209 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the way in which he envisages local Government being properly resourced and funded to carry out all their responsibilities following the recommendations of the Indecon report.
[9611/06]
46 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the effect of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006 on An Bord Pleanála and whether it has implications for its independence; the steps he intends to take to ensure that public confidence in An Bord Pleanála is not affected by its changed role; and if he intends to formulate a new planning appeals process if the Bill becomes law.
[9571/06]
11 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether the wording of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006 will make it possible for profit driven projects to receive critical infrastructure status and so bypass the normal planning process; and the steps he intends to take to ensure that projects such as shopping centres or office blocks will not fall within the remit of the fast-track process; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9570/06]
4 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the conclusions of the Indecon report on the financing of local government that between €16 million and €2 billion per annum additional resources will be required by local authorities between now and 2010 to maintain the existing level of service; the way in which he proposes that such additional funding will be provided; the cost of producing and publishing the Indecon report; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9610/06]
1 Mr. Gilmore asked the Taoiseach his plans for the census of population due to be taken on 23 April 2006; if a final decision has been taken on the questions to be asked in the census form; the number of census enumerators that will be employed; the expected total cost of the census; if the Central Statistics Office has consulted with local authorities or the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as to whether the census process could assist in the preparation of more accurate electoral registers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9331/06]
493 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has received an application for permission to remain here from a person (details supplied) who arrived here as an unaccompanied minor in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9555/06]
483 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress which has been made on the application for naturalisation made by a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9431/06]
442 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which the Government supervises co-operation between the national secret services and those of partner countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9272/06]
441 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the Government is systematically informed of the activities of foreign secret services on national territory; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9249/06]
314 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government has requested information from the American authorities regarding alleged flights to, from or over national territory by aircraft chartered by the CIA which may have been used for the illegal transportation of prisoners; if so, the replies which have been received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9284/06]
313 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government knows of, or has been passively or actively involved in, the carrying out of abductions by foreign secret services on national territory or that of other States; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9283/06]
312 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government’s attention has been drawn to landings by any aircraft that may have been involved in the illegal movement or rendition of prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9282/06]
311 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the legal basis for the transportation of prisoners through Irish territories by a third country; if the Government has ever authorised this kind of transportation; if so, the kind of assurances the Government demanded regarding the conditions under which these prisoners were held; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9281/06]
310 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government knows of the illegal transportation of prisoners on flights to, from or over national territory; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9280/06]
309 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the information required from an agency in support of a request to fly to, from or over national territory; if a passenger list would be required; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9279/06]
308 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if permission was requested by the CIA or related agencies to fly to, from or over national territory; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9278/06]
307 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government is aware of any flights to, from or over national territory by aircraft chartered by the CIA or related agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9277/06]
306 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government has requested information from the American authorities regarding the alleged existence of secret detention centres in Europe; if so, the replies it has received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9276/06]
305 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the authorities have been contacted by authorities or secret services of other countries requesting permission for the secret detention or rendition of prisoners on national territory; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9275/06]
304 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government has information regarding the existence of secret detention centres within Irish territory or elsewhere in Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9274/06]
303 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if specific agreements between the Republic of Ireland and the USA on combating terrorism exist; if so, if any provide for independent policing operations within each others territories; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9273/06]
105 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Transport the preparation he is making to formulate a new road safety strategy following the expiration of the current strategy later in 2006.
[9170/06]
104 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Transport the reason a target for the reduction in serious injuries will not be set by the end of the current road safety strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9169/06]
112 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of the promised 200,000 general practitioner cards that have been issued to date; if she has satisfied herself with the roll-out of these cards; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[8540/06]
42 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children when a review of the implementation of action plans in respect of homelessness in children is to take place; if she intends to carry out research into the reasons for the alarmingly high level of homelessness in children here; and if she will establish the particular needs of such homeless children.
