This publication contains the written answers to questions tabled by Members. The content of the responses is as received at the time from the relevant Minister or representative of the Assembly Commission and has not been subject to the official reporting process or changed in any way.

Friday 7 August 2009

Written Answers to Questions

Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Agriculture and Rural Development
Education
Employment and Learning
Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Environment
Finance and Personnel
Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Regional Development
Social Development
Revised Written Answers

OFFICE OF THE FIRST MINISTER AND DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER

European Union

Mr D Kennedy asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline how relations between the Executive and the European Union are managed and what plans it has to modify these arrangements.

(AQO 2183/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister (Mr P Robinson and Mr M McGuinness): We take lead responsibility for co-ordinating engagement with Europe on behalf of the Executive. Each Executive Minister is responsible and accountable for the implementation of European policies and legislation that fall within their Department’s devolved responsibilities.

Our Junior Ministers represent us on the Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe), which co-ordinates the United Kingdom’s policy position on European matters.

The European Commission’s Taskforce has enhanced these arrangements, providing greater focus on the region’s European policy and programme priorities. A Taskforce Working Group, chaired by Junior Ministers, co-ordinates this work and reports back to the Executive.

Executive Office in Brussels

Mr S Neeson asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister for its assessment of its use of the Executive Office in Brussels.

(AQO 2352/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Executive’s Office in Brussels provides a service to the Executive, to this Assembly and its Committees, and to wider civic society, local government, universities and other groups seeking to engage in Europe. This service includes provision of information and advice, arranging visits and meetings and educational programmes.

The office has arranged Ministerial programmes on 25 occasions since May 2007 including 8 visits by Ministers of this Department. Most recently we visited Brussels at the end of March 2009. During the visit we had a useful series of meetings with, among others, the then President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Commission President Barroso and the Trade and Internal Market Commissioners Ashton and McCreevy. Among the issues raised was the Bombardier State Aids application, now settled favourably.

Looking forward, the Brussels Office is currently working on 3 Ministerial visits to Brussels in September, including an important visit to plan future Taskforce actions led by the Junior Ministers of this Department.

The Office will continue to play a central role in the ongoing Task Force work and maintaining contact between Northern Ireland and key EU Institutions.

European Policy and Co-Ordination Unit

Mr K Robinson asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the work undertaken by the European Policy and Co-Ordination Unit in the last year, particularly how it has discharged its co-ordination function.

(AQO 2598/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: During the course of the last year, the European Policy and Co-ordination Unit (EPCU) has supported us, the Executive and the Assembly Committee for OFMDFM in developing the administration’s strategic approach to Europe. This work included publishing, for the first time, the Executive’s ‘Priorities for European Engagement’, which signified a step-change in our relations with Europe.

EPCU provides the Secretariat to the Barroso Task Force Working Group, chaired by Junior Ministers, which co-ordinates European policy matters at Deputy Secretary level across civil service departments. Under the guidance of the Working Group, and with inputs from Departments, EPCU are currently co-ordinating the drafting of our European Action Plan 2009/2010 which will be considered by the Executive in the autumn.

On an ongoing basis, EPCU also co-ordinates policy lines promoting our interests within the UK’s overall European negotiating position. These lines are used by Junior Ministers, who represent us at meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe) in London each quarter. This Committee, chaired by the Foreign Secretary, brings together Ministers from the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to consider European Union matters impinging on devolved responsibilities.

EPCU co-ordinates the process by which Northern Ireland’s representatives on both the Committee of the Regions and European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) are appointed. EPCU also leads in briefing our representatives to these Committees. In April 2008, the Unit facilitated a visit by an influential EESC sub-committee evaluating the role of the European Union in our Peace Process, which involved formal recognition of the Peace Programme founders at a joint EESC/ University of Ulster conference.

Inward visits to this region by key European decision-makers, influencers and representatives are supported by EPCU. A recent example was the two-day visit last November by Hans-Gert Pöttering, the President of the European Parliament, in the context of the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

Over the last year, EPCU represented OFMDFM on an informal network of Honorary Consuls. This network, predominantly European in composition, has recently become the newly formed Consular Association of Northern Ireland with Lord Rana as its first President.

EPCU takes the lead in raising awareness across departments about European ‘Years’ campaign themes, including the 2009 Year of Creativity and Innovation and the 2010 Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. The Unit represents OFMDFM on the European Information Network, comprising local stakeholders with an interest in European matters. It also participates in the Opportunity Europe steering group, led by the European Commission Office and Belfast City Council, that organises an annual fair and exhibition providing students, teachers and the general public with information on opportunities to work, study, travel or volunteer in other European countries.

On more routine matters, EPCU disseminates European information to nominated co-ordinators in civil service departments on a daily basis, including for example, Explanatory Memorandums, Westminster Scrutiny Reports, Whitehall MEP briefs and European Council conclusions. Each EU co-ordinator is responsible for passing this material to the relevant sectoral policy leads within their department. The Unit monitors the transposition of European directives by departments and co-ordinates our response to the Commission’s bi-annual Internal Market Scoreboard exercise.

Economic Stimulus Measures

Dr A McDonnell asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what consideration the Executive has given to implementing economic stimulus measures similar to those introduced by the other European governments, such as the Netherlands.

(AQO 2599/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We are aware of the stimulus package that was announced in the Netherlands. Several of the measures introduced fall into reserved areas and a number of others echo those we introduced in December 2008. We are, of course, happy to consider any further proposals that will protect the interests of local people and businesses.

Consultants

Mr J Craig asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister how much it has spent on internal and external consultants, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 7895/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The following table sets out how much our Department has spent on internal and external consultants, in each of the last three years.

	Expenditure £ (000’s)
Financial Year	Internal Consultants	External Consultants
2006/07	£93	£1,193
2007/08	£136	£2,758
2008/09	£179	£1,017

Executive

Mrs N Long asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister for its assessment of how efficiently the Executive is functioning.

(AQW 8079/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Executive has met this year on 15 occasions and has dealt with over 130 papers on a wide range of issues.

Conflict Transformation Centre

Mr T Elliott asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister if they plan to proceed with the Conflict Transformation Centre at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 8455/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: In our statement, attached, of 8 April 2009 we said we were committed to exploiting the potential of the Maze/Long Kesh site to the full. This includes maximising the economic, historical and reconciliation potential of the site and we will continue to work with all those bodies interested in contributing to the development of the site.

Statement from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister regarding the future of the Maze/Long Kesh masterplan.

08 April 2009

The First Minister and deputy First Minister today announced that the MLK Masterplan will not proceed in its original proposed form and that the current procurement process has now ended.

In a joint statement the First Minister and deputy First Minister said: “The 360 acre site, which remains in public ownership, is a site of regional significance. We fully recognise the economic development potential of this site and we are committed to exploiting this potential to the full, particularly given the economic climate we now find ourselves in.

In order to do so, we will establish a Development Corporation which will take this project forward and will build on the work previously undertaken by OFMDFM and the All-Party Maze/Long Kesh Consultation Panel and which will have regard to all the elements of the site including any listed buildings.

As we seek to maximise the economic, historical and reconciliation potential of the site we will continue to work with all those bodies interested in contributing to the development of the site.

Throughout this process we have been grateful to the GAA, the IFA and the Ulster Branch of the IRFU for their work and commitment. As the multi-sports stadium element of the project will not be taken forward, the three sporting bodies have been asked to submit their preferred options to DCAL. The Executive looks forward to receiving a report on the outcome of that process and we remain committed to meeting the strategic stadium needs of the three sporting bodies.”

Maze/Long Kesh

Mr T Elliott asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister if they are aware of recent correspondence issued by the Community Relations Council on the development of a Conflict Transformation Centre at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 8458/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We do not know to which particular correspondence the Member refers but we are aware that the Community Relations Council has indicated that it would be supportive of such an international centre.

People with Disabilities

Mr D Hilditch asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister for their assessment of the availability of toilet facilities for people with disabilities.

(AQW 8582/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: No assessment has been undertaken of the availability of public toilet facilities for disabled people. It is the responsibility of all organisations that provide services to the public to take positive steps to make their services accessible to disabled people.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of a building which make accessing a service impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people. This includes making alterations to toilet and washing facilities. The design of toilet facilities required for disabled people is regulated by Part R of the Building Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2000 (access to and use of buildings). Part R, and its associated technical guidance, ensure that toilet facilities in new buildings and existing buildings, when altered, meet reasonable standards of accessibility for disabled people.

Capital Budget

Mr D Kennedy asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister for an update on their Department's capital budget for the calender year to date.

(AQW 8705/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: Capital and other budgets are not allocated on a calendar year basis. They are allocated on a financial year basis.

The table below outlines the opening capital budget allocated to OFMDFM for the financial year 2009-10 and the capital expenditure for 2009-10, as at 26 June 2009.

Opening Capital Budget 2009-10 (£000’s)	Capital Expenditure to date 2009-10 (£000’s)
22,840	1,486

National Childcare Strategy

Ms D Purvis asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the options for a national childcare strategy that were discussed in the meeting of the Subgroup on Child Poverty on 18 June 2009.

(AQW 8735/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The options for the future delivery of childcare that were discussed by the Ministerial sub-group at its meeting on 18 th June 2009 in broad terms include (a) no change; (b) development of a 10-year childcare strategy; (c) designation of a lead childcare department and (d) the devolution of childcare responsibilities to other organisations. Ministers agreed to commission a feasibility study on these options.

Public sector targets

Mr T Gallagher asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister for his assessment of how public sector targets, involving more than one Department, can be delivered when the oversight boards to manage these have not yet been established.

(AQO 3087/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Executive’s priorities and key public sector targets for the period 2008-2011 are set out in the Programme for Government. These are supported by a framework of 23 cross-cutting Public Service Agreements (PSAs) which set out the key goals and targets departments will take forward in support of the Executive’s priorities.

We are determined to ensure a clear focus on delivery. We recognise that many of the outcomes and targets within the PfG and the associated PSA framework are cross-cutting or interdependent and will only be achieved where departments work closely together and co-ordinate their approach. That is why we have established delivery structures which aim to provide for clear lines of accountability while facilitating more effective joined-up working across government.

In that context, following the Assembly’s endorsement of the PfG, departments worked together to develop detailed Delivery Agreements for each PSA, with lead departments identified for each PSA and key goal/commitment set out in the PfG.

To build upon this approach, the Executive agreed on 5 March a delivery and reporting framework for the PfG requiring lead departments to identify for each PSA a single Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) and establish a Delivery Board, drawing representation from contributing departments and business areas. The SRO and Delivery Board are required to submit quarterly returns to OFMDFM setting out progress against PfG/PSA targets and the delivery structures in place.

In line with that requirement, on 7 May OFMDFM commissioned an update on progress for the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009. Those returns have indicated that considerable progress has been made. Across the significant majority of targets, robust delivery structures are in place. However, there are a small number of areas where there is a need to enhance delivery structures as we move forward and build upon the strong foundations we have put in place. A PfG Delivery Report was received and discussed by the Executive on 25 June 2009.

Playboard

Mr K Robinson asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the funding available to childcare clubs through Playboard for the next academic year, and how this compares with the previous funding allocations.

(AQW 8830/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We recognise the importance of good childcare provision and are working closely with other Departments to seek a long-term resolution to the current difficulties faced. The Ministerial Sub-Committee on Children and Young People identified childcare as an urgent priority and established a cross-departmental sub-group to produce a report, identifying options for future provision, to the Ministerial Sub-Committee. The initial report of this sub-group was presented to relevant Ministers on 18 June.

You will be aware that OFMDFM managed to fund £350,000 to continue these groups until August 2009 despite it not being an OFMDFM direct policy responsibility.

This funding for the PlayBoard projects is an interim approach pending a longer-term outcome from the work of the sub-group. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to give you any confirmation of future funding at this stage but we can assure you that we are continuing to highlight this issue.

Green New Deal Group

Dr S Farry asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister what consideration the Executive is giving to the recommendations of the Green New Deal Group on developing the green economy.

(AQW 8836/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: Engagement with the Green New Deal Group has occurred at Ministerial level through the Economic Development Forum, and across Departments at official level. Furthermore, in addressing the challenges of the economic downturn, and as part of the functions of the Cross Sectoral Advisory Forum, sub-groups have been commissioned to consider the potential opportunities associated with the Green New Deal vision. The findings emerging from the work of the Green New Deal Group are both interesting and helpful in informing policy development.

The economy is, of course our top priority in our Programme for Government and we remain keen to explore all of the opportunities to achieve economic recovery and growth.

After School Programmes

Ms D Purvis asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister when the after schools programmes funded by the Children and Young People's funding package can expect to receive notice of the £350,000 available for their programmes beyond August 2009.

(AQW 8839/09)

As you are aware OFMDFM managed to fund £350,000 to allow the groups to continue until August 2009 despite childcare not being an OFMDFM direct policy responsibility.

The continued funding for the PlayBoard projects is an interim approach pending a longer-term outcome from the work of the sub-group. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to give you any confirmation of future funding at this stage but we can assure you that we are continuing to highlight this issue.

Maze/Long Kesh

Mr T Elliott asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister if they are aware of recent correspondence issued to groups by the Strategic Investment Board about the development of a Conflict Transformation Centre at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 8844/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We would refer the Member to our previous response to AQW 8458/09.

The Maze Site

Mr G Savage asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister (i) to detail the projected costs of a development corporation to investigate the appropriate use of the Maze site; and (ii) to outline how much of his Department's budget for (a) 2009/10; and (b) 2010/11 has been identified for the development corporation.

(AQW 8858/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: As the Member will understand plans for the redevelopment of this strategic site are at a very early stage and projected costs for this period are currently being determined.

However, we have initially identified a budget requirement for up to £5.1 million to allow the Development Corporation to drive forward preparatory work in the current financial year. The budget will include provision for substantial masterplanning and related work, as well as the cost of setting up and staffing the Development Corporation, site security and running costs and the ongoing maintenance of the listed prison buildings and aircraft hangars.

This figure also includes a June monitoring round bid for £2.5m capital expenditure which is necessary to complete an extensive programme of ground decontamination across the 347 acre site.

Press and Public Relations

Mr S Gardiner asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the number of staff employed in their press and public relations department and their overall cost in each year from 2003/04.

(AQW 8881/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: In 2008/09 there were 4 press officers employed within the department who provided direct support to the First Minister, deputy First Minister and Junior Ministers on core press and public relations activity. They were supported by 1 administrative officer. OFMDFM is also responsible for the co-ordination of communication across all 11 departments and the attached figures include staff who work in this role as well as staff that directly support OFMDFM Ministers.

The salary figures provided are approximate and are based on the latest information made available to branches. The current management information system is unable to provide salary details to branches in a suitable format for the period November 2008 to March 2009.

Year	Information Officer Staff	Administrative Staff	Total Costs
2008/09 (to Oct 08)	10	3	£346,907.14
2007/08	14	11	£802,226.44
2006/07	9	15	£692,016.90
2005/06	10	13	£780,184.97
2004/05	10	13	£720,787.49
2003/04	10	13	£722,857.54

Peace III Projects

Mr J Shannon asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister (i) how much money is available to each constituency for Peace III projects; and (ii) how these amounts compare to those available for Peace II.

(AQW 8907/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister does not hold this information. We suggest that you direct your enquiry to the Special EU Programmes Body.

Meetings with the Prime Minister

Mr D Kennedy asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail when meetings between the Prime Minister and (i) the First Minister on 1 July 2009; and (ii) the deputy First Minister on 30 June 2009 were arranged; and to outline the outcomes of both meetings.

(AQW 8937/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The meetings were arranged by Downing Street. The outcomes of the meetings have been well documented in the press and we have nothing further to add.

Equality Bill

Dr S Farry asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister what consideration has been given to requesting that the disability or other aspects of the Equality Bill, currently being considered in Westminster, be extended to Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8947/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: As discrimination law is a transferred matter and within the competence of the Assembly, we have not sought to extend the disability or other aspects of the Westminster Equality Bill. We continue to keep equality legislation under review.

Decommissioning by Loyalist Groups

Mr A Attwood asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister for their assessment of the statement by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning on decommissioning by loyalist groups; and to advise if new proposals are being developed, under the Financial Assistance Act 2009, to release funding for communities which suffer disadvantage and in which illegal groups have exercised influence.

(AQW 8949/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: An assessment of the recent statement by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning on decommissioning by loyalist groups is a matter for the Secretary of State. However, the Commission’s statement on this matter is welcomed. As regards the provision of financial assistance, the Act makes provision for how and when assistance can be considered.

Office of Commissioner for Older People and a New Victims and Survivors’ Service

Mr S Gardiner asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister, pursuant to AQW 8348/09, to outline the proposed legislative timetable for the two Bills they are working on.

(AQW 8953/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We intend to consult on a draft Commissioner for Older People Bill with a view to the Bill itself being introduced to the Assembly next year. We will also be consulting on policy proposals for the Victims and Survivors Service and we expect to be in position to introduce a Bill before the next summer recess. These legislative proposals will of course be brought forward in consultation with the OFMDFM Committee and with the agreement of the Executive.

PfG Targets

Mr S Gardiner asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister, given the proximity to the timing for the first of their PfG targets, to detail any interim findings on any decrease in child poverty levels.

