33 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has made representations to the Israeli Government concerning attacks by Israeli Defence forces in the Gaza Strip on 9 November 2006 which killed 19 persons (details supplied); the position of the Government regarding the maintenance of the EU Israel Association Agreement in view of Israeli human rights violations in Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[39584/06]
29 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government’s position at the current Conventional Weapons Review Conference in Geneva, in particular, the Government’s stance on the banning of the use of cluster bombs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[39585/06]
153 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the Danish Government making provision for the repayment of VAT paid on expenditure of charitable bodies; and the way such a provision sits with the position of the Irish Government that such a measure cannot be undertaken due to European Union regulations.
[39081/06]
76 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the amount of tax foregone under initiatives to promote commercial research and development activity in 2006 to date; and the categories under which such relief has been granted.
[39082/06]
585 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the procedures in place to ensure that the auditing of energy standards for new residential buildings will be carried out by an independent impartial party; and the monitoring mechanism that will be introduced to oversee the proper execution of the auditing process.
[38947/06]
475 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport his proposals to introduce on a pilot basis acces to combined bus and cyclelanes for motorcycles; if he will provide details of his proposals in this regard; the reason motorcycles were not originally allowed access to such bus lanes; and if his attention has been drawn to possible road safety implications that may arise from such a change in the regulations.
[38954/06]
460 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the communication he has had with the Marine Accident Investigation Branch regarding the ORA HOPE collision; and the reason for the decision not to undertake an official investigation of the said collision.
[38537/06]
402 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the expected timeline for the execution of dredging work and the building of a breakwater at Buncrana Harbour; and the number of rescue operations that have been hindered or retarded due to the silt build-up in the harbour over the past two years.
[38930/06]
90 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the progress his Department has made in co-ordinating the existing backhaul networks that are in the ownership of different State owned companies to assist the development of a competitive telecommunications infrastructure for Ireland.
[38778/06]
74 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the timeline on approval of new investment in the Aghada power plant; the communication he has had with the ESB and CER with regard to the proposed leasing of the ESB’s current sites; and if the approval of new ESB power plants is conditional on progress being made in this long-term leasing proposal.
[38779/06]
59 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Defence if Irish Defence Forces intending to participate in NATO’s response force exercise in view of the fact that our Finnish partners in the EU Battlegroups intend to participate; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[38116/06]
14 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Defence his views on the Long Term Vision report from the European Defence Agency presented to the EU Defence Ministers meeting in Levi, Finland on 3 October, 2006; the Irish Government’s response to this document; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[38115/06]
201 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of cases that have been lodged with the Personal Injury Assessment Board since it establishment; the number of cases that the board has assessed; the number of cases that are outstanding; the statutory deadline for the processing of same; the number of awards made by the PIAB that have been rejected; and the cost of legal fees incurred by the PIAB in the same period.
[38199/06]
146 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total invested in delivering commercial intellectual property projects in collaboration with the United States; and the number of projects that have been delivered to date.
[37973/06]
111 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has made representations to the European Commission seeking a referral of the case of a potential merger within Ireland’s aviation industry pursuant to Article 9 of EU Merger Regulation.
[37972/06]
78 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of money invested over the past five years by Enterprise Ireland in the redevelopment of the current headquarters in Glasnevin, including the amount spent on the materials building Technology House, and the land acquired at Claremont Avenue; the cost of the annual lease for the new headquarters at Eastpoint; when the decision was made to relocate the headquarters; and the reason for the decision.
[38198/06]
160 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will verify the accuracy of the claim made by NESC in its recent publication Managing Migration in Ireland A Social and Economic Analysis, that it is expected that migrants have contributed more in taxes and social insurance contributions than they have received in welfare payments in recent years.
[37667/06]
91 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if public transport operators have been monitoring passenger volumes following the lifting of the free travel pass restrictions; and if extra services will need to be provided to cater for the reform.
[37666/06]
54 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will elaborate on the findings of the report on illicit drug use amongst the Traveller community undertaken by the national advisory committee on drugs.
[36896/06]
52 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the expert group which is to examine countryside access issues for walkers has been established; the persons who comprise the group; and if there are countryside walkers represented within the group.
[36895/06]
71 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his Department will request all local authorities to produce comprehensive lists of all parks and green spaces that are held on long-term leases and dates when these leases end, and draw up a plan for the way such situations should be dealt with by local authorities in view of recent incidents in Darthmouth Square, Dublin and Mallow; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36694/06]
32 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the procedures followed to investigate serious fires in the State; if the results of such investigations are made public; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36693/06]
392 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the practice of applying substances to the registration plates of vehicles in order to prevent speed camera readings; and if he will introduce new legislative measures to prohibit such a practice.
[36136/06]
231 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance if he will change the system of benefit in kind in order that the tax burden would no longer decrease in inverse proportion to the number of miles covered and the size of the vehicle’s engine.
[36145/06]
180 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the fact that racial discrimination claims by migrant workers have more than doubled in the first half of 2006.
