I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given to me under Standing Order 20 (3) (a) and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Toddy O'Sullivan — the reason Telecom Éireann agreed to the request by British Telecom that the special short code should be discontinued on calls between Northern Ireland and Dublin and that Dublin would be treated as the capital of a foreign country for Northern Ireland subscribers requiring the use of Britain's full international code; (2) Deputy Michael Creed — in view of recent correspondence from the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications, mandating An Post and the Communications Workers' Union to draw up an alternative viability plan that would not include widespread closure of sub post offices, if he will ensure that breaches of the terms of this mandate do not occur; (3) Deputy Pat Lee — the current crisis in private nursing home accommodation in Dublin for elderly patients, due to inadequate and improper funding by the Minister for Health; (4) Deputy Bernard Allen — the need for the Minister for the Environment to set up a national survey of the level of evictions and repossessions by local authorities and the financial institutions because of the non-payment of mortgage repayments, especially in view of the impact these evictions and repossessions have on the national housing programme; (5) Deputy Therese Ahearn — the serious cutbacks, proposed by the South Eastern Health Board for St. Joseph's Hospital, Clonmel, due to the inadequate funding by the Department of Health; and the hardship which will result to patients and staff; (6) Deputy Roger Garland — the appalling and dangerous condition of the DublinSligo railway, the closure of which seems imminent with the consequent disastrous effect on the much neglected north west; (7) Deputy Allan Dukes — the urgent need for a public inquiry into the cause and the handling of the recent contamination of the public water supply in Naas.
I have selected for discussion the matters raised by Deputies Dukes, T. Ahearn and T. O'Sullivan.