Questions

669. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has examined alternatives to the use of high-concentration carbon dioxide gas stunning of pigs in slaughterhouses, including electrical stunning, inert gas systems using argon or nitrogen, low atmospheric pressure stunning, or other emerging technologies; whether any assessment has been conducted of the animal welf…

670. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of aquaculture licenses that were processed in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49547/26]

671. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of aquaculture licenses waiting to be processed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49549/26]

672. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures being taken to address the large backlog in the processing of aquaculture licenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49550/26]

673. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline that is acceptable for the processing of aquaculture licenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49551/26]

674. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason it is taking up to 20 years and longer to process aquaculture licenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49552/26]

675. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on his Department’s priorities for Ireland’s EU Council Presidency. [49572/26]

676. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide figures for the cost overruns by his Department, relative to the budgeted amount in budget 2026 for his Department; the cost overruns relative to the budgeted amount in budget 2026 for each State agency under the aegis of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49651/26]

677. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 569 of 23 June 2026, 194 of 10 June 2026, and 571 of 23 June 2026, to clarify if grant funding is awarded solely on the submission of a DNA verification sample and receipt, or if funding is dependent upon successful DNA parentage verification and registration of the foal with CPBS; and if he will…

678. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 569 of 23 June 2026, 194 of 10 June 2026, and 571 of 23 June 2026, to clarify, where a DNA sample fails to produce a result and a second sample is required, if grant funding is available for the repeat test; if funding is limited to the initial application only; and if he will make a statement on…

679. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 569 of 23 June 2026, 194 of 10 June 2026, and 571 of 23 June 2026, to provide the date that a society (details supplied) submitted its first-time foal DNA verification grant claim in 2025; the number of foals that were included in that claim and subsequently received grant funding; and if he will…

680. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 569 of 23 June 2026, 194 of 10 June 2026, and 571 of 23 June 2026, the number of first-time foal DNA verification applications that received funding after 15 October 2025 under the equine technical support and equine breeding scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49672/26]

681. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 569 of 23 June 2026, 194 of 10 June 2026, and 571 of 23 June 2026 to indicate the basis for his Department’s requirement for annual evidence of a society (details supplied) in order to access grant funding or scheme payments associated with the ownership of Connemara Ponies such as the acres sche…

682. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has conducted an assessment of the dispensing of animal antiparasitic products following the introduction of the NVPS mandatory veterinary prescriptions for animal antiparasitic products; if it is having a noticeable impact on the pharmacy sector incomes and operation; if any pharmacy has ceased dispensing animal antiparasitic…

683. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has conducted an assessment of the dispensing of animal antiparasitic products following the introduction of the NVPS mandatory veterinary prescriptions for animal antiparasitic products; if it is having a noticeable impact on the veterinary sector incomes and operation; if any have ceased dispensing animal antiparasitic produ…

684. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has conducted an assessment of the dispensing of animal antiparasitic products following the introduction of the NVPS mandatory veterinary prescriptions for animal antiparasitic products; if it is having a noticeable impact on the merchants sector incomes and operation; if any have ceased dispensing animal antiparasitic produc…

685. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of pharmacies, vets and merchants participating in the national veterinary prescription system; the number of prescriptions processed each month by pharmacies, vets and merchants since the beginning of 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49746/26]

686. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has had any engagement with the Minister for Health regarding the operation of the national veterinary prescription system pharmacies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49747/26]

687. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the report into an investigation concerning a farm (details supplied), for which a chairperson was appointed in January 2025, is expected to be finalised; the current status of that investigation; the projected timeline for publication of the findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49761/26]

688. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to respond to correspondence received (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48800/26]

689. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider reducing the minimum entry age for children attending naíonraí, without altering eligibility for the ECCE scheme, in order to support enrolment and the sustainability of rural early years settings such as (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48847/26]

690. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether increasing the current entitlement to paid paternity leave from two weeks is under consideration by her Department; whether any review of paternity leave arrangements is underway; the measures being examined to strengthen supports for fathers and families in the early months following the birth or adoption of a child; and if s…

691. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if the case of a person (details supplied) who, having been diagnosed on the autism spectrum in 2022 and who has yet to be provided with services, including psychology and occupational therapy, will be considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48906/26]

692. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla maintains a national dataset recording the length of time individual children spend in temporary care arrangements prior to achieving a permanency outcome; if such a dataset exists, to provide the average and median length of time spent in temporary care prior to permanency for each year from 2020 to 2025; if no such datase…

693. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of “huge concern” reported by the Gardaí in relation to Tusla’s handling of a case (details supplied) in County Meath; if the handling of this case has been reviewed by Tusla and independently; the findings of the review; the actions that have been taken arising from it; and if she will make a statement on the matter.…