356. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if he has considered the establishment of a reserve unit for the Air Corps with the necessary skills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40304/20]
355. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if additional funding has been requested from the EU for the Naval Service to support patrolling Irish territorial waters in view of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40303/20]
354. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the external advice or expertise that has been sought to assess the security of cyber infrastructure; the areas in which improvements can be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40302/20]
353. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the allocation and expenditure for supporting mental health within the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40299/20]
352. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the estimated cost of paying personnel the living wage for undertaking a 24-hour duty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40298/20]
351. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if changes to increase the age limit for joining the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force is being examined to improve the numbers eligible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40297/20]
350. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the way in which career breaks are promoted within the Defence Forces; if same are offered prior to a voluntary discharge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40296/20]
349. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the breakdown of personnel undertaking career breaks for the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps by rank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40295/20]
348. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the reason Permanent Defence Force and Reserve Defence Force general service recruitment cannot be undertaken simultaneously in view of the same eligibility criteria under the single force concept; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40294/20]
347. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if funding that was unspent under Vote 36 was subsequently used from 2017 to 2019 and to date in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40293/20]
346. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the number of applications and number commissioned under the Naval Service direct entry scheme for each year from 2017 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40292/20]
345. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the estimated number of recruits expected into the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserve Defence Force in the 2021 recruitment competitions based on previous competitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40291/20]
344. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the resources required to be available to improve recruitment into the Reserve Defence Force in the coming years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40290/20]
337. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if funding has been provided to the Defence Forces to improve and upgrade defence infrastructure to achieve higher environmental standards. [40306/20]
336. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if on-the-job training of an apprentice can be carried out with the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40301/20]
311. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider changing the planning guidelines to ensure that all new public buildings are required to have changing place toilet facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40312/20]
310. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if funding has been allocated for the development or redevelopment of dedicated Defence Forces housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40309/20]
264. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the current position on a new round of sports capital funding; when it will be announced that it is opening; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40313/20]
159. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his plans to combat fly tipping and illegal dumping; if he has allocated funding to local authorities to combat same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40311/20]
241. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the provision of an affordable housing scheme; when legislation for such a scheme will be brought to the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39313/20]
70. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Finance if he is considering the calls from a group (details supplied) and other arts and cultural bodies for insurance reform; and if he is considering a refund of public and employer liability insurance for organisations that now have no insurable events going ahead. [27499/20]
239. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Education if she will consider the urgent need for secondary school places (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37733/20]
212. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if the Naval Service loyalty bonus also applies to Naval Service reservists that meet the requirement criteria. [37743/20]
209. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the technological changes to the recruitment process that have occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic to facilitate a safer and faster recruitment process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37443/20]
208. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if there has been correspondence with the relevant authorities in the European Union Commission regarding Ireland's inability to fully crew all naval ships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37442/20]
207. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if funding has been drawn from other funding sources or Departments in order to finance elements of the Defence Forces: if so, the amount; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37441/20]
206. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the healthcare, housing, psychiatric and income supports available to retired members of the Defence Forces. [37440/20]
205. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the supports in place to assist Defence Forces families during overseas deployment; if these supports will receive additional investment, and the supports that are in development. [37439/20]
204. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the number of personnel who re-enlisted to the Air Corps under the Air Corps loyalty scheme to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37438/20]
203. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the reason recruitment and training has continued for the PDF but not the RDF; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37437/20]
202. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the number of applications and number of personnel who re-enlisted to date under the PDF re-enlistment scheme, for the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps by rank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37436/20]
201. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if he will align Reservist pay with the Permanent Defence Forces first point of the scale under the new 2020 public sector pay deal; if so, the estimated cost of this alignment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37435/20]
200. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the level of digitisation in the Defence Forces for carrying out routine administrative tasks, such as requesting rations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37434/20]
199. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the proposed investment and upgrades in cyber security of Defence Forces systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37433/20]
198. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the nature of IT upgrades which took place for the Defence Forces intranet between 2018 and 2020; the cost of upgrades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37432/20]
197. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence his plans and the timeline to allow former members of the Army and Naval Service reserves to re-enlist in the Reserve subject to the same re-enlistment criteria as the Permanent Defence Forces. [37431/20]
196. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if the Air Corps has investigated the possibility of providing top cover for SAR operations and other fixed wing services to the Irish Coast Guard and HSE on an on-call basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37430/20]
195. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence his views on whether the Air Corps currently retains the ability to carry out SAR operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37429/20]
194. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Defence the number of times, the events and the amount of funding the Department has availed of from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to facilitate Defence Forces personnel competing in international events over the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37425/20]
139. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of plans to introduce an online safety commissioner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35069/20]
104. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if the SAR aviation steering group has requested his Department or the Air Corps to provide an assessment of its current capabilities and expected future capabilities that would be relevant to the conduct of SAR operations in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37428/20]
103. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if the SAR aviation steering group has appraised an option by which the Air Corps could deliver SAR services from a single base and the remainder of SAR services could be procured on the open market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37427/20]
102. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport the number of times annually aerial surveillance and pollution monitoring services were required by the Irish Coast Guard in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37426/20]
55. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the sport capital programme for 2020 as recently referred to by the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht; when the announcement will be made; the amount of funding the grant will contain; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37385/20]
52. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans to target the over-65 age group to continue to enjoy and participate in sport in view of the fact that the Central Statistics Office projects that those aged 65 and over will account for approximately 17% of the population in 2026 compared to 13% in 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37384/20]
22. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the interim report on the night-time economy taskforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37382/20]
19. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the financial situation of an association (details supplied); if correspondence has been received from the association related to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37383/20]
912. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will consider supporting the provision of a new playground (details supplied) in County Kildare under the measure for community recreation areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36199/20]
698. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for surgery for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36208/20]
463. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Education the status of the provision of a new school (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36198/20]