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 Seán Ryan — the need for the Government to recognise the role of carers in health care in Ireland, to provide them with improved services and to ensure they are paid for their work; (2) Deputy Hayes — the need for the Government to outline its plans concerning the sum of money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau since its establishment and the Government's intentions in relation to amending the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996, so as to ring-fence such finance for areas worst affected by the drugs epidemic; (3) Deputy Noonan — the need to discuss the reclassification, by EUROSTAT, of sub-regions in Ireland for the purpose of considering their eligibility for Objective One status and the possible inclusion of additional counties in this regard; (4) Deputy Farrelly — the need to alleviate the seven-month backlog in the appeals section of the Department of Agriculture and Food in relation to the payment of subsidies and to expedite the number of payments to farmers which are held up; (5) Deputy Ring — the need to discuss the average length of time it takes for the Coroner's Office to hold an inquest and the need to increase the staffing levels in the office to reduce the waiting times; (6) Deputy Neville — the need for the Office of Public Works to increase the capacity to downstream the river channel at Dromcollogher to avert serious flooding; (7) Deputy Deenihan — the grave concern expressed by hill sheep farmers following the recent announcement by the Minister for Agriculture and Food that they will lose 30 per cent of their quota rights by 4 December 1998.
The matters raised by Deputies Farrelly, Noonan, Neville and Seán Ryan have been selected for discussion.
