-70s medical card who is a PAYE employee is permitted a reduction in the means test for travel-to-work costs incurred by that applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50158/13]

Medical Card Applications

Arthur Spring

214. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his views on whether it is necessary for an applicant for a medical card who is in receipt of a farm assist payment to provide a letter from Revenue with the application stating that the applicant is not liable for tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49756/13]

State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility

Arthur Spring

96. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the entitlement to contributory pension a person has if that person has ten continuous years of paid reckonable contributions from age 55 to 65, if previous legislation entitled a person with such a contribution history to a full contributory pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48568/13]