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 need to exempt elected representatives from having to pay the fee for third party FOI requests; (2) Deputy Connolly – the situation pertaining in rural national schools with particular reference to Knocknagrave national school, County Monaghan, where staffing is determined by the enrolment on 30 September of the previous school year; (3) Deputy Carey – the need to examine the laws relating to the sale of fireworks; (4) Deputy Healy – the urgent need to reverse the cutbacks in the community employment schemes and to restore the scheme numbers to 28,000 as agreed with the social partners in view of the excellent work done by these schemes in areas like Dundrum, Knockavilla and Donaskeigh in County Tipperary; (5) Deputy Cowley – the need to introduce a new category for CEP which will allow people with disabilities, those over 55 years of age and those in long-term unemployment to remain on the scheme; and whether the Minister favours such a change especially in the light of a rumoured review of the present criteria for CE schemes; (6) Deputy Ó Snodaigh – the need for the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to take immediate action to prevent the closure of Liberties Recycling Training and Development, a valuable local drugs task force project which employs 52 people from the three Dublin South Central local drugs task force areas in the socially valuable enterprise of waste management through textile recycling; (7) Deputy Crawford – the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to clarify as a matter of urgency what he means by the transfer to another agency of the running of Loughan House in County Cavan and Shelton Abbey in County Wicklow and whether this is a proposal for privatisation or another Government based structure; (8) Deputy Costello – the implications for the prison system and industrial relations of the announcement by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that he is to close two prisons, place the management of two others outside of the prison service and effectively privatise the prison escort service; (9) Deputy Brendan Smith – the need to retain and maximise the use of Loughan House as a prison and place of detention (10) Deputy Boyle – the need for the Government immediately to implement a decision and provide appropriate resources to develop a Cork suburban rail network; (11) Deputy Crowe – the atrocious overcrowding in accident and emergency units across Dublin city yesterday, especially in Tallaght, which was hardest hit by a surge in people needing hospital beds and the need for the Government to invest in front line medical provision and facilitate long-term care; (12) Deputy Andrews – to use the occasion of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union to renegotiate the "UK rebate" element of our contribution to the EU budget, which was initially agreed in 1984 and in 2004 will amount to almost €100 million; (13) Deputy Deenihan – the urgent need to provide permanent accommodation for autistic children at Nano Nagle special school at Listowel, County Kerry; and (14) Deputy Coveney – that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should outline how he plans to accommodate the prison population of Spike Island prison should Spike Island close.
The matters raised by Deputies Ring, Deenihan, Boyle and Carey have been selected for discussion.