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 Broughan — the urgent need to take all necessary steps, including the removal of subsidies and the use of non-European Union crews, to prevent the closure of the Irish Continental Group's sea route from Rosslare to France and the consequential loss of up to 400 jobs on the northside of Dublin and in Wexford; (2) Deputy Eric Byrne — the urgent need for permanent premises to be made available to Crumlin multi-denominational school; (3) Deputy Deasy — the need to formulate a policy to assist owners of thatched commercial premises to enable them to retain or replace existing structures because of their heritage and cultural values; (4) Deputy Molloy — the viability of the underground proposal for the sewage treatment plant at Mutton Island, County Galway, in view of the estimated cost of this option; (5) Deputy Lynch — the urgent need to review the poundage system of remunerating sheriffs; (6) Deputy Dempsey — the adequacy of the Housing (Registration of Rented Houses) Regulations, 1996, in view of the publication by a public representative in County Sligo of certain information relating thereto; (7) Deputy Batt O'Keeffe — the need to review the voluntary early retirement scheme in view of the fact that incorrect information may have been given to members of the Defence Forces who applied for the scheme in August 1996; (8) Deputy Upton — the need for the Minister for the Environment to take urgent action to ensure that local authority housing estates are managed in such a manner as to minimise the opportunities for drug dealing and anti-social behaviour in these areas; (9) Deputy Sargent — the need for the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications to elaborate on his statement to Dáil Éireann that the Government is no longer prepared to tolerate the current level of subvention to CIÉ in view of the latest unrest among unions representing the employees who are faced with unrealistic demands for cutbacks in the cost of public transport; (10) Deputy Lawlor — the level of support which the Government will provide to assist with the provision of the requisite facilities to facilitate the availability in Dublin of first class premiership soccer and to enable Ireland to secure major international soccer events; (11) Deputy Noel Ahern — the rent allowances being given to drug pushers evicted from or forced out of their local authority housing; (12) Deputy Hughes — the action which the Minister for the Environment will take to ensure that Cohesion Fund financing for the proposed waste water and treatment plants at Westport, County Mayo, and Tramore, County Waterford, is not withdrawn as recently indicated by the Director of the Cohesion Fund; (13) Deputy O'Dea — the serious implications of a recent change in procedure for criminal prosecutions whereby, in the case of indictable offences, a file has to be prepared for perusal by the Director of Public Prosecutions before charges can be preferred; (14) Deputy Quill — the steps which the Minister for Health is taking to dispose of 70 tonnes of hospital waste which has built up in cold storage as a result of the British ban on Irish clinical waste which has been effective for the last two weeks; and the provision which is being made to ensure that, at a national level, such a buildup does not occur in future; (15) Deputy Michael Ahern — the decision of Universal Foods Corporation, Midleton, County Cork, to close its air drying processing plant, due to the refusal of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry to provide the necessary financial aid for the updating of the plant, which was necessary for the survival of the industry; the potential loss of 50 to 60 jobs; his failure to meet the directors of that company over the past two years; and the removal of 2,000 acres of vegetable growing from the agricultural scene.
The matters raised by Deputies Quill, Hughes, O'Dea and Michael Ahern have been selected for discussion.