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 Andrews – the need to review the decision to exclude St. Laurence College, Loughlinstown, from participation in the school completion scheme in view of the deleterious effects such exclusion will have on student numbers at the college; (2) Deputy Ring – the need to amend the destocking requirement in view of its disastrous effect on rural Ireland; (3) Deputy Cowley – the need to introduce compensatory and equitable measures for Mayo farmers who are suffering excessively and facing a bleak future due to destocking rules for commonage farmers; (4) Deputy Connaughton – the problems of herd owners in County Galway who had herd inspections but have not been paid their 2002 suckler cow grant because of an internal Department of Agriculture and Food trade union dispute; (5) Deputy Gogarty – the need for the Minister to abolish the dual mandate as a matter of urgency; (6) Deputy Stanton – the reason for the five year delay in sanctioning the building of a public swimming pool in Cobh, County Cork, and the Minister's future plans in this regard; (7) Deputy Timmins – the need to allocate funding to Wicklow County Council for recycling initiatives in line with 29 other local authorities who have been granted funding; (8) Deputy Neville – the Minister's response to a submission received from the Children's Rights Alliance regarding action to be taken by the 29th Dáil to end child poverty; (9) Deputy Kehoe – the difficulties which have arisen at St. John's Hospital in Enniscorthy due to the non-introduction of care doc, the Minister's plans to address this matter which affects approximately 150 elderly patients and the likely timescale for resolution of the dispute; (10) Deputy Coveney – the need to provide grant-aid assistance for tree planting to allay insecurity in the forestry industry.
The matters raised by Deputies Ring, Cowley, Andrews and Kehoe have been selected for discussion.