Parliamentary questions

Health Services

Patricia Ryan

223. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the measures being considered to address the recruitment and retention crisis being experienced in section 39-funded organisations, where lower pay levels are causing those in section 39 agencies to leave for jobs or grades in section 38 and HSE positions with more remuneration, where the section 39 agencies are still operating on a level of funding, which is now 40 cent less per hour of service than what was allocated in 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43103/23]

Health Services

Patricia Ryan

228. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the reason there is no respite available to an elderly gentleman (details supplied); the reason the public health nurse said that they would look for respite but would be unable to give a date for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43133/23]

Social Welfare Code

Patricia Ryan

200. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Social Protection what measures she can implement to end the discrimination against many disabled people in receipt of disability allowance, a benefit paid to disabled people directly, who are at risk of losing the benefit should they marry because the benefit is means tested. [41936/23]

Disability Services

Patricia Ryan

246. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how the hours provided for respite care are arrived at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41938/23]

Fire Stations

Patricia Ryan

130. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the measures he is taking to guarantee the future of the fire station at the Curragh, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40808/23]

Education Costs

Patricia Ryan

162. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Education the reason the payment for after-school studies in DEIS schools in south County Kildare has to be paid in full, at approximately €180 per term per child, causing further financial stress on families, where no option for payment in instalments is available despite requests for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40807/23]

Housing Schemes

Patricia Ryan

183. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason people availing of the derelict house grant are required to pay the money to the contractor up front and then claim back for the local authority, which makes the grant unattainable for most people as they do not have such funds available, and in those circumstances, the reason the local authority cannot be authorised to pay the contractors directly, thus making the grant more easily accessible to those who need it. [40810/23]

Social Insurance

Patricia Ryan

200. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will ensure that PRSI, taken in the wrong from a person (details supplied) is refunded at the earliest opportunity; the position regarding payment of PRSI after the age of 66 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40809/23]

Social Welfare Appeals

Patricia Ryan

203. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason appeals for refusal of carer’s allowance are currently taking many months to process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40811/23]

Health Services

Patricia Ryan

254. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he will address the case of a person (details supplied). [40803/23]

Health Services

Patricia Ryan

255. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the reason Naas General Hospital does not appear to have sufficient wound dressing for their in-patients (details supplied) and are telling patients that they must bring in their own dressings from home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40804/23]

Disability Services

Patricia Ryan

257. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the reason persons suffering from cancer are not eligible for a blue disability badge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35167/23]

Grant Payments

Patricia Ryan

866. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if, with regard to income thresholds for SUSI eligibility, he will examine the refusal of a SUSI grant to a student (details supplied); if he will investigate whether an exception can be made and expedited given, the deadline for response/appeal to SUSI. [35166/23]

Disability Services

Patricia Ryan

228. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he can offer an explanation for the 75% failure to meet set targets for movement of those with disabilities in congregated residential care settings to community-based settings; what measures Government will take to bring Ireland into line with the UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34719/23]

Home Care Packages

Patricia Ryan

276. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if, with regard to the Public Sector Performance Report and figures showing that only 80 of a targeted 235 intensive homecare packages were delivered, he can explain the reason for the 66% shortfall; what measures he and his Department will put in place to ensure that all intensive homecare packages are delivered in future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34715/23]

Home Care Packages

Patricia Ryan

277. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he can explain the 66% shortfall where only 80 of 235 targeted homecare packages were delivered (Public Sector Performance Report 2022); what measures the Government intends to take to ensure targets are met in future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34716/23]

Home Care Packages

Patricia Ryan

278. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if, with reference to the Public Sector Performance Report 2022 and figures showing approximately 40% of target home support house undelivered, what measures the Government will take to ensure targets are met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34717/23]

General Practitioner Services

Patricia Ryan

279. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health what measures he would consider to address the extreme shortage of GP services in Kildare, in circumstances where a person (details supplied) has been unable to find a GP willing to take them on as a patient, and where their partner (now expecting their first child) was, after considerable effort on their own and their partner's behalf, only able to find a GP willing to accept them as a patient outside their catchment area, so that they and their child could receive vital maternity care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34720/23]

