Parliamentary questions

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Holly Cairns

863. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the extension of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment will be extended beyond the current timeline for the small public service vehicle industry. [12658/20]

Heritage Sites

Holly Cairns

950. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of sites on the list of proposed natural heritage areas by county; and when they will be designated as natural heritage areas. [12663/20]

Wildlife Protection

Holly Cairns

951. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to the recent destruction of sensitive marsh habitats in Garrylucas, Garrettstown, Kinsale, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12664/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

952. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if an exception will be made for ferries to offshore islands to allow persons social distance at 1 m with compulsory face masks in order to ensure the viability of the services. [12665/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Holly Cairns

53. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance if he will extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme for the hospitality sector for as long as it is operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing guidelines, restrictions on overseas visitors and self-isolating procedures. [11529/20]

Insurance Fraud

Holly Cairns

135. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to address the insurance claim culture in society which is putting small businesses under extreme financial pressure. [11547/20]

Cycle to Work Scheme

Holly Cairns

136. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance his views on adjusting the cycle to work scheme to cover the purchasing of child seats or trailers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11548/20]

Cycle to Work Scheme

Holly Cairns

137. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance the reason a person can only avail of the cycle to work scheme once every five years even if the person's bike is stolen and-or damaged. [11549/20]

Cycle to Work Scheme

Holly Cairns

138. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance his views on changing the cycle to work scheme from a benefit-in-kind model to a model similar to the electric vehicle grants scheme which would enable more persons to purchase a sustainable and healthy form of transport regardless of employment status. [11550/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

291. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration of the mental health of primary school children was taken into account during the decision making of the timeline for reopening of schools. [11535/20]

Special Educational Needs

Holly Cairns

292. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if children with special educational needs attending rural mainstream schools are included in the July provision. [11536/20]

Special Educational Needs

Holly Cairns

293. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if children with special educational needs that avail of transport to and from their educational facilities will have the service available during the July provision. [11537/20]

Special Educational Needs

Holly Cairns

294. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the July provision will be extended into August 2020 to allow children with special educational needs to ease back into the school year and provide respite to those families. [11538/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

397. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the renewal of immigration permissions and future naturalisation applications for persons will not be affected by their having to avail of the pandemic unemployment payment or the temporary wage subsidy scheme. [11551/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

407. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the systems in place to ensure supermarkets and other retail spaces are adhering to Covid-19 guidelines. [11541/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Holly Cairns

461. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if supports or grants will be put in place for businesses that operate from privately-owned home premises in view of the fact the restart grant being issued by local authorities is inequitable as it only caters for businesses paying commercial rates. [11543/20]

Work Permits

Holly Cairns

462. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of employment permits issued to boners of meat from August 2015 to April 2020, in tabular form. [11544/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

708. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health his views on the reopening model introduced by other countries such as France, Italy and China that focused regional variations using registers including the population density of an area and confirmed cases of Covid-19. [11524/20]

Departmental Funding

Holly Cairns

709. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health if he will provide funding for healthcare professionals including carers who cannot access or afford private vehicle transport to purchase bicycles and pedicels to travel to work in view of social distancing requirements and the vulnerability of the patients, clients, and family members they work with. [11525/20]

Disability Support Services

Holly Cairns

710. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the expected timeline for children with special educational needs to be able to attend appointments for speech and language and occupational therapy. [11539/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

711. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the procedures being put in place at airports, ports and other places of entry to ensure persons travelling will self-isolate for the appropriate period of time. [11540/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

712. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health if he will provide clarification on social distancing guidelines that hotels, restaurants and cafés must follow; and the estimated length of time these restrictions will be in place [11542/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

885. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated timeline that overseas travel will be regularised again to enable the hospitality and tourism industry prepare and engage in medium-term planning. [11545/20]

LEADER Programmes

Holly Cairns

945. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if a breakdown for LEADER programme funding will be provided according to categories used by his Department for the period January 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form; the amount of funding apportioned to women's projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11526/20]

Community Enhancement Programme

Holly Cairns

946. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of women's sheds groups that applied for and were successful under the most recent community enhancement fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11527/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Holly Cairns

1025. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on extending the pandemic unemployment payment to those who were in full-time employment prior to the crisis and are now full-time carers as a direct result of the pandemic. [11528/20]

Carer's Support Grant

Holly Cairns

1026. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide additional exceptional payments for carers to access equipment to enable them to safely and effectively work, for example, PPE and additional work clothing. [11530/20]

