Questions

337. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his exact understanding was of the original merger plan between SETU and a college (details supplied); and the reason he permitted a total pivot from an active integration to an outright asset liquidation. [48015/26]

338. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether a college (details supplied) senior management actively requested that students and staff transfer directly to SETU for the duration of the two-year teach-out phase to guarantee employment and academic security. [48016/26]

339. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether his Department will commit to full transparency and cooperation with the Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by union representatives regarding the undisclosed MOU (details supplied) [48017/26]

340. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in light of recent HSA data showing that 40% of workplace fatalities involve the self-employed, will expand the existing foundational ETB modules funded under the EIST programme to include specific, machine-certified safety modules (such as commercial woodchipper and advanced chainsaw tickets) to meet the …

341. Deputy Gillian Toole asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the current status of the application of Louth Meath Education Board for funding to deliver the permanent Dunboyne College of Further Education & Training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48337/26]

342. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the total value of eligible applications received under each call of the Rural Regeneration and Development Funds; the total value approved; the approval rate by number and value of applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47894/26]

343. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his views on the proposal by an organisation (details supplied), under which the Government will support social enterprises to maximise trading income where possible while providing sustained State co-funding and cost relief in areas of market failure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47936/26]

344. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht any funding options are available for capital projects by Men's and Women's Sheds. [47986/26]

345. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will introduce a proportionate financial reporting option under Circular 13/2014, allowing Community Services Programme-funded social enterprises with an annual income below €250,000 to submit non-audited financial statements in place of audited accounts, consistent with the audit exemption threshold introduced un…

346. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he accepts that the majority of social enterprises in Ireland operate in areas of persistent market failure, delivering services that are needed but cannot be made commercially self-sustaining, rather than functioning as conventional, profit-maximising market actors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48271…

1. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the progress of the establishment of the new autism assessment service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47690/26]

2. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to publish a detailed timeframe, including milestones and key performance indicators, for the provision of €200-per-month childcare, as set out in the commitments in the programme for Government. [47642/26]

3. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the roll-out of State-led childcare facilities; when the eight locations for this year will be chosen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47735/26]

4. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the fact that no childcare facility has been built within the new national children’s hospital, and if she has raised this with the Minister for Health. [47221/26]

5. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will ensure increased investment in voluntary residential care services for children in the care of the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47736/26]

6. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if staffing levels for speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists in the children’s disability network teams, CDNTs, in Balbriggan and Swords have increased in the past two years; the current number of vacancies; the additional posts or resources being allocated in response to population growth and rising de…

7. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps she intends to take to implement the Programme for Government commitment to extend the national childcare scheme to childminders working in the family home with sensible regulations that fit home-based care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47285/26]

8. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has considered a model of childcare based on direct public provision to ensure access, affordability for families and quality pay and conditions for staff in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47544/26]

9. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the action being taken to reduce the cost of childcare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47437/26]

10. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the actions being taken by her Department to support ECCE-only services that are receiving commercial rates bills; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47448/26]

11. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the extent of engagement her Department has had with the autism community, including autistic individuals, advocacy organisations and representative groups, in the development of the recently announced new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43029/26]

12. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the extent to which respite care capacity for families of children with disabilities has increased over the past 12-months; whether current provision is meeting demand; her plans to expand residential and community-based respite services in areas where significant service gaps continue to exist; and if she will make a statement on th…

13. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and school-age childcare facilities that have been found to be non-complainant on staffing ratios, staffing qualifications, Garda vetting, and basic needs, broken down by private or community service, service size, full day care, part-time, sessional, school-age childcare and county, in 2025 and 2026. [46906/26…

14. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the review of the childminding regulations will take place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47407/26]

15. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of practising guardians ad litem that will be part of the new national service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47408/26]