522 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the new integrated public transport ticketing system for the greater Dublin region, Leap card, does not offer any financial incentives to commuters who are charged the standard cash fare rate for each journey taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2020/12]
521 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason the new integrated public transport ticketing system, Leap card, does not function along specified travel time periods, measuring an individual’s cumulative travel time as opposed to issuing individual tickets for each public transport journey taken, as integrated ticketing systems do in other countries for example the Oyster card in London; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2019/12]
493 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health his plans to reverse the decision to cut payments to pre-registration student nurses which was taken in 2010; if he intends to restore the 80% payments to fourth year nursing students during their 36 week pre-registration shifts when they are required to replace trained staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2310/12]
332 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the practice of some local authorities of charging an additional fee for persons attending their local councils to pay the household charge; his views on whether this is acceptable; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2103/12]
301 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the situation regarding a community employment scheme (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if funding for this scheme will be removed before a review has been completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[2504/12]
300 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the situation regarding a community employment scheme (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if funding for this scheme will be removed before a review has been completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[2503/12]
299 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the situation regarding a community employment scheme (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if funding for this scheme will be removed before a review has been completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[2502/12]
237 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the projected savings that will be made by the budget 2012 decision to assess carer’s allowance as income for the purposes of the family income supplement; the number of families that will be affected by this decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[2063/12]
133 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Finance the number of calls that have been received by the telephone helpline established by the Revenue Commissioners and Department of Finance to deal with the concerns of the 150,000 pensioners who recently received a letter from the Revenue Commissioners stating that they were not tax compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2018/12]
132 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Finance the number of additional staff that have been assigned to the telephone helpline established by the Revenue Commissioners and Department of Finance to deal with the concerns of the 150,000 pensioners who recently received letters from the Revenue Commissioners stating that they were not tax compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2017/12]
131 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Finance the amount of money the Revenue Commissioners aim to recoup to the Exchequer from the cross-sharing of information between the Departments of Finance and Social Protection which resulted in 150,000 pensioners receiving letters from the Revenue Commissioners last week stating that they were not tax compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2016/12]
255 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the date on which the National Transport Authority will begin to examine the structure of commuter rail fares, in order to eliminate the current anomalies in the pricing structure which sees commuters in peripheral DART regions paying substantially higher fares than other rail users, in view of the fact the NTA has promised to undertake a review of commuter rail fares once it has completed its current rationalisation of intercity rail fares; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1781/12]
248 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce mechanisms to reduce the abuse of disabled driver parking spaces by non-disabled drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1659/12]
246 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the rehabilitative supports, programmes and funding that the Health Service Executive provides to older patients who have suffered strokes or similar impairments; the inspection regime which is in place to ensure that every effort is made to rehabilitate these patients; if he is satisfied that this inspection regime is stringent enough; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1868/12]
240 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a Health Information and Quality Authority report (details supplied) which states that many older persons were not given rehabilitation after suffering strokes and did not have adequate access to speech and language therapy; the steps the Health Service Executive is taking to ensure that similar problems do not occur in other HSE regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1780/12]
225 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the mechanisms available to him to prevent an unnecessary duplication of services, among disability service providers serving the same catchment area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1652/12]
224 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the level of consultation undertaken between him and private service providers for persons with disabilities to ensure that value for money is obtained; the basis on which private service providers are evaluated; if he is able to track the amount spent on service provision for the end user; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1651/12]
223 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the amount spent by the State in providing services for persons with disabilities for each of the years 2007 to 2011, inclusive; the amount which was paid to private service providers for this purpose in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1650/12]
222 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the current review of disability spending, and details on the group of persons conducting the review; the manner in which they were appointed; the remit of the review group; the timeframe for the completion of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1649/12]
221 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the progress made to date in implementing the programme for Government commitment to introducing personal budgets for persons accessing disability services; when it is expected personal budgets will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1648/12]
220 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the progress made to date in implementing the programme for Government commitment to put the standards for residential care in respect of persons with disabilities on a statutory footing; if this will extend to those providing home care facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1647/12]
193 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects to publish a Bill on mental capacity; if he intends that Ireland will ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities following the publication of this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1658/12]
177 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the programme for Government commitment to examine the potential to merge services between two or more local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1670/12]
