Ceisteanna Parlaiminte

EU Regulations

Declan Breathnach

405. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the EU electronic system for travel authorisation, ESTA, proposal; if he has discussed it with his UK counterpart; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34246/17]

Tobacco Control Measures

Declan Breathnach

475. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health if the Health Service Executive will be reviewing its roll-your-own tobacco survey, which failed to mention that since May 2017 retailers can only sell a minimum 30g pack of RYO and this product is more expensive than a pack of cigarettes (details supplied); his views on whether this will likely lead to an increase in smuggled RYO product; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33594/17]

Road Projects Status

Declan Breathnach

1078. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the Narrow Water bridge project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34248/17]

Garda Data

Declan Breathnach

40. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in each Garda station in County Louth as of 30 June 2017; and the number of new recruits assigned to the division since recruitment resumed in 2014. [32870/17]

Fuel Prices

Declan Breathnach

109. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance his plans to issue guidelines to petrol and diesel retailers here to reduce the cost to the consumer in view of the fact that oil prices worldwide continue to plunge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31307/17]

Student Grant Scheme Applications

Declan Breathnach

232. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a SUSI student grant application made by a person (details supplied). [31365/17]

Defence Forces Recruitment

Declan Breathnach

313. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if persons with asthma are barred from joining or serving in the Army; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30366/17]

Brexit Issues

Declan Breathnach

131. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Taoiseach his plans to hold future all-island dialogues on Brexit; and the timeframe for such meetings. [30019/17]

EU Regulations

Declan Breathnach

291. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the EU ESTA proposal; if he has discussed it with his UK counterpart; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30017/17]

Road Projects

Declan Breathnach

514. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the A5 motorway project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30016/17]

Road Projects

Declan Breathnach

515. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the Narrow Water Bridge project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30018/17]

Public Sector Staff Retirements

Declan Breathnach

353. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to extend the retirement age beyond 65 years of age for local authority employees who entered employment prior to 1 April 2004 to bring them in line with those that entered the public service on or after 1 January 2004 that are not obliged to retire on age grounds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26591/17]

Emergency Planning

Declan Breathnach

781. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to increase security and defence in view of the London attacks; if full funding and legislative provisions have been put in place to implement the Schengen information system (SIS); and if a timeframe can be given for full operationalisation of SIS here. [27396/17]

Respite Care Services Provision

Declan Breathnach

1131. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need of respite for children, young adults and ageing adults in the community in County Louth; if his attention has been further drawn to a proposal for providing care for 30 persons (details supplied); his views on this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26981/17]

Occupational Therapy

Declan Breathnach

1133. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that currently there is only one occupational therapist for County Louth (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26987/17]

Family Income Supplement Eligibility

Declan Breathnach

1993. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will use an annual P60 and annual earnings to assess if a person qualifies for family income supplement rather than examining a recent payslip; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that persons are being unfairly assessed using this method such as persons that avail of term time working year and work nine months rather than 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26779/17]

Departmental Staff Relocation

Declan Breathnach

2088. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to transfer staff with responsibility for payroll systems currently based in Dundalk to the national shared services office in Clonskeagh, Dublin 6 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28557/17]

General Practitioner Contracts

Declan Breathnach

207. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 136 of 13 October 2016 and 159 of 18 May 2016, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the HSE has stated after complaining to it (details supplied) and applying for a reimbursement of charges for blood testing that there is a loophole in the system whereby general practitioners have been advised by the IMO that they can charge for blood tests that are for monitoring purposes, that is, repeat bloods for an ongoing medical condition; if he will make arrangements to immediately close this loophole; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26095/17]

Public Sector Pensions

Declan Breathnach

359. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if recently retired public servants and local authority staff will receive an increase to their pension from the partial pay restoration which commenced on 1 April 2017; if future pay restoration measures will increase pension benefits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25335/17]

Pension Provisions

Declan Breathnach

384. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health his plans to offer an incentivised pension scheme in critical employment areas, such as nursing, occupational therapy and speech therapy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25860/17]

