227. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, her Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if her Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68451/25]
219. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68450/25]
198. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68462/25]
171. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68465/25]
159. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68461/25]
152. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68453/25]
150. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, her Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if her Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68455/25]
132. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68456/25]
122. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68463/25]
113. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68457/25]
102. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68467/25]
92. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, her Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if her Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68454/25]
91. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68452/25]
88. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, her Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if her Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68458/25]
83. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 2148 of 4 November 2025 to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in which he confirmed that, although not required by statute, his Department voluntarily publishes its annual consultancy spending online in the interest of transparency and accessibility, if his Department operates a similar practice; if not, whether consideration will be given to adopting this approach as a transparency measure consistent with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and wider open-government principles. [68466/25]
14. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach for an update on his Department’s plans to co-ordinate a range of actions aimed at regulatory reform. [58232/25]
370. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to the 5% pension increase recently granted to former Irish Rail staff; when this increase is due to be implemented; if his Department has assessed the impact of this increase on the eligibility of affected pensioners for Social Protection supports such as the medical card, fuel allowance and other secondary benefits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67612/25]
330. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has carried out any analysis comparing the cost, speed, and long-term maintenance outcomes of returning void social housing units to use versus alternative interventions such as acquisition, leasing, or new build; and if he will publish any such analysis to inform future policy choices. [67518/25]
329. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has examined the feasibility of aligning private-sector vacant property grants with local authority programmes for returning voids to use; and if not, if such alignment will now be considered. [67517/25]
328. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority dwellings classified as void, by each local authority in each of the past five years; the number returned to use annually; the average cost of remediation per dwelling; the mean and median turnaround time; the value of Departmental funding drawn down for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67516/25]
327. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department maintains any form of benchmarking, comparative performance assessment, league table, or KPI-based ranking of local authorities in respect of their management of vacant/void social housing units, including turnaround times, cost per unit, and annual throughput; and if such information exists, if he will publish it; and if not, the reason such comparative evaluation is not undertaken. [67515/25]
326. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline all current funding streams, capital supports, and operational supports made available by his Department to local authorities for the purpose of returning vacant or derelict local authority homes to use voids, including approvals, drawdown mechanisms, turnaround targets, and auditing arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67514/25]
325. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to schemes such as the town and village renewal grant, if local authorities may use, or support applicants to use, such schemes to bring vacant or derelict residential units or voids back into productive use;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67513/25]
206. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 645 of 4 November 2025, whether schools will be instructed or required by the NCSE to redeploy special needs assistants (SNAs) from their mainstream SNA allocation in order to meet above-SERC needs in autism classes under the new SNA review guidelines; whether the previous above-SERC SNA review process for autism classes has been discontinued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67273/25]
170. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the major building project at a school (details supplied); the reason for the delay; when progress can be expected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66368/25]
108. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Transport the steps his Department is taking to address the difficulties faced by Irish citizens living in the UK who, due to post-Brexit insurance restrictions, are no longer able to be insured as named drivers on Irish-registered vehicles when they hold a UK driving licence; if he is aware of the significant impact this is having on those returning regularly to Ireland to care for elderly parents or maintain family homes; if he will outline whether discussions have taken place with insurance providers, the Department of Finance, or with UK authorities regarding potential solutions or mitigations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66393/25]
977. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66365/25]
972. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66360/25]
951. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Health to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66361/25]
789. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66342/25]
756. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department conducts root-cause analysis on claims that give rise to State Claims Agency costs; to identify if they stem from preventable failures for example, health and safety, service provision, accommodation standards, or administrative errors; and the actions taken as a result. [65244/25]
755. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department receives claim-level reports from the State Claims Agency detailing the category, cause, and cost of claims for which it is liable; and if so, whether she will publish anonymised versions of these reports to allow transparency on the risks driving expenditure. [65242/25]
754. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to explain the drivers of the increase in State Claims Agency billing to her Department from approximately €250,000 in 2021 to over €2 million in 2025 (details supplied); and the risk factors, service failures, or litigation trends that account for this escalation. [65241/25]
753. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide all claims managed by the State Claims Agency for which her Department is liable for the years 2020 to 2025, including the number of claims, the category of claim, the total cost per category, the number of active claims, the number of settled claims and the median payout per category. [65240/25]
745. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66340/25]
734. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has assessed the potential impacts on agricultural land, livestock and watercourses from contamination arising from battery-storage fires; if inter-agency protocols exist between local authorities, the EPA and the Department following such incidents; if he will provide copies of any such protocols; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65927/25]
733. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the delay in issuing the 2024 ACRES payment to a person (details supplied) will be resolved; when they can expect their payment; the reason the application for NPI has not been accepted; and the reason for the eight-month delay in payment. [65926/25]
693. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66363/25]
635. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to his Department’s published collection of “Purchase Orders Issued Over €20,000 in Value” (details supplied), to confirm if his Department holds equivalent purchase-order/payment data for the years 2012 to 2015; and if so, to publish same online in the interests of completeness and transparency. [65374/25]
613. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66367/25]
589. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is satisfied that the Fire Service has adequate training, equipment, and response capability for large-scale BESS incidents; and if capability-gap reviews can be published. [66758/25]
588. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66362/25]
533. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he plans to implement new draft wind energy guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60322/25]
532. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he plans to implement new draft wind energy guidelines;and if he will make a statement on the matter.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60285/25]
521. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if environmental impact assessment requirements for solar farms and associated battery-storage facilities include mandatory analysis of contamination risks from fire-water run-off, air emissions, and soil or groundwater pollution; and if he will provide the relevant regulatory documents or inspectorate guidance. [65621/25]
520. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if fire-service capabilities have been evaluated in respect of large-scale battery-storage fires; if national guidance exists regarding the extinguishing, containment, and post-incident environmental management of such fires; and if he will provide reports commissioned by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management on this matter. [65620/25]
495. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66345/25]
468. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66349/25]
333. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to provide the Department’s annual expenditure on State Claims Agency costs for the years 2020–2025. [66350/25]
318. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether any national requirements exist for reporting, investigating, and documenting incidents involving hazardous materials at non-EPA-licensed facilities; and if he will publish the relevant regulatory framework. [65622/25]