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 Finucane – the need to proceed as a matter of urgency with Gaelscoil Ó Dhogair i gCaisleán Nua, Contae Luimnigh; (2) Deputy Jim Higgins – the directive by An Garda Síochána outlining new security arrangements for the holders of licensed firearms; (3) Deputy Ulick Burke – the urgent need to address the serious inconsistencies in the administration of the farm development services scheme in County Galway; (4) Deputy Durkan – the treatment of persons transferring from disabled persons maintenance allowance to disability allowance; (5) Deputy Gregory – the threatened loss of teachers in two national schools, details supplied, which serve the drugs task force area of Inchicore, Dublin 8; (6) Deputy Keaveney – the steady decline of IDA-supported companies from 1995 in the north-west/Donegal region as outlined in the IDA annual report, 1999; (7) Deputy Sargent – that the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, noting the evidence that decisions to amend proposed SAC designated areas have been based on economic rather than scientific considerations, investigate fully the complaints being made against Dúchas by several environmental NGOs and ensure that scientific criteria only are considered in SAC designations and appeals; (8) Deputy Deenihan – the need to prevent the loss of a teacher at St. Teresa's national school, Killflynn, Tralee, County Kerry; (9) Deputy Connaughton – the reason a licence has not been given to the Gulf Stream Shipping Company to transport cattle; (10) Deputy Howlin – the urgent need for the early completion and publication of the investigation into allegations of serious wrongdoing by members of An Garda Síochána in County Donegal; (11) Deputy Donal Moynihan – the possibility of decentralisation of Government offices to Macroom and other north-west Cork towns; (12) Deputy Gerard Reynolds – the need to make contact with the US State Department concerning the crisis in implementing the Walsh visa programme.
The matters raised by Deputies Gerard Reynolds, Ulick Burke, Durkan and Howlin have been selected for discussion,