I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given to me under Standing Order 20 (3) (a) and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Kelly—the proposal by Cork County Council to sell a portion of land at Gurteenard, Kanturk, County Cork, which cost approximately £24,000, for the nominal sum of £1,000 to a private individual; and if he will investigate the position; (2) Deputy Taylor—the availability of natural gas to Old Bawn Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24: (3) Deputy Noonan (Limerick East)—the subject matter of Question No. 132 of 23 June 1992 to the Minister for Justice regarding Government policy on political asylum; (4) Deputy Bradford—the difficulty being experienced by American and Canadian visitors in obtaining motor insurance during their stay in his country; (5) Deputy Byrne—the decision of the Department of Social Welfare to end alleviation payments which have been paid to certain social welfare recipients since 1986, and the consequent hardship which will be caused to thousands of people on social welfare, including those on old age and disability pensions, who will face a drop in their income of up to £16 per week; (6) Deputy Fennell— whether the Minister for Social Welfare is aware that payments of maternity allowance changes, in the 1992 Social Welfare Act, are resulting in some pregnant women now having to sign on at employment exchanges right through the week of their confinement and if he will issue clear guidelines to all exchange managers on the matter; (7) Deputy T. Ahearn—the alarming number of people failing their driving tests, in particular the case of a person (details supplied) in south Tipperary; the need to review the criteria for passing driving tests and to investigate the reason the failure rate is so high; (8) Deputy G. O'Sullivan—the serious situation which will affect thousands of patients and staff in the Southern Health Board area if the threatened strike on the 13 July materialises; (9) Deputy Owen—the dire financial cutbacks to Dublin County Council which have led to the switching off of public lighting on all primary and secondary roads in and out of Dublin; (10) Deputy Harte—the closure by the British authorities of the checkpoint at Camel's Hump on the Strabane/Lifford Road between midnight and 7 a.m. daily, the inconvenience this is causing to users of the cross-Border route and if the matter can be raised with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
I have selected for discussion the matters raised by Deputies Noonan (Limerick East), G. O'Sullivan and Kelly.