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 Ring the reason for the removal of a school bus service from students attending Louisburgh secondary school, County Mayo; (2) Deputy Tom Kitt the progress made by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment since his visit to the United States in relation to finding a purchaser for the Semperit plant in Ballyfermot, Dublin; (3) Deputy Broughan the urgent need to take all necessary steps, including the removal of subsidies and the use of non-European Union crews, to prevent the closure of the Irish Continental Group's sea route from Rosslare to France and the consequential loss of up to 400 jobs on the north side of Dublin and in Wexford; (4) Deputy Eric Byrne the need to establish a special task force to tackle longterm unemployment in the north and south inner city areas of Dublin; (5) Deputy Killeen the urgent need for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, to restore the alternative enterprise grant scheme and to ensure the prompt payment of other grants; (6) Deputies Keaveney and Joe Walsh the need to review the regulations pertaining to the granting of a driving test to applicants who have held more than three provisional licences; (7) Deputy Sargent the policy of the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, with regard to the measurement of the efficiency of a rail service and the measurement, by comparison with rail services in other countries, of factors such as reliability and cost effectiveness; (8) Deputy Lenihan the acquisition of a site for the development of a regional technical college at Blanchardstown, Dublin 15; (9) Deputy O'Rourke the recently announced recruitment drive for the Defence Forces, in particular, the very low age cutoff and the fact that FCA service is not being taken into account for age qualifying criteria; (10) Deputy Deasy the need to formulate a policy to assist owners of thatched commercial premises to enable them to retain or replace existing structures because of their heritage and cultural values; (11) Deputy Noel Ahern the reduced subvention to the CIÉ companies which has rendered Dublin Bus considerably less comparable with urban transport systems in other EU countries; (12) Deputy Batt O'Keeffe the need to review the voluntary early retirement scheme in view of the fact that incorrect information may have been given to members of the Defence Forces who applied for the scheme in August 1996; (13) Deputy Quill the need for the Minister for the Environment to introduce new road safety measures in the wake of the alarming increase in road fatalities and traffic accidents; (14) Deputy O'Donnell the threat posed to security in Mountjoy Prison by the sale, through retail outlets, of tickets to a dramatic event to be held within the prison; (15) Deputy Costello the need to ensure effective protection measures for listed buildings; (16) Deputy Frances Fitzgerald the delays in testing for cervical cancer.
The matters raised by Deputies Keaveney and Joe Walsh, O'Donnell, Tom Kitt and O'Rourke have been selected for discussion.