Deportation Orders

Patricia Ryan

154. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 154 of 21 June 2023, if she can clarify queries with regard to the deportation orders granted from 2018 to date, 790 in total, as the issue queried originally was not answered in the first instance; how many of those orders have been fully executed, and the people subjected to them deported as ordered; with regard to the orders not as yet executed, which agency is charged with keeping a record of their whereabouts; which agency is responsible for the supervision of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33099/23]

Disability Services

Patricia Ryan

169. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what can be done to help a person (details supplied) who has two special needs adult sons with profound intellectual disabilities. [33100/23]

Pharmacy Services

Patricia Ryan

215. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he has or will conduct a review of pharmacy dispensing fees and the extent of service provision by community pharmacists; if he has or will engage with an organisation (details supplied) on the matter; the dates on which he has or will engage; if he will establish a review which encompasses the scope of services provided or which could be provided by community pharmacy; and if he will include scoping of a minor ailments or minor illness scheme in community pharmacy in the terms of reference of the aforementioned review. [33097/23]

Nursing Homes

Patricia Ryan

216. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he can confirm his availability for a meeting with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33101/23]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Patricia Ryan

16. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Taoiseach if he can confirm that the public inquiry into nursing home deaths during Covid, which he promised in January of this year, has been or will be established; and if he can confirm the date of same before Dáil Éireann's summer recess. [31512/23]

Work Permits

Patricia Ryan

42. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport what assistance measures he can put in place, or what measures he would consider, to assist bus companies (details supplied) with the high costs of applications for work permits for drivers, having had to source them from outside this jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31500/23]

Work Permits

Patricia Ryan

60. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will expedite the process of issuing work permits to drivers at a company (details supplied) in order that the company can address chronic staff shortages which are causing significant problems with providing an efficient reliable bus service between County Kildare and Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31499/23]

Housing Schemes

Patricia Ryan

85. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 109 of 14 June 2023, if he will clearly indicate the amount of funding given to Kildare County Council to purchase homes under the tenant-in-situ scheme since the lifting of the ban on no-fault evictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31498/23]

Vacant Properties

Patricia Ryan

86. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if, with regard to the vacant property refurbishment grant, he can clarify how people who wish to apply for the grant but cannot get a mortgage on the vacant property concerned due to its not being 'habitable' (i.e. no working kitchen) will be able to avail of the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31501/23]

Departmental Expenditure

Patricia Ryan

18. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport if he can explain the reason that, despite his Department having an underspend of €97 million on transport and infrastructure, this Deputy has been informed by Kildare County Council that there "are no funds" to repair and resurface dangerously deteriorated sections of road in Kildare South; when, if ever, he intends to allocate these funds to already financially pressed local authorities to be used, or if those funds have or are intended to be re-allocated for other purposes; and if so, what purposes. [30211/23]

Road Projects

Patricia Ryan

69. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport when he intends to allocate funding from his Department’s €97 million surplus for road maintenance; how much of that will be allocated to Kildare County Council, which, in response to representations made by this Deputy, has stated that it has nothing in the budget to fix a very badly deteriorated and pot-holed section of road in Monasterevin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30213/23]

Approved Housing Bodies

Patricia Ryan

132. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide, in tabular form, the numbers of social housing units allocated to approved housing bodies in the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; the methodology used for such allocation; and what measures could be taken to ensure smaller approved housing bodies with specific remits, such as (details supplied) and other such smaller AHBs, have an equal chance of being allocated properties in Part V developments. [30215/23]

Deportation Orders

Patricia Ryan

154. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Justice the number of deportation orders granted in the State in the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; of those orders, how many have been fully executed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30212/23]

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Patricia Ryan

225. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he can clarify the reasons employees of a company (details supplied) have been deemed ineligible to receive the pandemic special recognition payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30214/23]

Nursing Homes

Patricia Ryan

226. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health how many private nursing homes have closed in County Kildare in the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [30216/23]