(AQW 8954/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: There are three means by which Child Poverty levels in Northern Ireland are measured, these are:

A. Relative income poverty

From the baseline level of 29% in 1998/99 relative income poverty for children has fallen to 22% in 2006/07, the most recent period for which information is available.

B. Absolute income poverty

Since 1998/99 there has been a significant reduction in the level of absolute income poverty for children. In 1998/99 it was estimated that 29% of children lived in households experiencing absolute income poverty; by 2006/07 this level had decreased to 12%.

C. Mixed low income and material deprivation

In 2004/05, the first year for which information relating to material deprivation is available, 21% of children lived in households experiencing a combination of low income and material deprivation. In 2006/07 this level of low income and material deprivation had decreased to 18%.

Whilst these figures are encouraging we fully recognise that the targets we have set ourselves in respect of eliminating child poverty here are extremely challenging, particularly in light of the current economic downturn. The Executive, however, remains totally committed to meeting this challenge by working across government to ensure long-term sustainable progress.

In line with this commitment a n Executive Sub-Committee on Poverty and Social Inclusion has been established and following on from its first two meetings officials have been asked to undertake work, with colleagues from other Departments, to identify the key co-ordinated priority actions that are needed to benefit those groups, including children, who are in greatest objective need. This work will be informed by the recommendations arising from the OFMDFM Committee’s Child Poverty Inquiry Report, and the Promoting Social Inclusion Working Groups on Lone Parents and People with a Disability.

Foreign Nationals

Mr S Gardiner asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline what action they have taken since 2007 to protect foreign nationals domiciled in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8955/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The work of challenging racism and all forms of intolerance is actively supported by OFMDFM Ministers and has been clearly demonstrated since the restoration of devolution in May 2007. You will recall that the very first event that the former first Minister and deputy First Minister hosted after the restoration of devolution was a reception in Parliament Buildings for new and existing minority ethnic communities, migrant workers and those who work closely with them. This was an acknowledgement of the importance we attach to this subject.

You will be aware that the physical protection of foreign nationals is primarily the responsibility of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). We do, of course, continually work very closely with the PSNI on these matters. In fact, since 2007, there has been regular contact at all levels between OFMDFM and the PSNI. This includes frequent contact between the Racial Equality Unit in OFMDFM and the Community Safety Unit. Officials from the Racial Equality Unit also have contact with Minority Ethnic Liaison Officers from the PSNI. We also most recently held a meeting with the Chief Constable and other senior officers following racist attacks on members of our Roma community.

You may also wish to make direct contact with the PSNI for further information about the specific protections they provide.

In terms of legal and social protection, the Executive is keen to do everything possible to ensure protection, not just for foreign nationals, but for all people living here.

Foreign nationals domiciled in NI, who fulfil any necessary immigration restrictions, are entitled to the same employment rights as all other workers, enforced where necessary through the Tribunal Service . In addition, a number of bodies are responsible for enforcing specific areas of employment law – HM Revenue and Customs (National Minimum Wage), Health and Safety Executive, Gangmasters Licensing Authority (agricultural labour) and Department for Employment and Learning (employment agency law).

While the vast majority of agencies are reputable businesses, the Department for Employment and Learning is aware of the need to have adequate powers to deal with the small number of unscrupulous agencies which may exploit workers. On 22 June 2009 the Minister for Employment and Learning introduced an Employment Bill which contains measures to enhance the Department's powers to investigate and prosecute non-compliant agencies. It is intended that it will complete its Assembly passage by the end of the year.

Since 2007 the Department for Employment and Learning has produced a range of employment rights guidance material which has been made available in a number of languages. The Department has also contributed to the formation of the UK-wide Pay and Work Rights Line, which allows vulnerable workers to seek advice or make complaints in respect of their employment rights.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) protects the rights of all workers, including migrants, that are employed by a Gangmaster (labour provider) in the following types of work

(a) agriculture,

(b) gathering shellfish, and

(c) processing or packaging of –

(i) any produce derived from agricultural work, or
(ii) shellfish, fish or products derived from shellfish or fish.

The Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order as amended by the Race Relations Order (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 outlaws discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origin. The Race Relations Order makes it unlawful to discriminate in the fields of employment, education, the disposal and management of premises, and the provision of goods, facilities and services. This applies to all those entitled to live and work here.

You will also be aware that S ection 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 places a statutory duty on public authorities to have due regard to the need for equality of opportunity on grounds of race.

While there is no specific legislation or action to protect foreign nationals from exploitation by landlords, there are regulations in place to protect all tenants from exploitation by landlords in the private rented sector. The Private Tenancies ( Northern Ireland) Order 2006 which was introduced in April 2007 gives tenants rights and places obligations on landlords.

As you can see, the Executive is committed to taking action to ensure the highest level of protection against discrimination and harassment across all racial grounds for people here We are also providing enhanced clarity as regards rights and responsibilities. This is in line with the commitment in our Programme for Government to create a shared and better future, based on tolerance and respect for cultural diversity.

Head of the NI Civil Service

Mr S Gardiner asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the selection process for the Head of the NI Civil Service.

(AQW 8973/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The post of the Head of the NI Civil Service was filled by way of an open recruitment competition, through public advertisement. The selection process used for external recruitment is set out in detail in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Recruitment Policy and Procedures Manual which can be accessed at www.nicsrecruitment.gov.uk.

The competition was run within the terms of the Recruitment Code laid down by the Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland which can be accessed at www.nicscommissioners.org.

The appointment was subject to the endorsement of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Dr S Farry asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister what consideration was given to officials attending the examination of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its report on the United Kingdom of 22 May, which took account of the number of issues involving Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8996/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: The Ministry of Justice took the lead role in preparing and co-ordinating for this international examination on 12 th and 13 th May 2009. We have already prepared an Executive response to a number of follow-up questions from the UN Committee following the examination and are considering the merits of co-ordinating a Northern Ireland response to the Committee’s Concluding Observations.

Flags

Dr S Farry asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline their plans to revise the protocol on the removal of flags.

(AQW 8998/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: Preliminary work to establish a review of the inter-agency flags Protocol has begun with initial conversations involving both existing partners and potential new stakeholders. This is an important and challenging issue which goes to the heart of our vision to build a shared and better future. It is our intention to progress this review in the incoming months.

Single Equality Bill

Ms A Lo asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to report on progress on the development of a Single Equality Bill.

(AQO 2116/09)

First Minister and deputy First Minister: We continue to keep the broad spectrum of our equality legislation under review.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for her assessment of her Department's efforts to combat Bovine TB.

(AQW 8778/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms M Gildernew): TB is a very complex disease and it continues to be one of the most challenging animal health problems we face. My Department has committed significant resources to dealing with this disease. We have made considerable progress with TB in recent years, since peak levels for the disease in 2002. My assessment is that the TB programme we have been implementing in recent years has been successful in reducing TB in cattle here. Importantly, it has also protected our export trade, and around 90% of herds in the north are able to participate fully in export trade because of the programme.

There are many factors that can potentially affect the level of TB and to eradicate this disease, we will need to deal effectively with all the factors.

The new strategic approach to TB that I announced in December is a phased and holistic approach based on addressing three key strands together – real partnership between government and industry, controlling the spread of TB between cattle, and addressing the wildlife factor. The ultimate aspiration of this new approach is the eradication of TB.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail how much her Department plans to spend in the next (i) year; (ii) two years; (iii) five years; and (iv) ten years in combatting Bovine TB.

(AQW 8779/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The Department’s expenditure on the bovine TB programme to combat the disease was over £23m in the 2008/09 financial year. This included disease compensation payments to farmers, payments to Private Veterinary Practitioners for carrying out TB testing, Departmental staff costs, research and laboratory costs, and other costs including payments to hauliers and the cost of tuberculin.

Regarding my Department’s plans for expenditure in future years,

(i) In the next year 2010/11, which is the final year of the current Comprehensive Spending Review period, there is a key goal in the Programme for Government to reduce by 27% the herd incidence of TB by 2011. Actions to achieve the targeted reduction are based on the continuing implementation of the TB programme. Any reduction in disease levels would result in reduced disease compensation payments from the 2008/09 expenditure level.

In the next (ii) two years, (iii) five years, and (iv) ten years, longer term spending will be decided on when subsequent Comprehensive Spending Reviews have been settled and it is not possible to foresee what it will be at this stage. The existing TB programme will continue to be an important element as we move forward with the new strategic approach for dealing with TB. Any new additional actions that we take under the strategy will be subject to securing the additional resources that would be needed.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail any plans there are to review her Department's approach to eradicate Bovine TB.

(AQW 8780/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The new strategic approach to TB that I announced in December is a phased and holistic approach based on addressing three key strands together – real partnership between government and industry, controlling the spread of TB between cattle, and addressing the wildlife factor. The ultimate aspiration of this new approach is the eradication of TB.

My Department is continuing to work in partnership with our key stakeholders to develop this agreed joint industry/Government approach to TB.

The intention is to review the position in 5 years’ time at the end of the first phase of the strategy, so that we can make informed decisions about the next phase in the strategy to move towards the ultimate aim of TB eradication.

EU Veterinary Fund

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline why her Department has not availed of the EU Veterinary Fund for five out of the last nine years; and what action she is taking to ensure that DARD avails of this funding each year.

(AQW 8781/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The Department has applied for and received funding from the EU Veterinary Fund every year for the past nine years, except for its 2003 application. The Fund considers applications from Member States for co-funding of their disease eradication plans, which has included applications from the north of Ireland in respect of Tuberculosis, Brucellosis and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies(TSEs). Any co-funding received from Europe goes into the Consolidated Fund. The 2003 application was not considered by the Commission because it was received after the deadline of 1 June 2002.

The reason that the 2005 application for TB was rejected, and that an application was not submitted in respect of the TB eradication plan for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, is because of an issue concerning compliance with the EU rules, specifically as regards the handling of second time inconclusive animals. My Department’s assessment has been that the benefits of implementing this Directive requirement would not outweigh the costs in financial terms. My Department continues to keep this matter under review in our new TB strategy.

As you may be aware, the Public Accounts Committee report has made a recommendation regarding the funding from the EU Veterinary Fund. My Department will consider the Committee’s report fully and a detailed Memorandum of Reply will be laid before the Assembly, setting out the considered response to the issues raised.

EU Veterinary Fund

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in which years, out of the past nine years, has her Department not received funding from the EU Veterinary Fund.

(AQW 8782/09)

The 2003 application was not considered by the Commission because it was received after the deadline of 1 June 2002.

The last year that funding was received in the north from the EU Veterinary Fund in respect of TB was for the 2004 application.

Efficiency Savings Proposals

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline what efficiency savings proposals are in place for 2009-2010.

(AQW 8797/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The following Efficiency Delivery Plans (EDPs) have been developed to deliver £12.23m cash releasing efficiency savings for 2009-2010:

		£m
1.	Accommodation capital expenditure reduction	0.4
2.	Staff efficiencies from external transfer of certain Rural Development programme delivery	1.2
3.	Re-balance of NIRDP funding enabling savings to the National Less Favoured Areas baseline	2.0
4.	Additional Forest Service receipts	1.0
5.	Mainstreaming Food Strategy spend into existing baselines	1.5
6.	AFBI – Reprofiling DARD work programme; improved procurement and use of shared services	1.4
7.	Retender Genotyping contract	0.2
8.	TSE savings including reduced BSE testing	2.7
9.	To have in place Bovine TB and Brucellosis policies that encourage farmers to prevent the introduction of disease and avoid the reintroduction of disease in their herds	0.8
10.	Reduction in animal disease levels leading to less compensation	0.7
11.	More efficient identification, registration and movement of animals	0.3
	TOTAL	12.2

Efficiency Savings Proposals

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline what efficiency savings have been put in place since May 2007.

(AQW 8798/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: We have a target to deliver £6.2m, £12.2m and £18.1m cumulative cash releasing efficiency savings in the 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 respectively. A summary of our 12 Efficiency Delivery Plans (EDPs) is set out in the table below.

Description of Efficiency	2008/09 £m	2009/10 £m	2010/11 £m
Accommodation capital expenditure reduction	0.40	0.40	0.40
Staff efficiencies from external transfer of certain Rural Development programme delivery	0.79	1.20	1.20
Re-balance of NIRDP funding enabling savings to the National Less Favoured Areas baseline	2.00	2.00	2.00
Additional Forest Service receipts	1.09	1.00	1.00
Mainstreaming Food Strategy spend into existing baselines	1.00	1.50	1.44
AFBI – Reprofiling DARD work programme; improved procurement and use of shared services	0.72	1.42	2.11
Retender Genotyping contract	0.20	0.20	0.20
TSE savings including reduced BSE testing	0	2.66	4.15
To have in place Bovine TB and Brucellosis policies that encourage farmers to prevent the introduction of disease and avoid the reintroduction of disease in their herds	0	0.83	1.83
Reduction in animal disease levels leading to less compensation	0	0.73	1.31
More efficient indentification, registration and movement of animals	0	0.29	1.56
Ad hoc process efficiencies	0	0	0.87
TOTAL EDPs	6.20	12.23	18.07

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline which recommendations from her Department's 2002 review of its Bovine TB Eradication Policy have, and have not, been implemented and the reasons for this.

(AQW 8822/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: Following the 2002 TB Policy Review, my Department introduced a phased package of new measures to strengthen and improve the TB programme. Some of these measures cover Brucellosis as well as TB. The following measures have been implemented:

tighter restrictions on overdue tests;
changes to the valuation system;
changes to the existing compensation arrangements have been addressed in part, through the changes that have been made to the valuation system;
a Badger Stakeholder Group was established to review all the information available from badger studies carried out in Britain, in the south of Ireland and in the north of Ireland;
a working group was established to review the use of the Gamma Interferon blood test for TB;
a legislative change was introduced in 2004 to make it compulsory for farmers to maintain fences to prevent contact with animals on adjoining land and to prevent his herd from straying;
the importance of boundary fencing as good biosecurity practice has been highlighted in the Biosecurity Code;
the in-house resource allocated to TB testing has been increased
a working group was established to review APHIS and recommend improvements;
the registered dealers list has been brought into compliance with EU requirements;
a scientific project on the biometric identification of cattle has been undertaken;
a study into the use of digitised mapping of farms for disease control has been undertaken;
an Animal Health and Welfare Stakeholder Forum has been established, which considers TB and Brucellosis matters;
an animal health challenge programme has been established;
consideration was given as to whether to introduce mandatory pre-movement testing for TB.

In addition, powers are proposed in the Diseases of Animals Bill, which is currently going through the Assembly, to provide for the use of biometric identification, for an enhanced dealer registration system for trade within the north, and for disease-specific statutory biosecurity guidance.

A review of the existing testing arrangements has been carried out by Deloitte consultants, and has been published on the DARD website in February 2008.

Following the 2002 TB Policy Review, further work was done to assess the costs and benefits of removing animals after the second time inconclusive TB result. As the conclusion was that the costs of removing animals at the second retest would outweigh the benefits, to date my Department has continued to remove animals at the third retest.

As you may be aware, the Public Accounts Committee report has made recommendations regarding a number of the areas outlined above. My Department will consider the Committee’s report fully and a detailed Memorandum of Reply will be laid before the Assembly, setting out the considered response to the issues raised.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail her Department's plans to ensure a better quality of testing for Bovine TB.

(AQW 8823/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: As you may be aware, the Public Accounts Committee report has made a number of recommendations regarding the improvement of the quality of testing for bovine tuberculosis. My Department will consider the Committee’s report fully and a detailed Memorandum of Reply will be laid before the Assembly, setting out the considered response to the issues raised.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development when she will implement the recommendations contained in the 2006 consultant report on Bovine TB testing arrangements.

(AQW 8824/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: As you may be aware, the Public Accounts Committee report has made a recommendation regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the 2006 report entitled Review of Bovine Tuberculosis Testing Arrangements. My Department will consider the Committee’s report fully and a detailed Memorandum of Reply will be laid before the Assembly, setting out the considered response to the issues raised.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if her Department has any plans to enter into discussions with the cattle industry about pre-testing for Bovine TB.

(AQW 8825/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: As you may be aware, the Public Accounts Committee report has made a recommendation regarding pre-movement testing. My Department will consider the Committee’s report fully and a detailed Memorandum of Reply will be laid before the Assembly, setting out the considered response to the issues raised.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline her Department's policy on pre-movement Bovine TB testing, and the reasons they adopted this policy.

(AQW 8828/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: In the north, TB herd testing is carried out annually in accordance with EU Directive 64/432. The Directive requires that pre-movement testing is carried out on all eligible cattle exported to the EU, and provides derogation for domestic trade. My Department’s policy on pre-movement testing is to comply fully with the EU requirement, and also to require pre-movement testing for eligible animals exported to Britain. We otherwise avail of the derogation for trade within the north.

My Department’s assessment has been that as we carry out TB testing annually in the north, the cost of introducing mandatory pre-movement testing for all categories of animals in the north would outweigh the benefits.

