Ciarán Ahern

1358. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of notice of determination reviews on applications to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme that have resulted in no change to the notice of determination; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11262/25]

1359. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of appeals disputing a review of a notice of determination on an application to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme that have resulted in no change to the outcome of the review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11263/25]

1360. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will amend the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023, to allow all applicants to request a review of their notice of determination and to appeal the decision of that review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11264/25]

1361. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if, in light of the fact that section 19(1) of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 states that ‘a person who considers that he or she is a relevant person may make an application…to the Chief Deciding Officer’, she will instruct the office of the chief deciding officer to amend the mother and baby institutions payment scheme application portal to allow any person who considers that they are a relevant person to make an application to the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11265/25]

1406. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she has considered amending the childminding services regulations 2024 to allow childminders employ assistants, or have emergency cover, for incidents in which the childminder is unavoidably occupied such as for medical appointments or illness; if not, the reasons why; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11956/25]

1439. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to list the functions, roles and services carried out and delivered by Civil Service or State agency workers; the cost to the State of each contract since the implementation of the Building Momentum public service agreement, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12436/25]

1572. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Health if given the Labour Court Recommendation 22780 which awarded pay parity for medical scientists with biochemists, and which was implemented with the national wage agreement on the 1 January 2024, including for the pensions of those who retired after that date, she will take steps ensure that parity of pension entitlements is applied to medical scientists who retired prior to that date; if not, why not; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11006/25]

1900. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to list the academic scholarship programmes available to Palestinian students in each of Ireland’s higher education institutions; the funding available for each programme; the amount of spaces available and occupied in each programme; and the qualifying criteria for each programme, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10748/25]

93. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the way he will ensure that the pipeline of road transport projects he plans to fund in 2025 are individually and cumulatively assessed for their impact on the transport sectoral emissions ceiling set under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9528/25]

142. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if he is satisfied with the decision by Dublin Bus not to tender for the outer Dublin metropolitan area routes on the BusConnects network in Dublin; his views on whether the tender on these routes has been awarded to a company (details supplied) notwithstanding the major service delivery problems experienced by that company on its existing routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9526/25]

149. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the actions he will take to implement the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Climate Change Advisory Council in their respective annual national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, reviews, and GHG projections to ensure that the transport sector meets its sectoral ceiling of 54MtCO2e for the budget period 2021-2025 and the 50% overall reduction in GHGs by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9527/25]

199. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the Commission for Regulation of Utilities’ (CRU) assertion that the provisions of section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 are insufficient to enable it to mandate explicit emissions reduction and offsetting measures for data centres; whether the decision to allow data centres to be powered by non-renewable sources is consistent with the CRUs obligations under section 15 of the Act; if he will exercise his right under section 15(3) of the Act to give a direction that it does explicitly state that data centres must be powered by renewable sources to ensure compliance with section 15(1) of the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8999/25]

200. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he still plans to bring a memo to Cabinet recommending an LNG facility for Ireland given that the consultancy firm which originally recommended a facility is now reviewing its findings; when he expects the latest analysis to be complete; when it will be publicly available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9000/25]

201. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on whether the importing of liquified natural gas is consistent with the Programme for Government commitment to take decisive action to radically reduce Ireland's reliance on fossil fuels; if he will ban the importation of liquified natural gas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9001/25]

202. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if the Gas Networks Ireland report, as commissioned by his predecessor, that outlines the challenges and risks of bringing a floating storage regasification unit into Ireland, will be released for public consultation. [9004/25]

203. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications how frequently the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in any proposed State-led floating storage and regasification (FSRU) unit will need to be replenished, given the inevitable boil-off of LNG over time; if he will provide clarity on the countries this gas will be sourced from; the measures taken to ensure an FSRU is compliant with section 15(1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9005/25]

243. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport to consider expanding the cycle to work scheme to school children; the work being taken on such a measure; the cost such an expansion would involve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9195/25]

244. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport when he expects the roll out of contactless fare payments on all public transport to commence, as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9196/25]

610. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps that should be taken by a parent in Dublin south west when no childcare places are available for children under two years-of-age; how she intends to increase the number of affordable childcare places in the constituency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9231/25]

245. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the percentage of the capital budget allocated for his Department in 2024 that was actually spent. [7280/25]

246. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if he has met the CEOs of Dublin Bus and Go Ahead since his appointment, and the issues discussed. [7281/25]

247. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport to provide a report on the National Transport Authority’s demand need assessment along the H1 bus route. [7282/25]

248. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport when he expects the construction of a new Coast Guard Station at Westport to be completed. [7283/25]

254. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport the status of the Metro south west feasibility study as promised in the Programme for Government; if submissions on the proposed route will be sought in advance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7420/25]

255. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the severe cuts by a company (details supplied) to its routes servicing large areas of south Dublin and north Wicklow; the way he plans to fill these gaps in service to ensure residents in these areas have reliable and sustainable access to Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7423/25]