278 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Civil Service will remove the effective bar on civil servants with professional backgrounds applying for administrative posts in the Civil Service, especially those at senior level; when this will be done; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26984/11]
154 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance the extent to which Anglo Irish Bank has been able to recoup moneys owed to it by the Quinn Group; his views that any more money can be recouped by Anglo Irish Bank in the future from the Quinn Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[27291/11]
97 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland is still in line to achieve the aim of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid by 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[27270/11]
125 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the instruments at his disposal to combat forced labour and illegal work practices here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26555/11]
79 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the National Employment Rights Authority carries out regular spot checks on businesses they suspect of bad or illegal practice in terms of employment; if the authority reports back to him on a regular basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26556/11]
78 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a report on the case of a Pakistani worker who was grossly exploited while working for a restaurant (details supplied) in Dublin 22; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26554/11]
566 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Health if he will consider extending to the families of children with serious chronic illness the current provisions for medical card renewal by persons over 70 years which allow them to renew the card by signing an affidavit that their circumstances have not changed in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26225/11]
410 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider permitting the use of members of the Garda Reserve to keep local Garda stations open when it is desirable to deploy all available gardaí on street duties; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[26224/11]
391 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding leave to remain in this country in respect of a person (details supplied).
[25919/11]
542 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25418/11]
534 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on withdrawing the rail order for metro west unless he plans to implement the project in order to remove the need for an An Bord Pleanála oral hearing on the subject next month; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24933/11]
523 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Health the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25413/11]
453 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25555/11]
445 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25553/11]
430 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Defence the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25557/11]
421 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25415/11]
362 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25410/11]
330 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25556/11]
326 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if, in the course of his efforts to promote wave and tidal energy production, consideration has been given to launching a competition for inventors to submit workable designs of energy production from wave and tidal sources with a significant monetary reward, on the basis that the State will have some or all of the rights to the patents of technologies of the winning submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24665/11]
321 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25554/11]
310 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25417/11]
255 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of places that have been offered on the job bridge scheme; the number of successful applicants there have been to date in 2011; the number of places that have been removed for being inappropriate; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[24664/11]
254 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans for community employment; and her further plans to ring fence community employment schemes specifically for persons being rehabilitated from drugs.
[24662/11]
216 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25414/11]
202 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25416/11]
185 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25409/11]
166 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the case that a junior infant cannot be assessed for special needs assistant support for one year; and his views on allowing such assessment to be made after one term in school.
[24661/11]
165 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the special needs assistant posts he held in reserve are now being filled; and if SNAs who have been made redundant are eligible to apply for these posts.
[24660/11]
130 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding a report on the expert group reviewing the house mortgage situation.
[24663/11]
129 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider putting the following into practice, to print Government reports and documents in English, rather than bilingually, to have available all such reports in the Irish language for all those who want to read them as Gaeilge; and if so, the amount of money that would be saved by the State.
[24658/11]
128 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[24657/11]
127 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance if he has given directions to the banks and other lending agencies on the way they are to deal with persons unable to cope with mortgages which they are unable to pay either in part or full; if so, if these banks and lending agencies are carrying out his direction; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24656/11]
126 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance his approach towards assisting families coping with stressed mortgages; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24655/11]
118 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Finance the extent of tobacco smuggling here at present; the extent of seizures of illegal tobacco over the past year; and his plans to tackle this crime.
[24659/11]
117 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25412/11]
112 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Taoiseach the amount of money spent producing Government reports in both Irish and English on a yearly basis.
[25411/11]
159 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures being taken by him to prepare for the potential for extreme cold weather this winter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24266/11]
147 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Health his plans to make the patient-consultant ratio more equitable among Tallaght Hospital, St. James’s Hospital, St. Vincent’s Hospital and Connolly Hospital to ensure equality of care in South County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24265/11]
146 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Health the current patient-consultant ratio at Tallaght Hospital, St. James’s Hospital, St. Vincent’s Hospital and Connolly Hospital, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24264/11]
140 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Ireland is on course to abolish conventional battery farming of hens as directed by the European Commission through directive 1999/74/EC; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24268/11]
115 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when Ireland will ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24262/11]
103 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the full list of the measures being taken by him to prepare for the potential for extreme cold weather this winter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24267/11]
102 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a national bin waver system to help families struggling under financial pressure in view of the fact that many local authorities have privatised refuse collection services; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24261/11]
57 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to consider having school text books available as PDFs in order to better facilitate the learning environment of children with disabilities, particularly blind children; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24263/11]
552 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application for refugee status in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22; when they can expect a response to the letter from their solicitor; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[22526/11]
525 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland 2009 to 2012 will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[22348/11]
524 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the expected timeline for the measures necessary to ensure full compliance with the criminal law provisions for the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
[22347/11]
426 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views, in view of the fact that hydraulic fracturing or fracking has now been banned by the French and South African Governments and a number of US states, on whether hydraulic fracturing or fracking should now be placed under a moratorium here pending a thorough investigation of the consequences of its use in other states; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21991/11]
425 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the proposed method to extract natural gas from the North-West Carboniferous Basin (details supplied) and the Clare Basin, namely, hydraulic fracturing or fracking, has been linked to widespread health problems, water pollution and environmental damage in numerous cases in the US, Canada and Australia; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21990/11]
395 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has any indication from the Director of Public Prosecutions on how his investigations into our banking scandals are progressing, in view of the state of public frustration and anxiety about this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20888/11]