347. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to deal with the critical shortage of affordable childcare services in Carlow and Kilkenny which is placing a huge financial pressure on working families; her further plans to develop a publicly-funded, community-based early years education and childcare model; the number of childcare places available in both counties; the number on waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18278/25]
195. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 147 of 12 February 2025, the progress made relative to establishing an appeal process for increased-cost-of-business and Power Up grants; if he has determined through the local authorities the number of applicants that failed to qualify for the grants due to the online application’s being inadequate in terms of providing the applicant with the means to describe the business accurately; if he will expedite consideration of the matter as the applicants affected continue to be in need of financial assistance, and feel aggrieved that failing, through no fault of their own, had the consequential effect of being excluded from subsequent grant schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18274/25]
145. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Transport to outline any involvement he or his Department has had relative to discussions regarding the CIÉ pension scheme for regular wage staff and school bus drivers; if he has plans to assist the company in resolving the outstanding issues facing retired employees who are not in receipt of their pension entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18277/25]
1059. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if consideration will be given to allowing Phase 2 apprentice electricians from Waterford to complete their training in Waterford, rather than being required to attend a course in Limerick; and if full cost of travel and accommodation will be paid to cover the financial hardship faced by those required to travel will be taken into account. [16734/25]
899. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she intends to extend the Covid payment scheme beyond June 2025; the number in receipt of the payment; and her views on a once-off payment in each case where the person intends to retire. [16733/25]
882. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she will outline the process by which retired nurses were informed of the overpayment of their pensions; if those affected can arrange to repay the amount over time or appeal the outcome; if all retired nurses were given comprehensive information in hard copy to explain how and when the overpayments occurred, and why the overpayments were not identified from annual employee returns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16654/25]
878. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if patients with long-term illness requiring regular blood tests to be taken by their GP will have their costs covered under the medical card scheme; and if patients holding a medical card that are currently paying their GP for the service will be reimbursed by the HSE. [16633/25]
877. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if podiatrist services are available in Carlow and Kilkenny; if not, when the services were last available; and her intentions to restore a full level of service. [16632/25]
769. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a response will be provided to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16951/25]
605. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the recently introduced regulations that have had the effect of disqualifying pensioners on a low income from seeking financial assistance by way of a grant from a local authority to replace a household boiler that is beyond economic repair will be reversed as the cost of an alternative system like air to water is not financially feasible for most applicants; if he has assessed the impact of these regulations on the manufacturers and fitters of boilers; if he has carried out an assessment on replacing old boilers with new efficient environmentally friendly models; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16728/25]
474. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education if a grant for emergency works applied for on 19 December 2023 (details supplied) will be approved immediately; and if a more recent application for life safety systems will be approved, as this relates to health and safety. [16645/25]
146. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if there is a strategy in relation to staffing numbers in the civil service in the years ahead; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15978/25]
143. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the number of staff in the civil service on 1 March 2025 compared with 1 March 2020 and 1 March 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15977/25]
367. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education if a place on a school bus route will be provided for a child (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15045/25]
328. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider allowing the diesel rebate to be paid directly to the Revenue accounts of qualified businesses that may be having short term tax issues, thereby reducing their tax liability, and thus allowing them to conduct business in a competitive manner. [15053/25]
405. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if a warfarin monitoring instrument will be provided as a matter of urgency for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14839/25]
395. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the status of the sale of the old health centre, Tinnahinch, County Carlow, to Carlow County Council; and if the sale will be expedited, as the plan is to provide social housing on the site. [14799/25]
361. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if funding will be approved for residential care at a facility in Waterford for a person (details supplied); the date when the application for funding was first submitted; and the timeline for a decision. [14840/25]
344. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that the insurance issues pertaining to the drawdown of the recently announced grants under the breeding fund will be resolved as a matter of urgency. [14719/25]
315. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for invalidity pension in the name of a person (details supplied). [14838/25]
314. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of an application for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied). [14797/25]
545. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice if the threshold to qualify for legal aid will be reduced; and when this matter was last reviewed. [13408/25]
484. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if an application for carer’s allowance in the name of a person (details supplied) will be expedited and approved; if the correspondence from his Department to this Deputy will be reviewed given the person has not received any notification from his Department in recent times; and if an oral hearing will be arranged immediately given the original application was submitted in late 2023 and since then their health has deteriorated. [13320/25]
415. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a place will be provided at an ASD unit in Kilkenny city or Jenkinstown or Clara for a person (details supplied) as a matter of urgency; if occupational therapy and speech and language therapy will be arranged for this non-verbal child as a matter of urgency as specified in a report; and if she will expedite a positive response [13034/25]
398. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the ARP scheme will be extended beyond March 2025. [12972/25]
195. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice the number of applications for naturalisation that are currently being processed by the citizenship division of his Department; the number of these that have been outstanding for more than eight years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12876/25]
181. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice the number of applicants for naturalisationcurrently pursuing their cases in the courts; the legal costs to the State that have been incurred in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025 in relation to this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12877/25]
113. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a breakdown, on a local authority basis, of the number of tenant in situ purchases made by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12881/25]
27. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing projects submitted to his Department by Kilkenny County Council and by Carlow County Council that are currently awaiting approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12880/25]
1892. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she will request a review of the financial support approved by the HSE for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12818/25]
1891. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she will introduce regulations to control the flat-rate charges for special services being applied each week by nursing homes to those residents already approved for financial support from the HSE whether they avail of the services or not; if the charges being levied should be considered in the assessment by the HSE of the cost of nursing home care for each client; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12796/25]
1724. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the status of the plans to construct a state-of-the-art ambulance base at Kelvin Grove, Carlow. [11799/25]
1667. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she will review the status of homecare for a person (details supplied); and if their weekend homecare hours will be reinstated given the circumstances. [11530/25]
1654. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if an immediate appointment will be arranged at University Hospital Waterford for a person (details supplied); and if the matter will be expedited. [11445/25]
1596. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if it is her intention to remove the anomaly whereby a first-time application for the fair deal scheme that is refused prevents the applicant from reapplying regardless of the fact their circumstances may have changed; if the application submitted relative to the care of a person (details supplied) will be re-examined and approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11177/25]
1336. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the additional financial supports available to parents in receipt of a subsidy for each child attending creche when the provider of the service increases the fees; and the financial supports available generally to the sector. [11173/25]
1209. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to bring forward legislation to change the legal liability of unincorporated associations. [12623/25]
1073. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if an application for carer’s allowance in the name of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed immediately and approved. [12602/25]
816. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the temporary waiver scheme in respect of development contributions for planning for houses will be continued for the foreseeable future. [12977/25]
730. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education her plans to progress an application to provide suitable accommodation for a school (details supplied); if the building project will be expedited as the demand for school places continues to grow and the current school infrastructure is not fit for purpose; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12334/25]
551. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education the actions taken by his Department relative to the findings of the O’Keeffe v. Ireland case in 1973 and the ruling of the European Human Rights Court of Justice on the same matter; and his response to the outcomes of both cases. [12605/25]
418. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance the number of complaints submitted to the Financial Services Ombudsman in each of the past five years; if there is a backlog of cases to be dealt with; if so, the number of cases in this backlog; the length of time each has been waiting for a decision; if he will provide details of the delay in processing a complaint submitted by a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11798/25]
313. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Transport the status of the extension to the northern section of the Kilkenny ring road; if he will consider giving approval to Kilkenny County Council to begin the planning of the final section of this road given the full completion of the project has been delayed by planning issues outside the control of Kilkenny County Council; if his officials will meet the council to proactively pursue this approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11446/25]
305. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Transport if a more suitable time schedule will be provided, based on customer feedback, for the TFI route which services Moneenroe to Carlow and is the subject of many complaints. [11186/25]