However, my Department identified a gap in the testing in relation to single animals that miss an annual herd test. In order to plug this gap, in July 2008 a requirement was introduced for a pre-movement test for the specific category of single animals that have missed their annual herd test. Movement of such animals are restricted after 15 months, and remain so until they are TB tested.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline her Department's commitment to Bovine TB eradication.

(AQW 8854/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: My Department has a strategic objective to reduce and eradicate bovine TB. We have made considerable progress with TB in recent years, since peak levels for the disease in 2002. Our assessment is that the TB programme we have been implementing in recent years, which is based largely on cattle controls, has been successful in reducing TB in cattle here. Importantly, it has supported trade in live cattle and products.

There are many factors that can potentially affect the level of TB and to eradicate this disease, we will need to deal effectively with all the factors. It is also clear that to eradicate TB will be a long-term process. The new TB strategy that I announced in December is a holistic approach based on addressing three key strands together – real partnership between Government and industry, controlling the spread of TB between cattle, and addressing the wildlife factor. It is an agreed joint industry/Government approach for how we deal with TB, and it is a phased strategy to move towards the eradication of TB in a cost-effective way and in a realistic timeframe. The ultimate aspiration is the eradication of TB.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail how many new strains of Bovine TB have been found in the past year and what their origins are.

(AQW 8856/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: In the past year, 26 new strains of bovine TB have been identified through surveillance of cattle herds with confirmed TB in the north of Ireland. DARD-funded research at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has shown that bovine TB strains show strong geographical clustering to particular regions. New strains develop as a result of mutation in existing TB strains and share the same geographic origin as the parent.

Bovine TB

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the effectiveness of her Department in locating the origins of the various strains of Bovine TB.

(AQW 8857/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: New laboratory tests allow scientists to identify a number of bovine TB strain types. Mapping of these strains shows striking geographic clustering with certain strains more likely to be found in specific areas. In certain cases, this typing allows investigators to propose geographic sources for outbreaks. In conjunction with tracing through conventional cattle movement recording data on the Department’s computer tracing system (APHIS), this provides an additional tool to assist in the investigation of disease outbreaks and analysis of disease spread and control.

Work is underway to strain type every TB lesion found at slaughter. Use of this new technology is in its early stages so as yet there is insufficient information to show how effective it’s application is likely to be.

June Monitoring Round

Mr G Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail what bids were made to DFP for funding in the June monitoring round, and for what specific projects.

(AQW 8859/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The June Monitoring bids are set out in the table, below, none of which were met:

	£m
Bovine TB Compensation	6.1
Brucellosis Compensation	0.5
NIRDP – Less Favoured Areas 2010 Scheme	2.9
NIRDP – Axis 2 – Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme legacy commitments	0.4
	9.9

Press and Public Relations

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of staff employed in the Department's press and public relations department and their overall cost in each year from 2003/04 to 2008/09.

(AQW 8924/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The Department of Agriculture & Rural Development Press Office provides communication services for both the Core Department and its Agencies. A breakdown of staff by grade, discipline and costs for each year from 2003 to 2009 is detailed in the tables attached.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

YEAR	NUMBER OF STAFF BY GRADE		TOTAL COST
2003-04	Casual AA	5	£311,333
	AA	0
	AO	3
	Tech Grade 1	0
	EOII	5
	EOI	1
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	0
	Staff Officer	0
	Information Officer(SO)	2
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	1
	PTO	2
	Principal Information Officer	1
2004-05	Casual AA	2	£320,156
	AA	1
	AO	4
	Tech Grade 1	0
	EOII	4
	EOI	1
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	0
	Staff Officer	0
	Information Officer(SO)	1
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	1
	PTO	2
	Principal Information Officer	1
2005-06	Casual AA	0	£327,745
	AA	1
	AO	6
	Tech Grade 1	0
	EOII	2
	EOI	5
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	1
	Staff Officer	0
	Information Officer(SO)	0
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	1
	PTO	0
	Principal Information Officer	1
2006-07	Casual AA	0	£238,597
	AA	2
	AO	2
	Tech Grade 1	0
	EOII	1
	EOI	3
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	1
	Staff Officer	0
	Information Officer(SO)	1
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	1
	PTO	0
	Principal Information Officer	1
2007-08	Casual AA	0	£312,875
	AA	1
	AO	2
	Tech Grade 1	1
	EOII	2
	EOI	0
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	1
	Staff Officer	0
	Information Officer(SO)	2
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	3
	PTO	2
	Principal Information Officer	1
2008-09	Casual AA	0	£410,155
	AA	1
	AO	2
	Tech Grade 1	1
	EOII	3
	EOI	0
	Assistant Information Officer (EOI)	1
	Staff Officer	1
	Information Officer(SO)	2
	Senior Information Officer (SIO)	3
	PTO	2
	Principal Information Officer	1

Farm Modernisation Scheme

Mr A Bresland asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what percentage of successful applicants for the Farm Modernisation Scheme submitted their applications by post.

(AQW 8942/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: The process of issuing Letters of Offer to successful applicants to the Farm Modernisation Programme is ongoing. Based on the ratio of postal applications received to those received over the counter, the projected number of successful postal applications will be 26.83%.

Floods

Mr D Kinahan asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what interim measures his Department is taking to help people whose houses were flooded in August last year and whose insurance has increased, either in financial terms or in practical terms.

(AQW 8946/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: Since the severe flooding in August 2008 my Department has taken the lead within government in seeking to reach agreement with the insurance industry to ensure that flood insurance remains as affordable and widely available as possible. The method of achieving this is through a Statement of Principles with the Association of British Insurers. We are at an advanced stage and I hope to reach agreement with my Executive colleagues on this matter in the near future.

Ulster Farm By-Products Plant

Mr T Burns asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development how much meat and bone meal is produced every year by the Ulster Farm By-products plant, Glenavy.

(AQW 8982/09)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: DARD gather data on Meat and bone meal yield as part of the routine monthly Animal By Product inspections. However, this information is provided in confidence and is commercially sensitive. The disclosure of this information could prejudice commercial interests.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Neighbourhood Renewal

Mr M Durkan asked the Minister of Education why she has not yet released the reporTher Department has completed on its responsibilities under Neighbourhood Renewal, as promised in her letter of 8 August 2008, and if she will indicate when those findings will be made public.

(AQW 5746/09)

Minister of Education (Ms C Ruane ): Gabhaim leithscéal as an mhoill ar fhreagairt do cheiste. D’iarr mé ar Oifigigh an tuarascáil a athbhreithniú agus tá an obair bhreise seo anois críochnaithe. Tá fionnachtana na tuarascála seo á mbreithniú agam faoi láthair agus foilseofar don phobal iad a luaithe a chomhaontaím ábhar na tuarascála.

I apologise for the delay in responding to your question. I had asked my Officials to review the report and this further work has now been completed. I am in the process of considering the findings of this report and will make them public as soon as I have agreed the contents of the report. I am sure you will appreciate the need for careful consideration given that I have been asked to review 38 projects that are currently being funded by the Department for Social Development.

European Law

Mr R McCartney asked the Minister of Education for an update on the Department's review of the effect of European law on those living in the south of Ireland who wish to send their children to schools in the north of Ireland.

(AQW 8251/09)

Minister of Education: Baineann an t-athbhreithniú atá á dhéanamh ag an Roinn le reachtaíocht iontrála is inléanta, faoi Airteagal 16(4) den Ordú Oideachais 1998, caitfidh scoileanna tosaíocht a thabhairt do gach cónaitheoir sa Tuaisceart thar iarrathóirí ar bith ón Deisceart. Is é an tuairim atá agam ná gur chóir fáil réidh leis na hAirteagail seo agus beidh mé ag tabhairt moltaí isteach dá réir sin.

The review that the Department is undertaking is into admissions legislation whereby, under Article 16(4) of the Education (NI) Order 1997 and Article 32(4) of the Education (NI) Order 1998, schools are required to prioritise all northern residents over any applicants from the south. My view is that these Articles should be deleted and I will be bringing forward proposals accordingly.

The main reason I wish this law to be deleted is because it is at odds with the reality of the way people in border areas live and access services. Children should be able to apply on equal terms to their nearest local school no matter which county in Ireland it is in.

There is also the reason that our legislation may be in conflict with European law. Only a ruling would establish this and the case would be complex, however, regardless of this the law needs changing.

Nursery Places

Mrs N Long asked the Minister of Education to detail (i) the number of nursery places available in each school; (ii) the number of places taken up in each school; and (iii) any over-subscription/waiting lists for nursery places, broken down by Education and Library Board area, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 8742/09)

Minister of Education: Cuirfear an t-eolas a iarradh ar fáil i Leabharlann an Tionóil.

I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the Assembly Library.

Swine Flu

Lord Browne asked the Minister of Education what measures against swine flu will be in place at schools after the summer holidays.

(AQW 8761/09)

Minister of Education: Beidh mo Roinn ag obair go dlúth leis an Ghníomhaireacht um Shláinte Phóiblí, leis na Boird Oideachais agus Leabharlainne agus Comhairle na Scoileanna Caitliceacha faoi Chothabháil le measúnú a dhéanamh ar fhorbairtí um fhliú na muc i rith laethanta saoire an tsamhridh agus cuirfidh an Roinn comhairle cothrom le dáta ar fáil do scoileanna agus an earnáil oideachais níos leithne a léireoidh an tuairim liachta is deireanaí bunaithe ar na forbairtí is deireanaí agus scoileanna agus an earnáil is leithne ag ullmhú don athoscailt sa bhliain nua scoile ag deireadh mí Lúnasa agus ag tús mí Mheán Fómhair.

My Department is working closely with the Public Health Agency, the Education and Library Boards and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools to assess swine flu developments over the summer holidays and will provide up to date advice and guidance to schools and the wider education sector that will reflect the latest medical opinion based on the most recent developments as schools and the wider education sector prepare to reopen for the new school year in late August and early September.

I have attended meetings with the Health Minister Michael McGimpsey and I will continue to work closely with him and Executive colleagues to manage Swine Flu developments.

Epilepsy

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Education which outside bodies, including charitable organisations, have been consulted by her Department about teacher training on epilepsy in the last five years.

(AQW 8874/09)

Minister of Education: Rinne an Roinn Oideachais comhairliúchán le roinnt forais sular éisíodh caipéis na Roinne “Ag tacú le Daltaí le Riachtanais Leighis” sa bhliain 2008, a sholáthraíonn treoir do scoileanna lena chinntiú go ndéantar freastal ar dhaltaí a bhfuil riachtanais leighis orthu, le titmeas san áireamh, sna scoileanna. Bhí Ceardchumainn na Múinteoirí agus grúpa fócais curtha san áireamh leis seo, a raibh ionadaithe ón Chigireacht um Oiliúint agus Oideachas, ón Roinn Sláinte, Seirbhísí Sóisialta agus Sábháilteachta Poiblí, óna hIontabhais Sláinte, óna Boird Oideachais agus Leabharlainne, ó Chomhairle na Scoileanna Caitliceacha faoi Chothábháil agus ó Ardscoil áitiúil cuimsithe leis.

Prior to the issuing of the Department’s document “Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs” in 2008, which provides guidance to schools to ensure that all pupils with medical needs, including epilepsy, could have their needs met in school, the Department of Education consulted with a number of bodies. This included Teachers’ Unions and a focus group, which comprised of representatives from the Education and Training Inspectorate, the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety, Health Trusts, Education and Library Boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools and a local High School.

Post Primary Transfer

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Education if, and when, she intends to bring forward plans for post primary transfer that will command cross party support.

(AQW 8875/09)

Minister of Education: The arrangements for post-primary transfer described in the Department of Education’s published Transfer 2010 Guidance attracted supportive comments from 3,054 (95% of all) respondents to the two consultations which preceded its publication.

Nuair a fheicfear oideachasóirí ag obair laistigh den Treoir ag tabhairt oideachais d’ardchaighdeán do gach páiste, tá mé cinnte dearfa de go n-aithneofar nárbh fhéidir leanúint leis an tseanchóras agus b’fhéidir go bhfillfimid ar cheist na reachtaíochta ag an am sin.

I am convinced that when educationalists are seen to be working within the Guidance and delivering a quality education for all children, there will be a realisation that the old system could not continue. At that time, we can return to the issue of legislation.

Teacher's

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Education the average salary of a teacher in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8908/09)

Minister of Education: Is é méid mheán ollphá na múinteoirí i dTuaisceart na hÉireann sa bhliain 2008/2009 ná £34,682.24 nuair a áirítear é le scálaí pá atá bainteach leis na Príomhoidí, na Leas Phríomhoidí agus le gach múinteoir eile. Nuair atá compáráid déanta ar an mheán ollphá gan scálaí pá na bPríomhoidí agus na Leas-Phríomhoidí curtha san áireamh, is é an méid atá air ná £33,003.42 sa bhliain 2008/2009.

The average gross salary of a teacher in the north of Ireland in 2008/2009 is £34,682.24 when calculated including Principal/Vice Principal and all other related teachers’ salary bands. When the average gross salary is collated excluding those of Principals/Vice Principals it amounts to £33,003.42 in 2008/2009.

Classroom Assistant

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Education the average salary of a classroom assistant in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8909/09)

Minister of Education: Socraíodh trí shainchuntas poist cineálach le haghaidh cúntóirí ranga mar thoradh ar Aontú Phostmheastóireachta Chomhairle Comhidirbheartaíochta na mBord Oideachais agus Leabharlainne i mí na Samhna 2007, agus rinneadh gradú orthu d’fhonn tuarastál mar a leanas:

The Education and Library Boards’ Joint Negotiating Council Job Evaluation Agreement in November 2007 led to three generic job descriptions being agreed for classroom assistants and which were graded for salary purposes as follows:

Classroom Assistant Mainstream

This job description applies to classroom assistants working with children in mainstream schools.

Classroom Assistant Special Needs

This job description applies to classroom assistants working with children with special needs in both mainstream and special needs schools.

Classroom Assistant Additional Special Needs

This job description applies to classroom assistants who are required to undertake duties with children who have the most severe learning difficulties and are most likely to be found in special needs schools.

The current salary scales for each of these grades are set out in the attached table. However, the salary for each classroom assistant depends on a number of factors including their grade, their length of service, the hours they work, whether they are on protected salary terms as a result of the November 2007 Agreement, whether they are protected as a result of the term time agreement in 2003, or whether they are employed on a 38 week or a 52 week contract. With so many separate factors determining salary, it is not possible for the Education and Library Boards to provide a meaningful average salary for a classroom assistant.

JOB EVALUATION: CLASSROOM ASSISTANT SCALES EFFECTIVE FROM 1 APRIL 2008

Grade	Scale Point	Annual Salary	Hourly Rate
	6	12,334	6.5706
Classroom	8	13,027	6.9398
Assistant	10	13,703	7.2999
Mainstream	11	14,587	7.7709
	12	14,891	7.9328
	13	15,291	8.1459
Classroom	14	15,570	8.2945
Assistant	15	15,895	8.4677
Special	16	16,278	8.6717
Needs	17	16,663	8.8768
Classroom	18	16,991	9.0515
Assistant	19	17,626	9.3898
Additional	20	18,270	9.7329
Special	21	18,937	10.0882
Needs	22	19,427	10.3492
	23	19,998	10.6534
	24	20,652	11.0018
	25	21,306	11.3502

Notes:-

1. Based on 36 hour divisor
2. Hourly divisor = 1877.1429 ( 36 hours per week x 365 days) / 7 days per week

Teacher's

Mr A Ross asked the Minister of Education to provide statistics on how many (i) primary; and (ii) secondary school teachers have been attacked at work by (a) pupils; and (b) parents broken down by Education and Library Board area, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 8970/09)

Minister of Education: Ní bhailíonn an Roinn Oideachais an t-eolas a iarradh.

The Department of Education does not collect the information requested.

However, statistics on the reasons for suspensions and expulsions of pupils are gathered each school year from Education and Library Boards. The table below provides the number of occasions where pupils were suspended or expelled for physical attack on staff in primary and post-primary schools in each of the last five years:-

	Number of suspensions for physical attack on staff		Number of expulsions for physical attack on staff
	Primary	Post-primary	Primary	Post-primary
2003/04	62	208	0	7
2004/05	52	164	0	7
2005/06	45	187	0	4
2006/07	66	181	0	5
2007/08	52	132	0	1

Notes

1. These figures relate to all pupils undertaking Key Stage 1-4 in primary and post-primary schools.
2. The information reflects the number of individual suspensions, as opposed to the number of pupils suspended. Pupils may be suspended more than once.

A working group was established last year under the aegis of the Teacher Negotiating Committee (TNC) to examine the problem of abuse of teachers, whether physical, verbal or electronic. A new document, Tackling Violence against Staff in Schools, has been agreed by the TNC and will issue to schools in the new school year. The document includes guidance on the handling, recording and reporting of violent incidents against staff in schools.

Classroom Assistant

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of Education how many (i) teachers; and (ii) classroom assistants are currently employed.

(AQW 8993/09)

Minister of Education: Soléiríonn an t-eolas atá leagtha amach thíos an t-eolas is déanaí ar fáil sa Roinn agus sna Boird Oideachais agus Leabharlainne agus eisiaíonn sé na foirne atá fostaithe i scoileanna neamhspleáigh. Tá foireann idir buan agus sealadach curtha san áireamh.

