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 Twomey — the serious issue of the discrimination by the court services of people with long-term illness, the recent unjustified and unnecessary driving ban for life of a diabetic patient and how the courts deal with individuals who temporarily impair their judgment with drugs and alcohol; (2) Deputy Ferris — the urgent need to discuss recent job losses in County Kerry; (3) Deputy James Breen — the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to explain, further to Question No. 385 of 27 May 2003 and Question No. 489 of 7 October 2003, the reason for the long delay in appointing the county registrar for County Clare; (4) Deputy Naughten — the need for the Minister for Education and Science to approve funding for an extension to Elphin community school in County Roscommon; (5) Deputy Gormley — the severe disruption and inconvenience caused by an accident involving a crane at a building site close to Barrow Street in Ringsend, the need to ensure that those responsible for the site are liable for all costs caused by the inconvenience and disruption, including the closure of the DART line, and the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that the Garda and the health and safety authorities carry out a full and thorough investigation of the incident; (6) Deputy Neville — the 2002 annual report on the national parasuicide registry; (7) Deputy Healy — the urgent need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to fulfil the commitment for the recruitment of 2,000 additional gardaí made in the programme for Government, in view of the ongoing and serious anti-social behaviour, and the need for the appointment of additional community gardaí; (8) Deputy Coveney — the need for the Minister of State with responsibility for children to explain the delay that exists to prevent adoption by Irish parents of children from Vietnam and to outline when he expects such adoptions will be allowed to proceed; (9) Deputy Durkan — the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to explain the circumstances in which a prisoner serving a long-term sentence was shot while on temporary release and to outline whether there are other prisoners serving similar sentences on temporary or other form of release; (10) Deputy Upton — the need for the Minister for Education and Science to provide support to the parents of a family (details supplied) so they can continue to send their son to a school suitable for his special needs; (11) Deputy Deenihan — the need for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to take immediate action to arrest the serious decline in manufacturing employment in County Kerry following the announcement of 220 redundancies in two companies recently and the prospect of further job losses; (12) Deputy Eamon Ryan — the need for the Minister for Transport to explain whether he is satisfied by the adequacy of the fire management systems being put in place for the Dublin Port tunnel, to outline the traffic management measures that will be put in place when the tunnel opens to ensure its safe operation and to restrict HGVs from accessing the city quays; (13) Deputy Cowley — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to make immediate arrangements for an MRI at Mayo General Hospital in view of the urgent need for such a facility at the hospital's orthopaedic unit, where the first consultant orthopaedic surgeon has just commenced duty, and in light of the recent case of a man (details supplied) who was required to be removed to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for an MRI scan in addition to needing neurosurgical assessment; (14) Deputy Stanton — the need for the Minister for Education and Science to make funding available immediately to prevent sewage contaminated water flooding the grounds of Kilcredan national school in east Cork, as happens often and as has happened again this morning following heavy overnight rain, resulting in a possible major health hazard for the staff and students and, if urgent action is taken, the possible temporary closure of the school; and the need to prioritise the provision of two urgently needed extra classrooms and associated support rooms at the school; and (15) Deputy Fiona O'Malley — the implications of yesterday's Charleroi ruling by the EU Commission on the future of balanced regional development in the European Union.
The matters raised by Deputies Gormley, Upton, Neville and Coveney have been selected for discussion.