Heather Humphreys, TD

"There has been a reduced rate of residential burglaries in Malahide and Swords in the first quarter of 2013," according to Alan Farrell, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, commenting on the recent figures released by An Garda Síochána.

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department will be engaging with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals in their attempt to request a meeting with Facebook to discuss the risks of cyberbullying; his position on this request; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has received an official request for permission to demolish a semi-derelict building block (North Street, Swords) in County Dublin; when permission will be granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he envisages funding being made available to Fingal County Council in order to proceed with the construction of a scheme to divert sewage from Rush Harbour, County Dublin to the Portrane Sewage Plant; if this will be addressed urgently due to Rush Harbour failing to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards in 2013 for quality of bathing water,; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Over 2,000 jobs per month created in private sector since Government's Action Plan for Jobs began. Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal Alan Farrell, has welcomed figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which show that unemployment has fallen below 300,000 for first time since 2008. The CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) labour market estimates also reveal that over 2,000 jobs per month have been created in the private sector in the last year since the Government's Action Plan for Jobs began.

Fine Gael Cork South Central Deputy, Jerry Buttimer, has said the announcement of 400 new jobs to be created at the Abtran facility in Bishopstown, for Irish Water, will be a shot in the arm for the local area, which has struggled under the weight of high unemployment in recent years. This news comes on the back of figures released this morning by the CSO which show that the unemployment rate has fallen to below 14% to 13.7% for the first time since Aug 2010, demonstrating that the Government’s plan to get people back to work is starting to pay off.

Fine Gael Meath East TD, Regina Doherty, has today (Thursday) encouraged community groups in Meath to apply for funding under the Caring Communities initiative, which is run by the Community Foundation for Ireland.

Fine Gael Waterford Deputy Paudie Coffey has said that further progress has been made in delivering a technological university for the South East Region. Deputy Coffey has said the process for creating technological universities has been on-going since this government came to office; the Minister has now instructed the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to start implementing a plan that will see WIT and Carlow IT (CIT) progress to becoming a technological university for the South East region.

Government to “competitiveness-proof” all Cabinet decisions as part of drive to improve ease of doing business and ultimately create jobs.