Health Services Staff

Patricia Ryan

227. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health to provide the locations of the 47 community specialist teams, 60 in total, currently operating in each CHN or CHO, in tabular form; and the locations and projected dates of coming into operation of the remaining 13 teams. [30217/23]

Hospital Waiting Lists

Patricia Ryan

228. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) has been informed there is a minimum waiting time of eight weeks at the Mater Hospital in Dublin to receive an urgent ultrasound to their throat; if he will explain how urgent something has to be when a two-month wait is required before such urgent treatment can be accessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30218/23]

Energy Prices

Patricia Ryan

51. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the measures or reliefs he could consider or put in place to prevent pensioners and others on low fixed incomes being further energy-impoverished by "standing charges" imposed on them by gas providers, even when there is no gas being used, as a €20 standing charge per month is a significant sum out of a pensioner's income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28787/23]

School Staff

Patricia Ryan

88. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Education the reason that a school (details supplied) is to lose a teacher for the coming school year, resulting in the two largest classes having to be divided up, despite enrolment numbers in excess of 25 for the past two years; if anything can be done to prevent this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28786/23]

Housing Schemes

Patricia Ryan

109. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of additional funding that has been given to Kildare County Council to purchase homes under the 'tenant in situ' scheme since the lifting of the 'no fault' eviction ban on 1 April 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28788/23]

Child and Family Agency

Patricia Ryan

131. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will consider intervening in the very serious case of a young mother (details supplied); the measures he can take to help this woman and her family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28789/23]

Health Services

Patricia Ryan

165. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the number of physiotherapists and physiotherapy services available to MS sufferers, and those with other neurological conditions in CHO7 for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and the cost of funding same. [28790/23]

Nursing Homes

Patricia Ryan

166. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if, with regard to the revoking of the ban on nursing homes transferring their business and converting to providing accommodation for people under temporary protection, he has considered the consequences of that revocation on the number of available places in nursing homes for people who really need them, given that families are already struggling to find suitable nursing home places for their loved ones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28791/23]

Medicinal Products

Patricia Ryan

167. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that Solpadine and its generic equivalents can only be dispensed in capsule form, usually in 60 capsule packs, and not in soluble form to medical card holders to whom it has been prescribed, which is causing problems among those for whom swallowing capsules/tablets would be difficult, if not impossible, and that pharmacists, having informed the medical card holder of this issue, are saying to the person that they can sell the soluble version to them over the counter at a cost of approximately €14 per pack of 24 (details supplied); if he can arrange for the soluble version to be available on the medical card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28792/23]

Water Pollution

Patricia Ryan

147. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if the Environmental Protection Agency tests all rivers for the quality of the water to establish their suitability for swimming and water activities. [26763/23]

Road Network

Patricia Ryan

201. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport if the Government has any plans for the development and installation of motion sensor street lighting on Irish streets and roads. [26356/23]

National Car Test

Patricia Ryan

202. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the number of cars currently awaiting NCT tests in Kildare; the availability of timely appointments; the earliest appointment available at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26358/23]

Financial Services

Patricia Ryan

227. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the measures and-or plans that he or the Government have in place, or intend to introduce, to assist the many struggling mortgage holders who find themselves again facing uncertainty following the sale of their mortgage to a vulture fund by the original lender; the options available to these mortgage holders if the vulture fund fails or refuses to negotiate in any way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26357/23]

Financial Services

Patricia Ryan

228. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the number of family home mortgages, by county, that are now in the hands of vulture funds in 2023, in tabular form; the number of those mortgages that are or were the subject of alternative payment arrangements or split or shelved portion mortgages prior to their being sold to vulture funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26362/23]

Housing Provision

Patricia Ryan

434. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he or the Government have plans or intentions, given our increasing ageing population, to establish a distinct unit to operate together across both his Department and the Department of Health to provide for a joint plan to ensure the provision of age-friendly independent and supported-living environments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26359/23]

Housing Provision

Patricia Ryan

435. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of affordable homes that have been delivered, per county, in the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26361/23]

Social Welfare Eligibility

Patricia Ryan

441. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Social Protection if the Government has plans to review the criteria for home care workers' entitlement to DSP payments (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25551/23]