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 Barrett — the problem of the waiting lists for cardiac surgery for children at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin; (2) 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 it is undergoing; (3) 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; (4) Deputy Boylan — the discrimination against the Border region in relation to recent job announcements by the Government; (5) Deputy Brendan Smith — the subject matter of Question No. 91 of Thursday, 20 November 1997; (6) Deputy Stagg — the threatened court action by British Nuclear Fuels Limited to have the case being brought against it by four Dundalk residents struck out on the grounds that they have not submitted a statement of claim, which arises from the refusal of the Government to fully fund the case as promised; (7) Deputy Naughten — the need to approve funding for refurbishment of Roscommon and the building of Ballaghaderreen swimming pools in County Roscommon; (8) Deputy Timmins — the legal strategy of the Department of Defence in relation to claims for deafness by Army members; (9) Deputy Ring — the current status of Shranamoragh national school, County Mayo, the number of teachers this school is entitled to and the plans the Minister for Education and Science has to replace a teacher; (10) Deputy Stanton — the need to provide funding to build a new school in Cobh, County Cork to accommodate Gaelscoil Sheain Ui Eigeartaigh in light of the condition of the present school; (11) Deputy Broughan — the need to raise with the British authorities the blockading of UK ports by Welsh farmers; (12) Deputy Fitzgerald — the need to re-assess the State's approach to army deafness compensation claims and to initiate a review of the legal strategy and escalating costs; (13) Deputy Connaughton — the blockade by Welsh farmers of Irish meat at Holyhead and other UK ports and the need to ensure the concept of inter-community free trade is maintained given the importance of the UK market to Irish farmers and meat processors; (14) 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.
The matters raised by Deputies Durkan, Barrett, Timmins and Fitzgerald have been selected for discussion.