62 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the percentage of GNP that will be devoted to overseas development aid for the year 2009; the projected percentage by the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012; and when the 0.7% level, to which Ireland has agreed on several different occasions, will be reached.
[21824/09]
213 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason he withdrew funding for counselling for survivors of abuse in industrial schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21720/09]
122 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the waiting time for speech therapy assessments in respect of children in the Dublin 12 area as in the case of a person (details supplied); the plans proposed to improve this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[21965/09]
102 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for the provision of adequate garda accommodation at Tallaght, Dublin 24; if the provision of the a new garda divisional headquarters has been postponed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21476/09]
77 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a firm (details supplied) has introduced fixed odds bingo terminals into certain of its betting shops; if, in view of the fact that these terminals are illegal he will ensure that the law will be applied; if he plans that these terminals should be legalised in preparation for the legalising of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21505/09]
384 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has studied a proposal (details supplied); his views on the feasibility of this project; if he will support same; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20983/09]
153 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the qualifications that will be required of teachers and carers in the schools operating the new preschool child care scheme; the location at which a person (details supplied) can obtain the necessary qualifications and information on suitable courses; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[21403/09]
145 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will address the concerns of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 whose child will not benefit from the new child care grant but who will commence school in September 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20938/09]
91 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Transport when he will respond to the Commission on Taxi Regulation’s proposals to introduce a subsidy scheme to increase the number of wheelchair accessible taxis in view of the fact that at present as few as 7.5% of a fleet of more than 27,000 are wheelchair accessible; if he will review the recent €5 million reduction in accessibility to public transport programmes for people with a disability in Budget 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21274/09]
84 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the recently published National Cycling Policy Framework; the reason there are no deadlines for the achievement of actions on the NCPF in the document; when and the amount of funding which will be provided for the implementation of the NCPF; if he will further report on the recently announced national bike week; if he will confirm when the national pedestrian and walking strategy will be published; the key measures it will contain; the amount of funding he will allocate to the national pedestrian strategy; the time period over which it will be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21275/09]
52 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she has been given an estimate of the number of beds that will be closed to patients in acute hospitals around the country in July and August 2009; if she has been given an estimate of the way this will affect waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20487/09]
29 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will report on progress since she declared accident and emergency services a national emergency in March 2006; her views on whether current cut-backs will exacerbate the problems in accident and emergency departments; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20486/09]
98 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children when the national bowel screening programme will commence; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20489/09]
438 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the status of extension plans for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 6W; if work is scheduled to begin in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20102/09]
304 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if the Irish Sports Council has complete autonomy on the way it spends the money granted to it by the State; if, under the legislation establishing the ISC, it is entitled to withhold funding to organisations under its aegis or veto appointments in non-governing bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19807/09]
213 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will ensure that services to a centre (details supplied) in Dublin 10 will not be cut; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the loss of this service would place unacceptable hardship on persons availing of this service; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[20003/09]
29 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of new post-primary schools that will be required from 2015 onwards when, according to the Central Statistics Office, the student post primary figures will begin to increase rapidly after 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19245/09]
13 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if, in respect of the two community national schools operating in north County Dublin, the question on the application form for admission regarding the religion of the child is a mandatory question or one that is voluntary and can therefore be left unanswered by the parents of the child; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[19244/09]
135 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans for ensuring that FÁS trainees will receive adequate funding in respect of training and materials for the coming year; the budgetary changes which will apply to these allowances or grants; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[19151/09]
128 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance the expected impact on the 2009 Exchequer position of the live register reaching 500,000 by the end of 2009; the expected impact on the 2010 Exchequer position, with reference to forecasts made on the occasion of the supplementary budget of 7 April 2009, of the unemployment rate averaging 16.8% in 2010 as forecast by the ESRI; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18976/09]
121 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance his views on the Central Bank report that the deposit base of Irish banks has fallen by €12 billion since the beginning of 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18977/09]
290 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position on the proposal to officially recognise the actions of the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian nation in 1915 as genocide; the reason for the official position here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18920/09]
238 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children her views on an e-mail (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18916/09]
181 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the status of the inter-country adoption arrangements with Russia; if she will confirm if she places more importance on securing an agreement with the Republic of Vietnam rather than the Russian Federation; the number of children in 2008 placed on the inter-country adoption register from Russia and from Vietnam; the number of persons by region who have received letters of introduction to Vietnam and to Russia; the number of e-mails and letters received by her office in the period 1 April to 1 May 2009 in relation to adoption issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18437/09]
