Ciarán Ahern

292. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he has reversed previous Governments’ policy which banned fracked gas in Ireland; if it is now Government policy to allow the importation and use of fracked gas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23169/25]

331. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his response to the European Commission's decision to open an infringement procedure against Ireland (INFR(2025)2005) for failing to correctly transpose the Landfill Directive (Directive 1999/31/EC as amended by Directive 2011/97/EU and Directive (EU) 2018/850) which sets standards for landfills to prevent adverse effects on human health, water, soil and air; the corrective actions he will take to ensure that the Directive is correctly transposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24225/25]

337. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is aware that Irish-based financial institutions hold more than €31 billion in investments in fossil fuel industries; how he intends on encouraging such institutions to divest from polluting industries, given both national and global emissions reduction targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24339/25]

465. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that Irish-based financial institutions hold more than €31 billion in investments in fossil fuel industries; if he will consider imposing sanctions on such institutions and withdrawing favourable tax arrangements they currently enjoy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23581/25]

2. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport when he intends to bring forward a new national aviation policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23103/25]

67. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the corrective actions he will take to ensure that the transport sector meets its emissions reductions targets by 2030 and does not exceed the sectoral emissions ceilings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18068/25]

245. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the timeline for the roll-out of the proposed transport police force; and if he will make a statement on the matter.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23104/25]

285. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Finance if he will expand eligibility for the disabled drivers and passenger’s scheme to include people living with scoliosis and recipients of corrective spinal fusion surgery who have been left with permanent impairments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23065/25]

83. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the number of EV charging points in each Irish Rail car park, in tabular form; if there are plans to increase this number; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22341/25]

84. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the budget allocation for Iarnród Éireann security personnel at stations in 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22342/25]

177. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures her Department is taking to ensure that children in publicly funded schools are not required to attend religious instruction against the wishes of their parents, in line with the constitutional right to freedom of conscience and Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution; if she supports children's constitutional rights not to attend said religious instruction; if her Department includes sacramental preparation under the definition of "religious instruction"; what specific action her Department will take during the current communion season to ensure that children who opt-out of religious instruction's rights are upheld; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22352/25]

222. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the capital budget allocation for Tourism Ireland in 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22349/25]

322. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí based in the Garda Mounted Unit, by rank, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22344/25]

323. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice the estimated full-year costs to recruit an additional 300 prison officers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22345/25]

327. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice if he will provide an update on the visa application of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22399/25]

480. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE stroke clinical nurse specialists based at Tallaght University Hospital in 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22346/25]

481. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health the number of staff in each public PrEP service in 2024 and to-date in 2025; the number of vacancies in each of those PrEP services, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22347/25]

482. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant general surgeons with a special interest in colorectal surgery based at Tallaght University Hospital in 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22348/25]

177. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the reason there is still no assignment of unallocated emissions or a sectoral emissions ceiling for the land use, land use-change and forestry sector given the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 was adopted four years ago; the steps his Department is taking to rectify the issues preventing these from being adopted for the land use, land use-change and forestry sector; and when he expects that they will be in place. [21830/25]

306. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of the recent increase in anti-social behaviour and the consequential public safety concerns at a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21853/25]

170. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the progress of work undertaken by his Department to implement the ten recommendations contained in the report of the Dublin City Taskforce launched in October 2024. [19044/25]

250. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will ban imported fracked gas in Ireland, given the fact that in the High Court judgment [2024] IEHC 555 concerning the planning application for Shannon LNG it is noted that “the Proposed Development does not depend on fracked gas and the Applicant is confident it can source gas from non-fracked sources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19002/25]

251. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the analysis of the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority to the effect that the additional energy requirements associated with LNG relative to natural gas supplies, including the additional energy expended on liquification, transport and regasification, mean that LNG imports are on average over double the emission intensity of domestic gas and pipeline gas imports with a correspondingly increased adverse impact on decarbonisation targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19003/25]

271. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question 2 of 10 April 2025, if he accepts that given An Bord Pleanála’s requirement to ‘have regard’ to Government policy, his decision to overturn the moratorium on LNG introduced in 2021 has been the primary impetus behind Shannon LNG receiving planning approval to construct a permanent terminal after initially being refused on the basis of said moratorium, and that as a result of his plans to develop a State-led temporary floating LNG terminal he is actually locking Ireland into fossil fuel use for decades to come, noting that Paragraph 169 of the High Court judgment in Shannon LNG v. An Bord Pleanála states that “the new Government approved a plan to develop a State-led LNG terminal and terminated the former fracking policy in doing so” and that this was the basis for granting planning approval to Shannon LNG; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19523/25]

327. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will grant a contract extension of three months to those projects funded by his Department under the community climate action programme from the end of September 2025 to the end of December 2025, in order to enhance the impact of the projects without altering the financial framework established in the original agreements after delays were experienced in commencing the projects as a result of the impact of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21186/25]