163. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the commercial tariff applied to district heating systems; and the current standard residential tariff that is applied to gas users.
[8392/23]
162. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if the passing of SI. 350/2022, and the new role the Commission of Regulation of Utilities in regulating district heating systems, will mean that the current commercial tariff levied on residents of such systems will be removed and a standard residential rate tariff applied instead; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8391/23]
161. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 93, 100, 107, and 108 of 15 December 2022 in relation to the regulation of district heating schemes and prices paid by residents, if the commercial tariff he mentioned is the reason that residents of DHS have faced such enormous rises in their energy bills; if this tariff is collected by the State, and if he can provide figures for the amounts collected by this tariff since 2019 to date; when the proposals to regulate the DHS sector will be enacted and if this will see controls on the prices of heat/energy for residents in such complexes; if such regulations are not imminent; if any action can be taken in relation to the commercial tariffs imposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8389/23]
360. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the actions his Department intends to take following the recent RTÉ Investigates report that showed that up to 12,000 vulnerable people were denied their disability allowances by State actions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6069/23]
173. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of his plans to address the crisis in the provision of nursing home beds for the elderly; if he intends to increase the provision of public nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7625/23]
111. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will clarify the following in relation to cervical check screening, the percentage of tests currently carried out abroad as a percentage of the overall programme by year since 2020; the date on which he expects the Coombe facility to be fully staffed and operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7626/23]
16. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of concerns expressed by advocates and human rights campaigners about the dangers of “fast tracking” asylum applications from supposedly “safe countries”, and that such procedures can lead to applicants being denied proper legal advice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7655/23]
6. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to meet with the family of a person (details supplied) to discuss their concerns; if he can detail the progress on the scoping inquiry; if he will support a full independent inquiry into this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7654/23]
165. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he can clarify Government policy in relation to tackling period poverty; if they are supporting the passing of the legislation currently at Seanad Committee stage; if they intend to provide free products at secondary levels as well as third levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7486/23]
130. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will mandate his Department to examine the introduction of public provision of childcare, as recommended by the expert group report Partnership for the Public Good; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7705/23]
107. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Education if she can clarify the policy of her Department in relation to the provision of free period products in secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7487/23]
43. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide the timeframe for the publication of the revised wind energy development guidelines and the reason for the significant delay in publishing it; if the regulations will bring us up to EU norms with regard to distance to turbines and noise levels; whether the Government will continue to outsource the provision of renewable energy to foreign multinationals if it will establish a State-led, nationalised model of provision for wind energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7488/23]
837. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the number of health workers entitled to the €1,000 pandemic bonus who remain unpaid; the position of staff in private nursing homes; the number of these who have received the bonus to date; the number of those who have not received the payment; if home help and care providers who continued to look after persons in their homes during the pandemic are eligible for the payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7293/23]
831. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health when he will publish the report on the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7279/23]
283. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is binging any proposals to permit the automatic granting of permission for wind energy projects that have been waiting for over two years for planning approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7359/23]
276. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will ensure funding is made available to Dublin City Council in order to renovate the Iveagh building in the Liberties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7281/23]
226. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if funds are available for local authorities from his Department to refurbish social housing units, specifically to install double glazed windows in housing units such as Emmet Building, Dublin 8, in response to ongoing concerns over mould and damp and also as measures to reduce energy consumption and emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7280/23]
125. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if current or proposed protections from disconnections to heating and lighting supplies are applied in relation to district heating system residents; if the CRU will have any regulatory control over district heating systems in the near future; the number of residents and homes presently covered and supplied by district heating systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6994/23]
303. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the number of cariban prescriptions that have been processed through the drugs payment scheme to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6376/23]
302. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will clarify the reason exactly a GP cannot prescribe cariban on the drugs payment scheme; if he will acknowledge that the majority of women do not see a consultant until after 12 weeks of pregnancy and it is the case that a GP would be qualified to prescribe the drug and be automatically covered on the DPS; if he will clarify the reason that a GP would not be qualified to do so if this is not permissible; if he will clarify the standard practice of the prescription of the drug that exists in other EU member states; if he will further outline his Department’s recommendations to help with extreme nausea and vomiting for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy or until the drug can be accessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6375/23]
301. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will clearly outline the process through which pregnant women experiencing extreme nausea and vomiting can obtain cariban under the drugs payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6374/23]
100. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he can clarify his Department's recent communication on accommodation and support for refugees; the reason that it discriminates between different refugees and specifically offers less support to international protection refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6068/23]
81. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he can clarify the position with regard to the programme for Government commitment to end the direct provision system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6072/23]
72. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the long overdue national action plan against racism will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6071/23]
67. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the actions he is taking to ensure that adequate accommodation is available for refugees arriving in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6070/23]
46. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for additional needs payments to date in 2023; if she can clarify the number of these that have been rejected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6074/23]
13. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the total allocation of extra funding to community welfare officers to deal with applicants for additional needs' payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6073/23]
481. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing dogs for whom markings were put on their identity book by the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5703/23]
480. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing dogs named with the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5702/23]
479. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of naming forms for non-coursing dogs obtained from the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5701/23]
478. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing dogs tattooed and microchipped with the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5700/23]
477. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing litters registered with the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022, in tabular form (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5699/23]
476. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of mating certificates for non-coursing dogs obtained from the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5698/23]
475. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of non-coursing stud greyhounds registered with the Irish Coursing Club in each of the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5697/23]
474. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if allowing a named individual to enter a dog in a greyhound race in Shelbourne Park on 20 January 2023 while the individual is the subject of an exclusion order imposed by Rásaíocht Con Éireann for multiple serious doping offences undermines the integrity of the greyhound industry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5696/23]
316. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 472 of 30 November 2021, if he will clarify when the review will be made available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5735/23]
189. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Education if the State, which funds private schools, has any input or control over their enrolment policy; if the practices reported at a school (details supplied) constitute a breach of State guidelines or are in keeping with present rules and criteria; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5604/23]
149. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Education the discussions or arrangements that occur with her Department or local schools in cases in which children, as refugees or asylum seekers, in primary and secondary schools are moved, with little formal notice to the parents or staff involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5246/23]
44. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if he or other Ministers have sought or looked for legal advice in relation to Ireland's participation in EU battlegroups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5134/23]
165. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the niece of a deceased woman (details supplied) who spent time in a mother and baby home is eligible to access the redress scheme; if this negates the claim for compensation if the child of the deceased woman was adopted on the mother's behalf; and if so, if this then allows the next of kin, a niece make a claim instead; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5042/23]
4. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on his most recent engagement with political representatives and groups from Northern Ireland since he returned to Oifig an Taoisigh. [4423/23]
707. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the current status of the Adult Safeguarding Bill 2017; when it is likely to move to the next stage of the legislative process; if he will acknowledge that legislation is urgently needed to protect vulnerable adults; if he will provide clarity and a legal framework for those involved in their care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4525/23]
94. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is concerned about recent statements by the incoming Israeli Prime Minister, and their clear sanctioning of further illegal settlements and annexations in the West Bank; if he will raise this at EU and UN forums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4397/23]
Bill entitled an Act to amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to provide for abortion on request prior to foetal viability; to abolish the 3 day waiting period for abortion on request; to allow for abortion on grounds of fatal foetal abnormality that are likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within a year of birth; to allow for abortion where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; and to decriminalise the provision of abortion.