[31656/06]
152 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made to date by the working group on partnerships; when the group’s recommendations will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36340/06]
87 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made under the anti-graffiti pilot project which was to commence in July 2006; the areas which have been tackled during the initial pilot phase of the project; if there are plans to roll out the project to other areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36341/06]
250 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the proposed energy rating that will apply to a domestic houses built to the exact specifications set out in the existing building regulations, under the grading system that is due to be introduced under the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[35965/06]
149 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the breakdown of the projects funded by Sustainable Energy Ireland in 2005 according to the type of scheme, the name of the organisation to which the funding was awarded and the amount of money received by each organisation.
[35870/06]
69 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the role he has played in developing a national cycle way network as laid out in the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006; the amount spent on the project to date; and his plans for the future development of the network.
[35854/06]
31 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the cost of each stage of the M50 upgrade; and the financing operations that are in place for said upgrade.
[35853/06]
598 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the recent decision by the European Court of Justice that there was no protection under Irish law for certain limited species that are not native to Ireland, in contravention of the 1992 EU Habitats Directive; and the measures he intends to take to ensure future compliance with the said directive.
[35171/06]
436 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the outcome of the recent meeting between the heads of the European Union and the Russian President on energy matters; and the consequences of the meeting for Irish energy policy.
[35188/06]
195 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children if she has considered the introduction of a national diagnostic purchase fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[35463/06]
194 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children if, as a result of actions taken by her Department and the Health Service Executive, an improvement in accident and emergency services will be seen in winter 2007.
[35462/06]
154 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his recent trip to New York and his meeting with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and other groups dealing with undocumented Irish in the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34485/06]
122 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received the full written report he requested from the US authorities regarding the incident of 11 June 2006 when a civilian aircraft landed at Shannon en route from Kuwait to the United States carrying a US marine prisoner, without the requisite Government consent; if he has, will it be made public; the steps the Government has taken to engage in further discussion, as promised, with the US authorities on arrangements for notification and information sharing, and the strengthening of verification procedures as necessary; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34486/06]
263 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the consultations which have taken place to date with the social partners with regard to access to the Irish labour market of nationals of Bulgaria and Romania before the date of accession; and the progress made toward achieving a common approach.
[33749/06]
190 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the way he intends encouraging greater competition in the voice telephone fixed line market following the recent withdrawal of Smart Telecom from that business.
[33855/06]
68 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the reasons for not separating out the ownership of the transmission and distribution electricity network under separate State ownership, as recommended by the Deloitte report.
[33485/06]
15 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to other locations that might be suitable for pumped storage power plants similar to the one in Turlough Hill, County Wicklow; and if an analysis has been carried out on the potential cost and benefit of such a facility.
[33496/06]
3 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the revisions he intends to make to the construction of the second phase of metropolitan area networks to ensure cost effective last mile connections for the end user and a backhaul connection from the MANs to the broader telecommunications network.
[33854/06]
286 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Science the purchases by the State for buses to be used in the school bus scheme for each year from 1990 to date in 2006; the value of each contract and number of buses and the company of person that was involved in each case.
[33328/06]
243 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of farms that produce farmed salmon; the number of farms that produce farmed cod; the number of escape incidents that occurred on salmon farms; the number of farmed salmon that escaped; the number of farmed salmon that died on farms; the diseases that have been diagnosed and reported on salmon farms; the amount of emamectin benzoate, cypermethrin and teflubenzuron used on salmon farms; the antibiotics used on salmon farms and the quantities of same; the antifoulants used on salmon farms and the quantities of same; the discharges of phosphorus and nitrogen made by salmon farms for the years 1990 to date in 2006; the percentage of salmon farms here that are owned by a company (details supplied); the percentage Irish salmon farming production in 2005 controlled by the same company; and the percentage of farmed salmon mortalities that are disposed of in land burial, ensiled, incinerated or other.
[33600/06]
238 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if, in view of the increasing awareness in recent years of the impact of fishing operations on cetacean populations, he intends to sign the Agreement on the Conservation of small cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas.
[33453/06]
174 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the estimate of the increase in tax receipts that have resulted from increased oil prices in 2006.
[33201/06]
126 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether legislation is needed to amend the National Pension Reserve Fund after the revelation that the fund has invested in companies that assist the internationally discredited Government in Sudan.
[33202/06]
443 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport when the Commission for Aviation Regulation’s decision on the Dublin Airport Authority’s appeal against a maximum cap on passenger services charges at Dublin Airport is expected.
[32835/06]
410 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Ireland has been ranked in 21st place in terms of economic competitiveness for the second consecutive year in the Global Competitiveness Index; if targets for a higher ranking have been set by his Department; and if so, the proposed measures for the achievement of the those targets.
[32805/06]
408 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of new research and development performers participating in Enterprise Ireland initiatives since 2000; the increased spend on research and development by participating companies; and the sales from projects developed under Enterprise Ireland schemes.
[32803/06]