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 Durkan — the need to discuss the impending deportation of a Romanian family who have lived here for a number of years and are not in a position to return to their own country; (2) Deputy Sargent — the need for the Minister for Agriculture and Food to immediately revoke measure 5 of the rural environment protection scheme to prevent the further destruction of hedgerows by farmers and agricultural contractors; (3) Deputy Ring — the reason there is no dentist to cover Belmullet and surrounding areas of north Mayo in the Western Health Board area; (4) Deputy Neville — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to respond to the statement on the scandal of abused children as revealed in the Irish Independent on 2 November 1998; (5) Deputy McGrath — the need for the Government to establish a task force to find a replacement industry for Mullingar following the closure of Tarkett (Ireland) Limited, with the loss of 141 jobs; (6) Deputy Jim Higgins — the need to grant an amnesty to the Romanian family who have been living here for five years and are due to be deported; (7) Deputy Noonan — the need to discuss the closure of Krups in Limerick and the steps taken by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment to forestall the closure and to ensure an alternative manufacturer takes over the plant so that the 500 people who are to lose their jobs are re-employed; (8) Deputy Jim O'Keeffe — the need to make emergency funding available for a flood relief scheme in Skibbereen, County Cork following the recent flooding of the town; (9) Deputy Fox — the need to discuss the ongoing TB problem in County Wicklow; (10) Deputy Pat Carey — the need for the operation of the shared ownership scheme to be applied uniformly by adjacent local authorities viz. Dublin Corporation and Fingal County Council; (11) Deputy Clune — the need to discuss the low rate of pay for home help in the Southern Health Board region; (12) Deputy Penrose — the need to find a replacement industry for Mullingar following the closure of the Tarkett and Sommers AG Plant at Newbrook with the loss of 141 jobs and to ensure that, in the forthcoming budget, the tax free element of severance payments will be increased so as to help those being made redundant; (13) Deputy Rabbitte — the steps taken by the Department of Agriculture and Food to comply with the order given by the High Court in 1991 to recover, from certain meat companies, their share of the legal costs plus interest incurred by the State arising from the legal action taken by Emerald Meats Limited; (14) Deputy McManus — the need to discuss the situation of the Costina family, originally from Romania, who have been threatened with deportation and the need for a more sympathetic and humane approach for dealing with asylum seekers; (15) Deputy Connaughton — the need to release the first installment of all 1998 headage grants due to farmers by this weekend and to immediately open the area aid office for phone calls to allow farmers discuss matters relating to their files; (16) Deputy Deenihan — the financial crisis facing many primary schools because of the lack of funding for heating, class materials, secretarial back-up, cleaning staff and other essential services; (17) Deputy McCormack — the need to discuss the proposed closure of two wards and a theatre and the laying off of 45 nurses at University College Hospital, Galway.
The matters raised by Deputies Noonan, McGrath, Penrose and Jim O'Keeffe have been selected for discussion.