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: Deputy Reynolds — the progress that has been made in the building of a new community school in Carrick-on-Shannon in view of the commitment given by the Minister for Education in 1989 that it would be built within three years; Deputy Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny)— the difficulty whereby a person in Carlow is looking after two disabled persons maintenance allowance holders and has been refused the carer's allowance on the basis of her husband's income of £137.98; Deputy Nealon — the introduction of a means test for ESF grants for students entering Sligo Regional Technical College and other regional technical colleges next September and the fact that this decision would put third level education out of reach for many second level students; Deputy Gregory — following revelations made on recent television programmes, that steps be taken by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to bring about an independent inquiry into the events that resulted in the death of 13 people in January 1972; Deputy De Rossa — the serious lack of accommodation for families and single persons in Ballymun while so many vacant flats remain boarded up and unoccupied; Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan — the serious concerns by parents throughout Cork city and county regarding the serious outbreak of meningitis; Deputy Flaherty — if the Minister for Energy will make a statement on his directive to the ESB ending the use of the billing system and the consequence for the 150,000 consumers so affected; Deputy Ellis — the delay in making cattle headage payments, suckler cow premiums, and beef premiums to farmers under the 1991 schemes; Deputy Garland — the failure of the Minister for Energy to ensure the upkeep of forest parks leading to the increasingly deplorable state of the forest parks, which includes the dismantling of picnic tables; and Deputy Deenihan — the serious concern expressed by Irish immigrant agencies in the US because of the drastic decrease in funding from immigrant services.
I have selected for discussion the matters raised by Deputies Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny), O'Sullivan and Gerry Reynolds.