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 Noel Ahern — the matter of all new entrants on community employment development programmes; the reason changes were made on 24 February; and whether some conditions have since been partly reversed; (2) Deputy Dukes — the proposed sale by Teagasc of its headquarters at 19 Sandymount Avenue, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4; (3) Deputy Allen — the ongoing plight of a slightly retarded 15 year old juvenile (details supplied) who has been unable to obtain schooling for almost two years and the failure of the statutory bodies to accommodate him; (4) Deputy Theresa Ahearn — the complete cessation of orthodontic services in South Tipperary, due to the lack of essential X-ray equipment, resulting in the cancellation of appointments for the past four months; (5) Deputy Flaherty — the current crisis at hospital accident and emergency departments, in particular the circumstances in which a patient (details supplied) with a life-threatening complaint was left sitting on a chair for two hours in a casualty department and lying on a wooden bench for a further ten hours before being admitted to a ward; (6) Deputy Sheehan — the proposed closure of Dunmanus national school, Goleen, County Cork, without consultation with the board of management or the parents of the pupils concerned; the reason the Minister for Education did not give consideration to the amalgamation of this school with Goleen national school, which is in the same catchment area; and whether she is now prepared to offer free transport to Goleen national school to the pupils concerned; (7) Deputy Flanagan — the need to extend the unreasonable deadline imposed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry on the recently announced land purchase buy-out scheme; (8) Deputy McManus — the crisis in second level education places in the Kilcoole-North Wicklow area and (9) Deputy De Rossa — the hardship being caused for families in need by the continued application of Circulars 14/92 and 18/92 regarding supplementary welfare payments; and the need for the withdrawal of these circulars.
I have selected for discussion the matters raised by the following Deputies: (1) Ahearn; (2) Allen and (3) McManus.