179 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the average waiting times by region for assessment of prospective adoptive parents; her views on whether it is acceptable that the waiting period has been so high for such a long period of time; the plans to reduce this waiting time; the average number of new cases processed by quarter by region; the number of post-placement reports dealt with by region by quarter; and the number of FTE social workers assigned to inter-country adoption by quarter by region; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18435/09]
180 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will examine the inter-country adoptive system whereby the Health Service Executive have been lax in passing on post placement reports to the adoptive board and onwards to the foreign country; the reason an organisation (details supplied) has not been blacklisted by the Russian Federation as has the HSE; the steps being taken to ensure the HSE liaises with the Russian federal authorities and the Adoption Board; if her attention has been drawn to the causes of the current blockages; the number of outstanding post placement reports by region; and the length of time these are outstanding; the details of the agreement between the HSE, the Adoption Board and the Russian authorities as noted in the letters of commitment issued to prospective parents intending to adopt from Russia; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18436/09]
103 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the workers in Bord na Móna who have been told the State company cannot pay their pension; if he had meetings with the management or with the unions; the discussions that took place at this meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18711/09]
85 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on concerns expressed by An Post for its pension fund; if he has met with the chief executive officer of An Post to discuss this issue; if so, the outcome of the meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18784/09]
105 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the cost of the arts and education report; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18388/09]
104 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the amount of money spent on the National Stadium project at Abbotstown in the period 1999 to 2004 not directly related to the National Aquatic Centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18387/09]
608 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if a child (details supplied) in Dublin 10 will be provided with a laptop computer to enable the child to benefit fully from the education system; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17702/09]
200 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps she proposes to take to alleviate the pressures on private pre-school operators when they are forced by the budget proposals to suffer a serious drop in income (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18069/09]
199 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will ensure that a project (details supplied) in Dublin 8 will be supported; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18050/09]
202 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in signing a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Vietnam regarding inter-country adoption; when she expects a treaty to be signed; if her attention has been drawn to the impact on prospective parents of the lapsing of this agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[18389/09]
192 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he will address the concerns of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 in relation to the driver and passenger with a disability tax relief scheme.
[18176/09]
177 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he will address the concerns of research staff in relation to the pension levy taking account of certain issues (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17703/09]
100 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Defence the number of cash in transit escorts provided by the Defence Forces during 2008; the amount of personnel hours involved in these operations; the amount paid by banks or financial institutions for this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17775/09]
107 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will investigate the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[17240/09]
95 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the situation regarding the overpayment to her Department by the UK Government, as reported recently; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[17127/09]
52 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the savings on social welfare fraud that would have to be made in order to restore in full the Christmas bonus for welfare recipients.
[16998/09]
469 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will review the decision to cap the number of student places in the post leaving certificate sector in view of the 7 April 2009 budget decision and the need for more education and training opportunities for school leavers and others, the impact the cap will have on the number of teachers in PLC colleges and the need for communities experiencing serious levels of unemployment to have access to further training and upskilling opportunities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[16615/09]
441 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will review the decision to remove a language support teacher from a school (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[16194/09]
313 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the cutbacks introduced in the area of arts, sport and tourism under the supplementary budget on 7 April 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[16368/09]
232 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the support available to families whose relatives are in private nursing home facilities and where the nursing home resident has had, to date, sufficient savings to meet that cost but where those funds have been eroded; the options open to the nursing home resident and families of the resident in the absence of the fair deal legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[16633/09]
231 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children when the matter of payment of fees to chiropodists will be resolved; if her attention has been drawn to the problems that are being caused for elderly and diabetic patients due to the lack of decision in this matter; if she is satisfied that her Department is meeting the requirements of EU legislation in this matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[16632/09]
77 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on whether it is appropriate that two different bodies which receive funding from his Department both produced external reports on the Beijing Olympics at a cost to the taxpayer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[16367/09]
18 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the reports that seven members of the Baha’i community have been imprisoned under false allegations in Iran; and his views on the efforts he can make to promote the rights of the Baha’i community.
[15366/09]
31 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the campaign by the undocumented Irish community in the USA to have their status legalised; the efforts he has made and will make to promote this campaign; the steps under way at the present time; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15365/09]
531 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will review the decision to suspend the grant in respect of community support to older people which provided for pendant alarms, security lights and so on; his views on the impact of the decision to suspend this grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15804/09]