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 Allen – the investigations carried out by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on the sale of two pieces of land by Navan UDC and Meath County Council to a company, details supplied, in 1995 and 1999, respectively, and the reason a full independent inquiry was not carried out; (2) Deputy McGuinness – the urgent need to establish a trained unit and introduce legislation and protocol in line with best international practice to deal with the issue of missing people; (3) Deputy Durkan – to raise with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the subject matter and reply thereto to Parliamentary Question No. 242 of 19 November 2003; (4) Deputy Cowley – to ask the Minister for Finance if he intends to introduce taxation for bean an tís in this year's budget; (5) Deputy Michael D. Higgins – the manner in which the guidelines for best practice on Traveller accommodation are being implemented; (6) Deputy Costello – the need for the Minister for Education and Science to build a new school to replace St. Peter's national school, Phibsboro, Dublin 7; (7) Deputy Moloney – the need to make community use of the former prison officer houses in Beladd Park, Portlaoise, County Laois; (8) Deputy Naughten – the need for the Minister for Transport to outline Ireland's negotiating position on the dual gateway status of Shannon Airport; (9) Deputy Brendan Smith – the serious loss of jobs at Kingscourt, County Cavan, with the proposed closure of Horseware Products Limited; (10) Deputy Boyle – the plans, if any, to adapt regulations and-or legislation to ensure that the public is informed of significant incidents of pollution as and when they happen; (11) Deputy Healy – the need for the Minister for Finance to announce the long awaited decentralisation of Government Departments.
The matters raised by Deputies Brendan Smith, Naughten, Michael D. Higgins and Boyle have been selected for discussion.