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 Marian McGennis — the progress being made on the 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 the implementation of the Act; (2) Deputy Sargent — the need to legislate against the use of live hares in coursing, owing to the fact that the Irish Coursing Club is now allowing extra long four day festivals of coursing, increasing greatly the terror for the incarcerated wild hares forced to run from dogs at least three times over each weekend; (3) Deputy Joe Higgins — the urgent need to review health and safety at work legislation and also to increase the funding of the Health and Safety Authority in view of the flouting of safety regulation on many construction sites resulting in death and injury of building workers; (4) Deputy Fitzgerald — the attempt by the Minister for Defence to introduce a retention gratuity for Air Corps pilots; (5) Deputy Barrett — the problem of the waiting lists for cardiac surgery for children at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin; (6) Deputy Hayes — the need for an annual subvention to the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in light of the present financial crisis they are undergoing; (7) Deputy Healy-Rae — the need to give derogation from the licensing regulations to the small dumping sites at Killarney, Milltown, Kenmare and Cahirciveen; (8) Deputy Olivia Mitchell — the imminent closure of Premier Dairies, Rathfarnham, the only milk producing unit in Dublin, with the loss of over 300 jobs; (9) Deputy Durkan — the ongoing human rights abuses in Algeria as outlined by Amnesty International and the need to initiate measures at European Union level with the objective of facilitating a United Nations Commission of investigation; (10) Deputy Finucane — the need to expedite construction on Gaelscoil Ó Dhubhair, Caisleán Nua, Contae Luimnigh, and the date on which construction will commence; (11) Deputy Broughan — safety on building sites and the extent to which some construction companies are in breach of health and safety legislation, putting the lives of workers at risk; (12) Deputy Ulick Burke — the need for a proper and adequate allowance to be given to people providing home help to needy persons in their homes; (13) Deputy Clune — the level of public concern following the recent oil spillage from Whitegate Oil Refinery in Cork Harbour; (14) Deputy Deenihan — the restrictions on access to higher diploma in education courses in our universities for graduates; (15) Deputy Timmins — the need for the establishment of a task force on tourism and rural development for County Wicklow and north County Carlow; (16) Deputies Gormley and Sargent — the need to introduce measures so that organic waste and building rubble are not land-filled but composted and recycled respectively close to where they are created; (17) Deputy Sheehan — the decision of Irish Ferries to terminate its ferry service from Cork to Roscoff and the serious consequence this will have for the tourism industry in the south-western region; (18) Deputy Rabbitte — the need to increase the funding of the Health and Safety Authority so that the lives of building workers are not endangered because of the lack of safety measures on building sites; (19) Deputy Ferris — the serious issue of flooding in Clonmel, County Tipperary, and Government inaction on this issue which is affecting the livelihood of thousands of people in the Clonmel area.
The matters raised by Deputies Rabbitte, Clune, Sheehan and Fitzgerald have been selected for discussion.