35 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of local authorities, Departments, State and semi-State bodies which carried out inspections in high radon areas; the actions carried as a result; if he and the Radiological Protection Institute are satisfied regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[27575/04]
176 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the reason, despite the fact that 130,000 persons are on the waiting list for the driving test, that eight driving tester vacancies remain unfilled; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[27025/04]
52 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she will consider a voluntary proposal that all children at crèches and starting school be appropriately vaccinated for their age.
[26223/04]
102 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her Department has reached an agreement with the Department of Finance to spend nearly €2.5 billion on capital programmes over five years to 2008; the breakdown of this funding between the acute and non-acute sectors with a timescale for release of funds; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[26202/04]
208 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide a full update on the situation in Northern Ireland; his views on the meetings held at Leeds Castle; the steps to be taken to bring about the resumption of the Northern Assembly; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[25230/04]
446 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has received a request for the statutory designation of Newcastle Lough as a natural heritage area at Kilmainhamwood, Kells, County Meath; if the question of designation of such locations will be decided during 2005; and if not the reason therefor.
[23237/04]
308 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason higher education grants are being refused to students who attend Griffith College; and the legal, academic and policy grounds for such refusals.
[23288/04]
195 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will report on the work programme of Comhairle na Tuaithe on access to waymarked ways; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[22675/04]
184 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress to date on funding for the young people’s facilities and services fund; and if funding under this heading will be made available to all RAPID areas.
[22728/04]
40 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he proposes to amend the schemes of discretionary improvement and block grants to local authorities in order to fulfil the joint programme promise that a portion of the road budget would be specifically earmarked for footpaths for pedestrians.
[20277/04]
744 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the current 18 months to two year waiting lists in hospitals for ear, nose and throat out-patient appointments for children; the facilities put in place to reduce these waiting lists; when we can expect waiting lists to be reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21352/04]
125 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the funding he has allocated to the Meath Dyslexia Association, in particular to the Kilcock Dyslexia Association; if these figures are not available, the amount he has allocated to Dyslexia Ireland from 2000 to the present time; the initiatives his Department has implemented to assist parents of children with dyslexia to obtain placement and support for their children to allow them to reach their full educational potential; if his Department has had meetings with the Department of Finance to discuss possible funding assistance for parents of children with dyslexia; the funds his Department has allocated to mainstream schools who teach children with dyslexia; and the further funds he hopes to make available in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20909/04]
123 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if home tuition will be provided for a person (details supplied) in County Meath; if funding will be made available to allow this person home tuition to continue for the next school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20895/04]
119 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will allocate financial resources to a school (details supplied) to provide sufficient resource or support teachers for the school; if a support teacher will be financed for the school for a person (details supplied) in County Meath to allow them to learn satisfactorily when they return to this school after having been taught for the past two years in St. Rose’s national school in Tallaght which assists children with dyslexia; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20859/04]
112 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the status of the promise in the joint programme to establish a greater Dublin land use and transport authority.
[20278/04]
412 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the initiatives his Department proposes to implement to ensure that a safe validation procedure is put in place whereby employers can validate that the staff that they are hiring to work in their crèche or other child care facility, which is not run by the health board or the Department of Education and Science do not have any criminal record or history of juvenile of child abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20086/04]
15 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position in regard to the Irish Genealogical Project, commenced in 1990 with a view to completion by 1994; if the project is now complete and comprehensive in its coverage of all relevant genealogical information; and if not, the reason therefor.
[17506/04]
120 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the funding that will be made available to vocational education committees to provide child care services for the academic year 2004-05; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19444/04]
400 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of meetings of each interdepartmental committee or body on which his Department is represented; the frequency and location of its meetings; the locations at which it is intended these meetings will take place after decentralisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19418/04]
222 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if a definitive decision will be made regarding the allocation to a school (details supplied) of a special needs assistant to ensure that the school will have adequate time to advertise the position; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19403/04]
144 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider an abatement of stamp duty to encourage farmers to swap land, with no or little cash changing hands, to facilitate consolidation of fragmented holdings into workable units.