The information set out below reflects the latest data available in the Department and in the Education and Library Boards and excludes staff employed in independent schools. It includes both permanent and temporary staff.

Number of Teachers	Number of Classroom Assistants
20,858	7916

Secondary Schools

Mr J Dallat asked the Minister of Education what steps she intends to take to ensure that secondary schools which have been oversubscribed are not penalised either by compelling them to refuse admission to new pupils or taking legal action against them if they have the space and accept pupils exceeding the ‘quotas’ imposed.

(AQW 8999/09)

Minister of Education: Leagann an Roinn síos na líonta faofa iontrála agus rollaithe do na scoileanna dheontas chúnta ar fad. Tá na líonta seo socraithe leis na húdaráis bainistíochta, agus leis na scoileanna, ag tabhairt aird ar thoilleadh fisiciúil buan na scoileanna agus an líon Rollaithe Fad Téarmach más bainteach.

The Department sets the approved admission and enrolment numbers of all grant-aided schools. These numbers are agreed with the managing authorities, and with the schools, having regard to the permanent physical capacity of schools, and the Long Term Enrolment number if applicable.

Articles 10(2)(a) and (b) of the Education (NI) Order 1997 provide that a Board of Governors shall not cause or permit the number of registered pupils at the school at any time to exceed the school's admissions and enrolment numbers. This is a statutory requirement and any Board of Governors which fails to comply with this requirement will be acting unlawfully. In such a situation, the Department will take whatever measures are appropriate to support this statutory requirement on all Boards of Governors not to exceed their admissions and enrolment numbers. Ultimately, the Department has the power under Article 101 of the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 to reverse any Board of Governors’ decision that represents a failure to comply with Articles 10(2) (a) and (b) by directing them not to exceed their admissions and enrolment numbers.

DEPARTMENT FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING

Queen's University Academic Plan

Mr D Ford asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if he was aware of the content of the Queen's University Academic Plan before its contents were made public; and for his assessment of the Academic Plan, as passed by Senate on 23 June 2009 including its effects on teaching at Queen's, and the wider impact the Academic Plan could have on the local economy and employment.

(AQW 8785/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning (Sir Reg Empey): I did not see the Queen’s University 2009 Academic and Financial Plan prior to its agreement by Senate. I understand that the Plan, in anticipation of a worsening economic climate, proposes some restructuring to ensure the best use of staff resources and the University believes that this will not detract from either its teaching or research activities. Some staff will be offered voluntary early retirement/severance and this may impact on local employment figures.

I am due to meet the University’s Vice-Chancellor in the near future and will be discussing the Academic and Financial Plan with him.

Adults with a Learning Disability

Mrs C McGill asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to outline (i) his Department's responsibility for providing for the adults with a learning disability population; and (ii) what his Department is doing to ensure that adults with a learning disability schemes are continued and developed in light of reductions in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's provision in this area.

(AQW 8816/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: The Department funds a range of education, training and employment provision for people with disabilities. The provision is open to people with all types of disabilities including people with learning disabilities. This provision includes:

Further Education – Adults with learning difficulties have access to a wide range of courses in Further Education colleges. Where possible, Colleges offer dedicated courses for students for whom mainstream provision is not suitable. Through its Additional Support Fund, the Department provides Colleges with up to £3.5m to meet additional costs of support for students with learning difficulties or disabilities.
Training Programmes Branch is responsible for the funding and delivery of the Department’s flagship training programmes, Training for Success and ApprenticeshipsNI as well as the residual cohort from the former Jobskills Training Programme. Specialist support is available to assist people with disabilities.
The Northern Ireland European Social Fund (NIESF) Programme 2007-13 is designed to reduce economic inactivity and increase workforce skills. Priority 1 helps unemployed people, especially those at a disadvantage in the labour market, into sustainable employment. This includes people with health conditions and disabilities. S pecific Information on participants with a learning disability is noTheld. A total of 15 projects, aimed specifically at participants with disabilities and health conditions, were successful under the first call for Priority 1.
The Department’s Disablement Advisory Service (DAS) funds a range of pre-vocational, vocational and training provision for people with disabilities. This provision is of a pan-disability nature and there is no specific provision for people with specific disabilities, including learning disability. The provision includes the following: Workable (NI), Employment Support (closed to new entrants), New Deal for Disabled People, Access to Work (NI), Condition Management Programme (part of Pathways to Work), Work Preparation Programme (part of Pathways to Work), residential training and an Occupational Psychology service. People with learning disabilities can avail of all DAS provision.

Part(ii)

The Department will continue to make provision available to assist people with disabilities as outlined above. Reductions in schemes operated by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety are a matter for that Department. However, I understand that the Department will continue to provide alternative, appropriate services to people with disabilities.

Adults with a Disability

Mrs C McGill asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if he has had any discussions with the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety about developing an inter- departmental strategy to ensure that the holistic service needs of the adults with a disability population, including care, respite and training are being fully met.

(AQW 8819/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: I am a member of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Mental Health and Learning Disability Chaired by Minister McGimpsey that was established to co-ordinate the Executive’s response to the Bamford review that addresses a wide range of topics including training and employment as well as care and other issues. I am also happy to engage with Minister McGimpsey in taking forward any future work to address disability issues.

Adults with a Learning Disability

Mrs C McGill asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to provide a detailed breakdown of the amount of funding allocated to adults with learning disability provider organisations in each District Council area, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 8820/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: The Department funds a wide range of education, training and employment provision for people with disabilities. The provision is open to people with all types of disabilities including people with learning disabilities. Funding to deliver disability provision is not awarded on a District Council area basis and it is not possible to disaggregate funding on this basis. Provision for people with learning disabilities is provided by both learning disability specialist and pan-disability organisations. The provision funded by the Department that can assist people with disabilities includes Further Education, Training for Success, Pathways to Work, European Social Fund projects and disability employment programmes such as Workable (NI), Access to Work and the Job Introduction Scheme.

Undergraduate Places

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister for Employment and Learning the average subsidy for each undergraduate place in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 8910/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: The Department for Employment & Learning pays recurrent teaching grant to the Northern Ireland universities using the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding model. As well as taking account of student numbers and form of delivery (full-time /part-time), the methodology recognises that different subjects require different levels of resource and may therefore be more expensive to deliver. Each subject is accordingly assigned to one of four price group Bands, A - D.

In the current academic year 2008/09, the average grant generated under each of these bands is as follows :

Band	Description	Average Grant
A	The clinical stages of medicine and dentistry courses and veterinary science	£17,585
B	Laboratory-based subjects (science, pre-clinical stages of medicine and dentistry, engineering and technology)	£6,858
C	Subjects with a studio, laboratory or fieldwork element	£4,993
D	All other subjects	£3,593

The overall average grant for each undergraduate place across both universities is therefore £5,279.

The above rates do not take account of additional funding paid to the universities which does not apply to all students. For example, funding to recognise the additional costs associated with recruiting and supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds or of supporting students with disabilities.

In addition to the above, the average cost of student support for a full-time undergraduate is £1,952.

Press and Public Relations Department

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of staff employed in his Department's press and public relations department and their overall cost in each year from 2003/04 to 2008/09.

(AQW 8931/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: The details of the staff employed in press and public relations duties within the Department, and their overall costs for the financial years from 2003/04 to 2008/09, are contained on the following table:

Year	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
No. of Admin Staff	14	13	12	16	9	10
No. of Info Staff	2	3	2	4	5	7
No. of Other grades	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Staff	16	16	14	20	14	17
Total Costs	£372,910	£346,657	£412,859	£461,844	£485,223	£470,636

Undergraduate Places

Mr P Weir asked the Minister for Employment and Learning how many undergraduate places there were in 2008/09 at the University of Ulster and Queen's University; and how many places there will be in the upcoming academic year.

(AQW 8992/09)

Minister for Employment and Learning: The undergraduate Maximum Student Number (MaSN) allocation for each university in academic year 2008/09, and the provisional allocation for 2009/10, is shown below:

Academic Year	Queen’s University Belfast	University of Ulster	Total
2008/09	11,055	12,523	23,578
2009/10	11,133	12,523	23,656

The actual allocations for 2009/10 will be confirmed in Grant Letters due to issue to the universities before the start of the new academic year.

The MaSN does not apply to full-time undergraduate students from outside the European Union, to part-time undergraduates or to most postgraduate students.

DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Inward Investment in County Fermanagh

Mr P Doherty asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to provide figures on (i) the level of inward investment into County Fermanagh from 2006 to 2009 and (ii) the number of jobs created by this investment.

(AQW 8765/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Mrs A Foster): As Invest NI performance data is captured on a District Council and Parliamentary Constituency basis, the information provided is in relation to the Fermanagh District Council area (DCA).

During the three years in question, Invest NI made 229 offers of support to clients in the area comprising almost £12 million of assistance and contributing towards a total planned investment of £112 million.

£7.3 million of this assistance was to externally-owned projects (inward investment) seeking to locate in Fermanagh. These projects planned to invest £53 million and included 10 employment-related offers of support. These 10 offers amounted to £6.6 million of assistance, which contributed towards projects that planned to invest £51 million and create nearly 700 new jobs in companies such as Castle Hume Leisure, Western Brand Poultry Products and Sloane Helicopters. The remaining £700,000 was offered to innovation and capability development projects by externally-owned clients that planned to invest a total of £2.3 million.

While support to externally-owned clients is important, so too is that to locally-owned clients. In the same three year period, approximately £4.4 million of the total £12 million of assistance offered was to locally-owned businesses. This supported 204 projects and contributed towards £58.4 million of investment commitments by companies such as Quinn Glass, Erne Extrusions, Balcas Timber, Tenderlean Meats and Kettyle Foods.

Invest NI has also continued to support the strategically important tourism sector in the area to allow tourism businesses to grow and increase their competitiveness. This has included significant offers to projects such as the Lough Erne Golf Resort and Manor House Hotel.

Between 1 st April 2006 and 31 st March 2009, 619 start-up projects by locally-owned businesses in Fermanagh DCA were offered £730,000 of assistance, 606 of which were through the Start A Business programme. Indeed, start-up activity in Fermanagh DCA during the period in question equates to 126 Start A Business programme offers per 10,000 adult population, (the Northern Ireland rate is 62), which is the highest rate of all DCAs in Northern Ireland.

Assistance patterns are largely demand-led by businesses wishing to improve their competitiveness and gain a larger share of international markets. Invest NI’s role is therefore to promote all of Northern Ireland as an attractive and viable location for inward investment opportunities. As such, its promotional effort is not sub-divided into regions as to do so would be ineffective, inefficient and ultimately confusing to the client.

Invest NI is also conscious of the impact of global economic conditions and, despite the fact that there is evidence of companies deferring investment decisions and reviewing business strategies, the agency continues to work closely with its locally-owned, externally-owned and prospective clients to promote investment in Fermanagh and across Northern Ireland.

McIldoon Report

Mr D McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what steps her Department has taken, and plans to take, in response to the recommendations of the McIldoon Report.

(AQW 8876/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: The report into the electricity price setting process, completed by Mr Douglas McIldoon, in relation to the October 2008 electricity price review, concluded that there were no anomalies or short comings within the process followed by the Utility Regulator.

Senior officials within my Department have met with Mr McIldoon to discuss his report, and the report implications have also been discussed with the Utility Regulator. Some of the wider issues arising from the report have been considered in the context of the Department’s ongoing review of the Strategic Energy Framework which has now issued for consultation.

Electricity Supply Industry

Mr D McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment whaTher Department will do to ensure that the present market mechanisms will drive down electricity prices and deliver a more secure, less fossil fuel dependent electricity supply industry.

(AQW 8877/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: The electricity supply market in Northern Ireland is relatively small but has been open to competition since November 2007. My Department continues to work with the Utility Regulator to encourage new suppliers’ participation in the retail electricity market in Northern Ireland, with the aim of achieving best value for consumers. Since the introduction of the Single wholesale Electricity Market there has been increasing interest in obtaining new electricity supply licences, and increased levels of competition in the industrial and commercial electricity sector. However, competition has not developed in the domestic electricity sector, with Northern Ireland Electricity remaining the dominant supplier.

My Department continues to liaise with key stakeholders, including the Utility Regulator and energy companies on key issues such as security of supply, the potential for market mechanisms such as mutualisation to reduce energy costs and minimise energy tariffs, as well as increasing the development of renewable generation to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels.

A new draft Strategic Energy Framework for Northern Ireland has now issued for public consultation, outlining proposals intended to achieve a secure, competitive, sustainable, long-term future for energy in Northern Ireland.

Fuel Poverty

Mr D McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for her assessment of electricity prices; and if more can be done to reduce the domestic price of electricity for those in fuel poverty.

(AQW 8878/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: Although my Department has no direct role in determining electricity prices, it strives in co-operation with the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (NIAUR), to create market conditions that, over the long term, drive down electricity prices, with a view to minimising any tariff increases. This has included establishing the Single Electricity Market (SEM) for wholesale electricity and opening of the retail electricity market in Northern Ireland from 1 November 2007, and supporting the mutualisation of energy assets where there is potential to benefit consumers.

Following significant increases in electricity tariffs in 2008, a review conducted by the Utility Regulator with NIE Energy resulted in a 10.8% reduction for domestic electricity customers in January 2009. A further review of tariffs is anticipated in the latter part of 2009. At present electricity tariffs in Northern Ireland are slightly higher than those in comparator regions in Great Britain, while remaining competitive in comparison to electricity prices in the Republic of Ireland.

Lead responsibility for fuel poverty policy lies with the Department for Social Development (DSD), although there are issues which cut across several Northern Ireland Departments. My own Department is represented on the DSD led Fuel Poverty Taskforce which is charged with developing and recommending proposals to ameliorate fuel poverty in Northern Ireland.

Single Electricity Market

Mr D McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what discussions has she had with her Republic of Ireland counterpart to harness the Single Electricity Market to the energy and environmental objectives of both Governments.

(AQW 8879/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: The Single Electricity Market was established as a competitive, commercial wholesale market that is independently regulated by the two Regulatory Authorities. The new market has had a successful first year of operation and has begun to deliver benefits for consumers from a more efficient and reliable electricity system, with increased competition, cost reflective prices and new participants and investment entering the market.

This is in keeping with the principal objective and duties of both Departments and both Regulatory Authorities in relation to the Single Electricity Market which are “to protect the interests of consumers of electricity in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, wherever appropriate by promoting effective competition and commercial activities connected with the sale or purchase of electricity through the Single Electricity Market”. Regard must also be given to the effect on the environment of the activities of licence holders participating in the Market and where appropriate, promote the use of energy from renewable energy sources when carrying out their functions in relation to the Single Electricity Market.

The Department meets with its Irish counterpart, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources at an official level to discuss common energy matters regularly through a Joint Steering Group that includes representatives of the two Regulatory Authorities. The Group considers co-operation on energy issues that could bring mutual benefits to consumers and reports back to respective Ministers. I also meet with the Irish Energy Minister, Eamon Ryan whenever necessary, to discuss energy matters in the context of each Government’s energy objectives.

Press and Public Relations Department

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the number of staff employed in her press and public relations department; and the overall cost in each year from 2003/04.

(AQW 8884/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: The number of staff employed in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Press Office and their cost was as follows:

Year	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
Cost* (£K)	103	88	107	103	160	141
Staff** at	1/4/04	1/4/05	1/4/06	1/4/07	1/4/08	1/4/09
	3	2	3	3	5	4

Notes

* Cost comprises salary and employers National Insurance and Pension contributions
** Staff comprises Information Officer grades ie Assistant Information Officer, Information Officer, Senior Information Officer and Principal Information Officer.

American Operation

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment how much Invest NI has spent on (i) staffing; and (ii) all other costs, in each of the last 5 years on its American operation.

(AQW 8895/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: Costs for Invest NI’s American operation, broken down by staff costs and other costs, are as detailed in the following table:

Total	2,912	2,565	2,118	2,169	2,504
	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 ¹
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Staff Costs ²	1,231	1,015	918	879	1,027
Other Costs ³	1,681	1,550	1,200	1,290	1,477

Notes:

¹ Figures for 2008-09 are provisional and are subject to change.
² Staff costs include salaries and training costs.
³ Other costs include office running costs, local marketing activity and any other expense attributable to offices located in North America.

A4e

Mr M Durkan asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (i) what experience A4e has in providing debt advice in Northern Ireland; and (ii) in determining the award of the telephone debt advice contract, what consideration was given to A4e’s delivery record on other public sector contracts in Northern Ireland including Steps to Work.

(AQW 8898/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: (i) A4e has no experience of providing telephone based debt advice in Northern Ireland. In their bid the company demonstrated a proven track record of managing and delivering telephone based debt advice services through projects in England.

(ii) The Department considered A4e’s bid within the criteria set out in the tender documentation agreed with Central Procurement Directorate. A4e satisfied all the qualifying criteria set out in the tender documents for the contract. The panel only considered the delivery record of A4e on any other public sector contract in Northern Ireland where the company presented this within their bid and was relevant in the selection process.

