Catherine Callaghan

196. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if the State is currently incurring storage costs in respect of electric buses procured for public service which remain out of service due to the absence of the required charging infrastructure; if so, the total amount paid to date and the projected cost until such time as the buses enter service; the location at which the buses are being stored; the party to whom such storage fees are being paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33316/26]

249. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will provide a list of all capital projects and programmes funded or overseen under the remit of his Department, and bodies under its aegis, which have been completed on time and within budget in Carlow in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33331/26]

250. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will provide a list of all capital projects and programmes funded or overseen under the remit of his Department, and bodies under its aegis, which have been completed on time and within budget in Kilkenny in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33332/26]

271. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will provide a list of all capital projects delivered under the National Development Plan and otherwise within the remit of his Department, including the Office of Public Works, which have been completed on time and within budget in Carlow in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33335/26]

272. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will provide a list of all capital projects delivered under the National Development Plan and otherwise within the remit of his Department, including the Office of Public Works, which have been completed on time and within budget in Kilkenny in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33336/26]

13. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase his departmental budget allocation in budget 2027 to those in receipt of the State pension, in response to the increased cost of living as a result of the conflict in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31283/26]

64. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures that are being explored to ensure that his Departmental budget allocated for the fuel allowance scheme will be sufficient to provide for those in need next winter, in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31282/26]

105. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide funding for increased car parking facilities in Carlow and Muine Bheag train stations in Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31281/26]

133. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport the measures that are being undertaken to ensure there are more public transport options for rural dwellers in Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31280/26]

62. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport the measures being taken to ensure there are more public transport options for rural dwellers in Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31276/26]

33. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Defence for an update on the status of Operation Althea; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29086/26]

149. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Health for an update on the measures being taken to provide treatments such as skyclarys (omaveloxolone) to patients with Friedrich's ataxia in Carlow and Kilkenny, and across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28381/26]

172. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Health for an update on the work being done to ensure the Hereditary Cancer Steering Group includes next generation sequencing testing in its model of care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28382/26]

1626. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether national planning guidelines specific to utility scale ground mounted solar photovoltaic developments have been, or are proposed to be, issued under the Planning and Development Act 2024; whether the absence of such dedicated guidelines means that planning authorities are currently determining major solar applications without a nationally consistent policy framework; if he considers the variation in policy approaches across County Development Plans for example, where some county plans explicitly resist the loss of productive agricultural land to solar development whilst others contain only general or ambiguous policy objectives to be acceptable in the context of the proper planning and sustainable development of the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23560/26]

1627. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the practical effect the EU (Planning and Development) (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2025, which transposed Renewable Energy Directive III (Directive (EU) 2023/2413) into Irish law, will have on the weight a planning authority is required to give to its own county development plan policies when determining applications designated as RED III development; if the statutory presumption that renewable energy developments are in the overriding public interest as introduced by those regulations effectively requires a planning authority to override or discount its own adopted development plan policies on landscape character, protection of agricultural land and residential amenity; if he is satisfied that the current legislative framework, as transposed, adequately preserves the ability of planning authorities to refuse or materially condition large scale solar farm applications where genuine and evidenced adverse impacts have been demonstrated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23561/26]

1629. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the national guidance or methodology planning authorities are required to apply when assessing the indirect visual and setting impacts of utility-scale renewable energy developments on monuments listed on the Record of Monuments and Places under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004; whether it is considered adequate practice for an applicant's heritage impact assessment to conclude that impacts on a monument of acknowledged high visual sensitivity are negligible (details supplied); whether the National Monuments Service or the Heritage Council is consulted as a statutory consultee on planning applications where the development is located within the Zone of Theoretical Visibility of a Recorded Monument of national significance; whether he is satisfied that the current framework adequately protects the long-term setting of such monuments from incremental industrial-scale development in surrounding lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23568/26]

33. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if there are plans to increase the overall allocation of funding for CLÁR programmes, in line with the expansion of the areas eligible for CLÁR funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23087/26]

56. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht when the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme will reopen for applications in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23088/26]

84. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on the measures that she is undertaking to assist Irish citizens living in the Gulf region amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23059/26]

151. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on her ongoing co-operation and collaboration with the Cypriot government, to prepare for the upcoming EU Presidency and to ensure a smooth transition; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23058/26]

966. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the work that is being done in conjunction with the HSE to address challenges in recruitment and retention affecting clinical practice tutors in radiography; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22063/26]

36. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he is fully confident that An Garda Síochána, and his Department, are fully and properly prepared to respond to any cyber or hybrid attack or potential attack that may occur during our presidency of the EU Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20920/26]

50. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration given that primary responsibility for drone-related national security lies with An Garda Síochána and his Department, if he is fully confident that an Garda Síochána is fully and properly resourced to provide air defence for the entirety of Ireland’s presidency of the EU Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20919/26]

114. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he could create an exceptional payments scheme within his Department for farmers who lose livestock in flash flooding, akin to the response from his Department to flooding in January 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20937/26]

123. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he supports a drive to see the horticulture industry become eligible for Enterprise Ireland funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20938/26]