[19528/04]
124 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on whether there is a need for major consolidation of holdings to allow farmers to achieve economies of scale in agricultural production to allow them to achieve incomes from farming comparable to those in the non-farm sector.
[19507/04]
65 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on whether the decentralisation of the civil servants responsible for overseas development aid programmes may harm these programmes, as recently opined by the chief executive officer of a major charity here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18788/04]
56 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the action he has taken on the views expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his 2003 report on his Department’s failure to calculate the cost of many tax incentive schemes and tax expenditure.
[18559/04]
49 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will subject the Government’s decentralisation programme as completed to date and as planned to a formal review under the expenditure review initiative; and, if not, the reason therefor.
[18558/04]
290 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, as recommended by the Comptroller and Auditor General, she will assess scheme risks of each scheme administered by her Department and the lessons to be learnt from over-payments detected, in regard to all new and existing schemes; and the steps she has taken in this matter since receipt of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the matter in February 2004.
[17518/04]
289 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she is taking on foot of the recent Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on control activity on fraud and other forms of wrong or mistaken claims against her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[17508/04]
114 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if, in relation to the evolution of the working age population here as a proportion of total population over the next 25 years, he will make a statement on the impact of these projected changes on the productivity of the economy here and the likely burden of taxation.
[18259/04]
100 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the proportion of household wealth here held in the form of housing assets; and the comparable figures for other OECD countries.
[18209/04]
99 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the proportion of the population here born outside the State and the equivalent proportion for the OECD as a whole and for each OECD country.
[18262/04]
98 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the figures for the rate of unemployment for different national categories of foreign-born persons here and for persons born here.
[18261/04]
97 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the average GDP per head for Ireland and for each other OECD country in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and to date.
[18260/04]
96 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach his projection of evolution of the working age population here as a proportion of total population over the next 25 years on present trends and the equivalent available projections for other OECD countries.
[18259/04]
61 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has made an estimate of the population of visits to accident and emergency departments that were by persons whose conditions might more appropriately be treated at primary care level; if he has analysed the reason accident and emergency departments were used in those cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18395/04]
8 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has plans to ensure that portable defibrillators are available and accessible to persons in rural communities, large offices or commercial buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18449/04]
153 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the Government’s policy in regard to the promotion and definition of marriage.
[18206/04]
151 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government when the review of local government funding will be complete; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18208/04]
147 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which the legal costs associated with dispute resolution here compare with those in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, countries; and his views on whether an OECD study should be carried out on this matter.
[18190/04]
133 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason Ireland has the lowest life expectancy for both males and females amongst the former 15 EU countries.
[18184/04]
132 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the way in which the ratio of hospital beds per thousand persons here compares with the OECD average.
[18183/04]
131 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the ratio of growth in health expenditure to growth in the GDP here over the past seven years; and the way in which this compares with the OECD average ratio.
[18182/04]
130 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the percentage of the health budget here spent on prevention programmes; and the way in which this compares with the OECD average.
[18181/04]
111 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the proportion of children leaving school here with junior certificate standard education or less; and if comparable figures are available for OECD countries generally.
[18194/04]
110 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he proposes to introduce performance pay or bonuses for teachers who display exceptional talent and application in classroom work; and if not, the reason therefor.
[18193/04]
109 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which rates of functional literacy and numeracy for Irish persons in the 25 to 35 year old age group, or similar age groups, compare with their equivalents in other OECD countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18192/04]
103 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if agglomeration factors arising from geographic proximity of firms to one another in complementary economic sectors contribute positively to their overall growth rates; and if similar agglomeration factors apply to efficiency and knowledge maximisation in public administration.
[18210/04]
102 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the savings rate in the economy here by comparison with the average OECD rate as a whole, and each OECD country.
[18201/04]
99 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he has studied the introduction of a flat rate of VAT and income tax, as introduced in Slovakia, in terms of its attractiveness to domestic and foreign investors; and the rate at which such a tax would have to be levied here to collect revenues at the rate collected by the existing tax structure.
[18198/04]