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 Neville — the extension of the urban renewal scheme to Rathkeale, County Limerick; (2) Deputy Brendan Smith — the need to advance to tender stage the new fire station project at Dowra, County Cavan; (3) Deputy Ring — the reason for the delay in making cattle and sheep headage payments to farmers in County Mayo and whether the delay relates to a problem with the area aid scheme; (4) Deputy Durkan — the reasons for the difference in support between applicants for mortgage and rent supplement whereby the former are given little support while the latter receives up to 80 per cent support despite the fact that the former represents the best value for money; (5) Deputy Joe Higgins — concern over dangerous and life threatening conditions on construction sites, following the tragic death of a building worker on a Dublin site last week; (6) Deputy Sargent — the powers given to the Irish Medicines Board who have sent numerous letters to complementary health practitioners over the past six months following legislation which prescribes vitamins, minerals and herbs as legal medicines and which prohibits retailers from providing their customers with medical tips and preventative health care information; (7) Deputy McGrath — the difficulties experienced by students, especially from rural areas, by virtue of the "15 mile rule" which determines the level of grant aid paid to students attending higher education courses; (8) Deputy Gormley — the recent large scale spillage of oil into Cork Harbour and the changing comments from the Irish National Petroleum Corporation on the extent of the spillage; (9) Deputy Farrelly — the need for funding to be provided to have sufficient teachers appointed to all primary schools in County Meath to enable a pupil-teacher ratio to be within the Government guidelines; (10) Deputy Kenny — the derailment of the Dublin-Westport train at Curry, County Roscommon, last weekend in which 13 people were injured, and the need to maintain the upkeep and management of this line to the highest standard of safety and efficiency for the future; (11) Deputy Richard Bruton — the need to deal with the growing difficulties in staffing part-time third level courses in the face of underfunding and growing industrial unrest and that this sector must be developed in a properly resourced manner; (12) Deputy Yates — the matter of the train derailment at Knockcroghery, County Roscommon, on Saturday, 8 November, the information relating to the cause of the accident and the prevention of this type of occurrence in the future; (13) Deputy Hayes — the democratic deficit in the administrative area of South Dublin County Council given the information contained in the 1996 Census and the need for steps to be taken to increase the number of public representatives on this Council; (14) Deputy McGennis — the progress being made on the implementation of the Control of Horses Act and the need to put reporting procedures in place between the Department of Agriculture and Food and the local authorities on the implementation of the Act; (15) Deputy De Rossa — the practice of a number of local authorities who regard family income supplement as income when assessing differential rents for tenants and the need to issue clear guidelines to this effect to all local authorities; (16) Deputy Daly — the need to extend section 25 of the Finance Act, 1997, to provide that areas adjacent to marinas such as the Kilrush Creek Marina will qualify for tax relief for enterprise areas as in the case of airports and as set out in section 35 of the Finance Act, 1995; (17) Deputy Broughan — the urgent need to prevent industrial action, before Christmas, in the retail trade by introducing legislation to control Sunday trading; (18) Deputy Naughten — the need to provide immediate additional funding for the Athlone-Westport Railway line; (19) Deputy Stagg — the urgent need to confirm that the letters of comfort of the TEAM Aer Lingus workers will be honoured.
The matters raised by Deputies Broughan, Richard Bruton, McGrath and Farrelly have been selected for discussion.