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 McGinley — the need to allocate funding so that the proposed nursing unit in Killybegs is allowed to go to tender; (2) Deputy Gerry Reynolds — the reason European Union Structural Funds which have been provided for the Dublin-Sligo rail line are only being expended on part of the line from Dublin to Mullingar; (3) Deputy Finucane — the need to expedite construction on Gáelscoil O Dhubhair, Caislean Nua, Contae Luimnigh, and the date on which construction will commence; (4) Deputy Brendan Smith — the need to advance the new fire station project at Dowra, County Cavan to tender stage; (5) Deputy McGennis — the progress being made on implementation of the Control of Horses Act, 1996, and the need to put reporting procedures in place between the Department of Agriculture and Food and the local authorities on implementation of the Act; (6) Deputy Clune — the level of public concern following the recent oil spillage from Whitegate oil refinery in Cork harbour; (7) Deputy Barrett — the problem of the waiting lists for cardiac surgery for children at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin; (8) Deputy Fitzgerald — the need to introduce a retention gratuity for Air Corps pilots; (9) Deputy Sargent — the need to legislate against the use of hares in coursing, owing to the fact that the Irish Coursing Club is now allowing four day festivals thus increasing the hardship on wild hares; (10) Deputy Joe Higgins — the urgent need to review health and safety at work legislation and to increase the funding of the Health and Safety Authority in view of the flouting of safety regulations on many construction sites resulting in death and injury of building workers; (11) Deputy Rabbitte — the need for improved safety measures on construction sites in the light of a number of recent fatal accidents; (12) Deputy Naughten — the need to reintroduce installation aid for young farmers; (13) Deputy Spring — the action proposed to ensure the safety of passengers, in the aftermath of the derailment of the Kerry-Dublin train this morning outside Killarney; (14) Deputy Allen — the decision to sanction the construction of a sewage treatment plant at Little Island, County Cork despite the inspection report which indicated the site was not the optimum one on environmental grounds; (15) Deputy Deasy — the need for greater regulation of financial institutions in view of the eviction of farm families, such as the recent case at CloneaPower, County Waterford last week; (16) 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 receive up to 80 per cent support despite the fact that the former represent the best value for money; (17) Deputy Daly — the need to extend section 26 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.
The matters raised by Deputies Gerry Reynolds, Spring, Naughten and Brendan Smith have been selected for discussion.