[5307/06]
55 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if, prior to his reply to Question No. 247 of 15 June 2005, his attention had been drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) who is a member of Bord na gCon was the subject of a High Court order made on 11 November 2003 specifying that they should not for a period of five years be appointed to act in any way whether directly or indirectly as a director or secretary or to be concerned or take part in the promotion or formation of any company unless it met certain requirements; if he stands over the reply he gave to Question No. 247 of 15 June 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8183/06]
140 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance his views on the recently published Indecon review of property based tax incentive schemes; the action he intends to take as a result of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[7858/06]
77 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance the anticipated costs, in terms of acquiring and equipping premises and other related costs, at the latest date for which figures are available, of the original decentralisation programme announced in budget 2004 and the slimmed down version announced in December 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[7875/06]
9 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Defence the type of activities that Irish troops serving in EU battle groups will be involved in; if activities will be confined to intervention in conflict or will also involve disaster relief; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[7173/06]
75 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the manner in which positions within the United Nations and its agencies are advertised to the Irish public; his views on whether more can be done to ensure the widest possible recruitment to such positions; and if he will make a statement on such reforms as he favours on the matter.
[6974/06]
672 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on introducing legislation to strengthen the law on noise pollution with particular regard to excessive noise which sometimes emanates from private buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6789/06]
399 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the fact that no fee is charged for passports issued to persons aged over 65 years he will consider the position of persons who are close to the age of 65 and who are charged the full fee; his views on including in the three years passport category, persons who are aged 62-65 and including in the five year passport category, persons who are aged 60-62; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6788/06]
398 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the insistence by some countries that a passport is valid only if they are more than six months to the expiry date, he will arrange to adjust the passport fee to reflect the fact that passport holders must now apply for passports more than six months before the expiry date.
[6787/06]
141 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on the development of a single regulator for the all-Ireland energy market which becomes effective in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6738/06]
95 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources when the Deloitte & Touche report on the future of the ESB will be published; the reason there has been such a delay in its publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6708/06]
94 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if, arising from the banning of the sale of magic mushrooms, she is concerned about the possibility of people attempting to source these mushrooms themselves; if she will consider some public health education initiative to warn of the dangers of such substances; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[6116/06]
30 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress which has been made on the introduction of full labelling of all meat and meat products; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[5929/06]
160 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science if the Stay Safe programme will be made compulsory in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[5728/06]
99 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science her plans to introduce an aptitude test for applicants to medical education courses; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that such a test has already been developed by the University of Cambridge which is widely used in Britain; the nature of the test she is considering; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[5729/06]
608 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of completed affordable housing transactions to date in 2006 under the 1999 affordable housing scheme, Part V of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002 and the Sustaining Progress agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5383/06]
429 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Transport the new policy for ports which has been agreed by Government; if it is intended to discontinue the appointment of local authority members to the board of port companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4970/06]
191 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has received a request from local authorities for additional resources to assist in the compilation of the electoral register; the local authorities which have made such a request; his response to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5327/06]
116 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the average percentage of retail prices of electrical goods which is attributable to the environmental management charge as specified by regulations under the EU WEEE directive; the projected revenue from this charge for the first year of the scheme based on this figure; if the projected revenue exceeds the €10 million to €14 million his Department estimated would be required to fund the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5294/06]
106 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the action he has taken to date in 2006 in respect of the concerns raised in Dáil Éireann regarding the inadequate maintenance of the electoral register; the local authorities which have been consulted to date in 2006 on this matter; the proposals he has drawn up to deal with this problem; when he intends to publish such proposals; when he intends to bring in legislation to correct the problems that the Government has acknowledged exist with the electoral register; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5382/06]
103 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the action he intends to take to address the renewed increase in house price inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[5381/06]
92 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some chiropodists are charging medical card holders for chiropody services; if medical card holders are entitled to free chiropody services; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[4845/06]
56 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on reports that his Department has discovered a significant level of fraud involving the use of bogus PPS numbers; if his Department has any estimate of the number of bogus PPS numbers issued; the steps being taken to address this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4706/06]
25 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to recent figures from the EU showing that Ireland spent just 16% of its GDP on social benefits compared to an EU average of 27.7%; his plans to increase social spending towards the EU average; the estimated proportion of GDP likely to be spent on social benefits in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[4707/06]
148
D'fhiafraigh Mr. Gilmore den Aire Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta cathain a fhoilseoidh an Rialtas an ráiteas atá geallta aige ar an nGaeilge; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina leith.
[4409/06]
134
D'fhiafraigh Mr. Gilmore den Aire Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta an bhfuil sé ar intinn aige moladh a chur faoi bhráid na Roinne Oideachais go ndeanfaí dháábhar den Ghaeilge san Ardteistiméireacht; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh.
[4412/06]