Paul Lawless

255. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will review the impact of increasing number of international students on the availability of places for Irish students, given that universities are under pressure to accept higher-paying non-EU students to offset chronic underfunding; the steps that will be taken to ensure Irish students are not disadvantaged in admissions while maintaining Ireland’s reputation as an international education hub. [67839/25]

11. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national security strategy. [67916/25]

23. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [67917/25]

250. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total number of prisoners currently in custody across the State; the number of prisoners serving short-term sentences (under 18 months); and for a breakdown of the number of prisoners serving sentences under 18 months, for each of the past five years, in tabular form. [70390/25]

251. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average monthly cost to the State of housing a prisoner. [70391/25]

252. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the current level of overcrowding in prisons; the percentage occupancy rate for each prison; and the measures being taken to address overcrowding. [70392/25]

254. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the current status of the electronic tagging programme; whether the procurement process has been completed and a contract awarded; the expected timeline for implementation and operational rollout; the estimated annual cost of introducing and maintaining electronic tagging; and the number of offenders expected to be subject to electronic tagging in its first year of operation. [70447/25]

23. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that the governance structures of the National Treasury Management Agency are sufficient to ensure that contributions to the Future Ireland Fund are not needed to cover significant and recurring overruns in core departments; and the financial governance reforms he will introduce specifically to prevent the misuse of public funds, such as the documented conflicts of interest and overspends within the National Treatment Purchase Fund. [64620/25]

51. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if his Department has concluded its review into the efficacy of the rent tax credit; if the data shows that the credit has primarily been absorbed by landlords in the form of higher rents rather than offering meaningful, sustained relief to tenants; and if he will commit to increasing the minimum threshold for tax bands to keep pace with the real rate of inflation, particularly for single parents and low to middle income families. [64619/25]

86. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will acknowledge that salmon stocks have not recovered in the twenty years since the compulsory drift net buyout, despite assurances given to fishermen in Cong, County Mayo and nationally that rivers would become abundant with fish; if he will commission an independent review into the reason those promises have failed and whether the policy requires reassessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69997/25]

87. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the reason that twenty years after the compulsory drift net buyout in Mayo and nationally, salmon stocks have not recovered to the levels promised by Inland Fisheries Ireland and Government scientific advisers at the time; and if he will account for the economic and social damage caused to fishing families and local shops in communities such as Cong, County Mayo, given that the same ecological pressures identified by fishermen then, predation, poor river maintenance, and marine overfishing, remain unaddressed today; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70000/25]

162. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the reason traditional fishermen have been excluded from conservation planning while international trawlers continue to overfish with impunity, despite UN FAO warnings that 35% of global marine stocks are exploited unsustainably. [70979/25]

284. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will commission a review of Budget 2026's impact on disabled households, particularly during the winter months, compared with what Budget 2025 offered in comparison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69592/25]

347. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the empty buildings which exist in County Mayo. [70319/25]

348. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the details of each empty building that his Department owns or rents nationwide, by county. [70320/25]

466. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will recognise the heritage value of draft net fishing, which dates back to licences granted in the 1800s in estuaries such as those in County Mayo. [69999/25]

527. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he accepts that the absence of the cost of disability payment represents a policy inconsistency given repeated commitments to its introduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69593/25]

528. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he accepts that the absence of the cost of disability payment represents a policy inconsistency given repeated commitments to its introduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69593/25]

529. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if he accepts that the withdrawal of once-off supports provided in Budget 2025 leaves disabled households substantially worse off in 2026; the measures he will take to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69594/25]

530. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the budgetary rationale for removing once-off supports without providing equivalent permanent measures for disabled people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69596/25]

552. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason the long-promised cost of disability payment has not been introduced in Budget 2026 despite Government-commissioned reports confirming annual extra costs of €10,651–€15,059 for disabled people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69586/25]

553. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he will introduce an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities to offset rising fuel and living costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69587/25]

554. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the way in which the €10 weekly increase in disability allowance and €5 in fuel allowance is considered adequate when they amount to less than a third of the supports withdrawn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69588/25]

555. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will publish a comparative analysis of income supports for disabled households in 2025 versus 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69589/25]

556. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps he will take to ensure that disabled households are not disproportionately at risk of poverty and social exclusion as a result of Budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69590/25]