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 Sheehan – the proposals to deal with funds which have lain dormant in the courts for 15 years by taking them into central funds; (2) Deputy Coveney – to ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to introduce a mandatory ID card scheme for young people to assist in controlling the problem of underage drinking in Ireland; (3) Deputy Higgins (Mayo)– the inaccurate information conveyed to the Dáil by the Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise, Deputy Jacob, when he stated that a formal inquiry had been instituted into a rail incident at Kiltoom, County Roscommon on 22 December 2000 when such was not the case and that the train driver involved had been retrained when such was not the case; (4) Deputy Flanagan – the need for the Department of Education and Science to advance matters at Scoil Bhride, Rathdowney, where the school is currently contained in two buildings at different parts of the town; (5) Deputy Fitzgerald – the report by the ISSI into Newtown House high support unit; (6) Deputy Gerard Reynolds – to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development to explain the reason the seven counties that constitute the western development region lag behind every other region in the country on economic development; (7) Deputy Deenihan – the deplorable conditions of Kerry roads resulting in a spate of accidents and damage to motor vehicles and the urgent need to provide additional funding to Kerry County Council to bring roads up to even a reasonable standard; (8) Deputy Upton – the need for the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to look favourably at a request for funding from Dublin Corporation to install central heating in their tenancies; (9) Deputy Creed – to outline the immediate steps being taken to tackle the alarming figures revealed in the Higher Education Authority report on drop-out rates at third level colleges; and (10) Deputy O'Sullivan – the implications of the report of the Inspectorate of Social Services on the running of Newtown House.
The matters raised by Deputies Flanagan, Sheehan, Fitzgerald and O'Sullivan have been selected for discussion.