A4e

Mr M Durkan asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, regarding the award of the telephone debt advice contract to A4e (i) whether her Department was aware of the investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions into alleged fraud in A4e operations when it was awarded the contract; (ii) if so, when it became aware of that investigation; (iii) what consideration was given to the matter in the determination of the contract; and (iv) what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Work and Pensions in respect of these matters.

(AQW 8900/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: My Department was not aware of the investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions into alleged fraud in A4e operations in an A4e office in Hull when it was awarded the telephone debt advice contract on 24 April 2009.
It became aware of the allegations on Sunday 28 June when the matter was reported in the media. It was therefore not considered in the determination of the contract.
At this time my Department has not had any discussions with the Department of Works and Pensions in respect of these matters; and it is satisfied that its procurement of the delivery of a Northern Ireland telephone debt advice service has been carried out in compliance with Northern Ireland procurement policy.

Artz Belting Pennyburn Plant

Mr M Durkan asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, in relation to the Artz Belting Pennyburn plant in the Derry, what levels of contact there have been between (i) her Department; (ii) Invest NI, with (a) local management; (b) company directors; and (c) Optibelt, in respect of economic issues facing the company; and to provide an update on those issues.

(AQW 8912/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: I am being kept informed on a regular basis of the economic issues facing the company by my officials in Invest NI.

As recently as last month, Invest NI offered to liaise directly with the Directors of Arntz Belting Company Ltd and the Parent Company Optibelt Ltd however these parties have expressed a preference that Invest NI Officials continue to deal directly with the Local Site Leader at Pennyburn.

I am aware that Optibelt, the Parent Company of Arntz Belting Company Ltd is considering a number of options as a result of global economic downturn and that these are currently focused on cost reduction options. As yet no decision has been made to close any factories, nor have any specific factories been identified.

I will continue to be appraised of Invest NI's ongoing discussions with the Company in relation to its long-term plans for the Pennyburn Factory with a view to intervening if and when appropriate.

Invest NI

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment how much has Invest NI spent on flights broken down by (i) class; (ii) destination; and (iii) purpose of journey for each flight, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 8958/09)

Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment: Since its establishment in 2002, overseas travel has been an integral part of Invest NI's normal operating costs, particularly given its remit to attract inward investment and promote overseas trade. Overall spend information relating to such travel costs has always been included in Invest NI’s accounting records and as this was entirely adequate to meet Invest NI’s accounting requirements, there was no prior need for flight costs to be recorded separately. Extracting, analysing and reviewing the large number of individual transactions each year to provide the information necessary to answer this question for the five year period referred to would require a major manual exercise which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

However, certain components of this information are available as they were extracted for the purposes of responding to a previous Witten Assembly Question. These relate to travel undertaken by members of Invest NI's Board and Senior Management Team in 2006/07 and 2007/08. Invest NI also changed its travel booking procedures during 2008/09 and this has facilitated a more ready analysis to be made of subsequently incurred flight costs and associated information such as class of travel. This has resulted in equivalent information for a further year now being available to enable this response to cover the three years 2006/07 to 2008/09.

Full travel details for Invest NI Board and Senior Management Team for the years 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 are provided in Table 1 below. Members of Invest NI’s Board and Senior Management Team took a total of 215 flights during this time, 45 of which (or 21%) were of business class designation due, primarily, to the long haul nature of the destination.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, and its Non Departmental Public Bodies, fully adhere to the code of conduct on business travel as defined within the Northern Ireland Civil Service Staff Handbook. This states that, w ith regard to air fares, reimbursement will only be made in circumstances where a clear business need has been demonstrated in order to justify First or Business Class travel.

Table 1: DETAILS OF TRAVEL COSTS FOR INVEST NI BOARD MEMBERS AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM 2006/07 TO 2008/09

Amount	Class	Destination	Person Travelling	Purpose of Trip
2,034.30	Business	Denver	Chairman	Denver Trade visit
274.50	Economy	Dusseldorf via Birmingham	Chairman	Anuga Exhibition visit
74.98	Economy	Manchester	Chairman	Meeting the leaders of the NWDA
50.41	Economy	Brussels	Chief Executive	Business Meeting- EU Commission
100.30	Economy	Brussels	Chief Executive	Bombardier Business Meetings
87.83	Economy	Cardiff	Chief Executive	UKTI dinner and Devolved Administration Summit
5,178.00	Business	China - Shanghai/Pudong / Beijeng	Chief Executive	Trade Mission
4,591.00	Business	India - Delhi/Mumbai/Chenai	Chief Executive	India Trade Mission
54.20	Economy	London	Chief Executive	UKTI dinner and Devolved Administration Summit
72.44	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Corporate Hospitality- hosting INI event
131.96	Economy	London	Chief Executive	NO RECORD
146.70	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Meeting with Jim Foster
179.10	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Meeting with Jim Foster & Bombardier SBAC Dinner
179.35	Economy	London	Chief Executive	India/UK Summit
234.35	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Bombardier SBAC Dinner
306.00	Economy	London	Chief Executive	NO RECORD
310.40	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Meeting with Goldman Sachs & Lehman's Brother's
345.35	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Citigroup Lunch
362.10	Economy	London	Chief Executive	Barclays Meeting
51.48	Economy	Manchester	Chief Executive	To travel to Brussels for Bombardier Meetings
377.90	Economy	New York	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings - JP Morgan, NYSE, Fidessa
453.40	Economy	New York	Chief Executive	Business Meeting with IDAB
520.50	Economy	New York	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings- Bank of New York Mellon, JP Morgan
250.00	Economy	Paris	Chief Executive	Corporate Hospitality- hosting INI event
98.74	Economy	Southampton	Chief Executive	WIG Innovation Seminar
3,474.30	Business	USA - New York	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
2,327.88	Business	USA - New York / San Diego	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
4,019.70	Business	USA - NY	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
1,882.00	Business	USA - NY / Baltimore	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
1,897.00	Business	USA - NY / Washington	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
1,345.30	Business	USA- NY/ Washington / San Francisco	Chief Executive	USA Business Meetings
164.00	Economy	Cardiff	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	Meeting Re: JEREMIE
124.50	Economy	London	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	DTI Meeting and BVCA Conference
198.00	Economy	London	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	Spinout Conference
198.00	Economy	London	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	NISPO Meeting (Prospective fund Manager)
209.00	Economy	London	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	NISPO Meeting (Prospective fund Manager)
125.00	Economy	Manchester	Corporate Finance Appraisal & Advisory	NISPO Meeting (Prospective fund Manager)
203.37	Economy	London	Director Business Improvement Services	Travel to meeting at DBERR re CNP State Aid Notification
164.25	Economy	Paris	Director Business Improvement Services	Attendance at EFQM Forum in Paris
41.87	Economy	Brussels	Director Regional Economic Development	To meet Brussels officials responsible for Entrepreneurship Policy
120.31	Economy	Edinburgh	Director Regional Economic Development	Attendance at Foundation & RSE Meeting on Innovation
72.43	Economy	Glasgow	Director Regional Economic Development	Attend Enterprise Scotland Challenging Times Conference
60.81	Economy	London	Director Regional Economic Development	Attendance at Princes Trust Parliamentary Reception
702.10	Economy	Melbourne Australia	Director Regional Economic Development	Attendance & speaking at ICSB World Conference
2,403.90	Business	Thailand - Bangkok	Director Regional Economic Development	Attendance at International Small Business Congress
358.70	Economy	Athens	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at EFQM Forum in Athens
79.83	Economy	Birmingham	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at Cluster Liaison Group Meeting
67.93	Economy	Bristol	Director, Business Improvement Services	Meetings & Tour of MM Teleperformance Facility in Bristol
92.40	Economy	London	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at Edge Employer Awards Ceremony
214.00	Economy	London	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at Carbon Trust Board Meeting
221.00	Economy	London	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at CBI Summit in Belfast
266.40	Economy	London	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at Leadership Conference in London
90.46	Economy	Lyon	Director, Business Improvement Services	Attendance at Lyon Collaborative Network/Cluster Conference
2,078.50	Business	New York	Director, Business Improvement Services	Best Practice Visit to New York with Haran & Co
349.00	Economy	North Carolina	Director, Business Improvement Services	Best Practice Visit to Raleigh with DEL Colleagues
211.00	Economy	Geneva	Director, Engineering & Business	Visit to Caterpillar in Geneva
50.67	economy	Glasgow	Director, Engineering & Business	Scaling meeting with Scottish Enterprise
103.82	Economy	London	Director, Engineering & Business	Meeting with Icemos (client company) in Invest NI London Offices
73.00	Economy	Paris	Director, Engineering & Business	Meeting with Montupet in Paris
107.00	Economy	Paris	Director, Engineering & Business	Meeting with Montupet in Paris
2,954.20	Business	USA - NY/Houston/minneapolis/chicago	Director, Engineering & Business	Visit to US to meeting with Parent Company's of client companies
183.70	Economy	Cologne	Director, Food	Invest NI Chairman's Reception at Anuga post foot/mouth outbreak
137.86	Economy	Dusseldorf , Frankfurt	Director, Food	Flight booked to attend Well Being Food Event - cancelled due to acquisitions of Stevensons by Dunbia
72.61	Economy	Glasgow	Director, Food	East West relations Scottish Enterprise and Scotland Food & Drink
91.93	Economy	London	Director, Food	IFE Event
125.47	Economy	London	Director, Food	To support Minister, identify with industry post-pork/red meat crisis
61.93	Economy	London	Director, Human Resources	Flight to London to attend Developing as an HR Business Partner Conference 5 Feb 09
152.93	Economy	London	Director, Human Resources	Flight to London to attend PPP Operational Taskforce Conference 10 April 08
252.40	Economy	London	Director, Human Resources	HR conference
104.22	Economy	Dusseldorf	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Manunet Steering Committee
74.96	Economy	Glasgow	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Attending Higher Education Institutions Conference in Glasgow
640.87	Economy	Helsinki	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Best Practice Visit to Tekes
76.99	Economy	Leeds Bradford	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Meeting with AIM UK at Halifax
318.09	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Attending R&D 2008 - The Knowledge Transfer Challenge Event
100.40	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Representing CEO at British Venture Capital Association Conference
127.00	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Attending RIST Meeting at DTI
127.00	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Representing INI at DTI event looking at delivering the 2012 games
148.45	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Attending the BVCA Spin Out Conference
160.96	Economy	London	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	HealthCare Conference
73.00	Economy	Paris	Director, Innovation Research & Technology	Attending MANUNET Meeting in Brussels
5,485.50	Business	Boston & San Francisco	Director, International Investment	Travel to US with Minister Foster
219.95	Economy	Cardiff	Director, International Investment	UKTI Summit Mtg
4,738.70	Business	China - Shanghai, Japan - Tokyo	Director, International Investment	Asian Conference and office reviews
128.70	Economy	Dusseldorf , Frankfurt	Director, International Investment	Company meetings
4,695.90	Business	India - Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai	Director, International Investment	Company meetings and preparations for setting up new office in Mumbai
161.63	Economy	Leeds Bradford	Director, International Investment	Visit to HML HQ 23/2/09
270.21	Economy	London	Director, International Investment	Flights to London to attend UKTI Meeting
291.35	Economy	London	Director, International Investment	UKTI Meeting 10th July 2008
291.35	Economy	London	Director, International Investment	Meeting with Lord Mayor of the City of London Offices
297.35	Economy	London	Director, International Inv.	Meeting with Office of Lord Mayor City of London
314.76	Economy	London	Director, International Investment	UKTI event on Friday 21 November 2008.
275.63	Economy	Luxembourg	Director, International Investment	Business meetings in Luxembourg
252.28	Economy	Madeira Portugal	Director, International Investment	Economic Development Conference
122.71	Economy	Manchester	Director, International Investment	Flights to travel to IBDF Meeting in Manchester
4,513.37	Business	Mumbai	Director, International Investment	Attendance at NASSCOM CEO Summit in Mumbai and company meetings
116.68	Economy	Paris	Director, International Investment	Follow up business meetings in Paris/Luxembourg
2,043.20	Business	USA - Boston, New York, Washington	Director, International Investment	Accompanying Minister
1,818.90	Business	USA - New York, Washington	Director, International Investment	Accompanying Chief Executive to meetings in the build up to US-NI Investment Conference
1,846.70	Business	USA - New York, Washington, Boston	Director, International Investment	Accompanying Minister
2,006.60	Business	USA - Washington, Boston, New York	Director, International Investment	Interviewing for Overseas Representatives & attendance at St Patrick Day events in Washington
3,886.00	Business	USA - Washington, Boston, NY & Toronto	Director, International Investment	Accompanying Minister
94.78	Economy	Amsterdam	Director, Life Sciences & Creative	Meeting with Minister and Phillips Healthcare.
1,584.19	Econ out/Bus class back	New York	Director, Life Sciences & Creative	Meet with NYSE Euronext and CA. The visit is also in support of the “Big Idea”
1,512.00	Business	Washington	Director, Life Sciences & Creative	Meet with senior management of Du Pont
393.00	Economy	Brussels	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	Visit to European Commission Offices as a member of the Barosso Taskforce.
49.83	Economy	East Midlands	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	Visit to Nottingham for meeting of RDA Strategy Directors.
83.02	Economy	London	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	To speak at CIMTECH Conference in University of Hertfordshire.
281.40	Economy	London	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	Visit to DTI for UKTI Stakeholder Conference.
281.40	Economy	London	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	Visit to DTI for UKTI and Devolved Administration Workshop on evaluation and performance monitoring.
165.39	Economy	Paris	Director, Strategic Management & Planning	Flight to Paris for meeting with OECD re possible research assignment.
129.61	Economy	Edinburgh	Director, Technology & Process Development	Flights for Director, Technology & Process Development Division accompanied by a Technology Executive to Edinburgh for meeting with BERR
75.93	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	Carbon Trust Board Meeting
82.25	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	Carbon Trust Strategy Session
101.08	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	Carbon Trust Board Meeting - return flights
101.83	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	Flights to Carbon Trust Board Mtg - 12/03/09
103.08	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	EasyJet return flights for Carbon Trust Board Meeting Thursday 12 June
75.93	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	Carbon Trust pre-board mtg & dinner on 12/09/07 & Board Meeting on 13/09/07
261.00	Economy	London	Director, Technology & Process Development	DEFRA meeting & Carbon Trust Board Meeting
83.82	Economy	Paris	Director, Technology & Process Development	ESBN Conference
1,766.00	Business	Dubai	Director, Trade	Participating in Trade Mission to Dubai (Arab Health)
1,599.20	Business	Dubai	Director, Trade	Interviewing for NITDC Director Dubai
78.24	Economy	Edinburgh	Director, Trade	Meeting with Scottish Enterprise
50.67	economy	Glasgow	Director, Trade	Scaling meeting with Scottish Enterprise
2,650.00	Business	India - Mumbai	Director, Trade	Trade Mission to India and discussions re opening trade office in Mumbai
85.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	UKTI London visit
109.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Accommodation in London en-route to Dubai (Arab Health)
124.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings at UKTI London
148.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Developing with University of Ulster the German Student initiative (Wilhelm Scharf)
154.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Flights – en-route to Dubai via London (Arab Health)
154.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings at UKTI London
173.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings at UKTI London
176.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings in London to discuss opportunities arising from 2012 Olympic Games
186.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings at UKTI London
208.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending meetings at UKTI London
336.00	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Attending UKTI meeting in London
89.28	Economy	London	Director, Trade	Travel to London to attend the Entrepreneurial Summit 27 - 30 June 2008
397.00	Business	London	Director, Trade	Attending UKTI meeting in London
412.00	Economy	Munich	Director, Trade	Supporting University of Ulster with German Student initiative (Wilhelm Scharf)
2,794.00	Business	New York	Director, Trade	Attending Summer Fancy Food Show in New York
2,359.00	Business	USA - San Francisco, San Jose and Tampa	Director, Trade	Participating in Trade Mission to West Coast USA
289.40	Economy	Brussels (via Birmingham)	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Flight to Brussels to attend EC meeting re Bombardier CSeries project - 24/03/09
64.45	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DTI, London re Bombardier CSeries project
70.46	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DTI, London re Bombardier CSeries project
127.08	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at IDAB re Bombardier CSeries project - 12/06/08
132.00	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DBERR, London re Bombardier CSeries project
141.42	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DBERR re Bombardier CSeries project - 23/04/08
141.42	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at Lovells re Bombardier CSeries project - 21/05/08
141.42	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Attendance at Farnborough Air Show - 12/07/08
170.08	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DBERR re Bombardier CSeries project - 16/06/08
180.00	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DBERR, London re Bombardier CSeries project
228.22	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Travel to London and Brussels to attend EC meeting re Bombardier CSeries project - 24 March 09
239.10	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Meeting at DBERR, London re Bombardier CSeries project
322.83	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Attendance at the second Century for UK Aerospace Forum – 8 & 9/12/08
378.00	Economy	London	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Treasury meeting re Bombardier CSeries - 30/05/08
149.96	Economy	Manchester	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Visit to North West Dev Agency – 1 & 2/04/08
215.50	Economy	Paris	Director, Transport Construction & Tourism	Paris Air Show - Invest NI companies participating
2,043.00	Business	Boston/Washington	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	US Sales Conference and mtg with Consul General
103.39	Economy	Brussels	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with DG Competition re C-Series
63.48	Economy	Glasgow	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	UKTI RDA Summit Meeting
30.94	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meetings with BERR re C-Series
43.48	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with DG Competition re C-Series
50.50	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with DG Competition re C-Series
111.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with BERR
125.93	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	UKTI RDA Summit Meeting
134.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with BERR and Barclays
137.93	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Company meeting and Official Opening of the Northern Bank
141.43	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	IDAB C-Series meeting
143.50	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting of the Nortel Creditors Committee
155.70	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Hosting Invest NI hospitality at an evening event
237.40	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Farnborough Air Show
240.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Attending the Annual SBAC dinner
255.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meetings with BERR re C-Series
259.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meeting with UKTI
259.87	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Company meeting including meeting with BERR re C-Series
237.40	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	European Sales Conference
5,015.00	Business	New York/Washington	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Supporting Minister Dodds and DFM on visits in New York and Washington re US-NI InvestmentConference
494.00	Economy	Paris	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Paris Air Show
2,222.78	Business	San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Monica	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Accompanying the First and deputy First Ministers on company visits
4,033.00	Business	Shanghai	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Asia Sales Conference in Shanghai
2,670.00	Business	USA - Santa Ana/San Jose/Washington/New York/Boston/Dublin	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Client/Influencer meeting plus St Patrick's day event
3,364.00	Business	Washington	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Institutional Investor Conference
2,647.00	Business	Washington	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Client/Influencer meetings
4,556.00	Business	Washington/New York/Boston/Toronto	Managing Director Clients Group and Business International	Meetings with NI Bureau, US State Department, British Ambassador, American Ireland Fund, Interview with Fordes Magazine, JP Morgan and Nortel.
296.98	Economy	Boston	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Attendance at Connected Health Events
372.50	Economy	Boston	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Attendance at Bio Medtech Conference
788.85	Economy	Boston	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Meeting with Tyco Healthcare
80.48	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Attendance at IFE Launch, Excel London
206.70	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Meeting with Minister Foster / OFMDFM and Chairman of Vion
321.80	Economy	London	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Meeting with Minister Cairns and FSIP
1,604.10	Business	San Diego , USA	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Attendance at Bio Conference 2008
381.12	Economy	Sao Paolo , Brazil	Managing Director Clients Group and Entrepreneurship	Rescheduled meeting with Marfrig/Moy Park
99.35	Economy	London	Managing Director Corporate Services	Air travel from Belfast City to London Heathrow return to attend the CBI Annual Conference.
104.10	Economy	London	Managing Director Corporate Services	CBI Conference
202.40	Economy	London	Managing Director Corporate Services	CBI Conference
61.56	Economy	Amsterdam	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Trade Mission to Amsterdam with Minister
5,622.00	Business	Beijing	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	F/N 4173776 travel 17.5.08 T Meharg - flight from London to Beijing - trade mission to Japan
437.10	Economy	Brussels	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Attendance at EU mtgs in Brussels
27.49	Economy	Halifax , UK	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Official opening of AIDC European Centre of Excellence in Halifax
3,528.00	Business	India	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Trade Mission to Chennai and Mumbai
90.00	Economy	London	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	F/N 4173776 travel 17.5.08 T Meharg - flight to London connecting for onwards to Beijing - trade mission to Japan
188.96	Economy	London	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Launch of the Next Generation Composite Wing Project at Institution of Civil Engineers, London
4,125.50	Business	Saudi Arabia / UAE / Qatar	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Trade Mission to Saudi Arabia/Dubai
2,936.00	Business	Tokyo	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Booking no 000785/001 MD, Innovation and Capability Development, 11-17.1.09 re trade mission to Japan
3,021.30	Business	US/Canada - Toronto	Managing Director Innovation and Capability Development	Trade Mission to Toronto/Ottawa and New York

