Carlow-Kilkenny): I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Liam Fitzgerald — the unsatisfactory nature of the reply given by the Minister for Finance to Parliamentary Question No. 41 on 4 March 1997 which dealt with national lottery funding; (2) Deputy Keaveney — the urgent need for classroom assistants to be appointed to the special pilot unit of Scoil Iosagáin, Buncrana, County Donegal; (3) Deputies Shatter and Frances Fitzgerald — the urgent need for a national adoption contact register in view of the emerging revelations about St. Patrick's Guild; (4) Deputy Flaherty — the application from Dublin City University for funding towards the cost of developing sports facilities on the St. Clare lands; (5) Deputy Power — the need to ensure that the order fixing the day for the forthcoming general election is on a weekend day to ensure the maximum number of people, particularly students, can vote in the election; (6) Deputy Lawlor — the urgent need to establish an Irish academy for the performing arts as recommended in the PIANO report, given the haemorrhage of classical musical talent from this country as portrayed in a recent edition of the RTÉ arts programme “Black Box”; (7) Deputy Ó Cuív — an gá atá ann go gcuirfear seomra breise le Scoil Náisúnta na Tulaí i mBaile na hAbhann, Conamara, in ionad an tseomra réamhdéanta atá ann agus a abhfuil fíor-dhrochchaoi air; (8) Deputy Ellis — the need for the national forestry policy to have regard to the fact that the increased demand for timber is pushing up the price to levels which are endangering jobs in the timber milling industry; (9) Deputy Nolan — the need to intervene in the current dispute at Greencore plc to protect the jobs of the workers in the factories currently in dispute with the company and to protect the Irish sugar industry; (10) Deputy Hugh Byrne — the necessity for an extension to Bridgetown Vocational Education College, County Wexford; (11) Deputy Davern — the failure to allow Clonmel High School, County Tipperary progress from stage four to stage five which has resulted in tenders not being issued and thus ensuring urgent works cannot be carried out during the summer months; (12) Deputy Joe Walsh — the need for remedial action to protect farmers' livelihoods in view of the crash in cattle, beef and milk prices; (13) Deputy Martin — the need for the Minister for Enterprise and Employment to intervene on behalf of the employees of Irish Helicopters Limited to meet the parent company to secure an adequate redundancy package; (14) Deputy Noel Treacy — the action required to alleviate the serious reduction in livestock prices in factories and in marts and the gravity of the situation and of the crisis facing farmers at this time; and (15) Deputy Batt O'Keeffe — in view of the dramatic increase of MRSA in our acute hospitals that the Minister for Health recognises the immediate need to set up a national surveillance monitoring unit.
The matters raised by Deputies Liam Fitzgerald, Shatter and Frances Fitzgerald, Davern and Joe Walsh have been selected for discussion.