545. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Social Protection the average time it takes to process EU social insurance contribution records for people returning to Ireland; whether he would consider introducing interim social protection supports for those returning who have met PRSI contribution records in the years preceding that in which they emigrated, subject to a time-bound cut-off point. [72999/26]
544. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider introducing a savings disregard in the jobseeker's allowance means test for those saving for their first home. [73002/26]
557. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether, under the temporary protection transition scheme, an applicant who was in continuous PAYE employment for the six months prior to 30 September 2026 may combine that employment income with self-employment income earned in the same period in order to meet the minimum income threshold of €29,432; and the way in which such an applicant should complete the online application form, which permits only one employment type to be selected. [73036/26]
556. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the method by which average gross annual earnings are calculated for the purposes of the temporary protection transition scheme, including whether the assessment is based on the contracted annual salary, the gross pay on payslips dated within the six-month reference period, or annual earnings recorded by Revenue; the exact start and end dates of the reference period; and whether arrears of pay relating to the reference period but paid after 30 September 2026 are counted. [73039/26]
442. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 65501/26, for an update on the implementation of the SC L1\L2 programmes for special schools. [73185/26]
398. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he has plans to lobby an organisation (details supplied); and if he will consider an alternative venue at an earlier date. [71502/26]
244. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he is aware that the founder and chairman of an organisation (details supplied), whose subsidiary carried out his Departments report on Green Energy Parks, ran another company at a time it pleaded guilty to bribery; the due diligence that was carried out on the organisation prior to commissioning the report from their subsidiary; the details of all Government contracts awarded to the organisation; and the nature of the work. [71482/26]
95. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport whether the evaluation process under condition 10 of the Dublin airport north runway planning permission (details supplied) is genuinely assessing the effectiveness of the property buy-out scheme as mitigation, including whether it enables affected households to relocate without being disadvantaged. [71729/26]
298. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health for a comprehensive update on the HSE’s response to the recent decision of the Data Protection Commission in respect of historical psychiatric hospital records (details supplied), including whether the HSE will make arrangements to transfer these important records to the National Archives of Ireland in order that they may be preserved appropriately. [71136/26]
297. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health the discussions that were held over the past five years between the HSE and the National Archives of Ireland regarding the safety and future preservation of historical psychiatric hospital records. [71137/26]
191. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will expedite a review of the An Post pension scheme and the cap currently in place given it has recovered from a deficit and has been acknowledged as being in "rude health" by An Post. [71116/26]
176. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when updated guidance will be provided to local authorities on the provision of allotments and community gardens. [70810/26]
630. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health for an update on paediatric service staffing in Rialto primary care centre; when patients can expect a post (details supplied) to be filled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70187/26]
384. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason founders of social enterprises established as companies limited by guarantee may be classified as self-employed and required to pay Class S PRSI, despite being paid through payroll, holding no shares in the organisation and being accountable to a voluntary board of directors; if this classification excludes them from MyFutureFund; the steps available to correct an inappropriate classification; and if he will review the rules in order that social enterprise founders are supported to save for retirement rather than penalised for establishing organisations they do not own. [69819/26]
350. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Scheme Bill 2024; and when he expects the Bill to be published. [69912/26]
151. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if any funding is available through her Department to support the continued operation of a children's charity (details supplied), which provides free books to more than 5,000 children across Dublin 24, but which faces significant funding pressures. [69106/26]
224. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the amount of plastic waste collected for recycling in Ireland that was reprocessed in Ireland for the latest year that figures are available; the amount that was exported for reprocessing; and the State’s capacity currently to recycle plastic waste. [68874/26]
223. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the amount of PET plastic was collected for recycling in Ireland for the latest year that figures are available; the amount that was reprocessed in Ireland; and the amount that was exported for reprocessing. [68875/26]
222. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the amount of recyclable material collected in Ireland that was exported for recycling or reprocessing in each of the past five years, broken down by material type. [68876/26]
214. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment for an update on the independent analysis being undertaken in relation to the repowering and lifetime extension of Ireland's existing onshore wind farms; the current status of this work; and when he expects the analysis to be completed. [68381/26]
213. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment whether his Department has considered recommendations (details supplied), including its recommendations on accelerating the repowering and lifetime extension of existing wind farms; whether these recommendations are being considered as part of the independent analysis; and his plans for policy change in this area in the context of Ireland's climate and renewable-energy obligations and the need to deliver secure and affordable electricity for consumers. [68382/26]
212. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the way in which the findings of the independent analysis on repowering and lifetime extension will inform the forthcoming National Planning Statement on Wind Energy and the development of a policy framework for existing onshore wind farms; whether he accepts that delays in providing such a framework risk the loss of existing renewable generation capacity at a time when Ireland needs to accelerate renewable-energy deployment to meet its climate and energy targets, strengthen energy security and reduce costs for electricity consumers; and the timeline for putting such a framework in place. [68383/26]
581. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to PQ68181/26, if consideration was given to the effect of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026 on Irish citizens themselves — not just on the foreign-national spouse — of retroactively extending the timeline for their own husband, wife, or partner to become a citizen of this country. [68182/26]
554. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the evidence base for raising the marriage/civil partnership residency requirement from three years to five, separately from the general increase in reckonable residence from five to eight. [68181/26]
370. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person aged under 66 years-of-age who moved from receiving an invalidity pension to a bereaved partners contributory pension is no longer eligible to receive the living alone increase; whether this distinction has been reviewed for fairness and equality; if he will consider amending legislation to include widows and widowers under 66 years-of-age who live alone and are in receipt of a bereaved partners contributory pension as eligible to receive the living alone increase; and the additional measures he is considering to support widows and widowers under 66 who live alone. [67747/26]
315. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on an Emergency Works Grant application for a school (details supplied). [67687/26]
224. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 96 of 15 January 2026, whether his Department has had any engagement with the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling task force regarding excessive brightness and intensity of modern LED and HID car headlights; and the nature of that engagement. [67638/26]
221. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if his Department has examined any additional infrastructural road safety measures on motorways following a number of incidents in recent months, including fatal collisions involving motorists driving the wrong way down slip roads and motorways. [67643/26]
121. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide the €70 million in funding that the NTA says is required to avoid the increase in public transport fares; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68009/26]
431. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 2600 of 7 September 2026, if the relocation decision was made before or after the relevant medical and disability evidence concerning a child (details supplied) was available to the decision-maker; if the decision was made without this information, whether the decision will now be reconsidered in light of the professional evidence which has been provided; if the information was already available, how was the proposed accommodation assessed as suitable in light of those needs. [66793/26]
430. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 2600 of 7 September 2026, the steps that were taken in the case of a family (details supplied) to maintain continuity of their established healthcare and supports. [66794/26]
429. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to PQ63641/26, what individual assessment was actually undertaken before the accommodation was allocated to this family, what information was relied upon in determining that it was suitable, and did the decision-maker have access to an assessment addressing the child's (details supplied) actual disability, accessibility, manual-handling and personal-care requirements. [66792/26]
23. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment his response to a recent United Nations Environment Programme report which concluded that global warming is certain to overshoot the 1.5C threshold; if he is satisfied that Ireland has to date made its fair contribution towards limiting global warming; if this Government will now significantly scale up its climate action measures to play our part in limiting the overshoot of the threshold and reach the legally binding targets that we have committed to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65978/26]
45. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment for an update on the status of the Climate Action Plan 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65972/26]
7. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the assessment his Department has made of the impact of the exceptionally hot and dry conditions experienced in Ireland during summer 2026 (details supplied); the additional measures he intends to introduce to protect and support communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65985/26]
4. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment in light of recent reporting on data centre energy consumption, water use, carbon emissions and their impact on household energy bills, if he is confident in the Government’s current strategy and if he is proposing any changes to it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65969/26]
913. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if the proposed Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026 will make no change to the entitlement to Irish citizenship by descent (details supplied); how the proposals have regard to the recognition in Article 2 of the Constitution of the special affinity of the Irish nation with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65136/26]
553. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the stage 2A review of a school accommodation project (details supplied); whether she will include the project for priority consideration in the next tranche of the schools building programme; to provide a clear and realistic timeline to tender and construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64981/26]
129. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment for an update on the work of the working group established to address technical, safety and other issues, in advance of delivering plug-in solar systems in Ireland, which is due to report its recommendations to his Department this month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65583/26]
612. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth to confirm when special schools will receive formal approval to appoint the additional Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes Co-ordinator post of responsibility provided for under Circular 0038/2026; to outline the reason for the delay in providing this confirmation to special schools, particularly given that mainstream post-primary schools have already been facilitated to appoint to these additional posts; to provide a specific date by which eligible special schools will be notified of their entitlement and permitted to commence the recruitment and appointment process. [65501/26]