Table 2: SUMMARY OF TRAVEL COSTS FOR INVEST NI BOARD MEMBERS AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT 2006/07 TO 2008/09

	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	Grand Total
Number of Flights	56	62	97	215
Number of Business Class Flights	17	16	12	45
Percentage of Flights that were Business Class	30%	26%	12%	21%
Cost of Total Flights	£61,000	£50,200	£53,300	£164,500

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Irish Hares

Mr D Ford asked the Minister of the Environment how many Irish hares were recorded in surveys conducted for the Department in the last four years.

(AQW 7715/09)

Minister of the Environment (Mr S Wilson): Estimated abundance from the Northern Ireland Irish Hare surveys are as follows:

2006 – 36,200; that is an estimated density of 2.57 hares per km²
2007 – 57,100; that is an estimated density of 4.03 hares per km²
2008 – 40,500; that is an estimated density of 2.86 hares per km²
2009 – 27,400; that is an estimated density of 1.95 hares per km²

e-PIC project

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to confirm that, at the time of the placing of the original contract for development of the e-PIC project in 2003, Planning Service observed correct procurement procedures and investigated and researched existing products and services in the market that could have been used to supply any part of the e-PIC project in a cost-effective way.

(AQW 8103/09)

Minister of the Environment: The e-PIC procurement process strictly followed DFP Supply rules and regulations. This included advertising the tender in the European Journal.

PPS18

Mr D McKay asked the Minister of the Environment to outline the criteria used to appoint the consultants responsible for drawing up supplementary guidelines to PPS18.

(AQW 8646/09)

Minister of the Environment: The criteria used were: methodology and understanding the requirement; relevant experience of the service provider and personnel; study timetable; and cost.

Press and Public Relations Department

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of staff employed in his press and public relations department; and the overall cost in each year from 2003/04.

(AQW 8883/09)

Minister of the Environment: The tables show the actual number of staff employed in Press or PR Units, together with the estimated costs.

NIEA	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
G7
DP	1	1	1	1	1	1
SO	1	1	1	1	1	4
EO1
EO2	1	1	1	1	1
AO
AA	1	1	1	1	1	1
Total Cost	£98,163	£100,617	£103,133	£105,711	£108,354	£189,992

Planning Service	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
G7	0.33%	0.33%	0.33%	0.33%	0.33%	0.33%
DP	0.66%	0.66%	0.66%	1	1	1
SO	1	1	1	1	1	1
EO1	1	1	1	1	1	1
EO2
AO		1	1	1	1	1
AA	1
Total Cost	£111,079	£113,856	£116,703	£132,106	£135,409	£141,134

DVA	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
G7
DP
SO	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
EO1
EO2	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
AO
AA
Total Cost	£4,842	£4,963	£5,087	£5,215	£5,345	£5,555

Core Divisions	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
G7	1	1	1	1	1	1
DP	1	1	1	1	1	2
SO	1	1	1	1	1	1
EO1
EO2	1	1	1	1	1	1
AO	1	1	1	1	1	1
AA
Total Cost	£155,519	£172,153	£176,353	£171,815	£197,799	£182,231

The estimated overall total cost per annum for the Department are –

03/04	£369,603
04/05	£391,589
05/06	£401,276
06/07	£414,847
07/08	£446,907
08/09	£518,912

Building Developments

Mr D Kinahan asked the Minister of the Environment what action he is taking to stop all building developments, within the development limits of hamlets, where the character of the hamlet has been significantly changed.

(AQW 8936/09)

Minister of the Environment: I am currently considering Draft PPS 7 Addendum ‘Safeguarding the Character of Residential Areas’.

Where planning permission has already been granted for development, there is no mechanism available to prevent this development from proceeding provided it complies with the conditions imposed.

PPS21

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment what steps he is taking to make those involved in the equine sector aware that PPS21 gives them new opportunities to dwell in the countryside.

(AQW 8965/09)

Minister of the Environment: Since November 2008, draft PPS 21 has been available on the Planning Service website and at Divisional Planning Offices. During the public consultation period, 16 information days were held across the Region, attended by over 2,500 people. In addition presentations have been made to Councillors, non government organisations and range of professional bodies and additional information has been placed on the Planning Service website and put out as press releases.

Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment if the Northern Ireland Environment Agency will allow Ards Council to go onto the beach at Ganoway and Ballyferris at Millisle to (i) remove seaweed; and (ii) remove glass and debris.

(AQW 8967/09)

Minister of the Environment: The coast at Ganoway and Ballyferris has been designated as part of the Outer Ards Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) under the Environment ( Northern Ireland) Order 2002. The ASSI has been further designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 1995, and is now listed by Europe as part of its network of Natura 2000 sites.

As a public body, Ards Borough Council does not require permission from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to remove seaweed or remove glass and debris from amenity beaches within designated sites.

However, Ards Borough Council is required to seek advice from NIEA in relation to any activity within a national or international designated site to ensure that the site selection features are protected.

Liquid Petroleum Gas

Mr T Elliott asked e Minister of the Environment to provide an estimate of the total number and proportion of (i) cars; (ii) vans; and (iii) lorries in Northern Ireland which use liquid petroleum gas.

(AQW 8977/09)

Minister of the Environment: Information about registered vehicles is provided by vehicle manufacturers in line with agreed descriptors. In relation to fuel type, “liquid petroleum gas” is not one of the three descriptors used. The answer has, accordingly, been given using the three fuel descriptors relating to gas fuel types.

At 8 July 2009, the numbers of licensed cars, vans and lorries using gas fuels in Northern Ireland were:

Vehicle Type	Gas	Gas Bi Fuel	Gas Diesel	All Fuel Types	Proportion Using Gas
Cars	30	258	1	740,496	0.04%
Vans	0	11	0	49,341	0.02%
Lorries	5	3	0	25,220	0.03%

High Trees and High Hedges

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of the Environment, in light of recent announcements (i) what consideration is being given to new legislation to deal with the problems of high trees and high hedges; (ii) the timescale for any action that is proposed; and (iii) what role is envisaged for local Councils.

(AQW 8988/09)

Minister of the Environment: I am aware of the level of concern over nuisance high trees and hedges in Northern Ireland, and am minded to bring forward legislation on this area. I am currently engaged in a review of environmental priorities and resources; the outcome of this process will enable me to make an informed decision on the way forward.

Any scheme provided for in new legislation to deal with the nuisance high trees and hedges problem in Northern Ireland will be operated by local government. It is anticipated that this would generate a significant quantity of additional work, particularly at the outset when the existing problems affecting many householders would need to be addressed. I am also aware of the impact which the Review of Public Administration will have on local government and will take this into account in deciding on the timing of new legislation.

Derelict and Vacant Properties

Mr J Dallat asked the Minister of the Environment what plans he has in place to ensure that listed, and other derelict and vacant properties are secure and do not constitute a danger to the public or become a ‘honey pot’ for drug addicts and abusers.

(AQW 9001/09)

Minister of the Environment: I have no such plans in place because it is not the responsibility of my Department to ensure that buildings do not constitute a danger to the public or become a ‘honey pot’ for drug addicts and abusers. Responsibility for the upkeep and safety of such buildings lies with their owners.

However – specifically in relation to listed buildings - under Article 80 of the Planning Order NI (1991), my Department can take action if it ‘appears to the Department that works are urgently necessary for the preservation of a listed building’. Such cases are identified by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s (NIEA) area architects. NIEA follows Departmental policy in these cases, as published in paragraph D3 of Planning Policy Statement 6, and negotiates with owners in the first instance to arrive at a resolution.

Article 80 also enables the Department to use these powers in regard to ‘ a building in respect of which a direction has been given by the Department that this Article shall apply’ . Although the equivalent provision has been used in England in respect of unlisted buildings in Conservation Areas and the potential of such a use here is highlighted in paragraph D8 of Planning Policy Statement 6, such a direction has not issued in Northern Ireland and there are no plans to do this in the near future.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive will routinely secure any of its stock which is unoccupied. In relation to privately owned vacant properties, the Housing Executive has powers under Article 63 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 to take action to secure unoccupied premises where it is satisfied that it is necessary to prevent damage to and to protect housing accommodation. The Notice served will require the owner to execute such works to secure the premises.

If the Housing Executive are unable to find an owner or a notice is not responded to within a specified period they will proceed to carry out the necessary work to make the property secure. The Housing Executive has a service contract for securing derelict and vacant properties.

Polluted Cat Litter Dumping

Mr P McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment how many instances of polluted cat litter dumping were dealt with by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency; and to detail the locations, in each of the last two years.

(AQW 9014/09)

Minister of the Environment: District Councils, are responsible for the clean up and removal of all illegally deposited waste, including cat litter that is polluting in nature after being used to launder diesel. Councils can recoup costs from landowners where they can be identified.

As a general rule NIEA’s Environmental Crime Unit does not record whether illegal dumping incidents involve cat litter; its methods of categorisation are broader, ie, household or commercial waste, etc.

However, the Water Management Unit of NIEA dealt with 2 instances of water pollution involving contaminated cat litter in 2009 – one in Cookstown and one in Coleraine . There were no incidents of that type in the previous 2 years.

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND PERSONNEL

Quangos and Public Bodies

Ms M Anderson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the costs incurred by Quangos and Public Bodies that are currently operating, including salary and travel costs.

(AQW 7298/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr N Dodds): The requested information is contained within the attached annex.

For the purposes of this question, I have included all public bodies sponsored by Northern Ireland departments, which are listed in the annual public bodies report.

All information has been provided by the sponsoring Departments and relates to the 2007/08 financial year, which is the most current available.

Annex A

Department	Public Body	Salary Costs	Travel Costs	Other Costs	Total Costs	Comments
Department for Employment and Learning	Construction Industry Training Board	1,596,446	153,442	3,848,709	5,598,597
	Industrial Court	22,097	2,878	6,334	31,309
	Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal	1,033,572	55,829	2,287,439	3,376,840
	Labour Relations Agency	2,066,045	23,777	1,110,178	3,200,000	Includes the Certification Office.
	Ulster Supported Employment Ltd	1,234,993	12,629	6,493,047	7,740,669
	Total	5,953,153	248,555	13,745,707	19,947,415
Department for Regional Development	Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company	114,940,000	3,100,000	58,120,000	176,160,000
	Northern Ireland Water	63,300,000	1,330,000	226,000,000	290,630,000
	Total	178,240,000	4,430,000	284,120,000	466,790,000
Department for Social Development	DLA Advisory Board for Northern Ireland	5,000	2,000	1,000	8,000
	Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Housing Executive	91,631,000	2,461,000	107,000*	94,199,000	*Does not include programme expenditure.
	Charities Advisory Committee	0	0	0	0
	Rent Assessment Panel	0	0	0	0
	Vaughan ’s Charity Trustees	0	0	0	0
	Total	91,636,000	2,463,000	108,000	94,207,000
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development	Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute	30,093,000	313,000	25,338,000	55,744,000
	Drainage Council	0	790	0	790
	Livestock and Meat Commission	1,557,558	86,176	2,766,425	4,410,159
	NI Fishery Harbour Authority	568,850	8,643	456,294	1,033,787
	Agricultural Wages Board Northern Ireland	0	0	0	0
	Research and Education Advisory Panel	0	0	0	0
	Total	32,219,408	408,609	28,560,719	61,188,736
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure	Arts Council of Northern Ireland	1,778,433	65,599	889,519*	2,733,551	*Does not include programme expenditure.
	Fisheries Conservancy Board Northern Ireland	478,160	47,997	Nil	526,157
	National Museums & Galleries Northern Ireland	8,963,500	212,374	3,240,438	12,416,312
	Northern Ireland Museums Council	0	0	0	0**	**Costs are met by the Department.
	Sport Northern Ireland	3,066,522	95,116	14,188,768	17,350,406
	Total	14,286,615	421,086	18,318,725	33,026,426
Department of Education	Belfast Education & Library Board	175,700,000	365,000	45,389,000	221,454,000
	Council for Catholic Maintained Schools	3,074,000	182,000	826,000	4,082,000
	Middletown Centre for Autism	229,869	6,545	172,137	408,551	The Centre is jointly funded with the Department of Education and Science. Salary and travel costs for Board Members refer to DE appointed members only.
	North Eastern Education & Library Board	222,542,000	1,250,000	63,183,000	286,975,000
	Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA)	12,233,532	307,664	17,710,207	30,251,403
	South Eastern Education & Library Board	206,913,000	614,000	45,499,000	253,026,000
	Southern Education & Library Board	249,448,000	1,583,000	55,047,000	306,078,000
	Staff Commission for Education & Library Boards	305,000	5,000	0	310,000
	Western Education & Library Board	214,442,000	1,253,000	87,235,000	302,930,000
	Youth Council Northern Ireland	731,488	10,679	3,456,742	4,198,909
	Total	1,085,618,889	5,576,888	318,518,086	1,409,713,863
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment	General Consumer Council	1,320,522	30,213	1,039,213	2,389,948
	Health & Safety Executive Northern Ireland	3,065,496	114,775	1,160,452	4,340,723
	Invest NI	21,200,000	800,000	104,200,000	126,200,000
	Northern Ireland Tourist Board	4,091,734	148,919	10,130,255	14,370,908
	Total	29,677,752	1,093,907	116,529,920	147,301,579
Department of Finance and Personnel	Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee	0	0	0	0
	Northern Ireland Civil Service Appeal Board	0	230	12,168	12,398
	Statistics Advisory Committee	0	6	0	6
	Total	0	236	12,168	12,404
Department of Health & Social Services and Public Safety	Eastern Health and Social Services Board				1,377,464,000	Includes Eastern Health and Social Services Council.
	Southern Health and Social Services Board				617,825,000	Includes Southern Health and Social Services Council.
	Northern Health and Social Services Board				799,797,000	Includes Northern Health and Social Services Council.
	Western Health and Social Services Board				575,983,000	Includes Western Health and Social Services Council.
	Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority				5,051,000
	Mental Health Commission				679,000
	Northern Ireland Social Care Council				3,122,000
	Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service				78,934,000
	Northern Ireland Practice & Education Council				1,350,000
	Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency				45,143,000
	Tribunal under section 11	0	0	0	0
	Poisons Board	0	0	0	0
	Northern Ireland Clinical and Excellence Awards Committee				0#	# Included in Department Core Expenditure .
< /div>	Care Tribunal				0#	# Included in Department Core Expenditure.
	Central Services Agency				79,682,000
	Health Promotion Agency				5,353,000
	Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency				2,937,000
	Medical Physics Agency				6,058,000
	Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service				21,540,000
	Western Health and Social Care Trust				439,555,000
	Northern Health and Social Care Trust				515,798,000
	Southern Health and Social Care Trust				431,687,000
	South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust				442,106,000
	BelfasThealth and Social Care Trust				1,084,142,000
	Northern Ireland Ambulance Service				50,991,000
	Total				6,585,197,000
Department of the Environment (NI)	Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside	0	0	0	0
	Historic Buildings Council	0	0	0	0
	Historic Monuments Council	0	0	0	0
	Local Government Staff Commission	406,000	21,000	0	427,000
	Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee	1,204,000	40,000	818,000	2,062,000
	Total	1,610,000	61,000	818,000	2,489,000
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister	Commission for Victims & Survivors	0	0	0	0	Not established until June 2008.
	Commissioner for Children & Young People	909,946	28,792	928,867	1,867,605
	Economic Research Institute	813,727	23,979	407,854	1,245,560
	ILEX Urban Regeneration Co Ltd	715,823	20,679	2,841,710	3,578,212
	Planning & Water Appeals Commission	1,376,700	38,326	682,460	2,097,486
	Strategic Investment Board	3,353,007	113,211	4,119,632	7,585,850
	Statute Law Committee	0	0	0	0
	Total	7,169,203	224,987	8,980,523	16,374,713

