69 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the position on the draft new regulations introduced by the European Commission to update and reform the EU fisheries control framework; his views on this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[43434/09]
90 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the details of the warmer homes scheme; the method of application; the average time of approval for applications; the number of approved applications to date in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[43235/09]
63 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the projected timeframe for the availability of broadband in the entire country; the percentage coverage projected at the end of 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[43234/09]
44 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence the arrangements for helicopter support for our troops in Chad since they were first deployed in February 2008.
[42197/09]
31 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence if all army deafness claims have been disposed of; the final number of claims processed; the total payments to claimants; the costs paid to claimant’s lawyers; the amount paid for departmental costs; the estimated cost of dealing with outstanding claims; and the steps taken to eliminate or minimise such claims for the future..
[42198/09]
101 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the devolution of policing and criminal justice matters in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[41728/09]
369 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the contractual arrangements in relation to the delivery of social welfare services through An Post; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[41659/09]
204 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the procedure for centralised processing of medical card applications; if her attention has been drawn to the delays that have emerged in dealing with such applications for the over 70s, which have resulted in applicants being left without medical card cover for months; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[41413/09]
139 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the proposals to review the disabled drivers and disabled passengers tax concession scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[41243/09]
59 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress being made on the establishment of a code of practice for doing business in the grocery goods sector; the proposed timeframe for its completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[40786/09]
17 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the high level of unemployment among persons aged 20 to 25 years; the measures she proposes to introduce in order to address this problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[40785/09]
255 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding the review of the school transport scheme and the reconfiguration of school catchment boundaries; when the report will be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[40763/09]
360 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will review the operation of the regulations requiring the production of a building energy rating certificate when a building is being offered for sale or letting in view of the additional costs to a vendor or a lessor who may be forced to sell or lease and who may have no funds to cover the cost of the certificate; his views on whether, on a temporary basis, a requirement to produce a certificate with a contract and other documents should be adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[40114/09]
309 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the recent media reports concerning a company’s (details supplied) commercial involvement with a person in contravention of EU sanctions on Zimbabwe; in view of these reports, if he is satisfied with the review procedures of the national pensions reserve fund’s investments which had included this company; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[40175/09]
238 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will establish a conversion course for trained Montessori teachers to enable them to become fully recognised teachers in the primary school structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[39935/09]
219 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the average time taken to process applications from date of application to date of clearance for payment of installation aid and REP scheme in each of his Department’s offices in County Cork.
[39936/09]
53 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport the way the field impairment testing for drug driving, as proposed in the forthcoming Road Traffic Bill, will be implemented; the way this test will differentiate between prescribed medication and illegal substances; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[39518/09]
19 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport when the proposed new Road Traffic Bill will be published; the way this Bill will deal with drug driving; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[39517/09]
130 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in the provision of additional accommodation at Bandon Community Hospital, County Cork; the date for the commencement of the building works; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[39230/09]
128 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress made by both the Health Service Executive in their discussions with an association and the group chaired by a person (details supplied) in implementing measures that would deliver more cost effective prescribing by general practitioners, greater use of generic preparations and quality prescribing indicators, ensuring that lower prices can be passed onto the customer; and her views on the potential savings to be achieved from the use of branded generic drugs.
[39231/09]
1126 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if changes have been introduced in the method of calculating means for higher education grants and in particular if rent allowance is now reckonable income when assessing applicants for special maintenance grants; the reason for the change; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[38667/09]
788 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the circumstances in which allocations are approved by him in respect of applications which, following completion of the assessment process, are not on the list of recommended allocations submitted to him for approval; and the list of such applications which have been approved by him for each of the past three years.
[38702/09]
787 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the list of recommended allocations submitted to him following completion of the assessment process is always approved in the allocation of funding under the sports capital programme; if not, the circumstances which have led to non-approval of such list of recommended allocations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[38701/09]
727 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people committed to prison for non payment of fines in the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and to date in 2009.
[38536/09]
154 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that arrangements have been completed for the acquisition of a second mobile scanner to combat cigarette smuggling; if it is operational; if not, when it will be; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37617/09]
101 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance his estimate of the loss to the Exchequer in 2009 arising from cigarette smuggling; and the measures being taken and proposed to deal with this situation.
[37616/09]
122 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the basis on which decisions have been made in the allocation of national lottery funding for sports capital grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37218/09]
112 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his attention has been drawn to the concerns relating to an unfair allocation of national lottery funding under the sports capital grants; and if he has any proposals in this regard.