Rural Social Scheme Eligibility

Declan Breathnach

159. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to revise the farm income threshold for persons wishing to take part in the rural social scheme; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that due to the fact the current threshold is set very low at €409 per week, that those struggling to survive on low family incomes as in the case of a person (details supplied) are precluded from partaking in the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25258/17]

Teachers' Panel Rights

Declan Breathnach

111. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address a matter (details supplied) whereby due to an error in his Department's payroll system, a person has been left on point one on the pay scale, rather than point three at which they should be; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in view of this error the person has been precluded from getting onto the supplementary panel and therefore precluded from participation in job interviews; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24879/17]

Courts Service Data

Declan Breathnach

96. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 128 of 4 April 2017, the number of those fines imposed that specifically relate to smuggling or selling illicit cigarettes, fuel and alcohol; the number of attachment orders imposed; the number of persons sent to prison for non-payment; and the number of those fines paid. [23490/17]

Cross-Border Projects

Declan Breathnach

272. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if further discussions between the stakeholders regarding the Narrow Water Bridge project have taken place as was alluded to in a report of the North-South Ministerial Council in November 2016 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23395/17]

Health Services Data

Declan Breathnach

474. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health the amount of expenditure on litigation claims against his Department and the HSE in each of the years 2011 to 2016, inclusive, and to date in 2017; the number of claims awarded in court and settled out of court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23218/17]

HSE Health Insurance Claims

Declan Breathnach

475. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health the body which is the insurer for the HSE; the amount of premium paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23219/17]

Sports Capital Programme Applications

Declan Breathnach

559. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the sports capital grant awards will be announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23220/17]

Infectious Disease Screening Service

Declan Breathnach

483. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that testing for Lyme disease here uses the inaccurate standardised test called ELISA, which is at best 35% accurate thereby resulting in missed diagnosis; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that German and other EU laboratories are using a more accurate test which cost the European Union €1.1 million to develop and which is a highly sensitive and specific low-cost lab on a chip system for Lyme diagnosis (details supplied); if he will arrange for the implementation of this system here to save persons the expense of travelling to Germany for diagnoses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22015/17]

Health Products Regulatory Authority

Declan Breathnach

498. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health the number of schools and sports clubs that have registered with the Health Products Regulatory Authority to administer salbutamol in emergency situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22058/17]

TAMS Payments

Declan Breathnach

563. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review a matter regarding an outstanding TAMS II payment; when a person (details supplied) will receive the payment; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that delays in TAMS payments are causing severe financial difficulty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22038/17]

Motor Insurance

Declan Breathnach

267. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the false figures for the number of Garda breath tests having had an impact on the rising cost of car insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20004/17]

Apprenticeship Programmes

Declan Breathnach

353. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for the commencement of the heavy goods vehicle driver apprenticeship programme; the expected timeframe for qualified drivers to come into the workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20005/17]

Diaspora Issues

Declan Breathnach

637. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to introduce incentives to Irish emigrants returning home from abroad to help them to reintegrate into society, for example, to get car insurance, set up bank accounts, access to credit and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20003/17]

Driver Licences

Declan Breathnach

1305. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce incentives to Irish emigrants returning home from abroad to help them to reintegrate into society, for example, to obtain driving licences and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20003/17]

Universal Social Charge

Declan Breathnach

144. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact there is an unfair anomaly for persons earning just over the universal social charge threshold amount of €13,000 whereby they are charged USC on the full amount, for example, 0.5% on the first €12,012 and 2.5% on the balance up to €18,772; his plans to change these rules for those persons on low incomes so the first €13,000 remains exempt from USC with any balance of income over that amount liable to USC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17481/17]

VAT Exemptions

Declan Breathnach

178. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance if, following a recent ruling of the European Court of Justice that VAT should not be applied to tolls on State-owned motorways, he will consider calling on Transport Infrastructure Ireland to postpone an increase in toll charges planned from 1 April 2017 in view of the fact they are no longer liable for VAT; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that such an increase would be damaging to the road haulage sector, which is already severely impacted by insurance costs threatening the viability of many of its businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16310/17]

