I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given to the Ceann Comhairle under Standing Order 20 (3) (a) and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy McGrath — the failure of the Department of the Environment to finance approved capital works, undertaken by Westmeath County Council, resulting in that council having to procure overdraft facilities of £6 million; (2) Deputy Moynihan — the serious development in the Regional Hospital, Tralee consequent on the decision of the Southern Health Board to close a 30 bed ward and the serious unrest among nursing staff arising from this decision; (3) Deputy E. O'Keeffe — the restoration to its original status of Glenbower Lake, Killeagh, Youghal, County Cork which was drained by the Department of Energy approximately four years ago and which has not been restored to date, causing considerable inconvenience to the people of the area and to visiting tourists; (4) Deputy Boylan — subject matter of Parliamentary Question No. 122 of 30 June 1992 to the Minister for Education regarding a new school at Ballinagh, County Cavan; (5) Deputy G. Reynolds — whether the Office of Public Works will urgently negotiate satisfactory compensation with the farmers along the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal whose land has been acquired for over 12 months and to date no payment for the acquisition of these lands has been made to the majority of landowners affected; (6) Deputy Ferris — the decision of the Department of Social Welfare to disallaow some voluntary work under the social welfare voluntary work scheme, to the disadvantage of recipients of unemployment assistance and local community projects; (7) Deputy Currie — the circumstances in which a 17-year-old person, the details of which the Minister for Education has already been advised, has not received any formal education since before his 13th birthday; (8) Deputy McGinley — if the Minister for Education is aware of the fact that a 13-year-old Donegal schoolgirl (details supplied) could only attend school for two days during the 1991-92 school year because of the failure of his Department to provide a school transport service and if he intends making adequate arrangements to make sure that she can attend school for the next academic year; (9) Deputy Garland — the failure of the State to take into public ownership Kilmacurragh House, Glenealy, County Wicklow and the arboretum attached thereto which is of major environmental and botanic importance and which is under threat due to the imminent sale of the property by Coillte Teoranta; (10) Deputy Byrne — the impact of the current car hire shortage on the Irish tourist industry and the need for immediate implementation of a temporary importation scheme for this season and (11) Deputy Sherlock — the need for the Department of the Environment to take stronger measures to halt pollution of our waterways, especially in the light of the three recent major fish kills in the Blackwater River and its tributaries.
The Ceann Comhairle has selected for discussion the matters raised by Deputies Currie, Byrne and Ferris.