Parliamentary questions

44. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the additional supports he plans to introduce to tackle vacancy and dereliction in rural towns and villages. [53278/26]

45. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his Department has undertaken any assessment of whether rapidly growing communities within the administrative area of Fingal County Council, including Skerries, Rush, Lusk, Naul, Balbriggan and surrounding areas are receiving equitable access to rural development funding schemes compared with towns …

46. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will consider funding a virtual version of men's and women's sheds for farming and isolated rural communities who because of geography cannot avail of an in-person setting the purpose of which would be to provide a networked social setting supporting inclusiveness; and if he will make a statem…

47. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the progress that has been made in implementing the Government's Trading for Impact: National Social Enterprise Policy 2024-2027, and the additional measures he plans to introduce to support the growth of social enterprises in rural communities. [53277/26]

48. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will outline funding for public libraries in DCC and FCC in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53260/26]

49. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will report on the inadequacy of funding for community centres which forces them to fundraise to make ends meet rather than provide the services to the community for which they were established. [43526/26]

50. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the timeline for the issue of approvals under the acquisition measure of the town and village renewal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53310/26]

51. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the way in which local community development committees can contribute to more effective local decision-making and community-led development; the objectives of the new national campaign to increase public awareness of their role; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53295/26]

52. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his attention has been drawn to community wealth building, as a model for retaining public expenditure within our towns and counties and promoting balanced economic development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51495/26]

53. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the expected timeline for the publication of details of the new SÍOL Programme and opening of applications for this new initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53308/26]

54. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the engagement he has had with other Government Departments and State agencies to support hotels in rural communities and small towns. [53282/26]

55. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht whether he will take a role in the failure to deliver community centres and other community services in new housing estates. [52756/26]

56. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his views on the recently announced draft National Planning Statement to Transform Approach to Rural Housing-Delivering Greater Clarity and Consistency. [53135/26]

57. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach if there is a specific policy within his Department that seeks to preclude those elected to local authorities from any boards that he may appoint; the rationale behind any such policy; and the way in which it aligns with encouraging participation in local government. [52863/26]

58. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Taoiseach to provide details of all grant schemes currently available through his Department for which individuals or community groups are eligible to apply; the purpose of each grant scheme; the eligibility criteria; the application process; and the opening and closing dates for application. [53425/26]

59. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach the work his Department has undertaken on fine-scale spatial demographic studies to inform policy through high-resolution geolocated population data and GIS analysis. [52692/26]

60. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the estimated cost of hosting a dedicated housing summit as part of Ireland's EU Presidency; the budget line from which this will be drawn; and whether a value-for-money assessment has been carried out or is planned. [53224/26]

61. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she will raise the case of an individual (details supplied) at EU level, and demand their immediate release from captivity by Israel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52635/26]

62. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount that her Department spent on providing foreign language training skills to Departmental officials being deployed to Irish Embassies and or Consulate General Offices worldwide where that country's first spoken language is not English in 2025 and to date in 2026; if there is a contract for an external company to pro…

63. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of State owned cars and vans attached to each Irish Consulate General Office in the US; the ages of each of those vehicles, in tabular form. [52711/26]

64. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there is a specific policy within her Department that seeks to preclude those elected to local authorities from any boards she may appoint; the rationale behind any such policy; the way in which it aligns with encouraging participation in local government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52855/26]

65. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to commit to preparing legislation to not automatically exclude members of local authorities from consideration for appointment to State boards; and to set out the reasons such persons would be excluded. [52873/26]

66. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide an update on a passport application (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53079/26]

67. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if it is possible to travel to other European countries on a passport that is due to expire within six months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53104/26]

68. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she will urgently intervene in the case of an international Irish passport application for a family (details supplied). [53198/26]