542. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider extending the age of aftercare to 26 years of age on a needs assessed basis (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8693/21]
541. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider enshrining independent advocacy services in legislation to help protect children and young persons in care from abuse and poor practice, further to more than 20 investigations or reports over the past three decades into the State’s ability to adequately protect children in care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8692/21]
533. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the confidential freephone support service for residents in direct provision has been shared with all residents; if so, the way in which it has been shared; and if not, if he will correspond with each resident with details of the freephone number. [8416/21]
247. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the referendum on the right to housing will be held in accordance with the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7851/21]
10. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the post-Brexit reality of the application of the rules of origin laws that sees Irish bread producers facing higher production costs than their UK counterparts due to having to import flour that is not being milled domestically; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7976/21]
21. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport the actions that have been taken to carry through on the commitment in the programme for Government that each local authority will be mandated to carry out an assessment of its road network to examine the reallocation of space for pedestrians and cyclists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7465/21]
1029. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if tree felling for the purpose of clearing a site for non-essential construction is or is not deemed to be forestry; and his views on whether it should be classified as construction. [7171/21]
606. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if a legal lacuna (details supplied) will be addressed which is causing serious issues for early years providers; if she will instruct her officials to engage with the relevant officials in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in order to address the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6388/21]
536. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a legal lacuna (details supplied) which is causing serious issues for early years providers will be addressed; if he will instruct his officials to engage with the relevant officials in the Department of Justice in order to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6389/21]
103. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport his plans for asylum seekers to obtain a driver licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6333/21]
624. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Health if community prison links workers can be included in the section 39 pay restoration process. [5045/21]
591. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if it is Garda policy to leave the engines of Garda vehicles running while at checkpoints; if the effects of the emissions of these vehicles on the occupational health of members of An Garda Síochána, the health of the public, the cost of fuel to the State and the damage to the environment are assessed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5797/21]
570. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the details of the pending cases taken by the European Court of Justice against Ireland; and if she will itemise the daily fines pending or being currently levied. [5301/21]
556. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if her Department has identified fraudulent PCR results presented at Dublin Airport; and if so, the number. [5100/21]
555. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of not detected PCR tests officials have checked and registered at Dublin Airport since 16 January 2021. [5098/21]
173. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education if the pilot DEIS schoolbook scheme will be reopened and expanded in 2021 (details supplied). [3026/21]
628. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 729 of 6 October 2020, if he will confirm the PCT cycle thresholds in relation to the range of assays used by the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2766/21]
257. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the full details in the 2019 annual report of overseas development aid disbursements, that are usually included as annexes in previous reports, are to be published by his Department. [2267/21]
1021. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Health his plans for a supplementary payment to student radiographers in view of plans to issue a payment and-or grant to student nurses. [1450/21]
716. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if she will seek an explanation from the Garda Commissioner for the reason all relevant Garda files into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the Glenanne gang have not been handed over to Operation Kenova; and if the necessary arrangements will be made for all relevant unredacted files to be handed to same without further delay. [1166/21]
715. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if files have been handed over to the UK authorities in relation to investigations (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1165/21]
470. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education the timeline of works and proposed opening of a new autism spectrum disorder, ASD, school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1034/21]
374. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the way in which it is possible for an Irish election observer to obtain top marks in independent tests with the official election bodies of OSCE and EU yet the same tests administered by Irish Aid officials on a candidate (details supplied) placed the candidate much lower than other Irish observers who failed the OSCE and EU tests; his views on whether this suggests flaws in the competition run by his Department; his further views on whether the matter should be independently investigated; if so, if an independent investigation will be carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45026/20]
373. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts was assured by Irish Aid officials that an election observers competition fully met public standards when the competition was conducted without an equality section or accommodations for disability; the reason the forms were not marked by a person independent of Irish Aid; the reason almost all marks were allocated on five competencies by serving or retired officials who had no actual experience of election observation; the reason a senior official decided that disability could not be considered in the competition; the reason a formal notice was issued stating the consideration of disability would be unfair to other candidates; the reason the appeal mechanism was only a numerical check of the marks of candidates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45025/20]
273. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the details of the departure of a person (details supplied) from their position of employment in Kilmainham Gaol ; the details of an investigation arising from same; the actions taken on foot of this in terms of on-site measures and any legal criminal action taken against the person; and if the particulars of the case are subject to a FOI request. [1179/21]
272. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of complaints the Office of Public Works received from staff, past and present, relating to members of management, head guides level and above at Kilmainham Gaol; the outcome of each case; the measures taken on foot of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1178/21]
271. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of tour guides and information officers that have been employed at Kilmainham Gaol since 2000 on an annual basis in tabular form with a distinction made between seasonal, part-time and full-time employees. [1177/21]
205. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Finance the amount allocated annually to date to the Dublin City Council living city initiative; and the details of future expansion of funding and the geographic remit within Dublin city as facilitated by departmental funding. [1164/21]
468. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons with an open application for leave to remain on humanitarian grounds at present. [44172/20]
261. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 91 of 9 December 2020, the formal funding mechanisms available from the State, not at EU level, for victims of the Troubles here since the ending of the Remembrance Commission in 2008. [43622/20]
138. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress by his Department in securing the return of a person (details supplied) detained in China; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43750/20]
428. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the actions she has taken regarding the specific recommendations in the 2019 report, entitled Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland's Past by the former Northern Ireland Commissioner for Victims, and regarding the needs of victims in the State in terms of the Troubles conflict, with specific reference to recommendation Nos. 12 and 47 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42865/20]
427. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if the An Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has plans to implement an historical investigations directorate to deal with crimes committed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. [42864/20]
426. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the plans that exist for an independent policing historical investigation unit to investigate Troubles-related incidents in the State. [42863/20]
311. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Defence the number of fatalities suffered by the Defence Forces on duty with UNIFIL; and the identity of the cause of death by military grouping including Israeli forces and Hezbollah, in tabular form. [43432/20]
293. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the legal rights in regard to disability possessed by persons serving as election observers who have been nominated by his Department; the number of disabled observers on the roster; his Department’s obligations to persons with disabilities in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43063/20]
292. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the measures his Department takes to capture information on disability provided by election observers; and the way in which the data collected in the EU and Organization for Security and Co-operation in European, OSCE, profiles, the only criteria for selection of election observers, is incorporated in his Department's selection of observers. [43062/20]
40. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the way in which she will address the concerns raised by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment's recent report regarding the treatment of prisoners in terms of mental illness, restrictive regimes and the use of special observation cells. [41669/20]
20. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the steps being taken to ensure family contact for prisoners is maintained at normal levels during Covid-19 restrictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41668/20]
92. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of the independent commission on information retrieval and the establishment of the body for which legislation was introduced four years ago; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42379/20]
91. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans for the establishment of a fund for victims and survivors of events of the troubles in Ireland similar to that established in Northern Ireland as the victim's payment scheme. [42378/20]
90. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to general concerns regarding State funding of charities for which individual child sponsorship is their major operational activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42321/20]
89. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that an organisation (details supplied) had been placed under statutory investigation and were so when awarded funding of €280,000 in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42320/20]
45. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport the number of inspections carried out by the marine service office into Irish-registered fishing vessels in 2019 and to date in 2020; the number of these inspections that were unannounced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42317/20]
520. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons with an open application for leave to remain on humanitarian grounds at the end of each of the years 2009 to 2019, inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41761/20]
519. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the most recent number available of persons with an open application for leave to remain on humanitarian grounds at present. [41760/20]
359. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education if her Department will start to compile information on the compliance rates by year and county of whether schools are including in their admission policies detailed arrangements for those not attending religious instruction as required by section 62(7)(n) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and put in place and announce statutory guidelines and sanctions for schools that are not complying with this legal requirement consistently with her duties under section 6(a) and section 30(2)(e) of the Act. [41928/20]