269 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if it is appropriate to abolish grants for second level schools in respect of physics and chemistry in view of the fact that the promotion of science and technology is identified as a priority in ensuring the uptake of these subjects at third level; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37743/08]
268 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether it is value for money to cut funding to the programme for the Centre for Talented Youth in Ireland; if the savings to be made justify the removal of this programme which targets the best and brightest students; if this cut ties in with stated policy to support and promote mathematics and science amongst students; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37742/08]
267 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will lose a teacher as a result of the decision to increase class sizes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37741/08]
266 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut funding for supporting Traveller children in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37740/08]
265 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut funding for library books; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37739/08]
264 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut grants for purchasing equipment; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37738/08]
263 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut funding for substitute teachers in the absence of a doctor’s note; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37737/08]
262 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut funding to children in disadvantaged areas in respect of school books; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37736/08]
261 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools in the Dublin South-Central electoral area which will be affected by the decision to cut funding to support English language teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37735/08]
125 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason a full nursing home refund was refused in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[37710/08]
80 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his position on proposals for increases in modulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37480/08]
17 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will implement with immediate effect the regulations that were meant to allow for on-farm slaughter of casualty animals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37479/08]
347 Deputy Mary Upton: asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the status of the Gaelic players grant scheme; if this will continue to be funded in 2009; if this funding is ring-fenced or if it is being deducted from the total funding of the Irish Sports Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37042/08]
213 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he has plans to reform betting legislation in order to increase the Revenue Commissioners’ tax take from gambling and therefore providing support to the horse and greyhound fund as a revenue neutral perspective for the central Exchequer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37043/08]
206 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance if an arrangement will be put in place for the payment of VAT and PRSI by a business (details supplied) to avoid closure of the business; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36914/08]
201 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to take heed of the recent ruling in the EU Court of Justice on 16 October 2008 (details supplied); if there are plans to transpose this information into Irish law; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[37076/08]
283 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 175 of 24 September 2008 he will undertake to establish the number of primary and secondary schools which have physical education halls and gym facilities; if his Department is promoting physical education within the formal education sector to the best of its ability in view of the fact that his Department is not even aware of the number of schools that have indoor sports facilities and the number that do not; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36801/08]
282 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress made towards resolving the issue of insurance of sports halls in schools in order to allow greater community use of these halls during periods when the school is not using the hall; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36794/08]
186 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on reports that plans by Dublin City Council is planning to take large quantities of water from the River Shannon; if his attention has been drawn to the major problems this would cause to tourism, employment, flora and fauna in the Shannon Region; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36793/08]
166 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the status of the National History Museum; if work to restore this building has begun; when the building will be reopened; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[36795/08]
105 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12 can expect to have their appeal decision regarding their application for a domiciliary care allowance issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[36812/08]
90 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will address the issues (details supplied) in relation to the proposed fair deal legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[36606/08]
105 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if she is satisfied with the arrangement for the provision of ambulance services in the Dublin City Council area; if it is the case that there is a separate Dublin city ambulance service as well as a National Ambulance Service; her views on whether this duplication represents value for money; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[36365/08]
46 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Defence the investigations that have been held into the sinking of the Asgard II off the French coast in September 2008 ; the results available from any preliminary investigation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[35872/08]
149 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her plans regarding the ending of the cohabitation ban for lone parents in receipt of one parent family payment.
[34867/08]
133 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the outcome of the pilot studies in relation to support services and activation measures for lone parents.
[34864/08]
10 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children if the funding for residential placement in respect of a child (details supplied) in Dublin 8 will be made available; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[35086/08]
232 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Dublin has not been granted rent allowance; if a person in such circumstances is entitled to rent allowance; if it is the case that if a person moves from one rented accommodation to another they are precluded from obtaining further rent allowance; if a person who surrenders rented accommodation in another jurisdiction, in this case Scotland, is precluded from receiving rent allowance here, despite the fact that they are seeking work here; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[34723/08]
25 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his recent meeting with Foreign Secretary Miliband during his recent visit to Dublin; the matters which were discussed during their interview; if matters related to Northern Ireland and the Lisbon reform treaty were touched on; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34185/08]
15 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position following the rejection of the Lisbon reform treaty; the decisions the Government has reached regarding future consultation with the Irish people; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[34184/08]
273 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of joint applications that were made by two or more sports clubs under the 2008 sports capital programme; the number of these applications that were successful; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33797/08]
272 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of joint applications that were made by schools and sports clubs under the 2008 sports capital programme; the number of these applications that were successful; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33796/08]
122 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if it is intended to complete the remaining 21 swimming pools which were granted funding under the initial local authority swimming pool programme in 2000; when the next stage of the programme will be launched; if he will give a commitment that the funding for the next round of this programme will be available as promised under the national development plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33795/08]
120 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his attention has been drawn to the research which calls for reform of the sports capital programme and that calls for reform are based on a number of different problems identified within the sports capital programme; if he will announce a review of the sports capital programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33794/08]
167 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the consultations he has had with the grant aided Irish language agencies funded by his Department in regard to amalgamation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33522/08]
146 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the proposed timeframe for the implementation of the 20 year strategy on the Irish language; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[33523/08]
50 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding plans for a new tranche of public private partnerships for road building projects; the projects which would be prioritised under a new round of PPPs; the level of interest from national or international consortia for new road building projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[32532/08]
14 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Transport the progress made on developing the Leinster outer orbital route; if he has reviewed and accepted the National Roads Authority’s feasibility study on this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[32533/08]
569 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science when a school (details supplied) in Dublin 10 will be provided with a sports hall; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31950/08]
423 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of special advisers employed by himself and his Minister of State; the role of these special advisers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[32352/08]
422 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on lowering the funding threshold required by CLÁR and RAPID areas to secure sports capital funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[32128/08]
421 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the status of the horse and greyhound fund; the amount of funding this received in 2008; if this funding was contributed by the central Exchequer; if a review of the horse and greyhound fund will be initiated; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[32127/08]
166 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children her plan to restore a portion of the funds allocated for the introduction of the fair deal to the Health Service Executive to cover the estimated potential shortfall of €77 million in the budget provided for the nursing home repayment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[32180/08]
130 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Health and Children her views on findings by the Health Service Executive that water in parts of Galway is unsuitable for consumption; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[32179/08]
278 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress of an application for a school building programme (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31682/08]
277 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a school (details supplied) in Dublin 12 has not been given approval to proceed with the building and extension as agreed; his views on the impact of this delay on the students and teachers in the school; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this school has DEIS status; the progress of this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31681/08]
216 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of the recent agreement between Ireland and the United States for a one year J- Visa which will allow Irish people to work in the United States; if this arrangement is to be reciprocal, to allow American citizens to work here; when he expects this scheme to be operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31680/08]
66 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance his views on reducing the 21% VAT rate levied on foreign performers; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this acts as a disincentive to foreign artists performing here; the plans he has to tackle this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24568/08]
10 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Finance his latest projections for average unemployment for each of the years 2009 and 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31344/08]
1755 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if a sports hall will be provided for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 12; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[30798/08]