265 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the way the provision of better local Government can be delivered with embargoes on staffing levels still in place, as it is misleading to the public to issue directives requiring extra work and not allow the necessary extra staff to be engaged; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25683/07]
264 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position in relation to the new fire station in Edgeworthstown, County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25682/07]
625 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason a person (details supplied) in County Longford is being penalised in relation to a reduction in the grant-aid under the greener homes scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24797/07]
442 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science if she will introduce a leaving certificate politics and law course as a natural follow-on to the junior certificate CSPE programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24795/07]
363 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if he will increase funding to the Arts Council and the Irish arts sector to €100 million to ensure growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24799/07]
279 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Transport the steps he is taking to rectify the lack of satisfactory rural transport in County Westmeath; the reason the rural transport group is failing to provide a satisfactory transport infrastructure particularly for elderly and infirm people wishing to access hospitals and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24798/07]
199 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath who has had a medical card since 1999 has lost same despite ongoing health problems; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24796/07]
117 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the links he has with Irish emigrants in Britain; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25012/07]
90 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason the Government chose to avail of an opt out in the areas of criminal procedure and police co-operation in the EU Reform Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25014/07]
278 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the support the Government is providing to Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24178/07]
276 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding an application for a passport for a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath.
[24179/07]
197 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the completion of phase 2B of Longford/Westmeath General Hospital with particular reference to a final date for such completion in its entirety.
[24177/07]
196 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if the new paediatric and special care units at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar will open in mid-October 2007 as promised by the Health Service Executive; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24176/07]
195 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will break down the figures for temporary staff into career break cover, project based staff and staff employed on contract to do normal ongoing work; if the staff numbers given under the three headings of job sharing, part-time, sessional, relate to permanent or temporary staff; the staff included under the heading training; and if they are permanent or temporary.
[24175/07]
194 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason she considers it appropriate or essential that a person applying for a medical card or general practitioner visit card should have to provide vehicle registration documents or if this would be more appropriate to a driving licence application; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24174/07]
193 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the measures she will put in place to remove the discrepancies in relation to farm families that will see the provisions of the new nursing home subvention scheme impact adversely, both in relation to direct and deferred charges on such families, as there is no cap on deferred charges on fixed assets other than private residences such as land; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24173/07]
192 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason despite assurances to the contrary the Health Service Executive cutbacks have resulted in dentistry services for children being withdrawn and community care packages being cut back, leaving the National Rehabilitation Hospital unable to admit new patients or discharge existing patients and stroke victims being unable to obtain community care schemes.
[24172/07]
191 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the discrepancies in dental charges from one dentist to another (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24171/07]
287 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Transport and the Marine if the Government appointed representative on the board of Aer Lingus reported to the Government prior to the announcement of the termination of the Shannon/Heathrow route; and if not, the reason for same.
[23375/07]
95 Deputy James Bannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he has considered the appropriate timing for the introduction of a carbon tax; and if the proposed taxation commission will be asked to complete its assessment of the optimum structure for such a tax.
[23547/07]
305 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the arrangements being made to lift the embargo on the recruitment of council staff in view of the increased emphasis on health and safety for staff and public.
[23015/07]
304 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position regarding funding for village enhancement programmes on a county basis.
[23014/07]
276 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science the timeframe for the transfer of higher education grants from county councils to VECs; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[23069/07]
230 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a small business owner (details supplied) in County Longford is being forced to join a specific pension scheme rather than being free to shop around.
[23070/07]
221 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Transport and the Marine the plans in place to improve the quality of rural transport in County Westmeath with particular reference to bus services for the elderly to access hospitals and other services; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[23072/07]
215 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Transport and the Marine his plans to compensate local authorities for the fact that the implementation of health and safety regulations has eaten into the roadworks improvements budget.