176 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the programme for Government commitment to abolish the position of county manager and replace it with a chief executive mandated to implement democratically decided policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1669/12]
178 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered granting local authorities the power to reduce all or part of a business’ commercial rates bills in cases of extreme financial hardship, as is the practice in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1671/12]
175 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to review the commercial rates payable to local authorities in view of the funding such bodies will receive from water charges and property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1668/12]
174 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has conducted any review of the economic impact of local authority rates on small and medium businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1667/12]
173 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the amount collected from water charges levied on Irish businesses by local authorities for each of the years 2000 to 2011, inclusive; the number of businesses levied each year; the percentage of local authority expenditure this total represented for each of the years concerned in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1666/12]
172 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the amount collected from commercial rates levied on Irish businesses by local authorities for each of the years 2000 to 2011, inclusive; the number of businesses levied each year; the percentage for local authority expenditure this total represented for each of the years concerned in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1665/12]
143 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of unemployed persons who did not qualify for social welfare payments in each of the years 2007-11; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1663/12]
144 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports available to unemployed persons in receipt of a payment other than jobseeker’s benefit or allowance to re-enter the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1664/12]
142 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports available to those unemployed persons who do not qualify for social welfare payments to re-enter the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1662/12]
141 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of participants on the JobBridge scheme to date; the number who have now completed their internships; the number who have successfully entered the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1661/12]
140 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the proposed evaluation of the JobBridge national internship scheme; the persons who have been appointed to evaluate the scheme; the nature of their remit; the time timeframe in which it is envisaged the evaluation will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1660/12]
139 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of applications for domiciliary care allowance for each of the years 2007 to 2011, and if these figures will be broken down to indicate the total number of successful applications; the number of applications which were successful at first instance; the total number of appeals made; the number of applications which were successful on appeal in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1657/12]
138 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications for disability allowance for each of the years 2007 to 2011; if these figures will be broken down to indicate the total number of successful applications; the number of applications that were successful at first instance; the total number of appeals made; the number of applications that were successful on appeal in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1656/12]
137 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the rationale behind the exclusion of persons in receipt of the disability allowance from labour activation and further education programmes such as JobBridge; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1655/12]
136 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection the labour activation measures available to persons in receipt of disability allowance; if there is any mechanism by which the additional costs and barriers preventing persons with disabilities from re-entering the workforce my be recognised; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1654/12]
114 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider reforming the role of special needs assistants in classrooms; if he has considered the experience of other education systems in Europe in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1729/12]
113 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to expedite the co-ordination of the assessment of needs process for a child with special educational needs prior to them commencing school; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1728/12]
112 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills the actions he is taking in conjunction with the National Council for Special Education to ensure a standardising of the decision-making process regarding resources allocated by special educational needs organisers; if he is concerned that standards can differ significantly from locality to locality; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1727/12]
111 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that documentation is produced for parents from either the National Council for Special Education or the special educational needs organiser outlining the way a decision was reached regarding the resources to be allocated to a child; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1726/12]
110 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to instances in which schools are limiting the attendance of children with special educational needs on health and safety grounds; his views that this situation is unacceptable; if he concurs that in such instances all necessary resources to ensure a child can fully attend school are in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1725/12]
102 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills the rationale behind the exclusion of persons in receipt of the disability allowance from labour activation and further education programmes such as Springboard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1655/12]
76 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Finance the criteria upon which a primary medical certificate may be awarded, and in specific, if there is any mechanism under which chronic illnesses, which relapse and remit, may be recognised; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1653/12]
1028 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the other public transport bodies that are to be included in the Leap card scheme; if Dublin Bikes is to be included in the scheme specifically; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[41421/11]
1024 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his policy regarding the need for large urban local authorities to have in place a cycling officer; if his attention has been drawn to the role that cycling officers play; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[41253/11]
939 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the progress made to date in implementing the commitments made in the programme for Government regarding funding and services for persons with disabilities; the time-frame for the implementation of the remaining measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1135/12]
936 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to implement the European regulation on nutrition and health claims, No. 1924/2006; the impact that this regulation has on consumers wishing to purchase herbal and alternative remedies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1104/12]
935 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to implement the European Directive on Food Supplements, 2002/46/EC; the effect that this directive has had on the range and variety of vitamin products available to consumers here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1103/12]