Shared Ownership Scheme

Declan Breathnach

323. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of persons nationally who have availed of the county council shared ownership loans to date in 2017 to purchase their house, by county and in tabular form; the number of those persons who have moved over to the county council annuity loan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16338/17]

Shared Ownership Scheme

Declan Breathnach

324. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will consider providing financial advice to persons who are being asked to switch from a county council shared ownership loan to an annuity loan to assist them in working out which is the best option for them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16346/17]

Agriculture Scheme Payments

Declan Breathnach

574. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons in County Louth that have not received 85% of their total 2016 payment under GLAS 1, GLAS 2 and AEOS; the reason for this delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15999/17]

Post Office Network

Declan Breathnach

119. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if she will consider exploring the option of giving the post office service responsibility for the compilation of the electoral register and enumeration of census data to make the service more viable in view of the urgent crisis in the delivery of postal services; if she will include this in the list of extra tasks being considered for the post office network on foot of the report of the post office hub working group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15633/17]

Post Office Network

Declan Breathnach

181. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider exploring the option of giving the post office service responsibility for the compilation of the electoral register and enumeration of census data to make the service more viable in view of the urgent crisis in the delivery of postal services; if he will include this in the list of extra tasks being considered for the post office network on foot of the report of the post office hub working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15634/17]

Insurance Coverage

Declan Breathnach

134. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance his plans to regulate for insurance for hobby drone users; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the two insurance companies here underwritten by UK companies that offer insurance cover for drones will not cover drones used by amateurs and hobbyists; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that there have been a number of accidents and damage to property caused by drones operated by amateurs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15299/17]

Fishing Industry

Declan Breathnach

436. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if any fishing organisations were consulted with regard to the Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Bill 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14835/17]

Haulage Industry

Declan Breathnach

35. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to ensure there is no disruption to the current HGV driver sector in anticipation of Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14426/17]

Haulage Industry

Declan Breathnach

36. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her attention has been drawn to the potential damage to the economy caused by the unavailability of drivers in the HGV sector across the EU; the action being taken to ensure drivers can be recruited outside of the EU while unavailable within the EU; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that there is a severe shortage of HGV drivers in the EU; if she will consider putting the category of HGV driver on the highly skilled eligible occupations list to allow the employment permits system to operate in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14425/17]

Motor Insurance

Declan Breathnach

53. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the problem for road haulage companies whereby no insurance company here will insure a HGV driver under 25 years of age; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that, at 25 years of age, drivers must prove they have two years' experience; if his attention has been drawn to discrepancies between Ireland and other European countries in terms of motor insurance whereby it is easier for younger HGV drivers to get insurance in other European countries; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that insurance costs for the HGV sector are prohibitive here causing 30% of the Irish fleet to get insurance abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14217/17]

VAT Exemptions

Declan Breathnach

225. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the measure introduced in the last budget to charge VAT on training and development activities is having the effect of actively discouraging businesses from offering training and development opportunities to their staff; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the measure has led to training courses being cancelled to the detriment of the business providing training and also the staff that would have benefitted from the training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13559/17]

Rent Supplement Scheme Data

Declan Breathnach

485. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of payments by county that have been made to families by the community welfare officers as top ups to the rent supplement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12816/17]

EU Directives

Declan Breathnach

809. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in 2016 the EU cross-border health care directive, which allows Irish citizens obtain treatment in other member states, cost the HSE €2.2 million, an increase of €500,000 on 2015; the detail of the services that were approved since the directive started; the amount that was allocated to mental health under the directive and in particular to residential addiction treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13206/17]

Child Care Services Staff

Declan Breathnach

1299. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if consideration will be given to the circumstances of a person (details supplied) who now falls outside of the criteria outlined in the early years preschool regulations and her Department's child care programmes qualification requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13254/17]