721. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education if the recent announcement in budget 2021 in relation to the reduction in class sizes relates to DEIS band 1 senior schools only; if this decision ignores DEIS band one junior and vertical schools; if all disadvantaged schools will receive this reduction; if her attention has been drawn to the strong evidence that exists to support smaller class sizes for younger children and those suffering disadvantage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32517/20]
512. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will amend the lockdown regulations to allow persons to attend gyms and golf clubs while adhering to all Covid-19 requirements and social distancing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33356/20]
438. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider extending the date for filing returns for tax and CRO to the end of February 2021 in view of the current lockdown; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33388/20]
436. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he has received an update from a bank (details supplied) following his meeting; if the group will commit to the future of a bank in Ireland for the customers, staff and competition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33374/20]
382. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance his views on the proposed introduction of a minimum spend restriction for all tourists of €175 under the retail export scheme, the highest possible level permitted; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Ireland is alone in introducing such a regressive step at a time when EU members are opening up their schemes to further attract tourist shoppers; if his further attention has been drawn to the hugely negative impact this move will have particularly on the west of Ireland which is heavily dependent on tourist spend; his views on whether this has the potential to discourage future tourists from visiting Ireland in favour of other EU markets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32481/20]
136. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the fact that fees for Irish students studying elsewhere in the EU are not paid by SUSI, as a maintenance grant alone is payable; his further views on whether this is discriminatory against such students studying in other EU countries as both fees and maintenance grants are available for students studying here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32120/20]
803. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the inordinate delay in processing freehold title queries relating to the Land Commission within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31542/20]
801. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers that inadvertently lost out on an ANC payment in the past five years as they did not tick the ANC box on their SPS application form; the number that appealed this to his Department; the number that appealed this to the agriculture appeals office; the percentage of each of the respective appeals which were successful; his plans to improve the application process in order that the ANC question is more readily apparent; if the SPS application form has been assessed in terms of plain English; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31503/20]
800. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the need to re-establish the Irish wool council to address a series of matters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31501/20]
717. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health the number of patients on the orthodontic assessment waiting list in County Galway; the current waiting time for assessment; the number of patients on the orthodontic treatment waiting list; the current waiting time for orthodontic treatment; if there are unfilled clinical positions; the plans in place to reduce the treatment waiting time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31541/20]
708. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health the reason medical graduates from India are unable to register in Ireland as general practitioners even if they have completed the required registration exams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31511/20]
414. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on the reintroduction of the debt on the employer concept in social welfare and pension legislation to ensure effective protection for pensioners in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31520/20]
407. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider extending free travel to include children who are being cared for by a carer receiving the carer’s allowance in view of the fact that at present the carers receive free travel but the children do not; if her attention has been drawn to the burden this places on low-income families in which children have medical conditions and often have multiple medical appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31512/20]
362. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education her plans to deliver Irish courses for teachers who have trained in the UK but are now back in Ireland; if there are plans to deliver courses online due to Covid-19 restrictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31544/20]
297. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to support the potential of the wool industry to develop projects and increase the return to farmers and create jobs in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25987/20]
296. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans for the development of the wool industry in line with the programme for Government commitment; if he will consider supporting a scouring plant for wool, which is currently exported to the UK for this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25986/20]
137. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans to introduce specific grants and supports for the live events section of the economy (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25985/20]
103. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Transport his plans to introduce specific supports for travel agencies operating through Covid-19 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25988/20]
68. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to provide specific support to the taxi industry in circumstances in which many taxi owners cannot trade and their revenue streams are depleted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25989/20]
433. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health his plans to support amputees with the financial cost of prosthetics in view of the fact that they are not included on the long-term illness scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29603/20]
353. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the provisions that are being made to assist the 20,000 leaving certificate CAO applicants who sat their exams in previous years and are now at a disadvantage as a result of the 2020 points inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29857/20]
241. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education the progress being made in regard to the issue of school secretaries pay inequality; the date on which an acceptable proposal will be put forward; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29852/20]
230. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education the status of members of boards of management members for both primary and secondary schools in view of the escalation of restrictions to level 3; if boards can meet during the current level 3 restrictions; the supports her Department will give to these boards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29826/20]
114. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if a single authority to manage the River Shannon will be appointed to address issues including water level and maintenance of channels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29952/20]
98. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance the recourse available for lenders that have disputes with financial institutions in circumstances in which loans have been sold off on a number of occasions and there is a dispute as to who owns the loan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29844/20]
96. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he has suspended the applications process for primary medical certificates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29821/20]
118. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance his plans to amend the existing research and development tax incentive scheme to make it more streamlined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29384/20]
57. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to introduce an export credit insurance scheme for exporters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29379/20]
470. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education the reason so many students were downgraded from H1 to H2 in the recent leaving certificate examination, especially when those students were identified as among the school’s highest achievers in that subject; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28680/20]
437. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education if an example will be published of the way in which the algorithm used in calculating leaving certificate grades works; the measures taken to preserve accuracy and fairness in the results; the way in which the algorithm was validated; the parameters used to ensure that the marks generated by the system reflected student performance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28121/20]
62. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to expand the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme to include the refurbishment costs in addition to the capital costs of the house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26864/20]
286. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health the reason carer's allowance is taken into account as income in assessing the means for medical card applicants over 70 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27823/20]
123. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht the specific support she plans to put in place to help operators of an event (details supplied) whose business has crashed due to Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27825/20]
116. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the measures being put in place to expedite public works contract tendering (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27746/20]
233. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health his plans to deal with the fact that 75% of the available speech and language therapists in HSE community healthcare west are redeployed to either testing or contact tracing, including speech and language therapists from both primary care and social care, and the detrimental effect it is having in the delivery of services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27533/20]
664. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if funding will be made available to mature and access students to purchase laptops in order to avail of online and blended learning during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27343/20]
577. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if the time will be extended for community employment scheme workers to remain on their placement due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. [27079/20]
402. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a further extension of time for planning permissions will be considered for housing developments due to the impact of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27083/20]
379. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to expand the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme to include the refurbishment costs in addition to the capital costs of the house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27130/20]
87. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the temporary help-to-buy scheme; his further plans to expand the scheme to include second-hand properties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26863/20]
82. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance the status of the primary medical certificates; his plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for persons to receive this assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26860/20]
78. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he will remove agriculture from the commercial definition rate of 7.5% in relation to stamp duty and revise in line with the residential stamp duty charge of 1% up to €1 million and 2% thereafter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26861/20]
53. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance if he will reform inheritance tax rules for agriculture by which the relief can be extended to favourite successor relief to reflect the changing demographics and family structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26862/20]
30. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance the status of the primary medical certificates; his plans to expand the criteria for eligibility for persons to receive this assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27129/20]
179. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that primary care centres built under a public private partnership arrangement cannot be structurally altered without a formal approval by the PPP company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25710/20]
142. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to immediately reinstate the full rate per week of the employment wage subsidy scheme and pandemic unemployment payment payments to those persons employed in the events and entertainment industry until they are allowed to return to work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25711/20]
73. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht her plans to appoint a nominee from the commercial live events sector onto the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25712/20]
888. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans for the introduction of a new early retirement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25237/20]
887. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the spread of ash dieback disease here; the measures being taken to combat the disease; his plans for awareness campaigns in relation to the disease; the funding that has been provided for third-level institutions or researchers in relation to the disease; and the assessments that have been done in relation to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25232/20]
864. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made in recent months to resolve the delays in issuing felling licences; the extra resources and investment put in place to deliver the necessary changes; the reason for the delay in getting felling licences; the objectives in terms of processing times in the coming months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24721/20]