I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given to me under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Creed – the proposed extension to St. Mary's secondary school, Macroom; (2) Deputy Seán Ryan – the urgent need for additional gardaí and resources for Swords, Balbriggan and Malahide Garda stations; (3) Deputy Ulick Burke – the urgent need to review the criteria for entrance to community employment schemes; (4) Deputy Keaveney – the need to take action to tackle the unemployment problem in the north west region in view of the recent announcement of another closure at Fruit of the Loom; (5) Deputy Coveney – the need to set up an independent living fund for those with disabilities who are reliant on personal assistants for a quality of life; (6) Deputy McGinley – the failure of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands to provide funding to complete renovation works on Doe Castle, County Donegal; (7) Deputy Neville – the need to restrict paracetamol products to pharmacies; (8) Deputy Wall – the need for the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to provide funding for the south Kildare region water scheme given the problems that many people are experiencing in the area at the present time; (9) Deputy Rabbitte – the reported threat to up to 600 jobs at the Irish Biscuits factory, Tallaght, as a result of plans by the French parent company, Danone, to sell its Irish subsidiary; (10) Deputy Howlin – the implications for public confidence in the Garda and the criminal justice system of the decision of the State not to contest an appeal in the Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday taken by a Donegal publican who had spent three years in jail after being convicted of knowingly allowing drugs to be sold in his premises; (11) Deputy Crawford – the urgent need for the Minister for Health and Children to intervene to stop the closure of the maternity unit at Monaghan General Hospital and to guarantee the restructuring and upgrading of Monaghan General Hospital; (12) Deputy O'Hanlon – the proposal of a review group in the North Eastern Health Board to close maternity services at Monaghan General Hospital; (13) Deputy Kenny – the matter of the powers of the Minister for Health and Children under the Health Act, 1970, in so far as the powers of health boards and their members are concerned in regard to their function and powers to provide services for the people under the said Health Act, 1970; (14) Deputy Aylward – provision of an autism centre at Ionad Follain, known locally as "The Glebe", Myshall, County Carlow; (15) Deputy Broughan – the urgent need for legislation to permit local authorities to regulate and charge telecom operators who are currently devastating our streets and roads with impunity; (16) Deputy McManus – the industrial dispute involving clerical workers in the three areas of the Eastern Regional Health Authority; (17) Deputy Lowry – the long-standing demand from the board of management and parents council of Ballytarsna national school, Tipperary, for the re-location of the local school; (18) Deputy Enright – the response of the Minister for Education and Science to Parliamentary Question No. 159 on 9 November 2000; (19) Deputy Owen – the case of a person (details supplied) who is already blind in one eye and partially blind in the other eye due to delays in receiving treatment for cataracts; and (20) Deputy Olivia Mitchell – the urgent need for clarification of the compensation arrangements for taxi drivers and the local authorities who will have to repay licence money.
The matters raised by Deputies Rabbitte, O'Hanlon, Crawford and Kenny have been selected for discussion.