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 Connaughton — the need to release the first instalment of all 1998 headage grants due to farmers by this weekend and to immediately open the area aid office for phone calls to enable farmers to discuss matters relating to their own files; (2) Deputy Sargent — the need for the Minister for Agriculture and Food to immediately revoke measure 5 of the rural environment protection scheme to prevent the further destruction of hedgerows by farmers and agricultural contractors; (3) Deputy Fox — the need to discuss the ongoing TB problem in County Wicklow; (4) Deputy Durkan — the subject matter of Parliamentary Question No. 408 of 13 October 1998 regarding the withdrawal of free school transport for children attending Hewetsons School, Millicent, Clane, County Kildare; (5) Deputy Shatter — the proposed ward closures and cutbacks in hospitals in the Midland Heath Board area and the need for the Minister for Health and Children to take urgent action in this regard; (6) Deputy Fitzgerald — the crisis in child care and the difficulty in implementing the regulations in relation to inspecting nurseries; (7) Deputy Neville — the need for the Office of Public Works to increase the capacity to downstream river channel at Dromcollogher to avert serious flooding; (8) Deputy Seán Ryan — the need for the Government to recognise the role of carers in health care in Ireland and to provide them with improved services and to ensure they are paid for their work; (9) Deputies Ferris and Moynihan-Cronin — the need for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation to clarify his intentions regarding the proposed £3 visitor tax; (10) Deputy Coveney — the need to discuss the lack of drug treatment facilities for adolescents in the Cork area; (11) Deputy Timmins — the need to discuss the scaling down of the military police range warden service in the Glen of Imaal, County Wicklow; (12) Deputy Finucane — the need to change the status of the working principal to an administrative principal for a school (details supplied) in County Limerick; (13) Deputy Aylward — the need to discuss the future proposals by the South Eastern Health Board for the orthopaedic hospital, Kilcreene, Kilkenny; (14) Deputy Broughan — the urgent need to offer immediate treatment to citizens with suspected breast cancer.
The matters raised by Deputies Shatter, Aylward, Coveney and Durkan have been selected for discussion.