Construction Projects

Mr S Neeson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to outline, during the period 1 November 2008 to 1 June 2009, (i) what publicly funded construction projects were put out to tender to both professional consultants and Building and Civil Engineering contractors for pricing; and (ii) subsequently which of these contracts have been awarded.

(AQW 8431/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: For the purpose of this answer the number of contracts has been limited to those with a value in excess of £30k. This threshold has been set as it is the Procurement Control Limit above which procurement opportunities must be publically advertised and in order to avoid the disproportionate effort in identifying and listing innumerable low value contracts.

Grant funded contracts have not been included.

Table 1 – Professional Consultancy Contracts

Centre of Procurement Expertise	No of Tenders Issued (1 Nov 08 – 1 June 09)	No of Contracts Awarded (1 Nov 08 – 1 June 09)
NI Water	144	144
Translink	16	13
Roads Service	3	1
Department of Education And Education & Library Boards	23	0
CPD	22	22
DHSSPS - Health Estates	1	1
Totals	209	181

Table 2 – Building and Civil Engineering Contracts

Centre of Procurement Expertise	No of Tenders Issued (1 Nov 08 – 1 June 09)	No of Contracts Awarded (1 Nov 08 – 1 June 09)
NI Water	112	104
Translink	9	6
Roads Service	26	16
Department of Education And Education & Library Boards	132	91
CPD	16	8
DHSSPS - Health Estates	64	61
DSD - Northern Ireland Housing Executive	5	3
Totals	364	289

Details of the individual professional consultancy and building and civil engineering contracts are listed in Annexes A and B respectively. (Where the title of a contract is listed several times CoPEs have advised that each listing represents a separate contract).

Professional Consultancy Contracts
Contracts Tendered Between 1 November 2008 and 1 June 2009	Contracts subsequently awarded between 1 November 08 and 1 June 09 (Yes/No)
Department for Regional Development - NI Water
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Mountfield Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cambrook Sewage Pumping Station to Green Road	Yes
Moygashel Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Limavady Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Limavady Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Limavady Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Kensington Gardens Flood Relief	Yes
Tullygoonigan Sewerage Scheme	Yes
Tullygoonigan Sewerage Scheme	Yes
Carland Service Reservoir	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Altnahinch and Seagahan Water Treatment Works, Residual Sludge Disposal	Yes
Altnahinch and Seagahan Water Treatment Works, Residual Sludge Disposal	Yes
Carland Service Reservoir	Yes
Carland Service Reservoir	Yes
Carland Service Reservoir	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Altnahinch and Seagahan Water Treatment Works, Residual Sludge Disposal	Yes
Dungiven Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Dungiven Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Whitehouse DAP Phase 1	Yes
Whitehouse DAP Phase 1	Yes
Cranagh Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cranagh Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cranagh Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Moneygran Road Kilrea Foul and Storm Sewers	Yes
Ravarnet Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Ravarnet Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Ravarnet Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Carnmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Carnmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Carnmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Carnmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Carnmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Stewartstown Waste Water Treatment Works Improvements	Yes
Stewartstown Waste Water Treatment Works Improvements	Yes
Stewartstown Waste Water Treatment Works Improvements	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Derry City Centre Public Realm Replacement Watermains	Yes
Derry City Centre Public Realm Replacement Watermains	Yes
Derry City Centre Public Realm Replacement Watermains	Yes
Feeny Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Feeny Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Edenderry Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Edenderry Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Edenderry Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Glenarm Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Glenarm Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Mullaghboy Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Mullaghboy Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Mullaghboy Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Mullaghboy Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Belfast City Centre Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Belfast City Centre Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Belfast City Centre Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Belfast City Centre Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Donnybrewer Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Donnybrewer Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Belvoir Park Trunk Sewer	Yes
Belvoir Park Trunk Sewer	Yes
Belvoir Park Trunk Sewer	Yes
Green Walk Newtownabbey Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Lukes Point ( Bangor) DAP Phase 1	Yes
Ballygowan Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Derry DAP: Storm Screening	Yes
Waterside Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lukes Point ( Bangor) DAP Phase 1	Yes
Waterside Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Ballycastle Zone Watermains Improvements	Yes
Derry DAP: Storm Screening	Yes
Ballygowan Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Waterside Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Waterside Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lukes Point ( Bangor) DAP Phase 1	Yes
Carnmoney East Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Derry DAP: Storm Screening	Yes
Ballygowan Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Carnmoney East Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Ballycastle Zone Watermains Improvements	Yes
Carnmoney East Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Carnmoney East Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Ballygowan Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Mid Down Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Mid Down Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Mid Down Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Mid Down Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Joymount Carrick DAP Phase 1	Yes
Joymount Carrick DAP Phase 1	Yes
Joymount Carrick DAP Phase 1	Yes
Lisburn Town Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lisburn Town Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lurgan & Portadown Public Realm Associated Infrastructure Improvements	Yes
Lisburn Town Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lisburn Town Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Lurgan & Portadown Public Realm Associated Infrastructure Improvements	Yes
Newtownbreda Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Dunmurry Waste Water Treatment Works Modifications	Yes
Newtownbreda Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Dunmurry Waste Water Treatment Works Modifications	Yes
Newtownbreda Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Dunmurry Waste Water Treatment Works Modifications	Yes
Ballymoney Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cargan Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cloughmills Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Maghaberry Flood Alleviation Projects	Yes
Castlerock Road Coleraine - Storm Sewer	Yes
Castlerock Road Coleraine - Storm Sewer	Yes
Martinstown Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Lough Bradan Water Treatment Works Upgrade	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Portaferry, Ballyquinton area mains replacement.	Yes
Whitehead, Ballystruder & Ballycarry Rationalisation	Yes
Whitehead, Ballystruder & Ballycarry Rationalisation	Yes
Whitehead, Ballystruder & Ballycarry Rationalisation	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Tullaghans Service Reservoir, Dunloy, New Reservoir	Yes
CTM Extension - Barnetts Park to Purdysburn	Yes
Portaferry, Ballyquinton area mains replacement.	Yes
Whitehead, Ballystruder & Ballycarry Rationalisation	Yes
Tullaghans Service Reservoir, Dunloy, New Reservoir	Yes
Portaferry, Ballyquinton area	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Tullaghans Service Reservoir, Dunloy, New Reservoir	Yes
Tullaghans Service Reservoir, Dunloy, New Reservoir	Yes
Tullaghans Service Reservoir, Dunloy, New Reservoir	Yes
CTM Extension - Barnetts Park to Purdysburn	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Dungonnell Command Service Reservoir	Yes
Department for Regional Development – Translink
Building Condition Upgrade Programme Quantity Surveying Services	Yes
York Road Fuel Apron Quantity Surveying Services	Yes
York Road Fuel Apron Civil Engineer	Yes
York Road Fuel Apron Construction Design Management Services	Yes
York Road Fuel Apron Mechanical & Engineering Services	Yes
Bus Driver Training Facility Civil Engineer	Yes
Ballymena Permanent Way & Signalling Maintenance & Storage Facility Buildings Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method Services	Yes
Ballymena Permanent Way & Signalling Maintenance & Storage Facility Civil Engineer	Yes
Bridge Examination and Assessment. Programme- Engineering Consultants	Yes
Ballymoney Footbridge Replacement - Engineering Consultants	Yes
New Trains Two Platform Extension Feasibility Study	Yes
Antrim Station Signalling Improvements Feasibility Study	Yes
Coleraine to Derry Track Relay Construction Design Management Services	Yes
Ballymena Roof Canopy and Façade Replacement Architect	No
Ballymena Roof Canopy and Façade Replacement Quantity Surveying Services	No
Ballymena Roof Canopy and Façade Replacement Civil Engineer	No
Department for Regional Development - Roads Service
Foyle Street 'Bubble' Civil Engineer	No
Consultancy Services for the Assistance for the Delivery of the Roads Service SRI Programme - Major Works Planning, Assessment and Delivery Contract 2009	No
Consultancy Services Partner	Yes
Department of Education
Slemish College	No
St Colm's	No
Edmund Rice Christian Brothers' Primary School	No
Holy Cross Boys' Primary School	No
Holy Cross Girls' Primary School	No
Holy Rosary Primary School	No
Mercy Primary School	No
St Aidan's Christian Brothers' Primary School	No
St Bernadette's Girls' Primary School	No
St Gerard's Educational Resource Centre	No
St John the Baptist Boys' Primary School	No
St John the Baptist Girls' Primary School	No
St Michael's Primary School	No
Star Of The Sea Girls' Primary School	No
St Mary's On The Hill Primary School	No
Convent Of Mercy Primary School	No
St Luke's Primary School	No
St Mark's Primary School	No
St Patrick's Primary School	No
Christian Brothers' Primary School	No
Mount St Catherine's Primary School	No
St Malachy's Primary School	No
St Patrick's Primary School	No
Central Procurement Directorate
New Headquarters for the Construction Industry Training Board ( DEL)	Yes
Strabane Acquisition Melmount Road (DETI Invest NI)	Yes
Omagh Land Acquisition (DETI Invest NI)	Yes
Risk Management Training (DFP)	Yes
Dungannon Public Realm (DSD)	Yes
Craigavon Integrated Development Framework (DSD)	Yes
Strabane Town Centre Regeneration Masterplan (DSD)	Yes
Clarendon Area Belfast - Regeneration Masterplan (DSD)	Yes
Downpatrick Town Centre Masterplan (DSD)	Yes
St Patricks Barracks, Ballymena - Environmental Impact Assessment (DSD)	Yes
The Lands at Glen Road (Glen 10) Research Study (DSD / SIB)	Yes
Lisburn/Laganbank Transport Assessment (DSD)	Yes
St Patrick's Barracks Ballymena - Transport Assessment (DSD)	Yes
Lisburn Masterplan (DSD)	Yes
Antrim, Ballymena & Larne - Retail & Commercial Leisure Study (DSD)	Yes
Masterplan for St Lucia Barracks, Omagh (DSD)	Yes
Curran Street , Portadown (DSD)	Yes
Regeneration Masterplan for Newtownards (DSD)	Yes
Design of Parade Ground, Enabling Platform & Infrastructural Works at Ebrington (DSD)	Yes
Grosvenor Barracks Enniskillen - Planning Permission (DSD)	Yes
Dungannon Town Centre Masterplan (DSD)	Yes
East Belfast Development Strategy (SIB)	Yes
DHSSPS – Health Estates
Energy Centre Royal Group of Hospitals	Yes