Disability Allowance

Holly Cairns

1027. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of disability allowance who have availed of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. [11532/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Holly Cairns

1028. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 666 of 9 June 2020 and her contribution to the Dáil debate of 28 May 2020, if she will clarify the position regarding the future clawback of the pandemic unemployment payment (details supplied). [11533/20]

Commercial Rates

Holly Cairns

1085. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his views on encouraging local authorities to suspend commercial rates for hotel and hospitality businesses when they are closed for the winter months; and his further views on providing local authorities with funding to make up a shortfall. [11546/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Holly Cairns

1112. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the expected date non-resident travel to offshore islands can resume under the reopening roadmap. [11534/20]

Ministerial Communications

Holly Cairns

25. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps he is taking to convey the condemnation of persons here of the actions of the President of the United States of America and those that seek to fuel racial tensions and racial inequality in the United States of America and elsewhere. [10154/20]

State Examinations

Holly Cairns

165. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills the considerations or special exceptions that will be made when predicting grades for leaving certificate students that have had low attendance or struggled with class participation due to mental health related issues. [10147/20]

School Transport

Holly Cairns

166. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if children and young persons travelling to primary school from offshore islands will be provided with adequate funding in line with the principles of the primary school transport scheme through a mechanism such as a remote area grant to ensure they are not disadvantaged in accessing their education. [10149/20]

Crime Data

Holly Cairns

233. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number and location of racial crimes and the rate of prosecution between January 2015 and December 2019, inclusive in tabular form. [10150/20]

Forestry Sector

Holly Cairns

479. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Growing for the Future document is still the strategic plan for the development of the forestry sector here. [10151/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

626. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of funding provided to volunteer centres in each local authority area to enable the community call scheme; and the amount returned by each volunteer centre in tabular form. [10153/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Holly Cairns

666. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment will not be subject to forms of clawback in the future. [10148/20]

Cycle to Work Scheme

Holly Cairns

46. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance his views on expanding the reach of the bike-to-work scheme to include students, jobseekers, those on disability allowance or doing unpaid work; and his further views on increasing the €1,000 limit to include e-bikes, cargo bikes and non-traditional bikes such as tricycles, handcycles and other modified bikes appropriate for those that require same due to physical capacities. [9386/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

101. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance if he will encourage banks to extend the moratorium on farmers repayments into the autumn in view of the ongoing impact of Covid-19. [9388/20]

Value Added Tax

Holly Cairns

102. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance his views on reclassifying the VAT status for the bus and coach sector to harmonise the VAT systems in view of the fact that operators in Northern Ireland have an advantage in their ability to claim VAT back on expenditure which the operators here are not able to do. [9389/20]

Public Sector Allowances

Holly Cairns

135. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps he is taking to review the current public sector motor travel rates; and if they include appropriate compensation for those using bikes and e-bikes which informs the rates that are paid tax free to private sector workers (details supplied). [9387/20]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Holly Cairns

293. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an indicative roadmap will be provided on when and the way in which primary and secondary schools will be returning. [9382/20]

Youth Services

Holly Cairns

294. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he is taking to provide young persons with non-formal educational and outdoor activities resources and opportunities for the summer months in the context of an absence of usual summer camps. [9384/20]

Direct Provision System

Holly Cairns

392. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the process by which decisions are made on the area in which a direct provision centre will be located; and the criteria that inform such a decision. [9390/20]

Direct Provision System

Holly Cairns

393. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the way in which local communities are consulted as part of the process of establishing a direct provision centre including the timelines involved and the types of consultation activities deployed. [9391/20]

Direct Provision System

Holly Cairns

394. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to establish a direct provision centre in an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9392/20]

Employment Data

Holly Cairns

480. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of workers in the meat processing industry who are stamp 1 or stamp 2 from January 2016 to April 2020, in absolute and percentage terms relating to the total number of workers in the sector in tabular form. [9385/20]

Disability Services Funding

Holly Cairns

701. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the steps he is taking to address the underfunding of supports for persons with disabilities as a result of the cuts to funding for not-for-profit disability service providers in January 2020. [9366/20]

Health Information and Quality Authority

Holly Cairns

702. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health if he will address the matter raised in a statement from HIQA at the Special Oireachtas Committee on Covid-19 Response on 26 May 2020 (details supplied) in relation to a concern about the lack of clinical oversight of nursing homes; and if action was taken on foot of these concerns. [9367/20]