[37219/09]
190 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the proposed Companies (Transitional Accounting Standards) Bill designed to permit merger accounting for companies here; the broad proposals to be included in this Bill; and the prospective timeframe for its enactment.
[36949/09]
171 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if interest will be awarded in respect of the amount outstanding in relation to a redundancy refund of €44,041 due to a company (details supplied) in County Cork in view of continuing delays in dealing with this claim; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[36679/09]
146 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will review the requirements for establishing independent residence in respect of mature students under clause four of the higher education grants scheme; his views on such a review in view of the current economic situation and the need for many young graduates to return to college to upskill for the workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37113/09]
114 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason the design team to initiate the architectural planning of an extension to a school (details supplied) in County Cork has not been appointed; and if he will confirm that there will be no further delay.
[37114/09]
73 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of additional applications for the farm retirement scheme that have been admitted or are being considered for admission to the scheme following his recent announcement; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36132/09]
50 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has consulted with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in relation to the extension of the time for the spreading of slurry following the extension given to farmers in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36082/09]
210 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if consideration has been given to reviewing Ireland’s record on citizenship applications to international comparisons in terms of rejection rates and application processing times; his views on whether the processing time in Australia is generally 90 days, in the UK is six months, in Canada is 11 months as opposed to over two years here, and that the refusal rate in Canada is 3%, in Australia and the UK is 9% as opposed to 47% here; if he will establish a more efficient system for dealing with such applications here.
[36043/09]
158 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the date for farmers spreading slurry in Northern Ireland has been extended to December 2009; and if he will also respond to the request of many farmers here for a similar extension.
[35765/09]
111 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the problem regarding green algae on beaches from the Old Head of Kinsale to Rosscarbery in County Cork; if he will ensure that the necessary funding is provided and schemes approved for the provision of sewerage treatment plants in Courtmacsherry and Timoleague and the upgrading of facilities in Clonakilty and Rosscarbery; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[35764/09]
34 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence the future of the Defence Forces in Chad; the length of time it is expected they will remain there; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34693/09]
38 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence the plans for the future of the Reserve Defence Force; and the number at present and the projections for the future.
[34692/09]
199 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason for the delay in payment of a redundancy refund of €44,041 to a company (details supplied) in County Cork for which the claim was made on 24 June 2009; and if she will arrange for immediate payment.
[34939/09]
141 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties which have arisen for old age pensioners who save part of their weekly pension and as a consequence accumulate savings in excess of the means test limit thereby giving rise to claims by her Department for reductions in pensions or clawback by the State; and her proposals to deal with this situation with a view to encouraging rather than discouraging savings by pensioners.
[34378/09]
114 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the delays which exist in processing jobseeker’s benefit applications which can take up to 15 weeks to process and of longer delays in processing claims for jobseeker’s allowance, an example of which is a claim lodged on 24 March which was not finalised until 10 September 2009; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that people who have exhausted their jobseeker’s benefit and are awaiting the processing of their jobseeker’s allowance are being refused supplementary welfare allowance and in the meantime are left without any means; and the steps she will take to deal with such situations.
[34377/09]
1076 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the position regarding a REP Scheme four application for a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will confirm that the 2008 payment will issue.
[34064/09]
892 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if changes have been introduced to the habitual residence clause whereby persons claiming social welfare payments and child benefit are required to satisfy habitual residence even though they previously resided in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland; and if so, the reason her Department’s website in relation to family benefits sates that the habitual residence clause does not apply in such circumstances.
[33943/09]
866 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applicants awaiting jobseeker’s allowance for more than five weeks, more than ten weeks, more then 15 weeks and more than 20 weeks in the local social welfare offices in Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Bandon and Kinsale, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[33289/09]
865 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applicants awaiting jobseeker’s benefit for more than five weeks, more than ten weeks and more then 15 weeks in the local social welfare offices in Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Bandon and Kinsale, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[33288/09]
588 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a recent CSO survey shows that 50% of rural households reported difficulty in accessing public transport and were consistently more likely to experience difficulties accessing basic services such as banking, groceries, post office and GP services; if the rural transport scheme operation under his Department at a relatively small cost to the taxpayer will continue to operate; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34016/09]
165 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if, in view of the continuing high level of crimes committed against the elderly, he will take steps to reinstate the scheme of community support for older people which was suspended five months ago; and the terms of any new scheme proposed.
[34186/09]
48 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make assistance available to persons representing the victims of violence by an organisation (details supplied) in compensation claims against those who supplied or authorised the sale of arms from Libya; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31681/09]