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 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; (2) Deputy Seán Ryan — the urgent needs of Malahide community school which has an enrolment of 1,002 students; (3) 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 Ltd; (4) 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; (5) Deputy Hayes — the need to respond to a recent request by Threshold for additional financial resources and given the current crisis in the Irish housing market the need for basic housing advice and assistance; (6) Deputy Gormley — the need to protect the public purse from the practice of ‘squaring' in relation to public sector construction contracts whereby companies, which pass through the pre-qualification process for tendering, might meet and agree who is to get the contract and at what price, provided that the successful company ‘square off' its competitors from the proceeds of the inflated price tendered; (7) Deputy Boylan — the need to extend free telephone rental to all persons with disabilities regardless of the "living alone condition"; (8) 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 the 2 November 1998; (9) Deputy Fox — the need to discuss the ongoing TB problem in County Wicklow.
The matters raised by Deputies Rabbitte, Neville, Hayes and Seán Ryan have been selected for discussion.