I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 20 and the name of the Member in each case. (1) Deputy Gregory — the refusal of the Department of Education to sanction the commencement in 1996 of the extension to St. Paul's secondary school, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7, and the unacceptable conditions which pertain as a result; (2) Deputy Shortall — the need to tackle illegal drug dealers by establishing a special unit involving the Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare; (3) Deputy Broughan — the need to re-examine the provision of resources of orthodontic dental care on the north side of Dublin; (4) Deputy Ned O'Keeffe — the need to address the problem being experienced by the Irish Country Houses and Restaurants Association in recruiting staff; (5) Deputy Ellis — the delay in the provision of sewerage schemes for the villages of Dromod, Drumsna and Jamestown, County Leitrim; (6) Deputy McDaid — the legislation of and extension of the current arrangements for, the use of diamorphine in hospice care; (7) Deputy Seamus Brennan — the measures that the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications has taken to ensure that the second mobile telephone operator delivers good coverage; (8) Deputy Cowen — the EU package of compensation for beef producers agreed on 14 May 1996; (9) Deputy Michael Kitt — the question of allocating some of the teaching posts which have been made available by falling pupil and teacher numbers in primary schools to improve the pupil-teacher ratio and to reduce class size; (10) Deputy Nealon — the need to protect the rights of fishermen on Lough Arrow, County Sligo, in view of the difficulties being created as a result of the closure of a traditional access point for boats at Ballyrush Bridge; (11) Deputy Ó Cuív — an gá atá ann go gcuirfear áiseanna breise ar fáil ag Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin ar an gCeathrú Rua, Contae an Gaillimhe, agus freisin go ndéanfar an scoil a athchóiriú go hiomlán, lena chur in oiriúint don líon scoláirí atá ag freastal ar an scoil seo anois; (12) Deputy Quill — the present position in relation to the retention of history and geography as core subjects in the junior certificate curriculum; (13) Deputy Tom Foxe — the withdrawal of the slaughter licence from the factory at Dromod, County Leitrim, which has resulted in the loss of 85 jobs; (14) Deputy Andrews — the action, if any, which the Government has taken in relation to the thousands of Liberian refugees who are currently on a cargo ship off the coast of Ghana and the need to raise this matter urgently within the European Union and the United Nations; (15) Deputy Leonard — the need for grant assistance to provide water and sewerage facilities in dwellings which do not have such facilities at present; and (16) Deputy Eric Byrne — the need to ensure that sentencing policy is consistent in view of a recent case in which an individual convicted of stealing goods with a total value of £31 was sentenced to five years in prison.
The matters raised by Deputies McDaid, Ned O'Keeffee, Cowen and Tom Foxe have been selected for discussion.