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 Dan Neville — the flooding of Newcastle West and surrounding areas on 1 August 2008; (2) Deputy Jimmy Deenihan — the recent sinking of Asgard II and the possibility of replacing it as the national sail training ship with the Jeanie Johnston; (3) Deputy Joe Costello — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to fund the Irish Family Planning Association adequately in order that it is able to provide a full range of services; (4) Deputy John O’Mahony — the withdrawal of the visiting teacher for children who are visually impaired in County Mayo; (5) Deputy Michael McGrath — the need for the HSE to prioritise the provision of a dedicated unit at Cork University Hospital for the treatment of cystic fibrosis patients; (6) Deputy James Bannon — the need for the Minister for Education and Science to provide an update for commencement of work on the new national school building at Forgney, County Longford, urgently required to replace the 40 year old prefab structure there and which was approved two years ago in November 2006 in an announcement of a new building programme by the then Minister for Education and Science under which 72 primary schools, countrywide, were allocated funding; (7) Deputies Kieran O’Donnell and Jan O’Sullivan — the future of Dell in Limerick; (8) Deputy Deirdre Clune — the need to provide school accommodation for local children in Ballygarvan, County Cork, who have been refused a place for September 2009; (9) Deputy Charles Flanagan — to raise with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the matter of the proposed closure of the residential alcohol treatment centre at Harristown, Castlerea, County Roscommon; (10) Deputies Tom Sheahan and Joe McHugh — the future of the Coast Guard stations at Valentia and Malin Head; (11) Deputy Pat Breen — the situation regarding the future of 300 Aer Lingus workers at Shannon Airport, the outsourcing of jobs, including the proposal to crew transatlantic flights with US crews, the abolition of the crew base at Shannon and the implications of these proposals for the future of transatlantic services to and from the airport; that the Minister for Transport must intervene and use the Government’s 25% shareholding in the company to ensure all avenues are explored to resolve this matter and all suggestions and proposals for cost savings can be formulated on an agreed basis and ensure the brand name of Aer Lingus is secured; (12) Deputy Denis Naughten — the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to overturn the decision to close Harristown House addiction and counselling centre, Castlerea, County Roscommon; (13) Deputy Kathleen Lynch — to discuss the delay in the introduction of the nursing home fair deal scheme; to ask the Minister for Health and Children to outline her proposals to ease the financial pressures on families who are facing significant nursing home charges because of this delay and to ask why only €12 million of the €110 million set aside for the scheme in 2008 was used in meeting costs associated with nursing home subventions; and (14) Deputy Frank Feighan — to ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to comment on the decision to close Harristown House, Castlerea addiction and counselling centre which operates in conjunction with Castlerea Prison and the impact of the loss of this essential support service to young people coming through the courts, dealing as it does with more than 100 cases annually and, in addition, the loss of 18 jobs directly associated with the service, which is an essential adjunct to prison from a rehabilitative perspective.
The matters raised by Deputies O'Donnell and O'Sullivan, Neville, Sheahan and McHugh have been accepted for discussion.