Robert O'Donoghue

348. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection to review the eligibility rules whereby domiciliary care allowance (DCA) automatically ceases when a child turns 16, regardless of the child's continuing care needs; if he will consider extending DCA until the child's transition to disability allowance has been fully approved and implemented or continue the DCA allowance until child turns 18; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50359/26]

388. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the mechanisms in place to ensure that early learning and childcare providers participating in the core funding scheme comply with the fee management conditions, and do not increase fees charged to parents contrary to the terms of the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50364/26]

389. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether compliance is monitored directly by her Department, by Pobal, by the network of City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), or by another body; to outline the respective responsibilities of each organisation in relation to monitoring and enforcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50365/26]

390. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of fee management reviews, investigations, audits or compliance checks undertaken in each year since the introduction of core funding; the number of breaches identified and sanctions applied; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50366/26]

391. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the historical fee information retained by her Department or its agents for participating providers, including the earliest date for which fee schedules are held; whether fee lists dating back to 30 September 2021 (or earlier where applicable) remain available for compliance and audit purposes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50367/26]

392. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether all providers in receipt of core funding are required to submit updated fee lists annually; the way in which those fee lists are verified against the baseline fee applicable under the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50368/26]

393. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of fee reviews initiated; the number of fee reviews initiated since the establishment of the core funding scheme resulted in a finding that parents were being overcharged by a partner service and therefore in breach of core funding rules; to confirm if payments to that service provider have been placed on hold; her plans to recoup the overcharged fees for parents, including by legal action if required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50369/26]

394. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality where a finding of overcharging/breach of core funding rules was made against a partner service, to indicate in each instance the length of time the case took from first complaint to a finding that the partner service was breaching core funding rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50370/26]

395. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of cases where a partner service was found to have raised fees in breach of the core funding rules, if the relevant partner service has confirmed to her Department that it has completed all remedial actions within the specified time period, including refunds of parents if required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50371/26]

396. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in situations where the partner service has confirmed that they have completed all remedial actions including refunds, to outline the way in which the evidence of remedy provided by the service provider has been verified by her Department; if parents and service users who were deemed to have been overcharged have been included in this process in order to confirm that they have in fact been appropriately refunded, if applicable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50372/26]

397. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to identify the instances where a finding has been made that a partner service has overcharged parents in breach of core funding rules; where the deadline for complying with the remedial actions including refunds has passed and her Department has been made aware (by any means) that the partner service has not in fact complied with the remedial actions required of them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50373/26]

223. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether, in light of the proposed new stamp 4 pathway for beneficiaries of temporary protection for Ukrainian nationals, consideration is being given to introducing a waiver, exemption or alternative eligibility criteria for applicants with documented long-term illnesses, disabilities or other significant health conditions who may be unable to satisfy standard employment-related requirements through no fault of their own; the way in which such applicants will be assessed under the proposed scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49968/26]

321. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she has assessed the impact of the removal of references to therapy plans and therapy-related supports from the revised SNA role on children with cerebral palsy and other significant physical disabilities attending mainstream schools; the way in which schools are expected to implement physiotherapy and occupational therapy recommendations where HSE therapy services are unavailable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48766/26]

322. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether children with cerebral palsy who attend mainstream schools and who have significant physical care needs but little or no learning disability were specifically represented during the development of the Special Needs Assistant Workforce Development Plan 2026–2037; and if she will provide details of the organisations and parent representatives consulted in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48767/26]

323. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she will establish a formal consultation mechanism with organisations representing children with cerebral palsy and their families to inform future implementation of the SNA Workforce Development Plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48768/26]

394. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the application to retain an 11th mainstream teacher for the coming school year at a school (details supplied).; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49487/26]

525. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of families who applied for the domiciliary care allowance for each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of applications granted, refused; and the number of refusals that were subsequently overturned on appeal, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48754/26]

526. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection the current wait time for domiciliary care allowance appeals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48755/26]

702. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken to address delays in the Garda vetting process, particularly for the early education and childcare sector, where providers report waiting up to eight weeks for vetting clearance for new employees; the impact these delays are having on services’ ability to meet statutory staff-to-child ratios and maintain capacity; whether consideration has been given to introducing alternative interim measures, such as recognising a valid Garda vetting disclosure obtained through another regulated employer or service, pending completion of a new vetting application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49203/26]

926. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Health whether the inclusion of porters in the HSE Nursing and Midwifery Sponsorship Programme in 2025 was intended as a once-off or pilot initiative; whether porters are eligible to apply for the 2026 intake of the programme; if not, the reason for their exclusion; whether consideration is being given to reopening the programme to porters in future years, particularly those working in direct patient care settings; the assessment that has been carried out of the success of the 2025 intake involving porters; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49705/26]

236. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on the applications submitted in December 2024 by Fingal County Council in respect of Skerries Harbour, County Dublin, including the application for a foreshore licence to carry out borehole investigations into the seabed and the application for a foreshore lease to allow for the construction of a new outer pier; the current status of both applications; whether any additional information is outstanding from Fingal County Council or its consultants; the expected timeline for a decision on each application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47965/26]

245. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reasons for delays in the payment of approved funding by the national student financial support scheme (NSLF) to higher education institutions; the reason a number of students (details supplied) have been unable to access their examination results due to outstanding tuition fee balances that remain unpaid by the scheme; the steps being taken to ensure that affected students are not disadvantaged as a result of administrative delays beyond their control; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48107/26]

279. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the engagement his Department has had at European Union level regarding copyright protections for creators whose works may be used to train artificial intelligence systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47768/26]

344. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education and Youth if provision will be made to allow parents to transfer from school-based July provision to home-based July provision in circumstances where parents enrolled in the school-based programme in good faith, but the school is now unable to provide the programme due to staffing shortages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47272/26]

399. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether an assessment has been undertaken of the potential impact of artificial intelligence systems on the livelihoods of Irish writers, musicians, artists, performers and other creative professionals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47767/26]