[23016/07]
212 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the location in the 2006 Health Service Executive accounts where the charge for agency staff is; the amount this item cost in 2006 with a breakdown of the staff hired from agencies in 2006 by type and numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[23073/07]
389 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science her plans for a new curriculum for leaving certificate agricultural science in the light of the excessively difficult paper in June 2007, which impacted adversely on rural and urban students and particularly on those seeking a career in the farming industry; her views on a greater input into the setting of this exam from farming interests; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[22466/07]
360 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the measures she has put in place to counteract the joint threat from foot and mouth and bluetongue diseases and in particular in relation to the need for the eradication of the threat from Brazilian beef; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[22467/07]
259 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will provide funding for the provision of an Alzheimer’s residential unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Dublin Road, County Longford to provide facilities for the 385 people who have been diagnosed with the disease in Longford as currently the only facility available to them in the psychiatric hospital in Mullingar; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[22464/07]
230 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the way the Health Service Executive can justify the reduction in profit margins in relation to medicines purchased from wholesalers and supplied under the GMS and community drugs schemes which is impacting adversely on community pharmacists and which will force many of them to close and those that remain open would be dispensing the medical card system at a loss; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[23071/07]
90 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science the grounds on which it is morally or legally right for a child (details supplied) in County Longford to be refused entry to three national schools and to be left without a junior infant place to enable them to start their education with other children in 2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[22174/07]
438 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a school (details supplied) in County Westmeath which is accommodated in an old building not able to sustain current needs, has not received funding for an urgently needed extra classroom and toilets despite application under a number of schemes and being promised the necessary €480,000; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[21807/07]
199 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason the new Legan and Kenagh Water Schemes have not been provided despite a two year wait and the fact that 200 houses have no sewerage facilities due to overload of the existing schemes and that raw sewerage is flowing into the River Inny which supplies domestic water for the whole of the south Longford area, threatening a Galway like health risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21348/07]
41 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the timescale for the extension of the Royal Canal to Longford Town; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19220/07]
1089 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will allay the concerns of many people that asbestos water pipes are unsafe for the end user; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19810/07]
1039 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will appoint the promised 2000 extra Gardaí, in view of the fact that low-level staffing in rural areas is causing an escalation of anti-social behaviour, which is impacting on communities, with children afraid to play in their gardens and making neighbourhoods unsafe for families; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20666/07]
673 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Education and Science the cost to the taxpayer of the investment in the four year training of the 150 physiotherapists who graduated in 2007 and who cannot get work in the public health system despite outpatient waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20669/07]
633 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason a centre (details supplied) in County Longford have been refused funding under the dormant accounts flagship measure in view of the fact they appear to meet all the criteria for funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20668/07]
632 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the position regarding the application by a centre (details supplied) in County Longford for funding under the dormant accounts flagship projects to build new premises, as the building they occupied has been sold for development; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20664/07]
606 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason mentally handicapped people who cannot work due to their disability are not eligible for a bereavement grant to offset funeral expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20667/07]
478 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Transport and the Marine when he will bring forward legislation with regard to the regulation of the use of powerboats and jet skis on lakes here in the interest of the safety of all lake users; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19819/07]
403 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if it is Health Service Executive policy to publish statistics on numbers employed to include both staff on paid leave, that is maternity, sick, annual and so on, and also contract staff replacing them, thus introducing double counting into the published figures; if this is the case will she provide a breakdown of the HSE employment figures given in note 7 of the HSE 2006 accounts into permanent staff actually working in HSE, permanent staff on paid leave, permanent staff on unpaid leave and contract staff replacing permanent staff on leave; if staff numbers between 2005 and 2006 actually did increase; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20672/07]
402 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the specific action she proposes to take to address the 100% unemployment among 2007 physiotherapy graduates in view of the fact that the private sector does not normally recruit from newly qualified physiotherapists and that self employment is not an option on qualification; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20670/07]
401 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps she has taken to ensure that the Health Service Executive pays for the treatment of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20663/07]
274 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children her views on the abolition of the payment of €85 per month for prescription drugs for persons over 65 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[19814/07]
385 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children the current and projected staffing levels for a Health Service Executive residence (details supplied) in County Longford; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20579/07]
272 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will make funding available for a Health Service Executive residence (details supplied) in County Longford to enable level D patients to live in their own communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[19811/07]
276 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children when she plans to make breast checks available for women over 65 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[19816/07]