667. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the 1.25 WTE podiatrist position at Kerry general hospital Tralee, which was sanctioned in April 2012 as part of the National Footcare Programme, will be filled as envisaged by the Health Service Executive’s National Clinical Programme for Diabetes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50119/12]
643. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the qualifying criteria a person (details supplied) in County Kerry failed to meet in order to be registered as blind when applying for the blind welfare allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49872/12]
601. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the projected increase in the over 65 year old population in the coming decade; if any funds or moneys are being set aside or are being planned to provide this section of the population with the future facilities and care that will be needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49532/12]
378. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether the fuel allowance payment should be restructured to allow for a sliding scale rather than a flat cut-off point, to prevent situations arising whereby a person who receives an income which is even less than €1 over the threshold misses out on the whole of the €520 payment. [49812/12]
196. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his plans to expand the range of medicines, with established safety profiles and available in other locations without prescription, that can be dispensed by pharmacists with a view to generating more savings as seen in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48828/12]
177. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a capacity to grow more crops here where a commercial market price can be achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48783/12]
69. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he intends to adjust the student maintenance grant, either by reducing the grant rates or by tightening the conditions for eligibility. [48817/12]
1237. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way the Atlantic Corridor will be marketed and promoted and to whom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48673/12]
1144. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the progress that has been made on a specific national approach to improve the health and well-being of persons with rare diseases, as recommended by the European Council action group in the field of rare diseases; the current status of a national rare disease strategy for the State in view of the number of persons estimated to suffer from a rare disease in this country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48354/12]
1109. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the recent report by a person (details supplied) regarding breast health and the need for further promotion and breast awareness; his plans to continue raising awareness on this important issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48103/12]
1108. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his views on the recent accusations that the Health Service Executive does not understand or care about education and research in the medical field; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48101/12]
1107. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his views on the difficulty of retaining Irish-trained doctors and attracting doctors who have gone abroad to return to Ireland; his plans to improve this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48100/12]
971. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the model of the home help services of Northern Ireland has been examined by his Department in view of the recent report composed by researchers from Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48107/12]
882. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the recent provisional deal to reshape the common fisheries policy and the aim to reform the eradication of discards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47854/12]
767. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his view on the proposed 40% female corporate gender quota in the EU; if he will support the quota; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48113/12]
707. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if any of the National Assets Management Agency allocated social housing properties will be utilised to meet the needs of the rising homeless population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48104/12]
654. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his Department is engaging with the European Investment Bank and on what matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48676/12]
653. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the level of engagement of the European Investment Bank in the development of the renewable energy European supergrid and the way he is engaging with the European Investment Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48675/12]
652. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the level of engagement regarding the development of a renewable energy European supergrid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48674/12]
620. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will examine the feasibility of a salmon hatchery on the River Feale in County Kerry; the potential to rejuvenate salmon fish stocks and the potential economic benefits such a project would have; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48164/12]
458. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the qualifying criteria a person (details supplied) in County Kerry failed to meet in order to be registered as blind when applying for the blind welfare allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47430/12]
409. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform regarding repeated flooding in the Kilmoyley area (details supplied) in County Kerry, if the Office of Public Works will undertake a flood risk assessment and undertaken appropriate measures to prevent flooding which is impacting on local residents as well as the church and cemetery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48671/12]
350. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the action being taken to cater for the provision of Church of Ireland schools, taking into account the absence of any secondary schools with a Protestant ethos being provided in County Kerry. [48211/12]
340. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the delay in grant applications being processed through the new Student Universal Support Ireland website system; the number of these grants that are being held up due to delays by the applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48108/12]
276. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the difficulty medical graduate entrants are having in securing bank loans in order to complete their qualifications; if the situation is being examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48102/12]
246. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether the Revenue Commissioners, under current legislation, provide sufficient protection for the tax payer if incorrect accounts and information are submitted by the tax payer's accountant to the Revenue Commissioners without the taxpayer's agreement. [48350/12]
241. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance the extra cost to the Exchequer that would arise if mortgage interest relief was extended to 50% for persons with net income of less than €30,000, and extended to 40% for person's with net income between €30,000 and €40,000. [48212/12]
237. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance the average wage for developers or project facilitators in the National Assets Management Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48105/12]
224. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance if there are any debtors of the National Assets Management Agency in receipt of salaries from NAMA who are being pursued by said organisation for recovery of assets transferred to a third party. [47857/12]
223. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance if there are any debtors of the National Assets Management Agency in receipt of salaries from NAMA who are being pursued by said organisation for personal guarantees. [47856/12]
181. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of a recent report Trading Away Peace, published by a consortium of 22 organisations across Europe, which shows that despite viewing Israeli settlements as illegal the EU imports goods and services with an estimated value of €230 million from the Israeli settlements compared to €15 million from Palestinian territories, if he will provide an estimated figure for the value of trade between Ireland and Israeli settlements in Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48672/12]
166. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the situation in Uganda, the measures and safeguards that are in place to ensure Irish aid funds are not misappropriated by other Governments and authorities that benefit from such funding. [48166/12]
154. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1001 of 18 April 2012, and taking into consideration the following, the number of Irish persons who have emigrated in recent years, that the current Police Certificate of Character may be issued by an Garda Síochána only for the purposes of foreign consular and immigration requirements and for foreign business establishment and not for taking up foreign employment, that the data protection access request application form states a disclosure of personal data under the Data Protection Act 1988 and 2003 should not be construed as Garda vetting, Police certificate, Garda reference or security clearance, if there is a need for a separate Garda clearance certificate to be introduced to cater specifically for Irish citizens who have been offered employment abroad, especially in education and whose acceptance of the offer of employment is pending on the issue of a police clearance certificate from An Garda Síochána. [46906/12]
269. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider a review of rail fares charged by Irish Rail for travel between regional towns as cities as average single rail fares often far exceed the equivalent return bus fare (details supplied); if he will provide information on the capacity for the Tralee, County Kerry, to County Cork route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46597/12]
55. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance the extent of Central Bank of Ireland supervision and control over bank fees and charges for retail customers in the context of diminished competition due to the reduced number of banks providing retail banking services here. [46768/12]
398. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in view of the launch of a €10 million ocean energy competition by the Scottish Government for the development of marine energy devices, that is the Saltire Prize which aims to accelerate the commercial development of wave and tidal energy technology, if such a competition would be feasible here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46146/12]
213. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the current waiting time to access early intervention services for children in the Tralee area, County Kerry, is approximately seven months; the actions that have been taken to reduce the waiting time to access these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45380/12]
315. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties in using the Bus Éireann website; his plans to make it more accessible for users; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45270/12]
297. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health his plans for the SouthDoc service in County Kerry in view of the financial difficulty that has recently been highlighted in the media as well as the 2007 cuts to overall funding for the service and the 2009 10% pay cut to workers in the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45265/12]
282. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if the Health Service Executive budget for home help services in County Kerry is on target. [45049/12]
258. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the policies being pursued to reduce the number of farm accidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45268/12]
208. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered reconfiguring the regional authorities that were laid out in the Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order 1993 as the current configuration has caused counties, such as County Kerry, to become disadvantaged in comparison to County Limerick and the border, midlands and west regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45267/12]
196. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the invention grants in renewable energy that exist for students, companies and individuals here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45264/12]
175. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimate number of households with an income in excess of €100,000 in receipt of child benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45272/12]
159. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated number of households with an income in excess of €100,000 in receipt of child benefit. [45048/12]
148. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the level of engagement and integration between the institute of technology colleges and Industrial Development Agency in the current national and international employment opportunities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45269/12]
103. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the allowances and funding that are currently provided to local training initiatives by FÁS in relation to training for participants and grants for supervisors, materials and administration; the amount FÁS may allocate to a local training initiative to cover the audit fees, as an audit is required by the Revenue Commissioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44995/12]
95. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance if he has been in contact with the Northern Ireland Secretary for State, Theresa Villiers, recently regarding the corporate tax rate in Northern Ireland; if there will be any change in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45266/12]
657. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health the qualifying conditions which nationals of EU and EEA countries, including Switzerland, would have to meet in order for them to be entitled to a medical card if they become an ordinary resident here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44525/12]
437. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 51 of 3 May 2012, if he will provide an update on the appointment of the Chairperson and the nomination of the majority of non-architect members to the Professional Conduct Committee in line with Section 23 of the Building Control Act 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44779/12]