Building and Civil Engineering Contracts
Contracts Tendered Between 1 November 2008 and 1 June 2009	Contracts subsequently awarded between 1 Nov 08 and 1 June 09 (Yes/No)
Department for Regional Development – NI Water
Kilmascally Road , Ardboe, Storm Sewer	Yes
Harmony Heights , Newry Foul Sewer Extension	Yes
Ormeau Road Storm Separation	Yes
Comber Rd/Portaferry Rd Newtownards Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Mullaghboy Road , Bellaghy, Watermain Replacement	Yes
New foul sewer, Caledon Rd, Aughnacloy	Yes
Mountfield Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Springfield Road Warrenpoint Sewage Pumping Station Replacement	Yes
Moygashel Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Dunaval Sewage Pumping Station Storm Tanks	Yes
Victoria Rd , Ballyclare	Yes
Crevagh Park Sewage Pumping Station Abandonment	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation South East Area Phase 2	Yes
Knockloughrim Waste Water Treatment Works Outfall	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation South East Area Phase 2	Yes
Drumlegagh Storm Sewer Extension	No
Portballintrae Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Limavady Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Burn Road Cookstown Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Cambrook Sewage Pumping Station to Green Road	Yes
Castor Bay to Dungannon Strategic Trunk Mains	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation South East Area Phase 2	Yes
Churchill Park Sewage Pumping Station upgrade	Yes
Whitehouse DAP Phase 1	Yes
Altnahinch and Seagahan Water Treatment Works, Residual Sludge Disposal	Yes
Caherty Road , Broughshane	Yes
McClelland Park Dunloy Flood Alleviation DG5	Yes
Whitewater Bridge Straw Foul Sewer Extension	Yes
Munie Road/Straidkilly Road , Glenarm, Watermain Replacement	Yes
Windyhill Road / Ballystrone Road, Coleraine,Watermain Extension	Yes
Church Street , Cookstown	Yes
Ballybogey Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Cranagh Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Loan Command Service Reservoir, Inlet Watermain	Yes
Foxgrove/Roughal Lane Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade	Yes
Frys Road , Ballymena New Watermain	Yes
Betterment and Deferment of Renewal for Mains Diversion at QUB	Yes
Rostrevor Sewers Upgrading - Homers Lane Improvements	Yes
Upper Edward Street Newry	Yes
Roughfort Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Church Road Rasharkin Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Kensington Gardens Flood Relief	Yes
Ligoniel Sewerage Scheme	Yes
Lissan Road Cookstown Replacement Storm Sewer	Yes
Derry City Centre Public Realm Replacement Watermains	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Magherafelt Waste Water Treatment Works	No
Moneygran Road Kilrea Foul and Storm Sewers	Yes
Feeny Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Glenarm Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Edenderry Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Saintfield Waste Water Pumping Station, Pumping Main Replacement.	Yes
Killymore Road , Gortin Pumping Station	Yes
Aghyaran Road Booster Station	Yes
Grahamsbridge Road , Dundonald, Belfast Storm Sewer Extension.	Yes
Enkalon Industrial Park , Randalstown Road, Antrim, Watermain Extension	Yes
Donnybrewer Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Kildowney Hill, Glarryford, Replacement Watermain	Yes
Drumcroon Road , Coleraine, Replacement Watermain	Yes
Donnybrewer Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Belvoir Park Trunk Sewer	No
First Time Services Visteon Site. Finaghy Road North, Belfast	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Caherty Road , Broughshane	Yes
Derry DAP: Storm Screening	Yes
Crumlin Road Lower Ballinderry Storm and Foul Sewer Extensions	Yes
Old Portglenone Road, Portglenone, Watermain Trunk	Yes
Joymount Carrick DAP Phase 1	Yes
Exchange Avenue , Doagh, Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Dundrod Drive Lisburn Storm Sewer Upgrade	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	No
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Carrowreagh Road Dundonald Storm Sewer	Yes
Fountainville Ave , Belfast , Sewer Collapse	Yes
Dungiven Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Waterside Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Ballygowan Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Mid Down Zone Watermain Improvements	Yes
Carmoney Water Treatment Works Upgrade	No
Ballycastle Zone Watermains Improvements	Yes
A2 Shore Road Re-alignment — Greenisland	Yes
Moneymore STW Improvements	No
Dungiven Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Coagh Waste Water Treatment Works Improvements	No
Stewartstown Waste Water Treatment Works Improvements	Yes
Delinvilla Lane Dundrum Storm Sewer	Yes
Maghera Waste Water Treatment Works	Yes
Scroggy Road Glenavy	Yes
Maghaberry Flood Alleviation Projects	Yes
Abbey Grammar School Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Regency Manor Sewage Pumping Station	Yes
Oaklands, Darragh Cross Sewage Pumping Station Upgrade	Yes
Castlerock Road Coleraine - Storm Sewer	Yes
Lurgan & Portadown Public Realm Associated Infrastructure Improvements	Yes
Antrim Road , Mallusk Foul and Storm Sewer Extension	Yes
Joymount Carrick DAP Phase 1	Yes
Lurgan & Portadown Public Realm Associated Infrastructure Improvements	Yes
Mains replacement ,Belfast Public Realm Phase 1 Area 2	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Reservoir Rehabilitation Programme Phase 3	Yes
Northern Key Transport Corridor, Ballymena Watermain Scheme	Yes
Lisburn to the South Trunk Main Improvements	Yes
Rathfriland Waste Water Treatment Works Inlet Screens and Combined Storm and Overflow System	No
Department for Regional Development – Translink.
Antrim to Coleraine Bridge Replacements and Strengthening Civil Engineering Works	Yes
Jordanstown Park and Ride Main Contractor	Yes
Dungannon Park and Ride Main Contractor	Yes
Craigavon Engineering Roof Replacement	Yes
Whiteabbey Park and Ride Main Contractor	Yes
Foyle Street and Europa Bus Departure Stands Main Contractor	Yes
Coleraine to Derry Bridge Replacements Civil Engineering Works	No
Rock Slope Remedial Work	No
Whitehead — Larne & Coleraine to Deny Civil Engineering Works -	No
Department for Regional Development – Roads Service
Thompsons Bridge	No
A32 Clanabogan, Mullaghbane (One Off)	Yes
Wilmar Road / McKinstry Road	Yes
A5 Western Transport Corridor, Deny to Aughnacloy - Ground Investigations	No
AWTC Derry to Aughnacloy - Geodetic Survey	Yes
A2 Shore Road , Greenisland — Ground Investigation	Yes
A3 Dollingstown Crossroads Roundabout	Yes
Cairnshill Park & Ride	No
A24 Ballynahinch Bypass — Geodetic Survey	Yes
MTC Night-Time Scouting if illuminated street furniture 2009	No
Construction of a Roundabout and Road Realignment, A27 Tandragee Road, Portadown	Yes
Term Surface Dressing 2009	Yes
Term Surface Dressing 2009	Yes
Term Surface Dressing 2009	Yes
Term Surface Dressing 2009	Yes
Term Surface Dressing 2009	Yes
Term Contracts for the Maintenance and Improvement of Structures - 2009	No
A26 Ballee Road East to M2 Ballymena Bypass Dualling Scheme	Yes
A2 Maydown to City Of Deny Airport Dualling	Yes
A8 Belfast To Lame Dual Carriageway	No
A24 Saintfield Road , Belfast , Resurfacing and Cycling Measures	No
MTC Maintenance & Improvement of Street Lighting 2009	No
Resurfacing A57 Ballyrobin Road, East of Killead	Yes
A5 Main Contract	No
A5 Geotechnic Contract - OJEU Ref 09/S50-072495/EN	No
A5 Geotechnic Contract — OJEU Ref 09/S81-116248/EN	Yes
Department of Education (DE)
Magherafelt HS	No
Whitehouse PS & NS	No
St Marks HS, Warrenpoint - Provision of 4 Mobile Classrooms	No
St Ciaran's HS, Ballygawley - Provision of Football Pitch	No
St Pauls JHS, Lurgan - Provision of Home Economics Room	Yes
St Bridgid’s HS, Armagh - Refurbishment of Toilets	Yes
St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon - Fire Risk Assessment works	Yes
St Josephs Grammar, Donaghmore - Replacement of Flat Roof	Yes
Aughamullan PS, Coalisland - Provision of temporary accommodation	Yes
Dominican College , Portstewart - Replace 2 Mobiles	Yes
St Patricks and St Josephs Fed PS - Refurbish Principal's & Secretary's Office	No
Friends School , Lisburn - Boiler Plant Phase 2	Yes
St Patricks and St Josephs Fed PS - Provision of Single Mobile	Yes
Glenravel PS - Provision of Single Mobile	Yes
St Joseph 's HS, Crossmaglen - Refurbishment of Toilets	No
St Ciarans HS, Ballygawley - Refurbishment of Staffroom	No
St Pauls HS, Kilrea - Entrance Gates to College	No
St Colm's HS, Draperstown - Extension of School Office	No
Edmund Rice College , Glengormley - Refurbishment of Female Toilets	No
St Marys PS, Cushendall - Special Needs Adaptations	Yes
St Louis GS, Ballymena - Refurbish Toilets/Link Roof	No
Sullivan Upper, Holywood - Provision of air conditioning	Yes
St Patricks PS, Holywood - Replacement of Windows	Yes
St Colmcille's HS, Crossgar - Refurbishment of Staffroom	Yes
St Columba's College, Portaferry - Refurbishment of Home Economics	Yes
St Pauls HS, Kilrea - Provision of Double Mobile	No
St Bridgid’s HS, Armagh - Provision of Home Economics Room	Yes
Coleraine Acad. Inst - Provision of Home Economics Room	No
St Patrick's PS, Glen - Special needs adaptations	Yes
Bangor Grammar - Home Economics Suite	Yes
St Patrick’s and St Bridgid’s HS, Claudy -Refurb of Various Schemes	Yes
St Joseph 's PS, Crumlin - Special Needs	Yes
St Michael's Enniskillen - HE/Hygiene Room	Yes
St Bernadette's PS, Belfast -New Heating System	Yes
Lismore Comprehensive - Refurbishment of Music Room	Yes
St Patrick's PS Holywood - Replacement of Windows	Yes
St Mary's PS, Kircubbin - Upgrade of Windows	Yes
De La Salle, Downpatrick - Repl of Windows & Concrete Repairs	Yes
North Eastern Education & Library Board
Ballymena NS - Ibex Fencing	Yes
Dunclug NS - Security Fence	Yes
Straidbilly PS - Provision of Car Park	Yes
Ballee Comm. HS - Security Fence	Yes
Downshire School - Site Security	Yes
Various Post Primary - Circular Saws	Yes
Ballymena PS - Structural Repairs	Yes
Mossgrove PS - Re-Roofing to Bicycle Sheds	Yes
Rathenraw Int PS - Partial Roof Covering	Yes
Gorran PS - ballstop Fence to Football Pitch	Yes
The Irish Society's PS - DDA Works	Yes
Whiteabbey PS - Security Fence	Yes
Ballee Com HS - Fire Alarm Replacement	Yes
Crumlin Int College - Fire Alarm Replacement	Yes
Larne HS - Site Security	Yes
Proposed ISO 1401 Cert for ABC	Yes
Garvagh Youth Centre - External Works	Yes
Sunlea Youth Centre - Lounge Alteration	Yes
St Colm's HS - Replacement of Boilers	Yes
Maghera Grounds MD - Fuel Storage&Pump	Yes
Mount St Michael's PS - Partial Re-Roofing	Yes
Coleraine Library - Re-Carpeting	Yes
Various NEELB Properties - Lift Maintenance	Yes
Carrickfergus Library - Refurb Rental Unit	No
Whitehead Library - Ext and Refurb	No
Ballycastle Int PS - Outdoor Play Area	Yes
Downshire School - BS Modular, IT Network	No
Larne HS - Synthetic Pitch	No
ABC - ASD Support Staff	Yes
Whitehouse New PS and Nursery Unit	No
Magherafelt New HS	No
Carrickfergus Library - Refurb	No
Coleraine HS - Rewiring - Emergency Work	Yes
Carnalbanagh PS - Internal Alterations	No
Whitehead PS - Hygiene Room and DDA	No
Altayeskey PS - Replacement of Fence	No
Carnalbanagh PS - Complete Resurfacing	No
Duneane PS - Partial Resurfacing	No
Garvagh PS - Partial Resurfacing	No
Hazelbank PS - Partial IBEX Fence	No
Kells&Connor PS - Floor Replacement	No
Kilcoan PS - PVC Window Replacement	No
Lordes PS - Window Replacement	No
Mallusk PS - Window Replacement	No
Mount St Michael's PS Dining Hall - Re-Plas	No
Mount St Michael's PS - Resurfacing	No
Silverstream PS - Window Replacement	No
St Mary's Building of St Patrick's College	No
St Patrick's College - Floor Replacement	No
Rosstulla School - Fence and Wall	No
Southern Education & Library Board
Donacloney PS Phase 2 Extension & Refurbishment	Yes
Fair Hill PS Classroom & Office Extension	Yes
Kilbroney PS Minor Improvements	Yes
Kilkeel HS Refurbishment of Home Economics Suite	Yes
Newry HS Refurbishment of Home Economics Suite	Yes
Edenderry PS Portadown Minor Improvements	Yes
Markethill PS Office Extension & Alterations	Yes
Aughnacloy PS Refurbishment to provide Principal's Office, Resource Area	No
Birches PS Traffic Management	No
Lisnadill PS Extension	No
Edenderry PS, St Mary's Cabra, Orchard County PS & Richmount PS Supply and Installation of PV Panels	Yes
Kilkeel HS Upgrade of Fire Alarm System	Yes
Cookstown HS Upgrade of Fire Alarm System	Yes
City of Armagh HS Upgrade of Fire Alarm System	Yes
Banbridge HS Upgrade of Fire Alarm System	Yes
St Joseph 's College Coalisland Upgrade of Stage Area/Gym	Yes
South Eastern Education & Library Board
Moneyrea Primary - Provision of new classroom and lobby extension	Yes
Kircubbin Primary - Provision of new Assembly Hall and classroom	Yes
Groomsport ILSU - conversion of former Groomsport PS premises	Yes
Barbour Nursery - indoor communal area, parents room and kitchen	Yes
Glenbrook Nursery - indoor communal area, parents room, windows & kitchen	Yes
Knockbreda Nursery - indoor communal area, parents room and kitchen	Yes
Movilla High - refurbishment of Home Economics rooms	Yes
Down High - provision of mobile for technology	Yes
Ardnabannon OEC - refurbishment of first floor recreation area	Yes
Former Conlig Primary School premises - change of use to Youth facility	Yes
Killowen Primary - provision of new build nursery unit	No
Killyleagh OEC - refurbishment of basement area	Yes
Lisnasharragh Primary - building repairs	Yes
Moira Primary - provision of nursery unit	Yes
Parkview Special - provision of school leavers' unit	Yes
Bangor Academy Clanmorris campus - demolition of former school premises	Yes
Ballybeen Youth Centre - new build youth facility	Yes
Derryboye Primary - car park, including lease of land	Yes
Western Education & Library Board
Collegiate GS Enniskillen - Manu, Del and Erection of Pre-fab Building	Yes
Drumachose PS - Bitumen Macadam	Yes
Various Locations - Bin Enclosures	Yes
Devenish College - Manu, Del and Erection of Pre-fab Building	Yes
Castlederg HS - Manu, Del and Erection of Pre-fab Building	Yes
Lenamore PS Part roof replacement	Yes
Rosemount PS - Replacement Windows, Doors & Screens	Yes
Castlederg Transport Depot - Manu, Del & Erection of Pre-fab Building	Yes
Dungiven New Library - Main Contract	Yes
Limavady GS - Science Refurbishment	Yes
Central Procurement Directorate
Supply & Fit of Fitted Furniture & Display Units - Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh (DCAL)	Yes
Corr's Corner & Hightown Road Junction Improvements (DETI Invest NI)	No
Rural Road Upgrade & Ancilary Works at Edenaveys, Co Armagh (DETI Invest NI)	No
New Jobs and Benefits Office for Newcastle (DFP)	No
Bespoke Furniture & Reception Counter at IOCT Cultra (DFP)	Yes
Dalchoolin Gallery Painting and Remedial Works, Roller Shutter Doors (DFP)	Yes
Dalchoolin Gallery - Roofing (DFP)	Yes
Provision of AV Installations at levels 2 and 9, Causeway Excahange, Belfast (DFP)	Yes
Supply & Fit of Double Glazed Relocatable Partitions at Causeway Exchange (DFP)	Yes
Supply & Fit of Fitted Furniture for Causeway Exchange (DFP)	Yes
New Control Room at Stormont Cottages (DFP)	Yes
Roe Valley Country Park Hydro Electric Power Restoration Scheme (DOE)	No
Design & Development of Gatehouse and Administration Buildings, Crumlin Road Gaol (DSD Urb Reg)	No
Fountain Street Public Artwork (2nd Competition) (DSD Urb Reg)	No
120 person & 20 person Cellular Accommodation Blocks (NIO)	No
Upgrade of CCTV, Fire & Intruder Alarm Systems at Various NI Court Svs Premises (NIO)	No
DSD Housing Division (NIHE)
Warm Home Scheme	No
Group Repairs - Beechmount	Yes
Woodburn 6 Completion	No
Aluminium Bungalows, Maghera	Yes
Mullaghmore Estate, Omagh	Yes
DHSSPS – Health Estates
Iveagh Assessment & Treatment Unit	Yes
Shankill & Beech Hall Wellbeing & Treatment Centre	Yes
Victoria Pharmaceuticals	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals, Roof refurbishment at EENT Building,	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals and Belfast City Hospital, Fire Safety Improvements Phase1	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals and Belfast City Hospital, Fire Safety Improvements Phase2	Yes
Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Roof refurbishment	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals, Floor Repairs at Outpatients/EENT Buildings,	Yes
Belfast City Hospital, Demolition of old Renal Building and Provision of vehicle parking.	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals, Replacement sanitary ware at EENT Building,	Yes
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, Refurbishment of Musgrave Ward	Yes
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, Refurbishment of Clarke Clinic	Yes
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, refurbishment of Children’s Cafe	Yes
Alterations to 204 Duncairn Gardens, for Smile sure Start	Yes
Belfast City Hospital , Tower Block, Alterations to the Entrance.	Yes
Alterations to a number of buildings to assist in staff relocation	Yes
Demolition of a number of properties in Belfast Trust	No
Royal Group of Hospitals, Refurbishment of D Ward	Yes
Royal Group of Hospitals, Provision of sectional buildings	Yes
Musgrave Park Hospital , replace windows at McKinney House.	Yes
Measured Term Contract for Minor Building works valued up to £100,000	Yes
Internal alterations to accommodate AERS Causeway Hospital	Yes
Conversion of existing building to Med/surgical ward, Mid Ulster Hospital	Yes
Internal alterations to create new Palliative Care Suite, Inver House	Yes
Firecode Wd 7 McCaughey Hse, Whiteabbey Hospital	Yes
Replacement hardwood windows, Lissan Wd 1, Holywell Hospital	Yes
Refurbishment Whitehead Health Centre	Yes
Refurbishment Beeches, Ballyclare	Yes
PICU, Holywell Hospital	Yes
Post Grad Centre, Antrim Hospital	No
Firecode Dalriada MS Unit	Yes
Firecode Whitehaven Respite Unit	Yes
Firecode Clonmore House	Yes
Alterations to Maternity at Daisy Hill Hospital	Yes
Alterations to Former Psychiatric Outpatients for Dermatology Services at Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Proposed Car Park Management Scheme Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Upgrade Ward Accommodation at Loane House South Tyrone Hospital	Yes
Refurbishment & Electrical Rewire of Crozier House	Yes
Replacement of Existing Theatre Laminar Flow Canopy at South Tyrone Hospital	Yes
Decentralisation Site Heating Accommodation Blocks Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Replacement of Air Handling Units Daisy Hill Hospital	Yes
Decentralisation Boilerhouse at St. Lukes Hospital	Yes
Rewiring of Cloughreagh House Bessbrook	Yes
Alterations to Kitchen 4th Floor Daisy Hill Hospital	No
Infection Control Works Medical Ward Daisy Hill Hospital	Yes
Infection Control Works Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Decontamination Facilities & Extension to CSSD at Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Outbreak Ward at Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Replacement of Windows in Willowbank Staff Accommodation Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes
Redecorations at 7 Locations - Eastern Area	Yes
Air Conditioning Units at FRS Headquarters & Lisburn Fire Station	Yes
Window Replacement [Various Locations]	Yes
Drill Towers at Northland, Portadown & Portaferry	Yes
Refurbishment and Risk Work UH Wards	Yes
Alterations / Refurb Scrabo Children's Centre Ards	Yes
Upgrade Junior Doctors accommodation Ulster, Lagan Valley and Downshire	Yes
Demolition of McDermott House	Yes
Replacement of Boiler Controls LVH	Yes
Altnagelvin Cedar House - External Cladding & Associated Works	Yes
Unit 31 Lackaghboy Ind. Estate - Complete Internal Redecoration & Minor Refurbishment	Yes
1 Ferone Drive , Omagh - Proposed Adaptations and Refurbishment	Yes
Erne Hospital Modular Building - Healthcare Training Room	Yes
Measured Term Contract for Minor Civil Engineering works valued up to £50,000	Yes
Integrated Car Park / Hospital Access Management System at Craigavon Area Hospital	Yes

Maintained Grass Areas

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the total area of grass maintained by each government Department and their agencies in 2008/09.

(AQW 8698/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The total area of grass maintained is as follows:-

Department	Area in sqm	Comments
DEL	Nil
DHSSPS	Not available	The information is noTheld centrally.
DFP	Not available	Area of Stormont Estate grass is approx. 408,646m 2. Area information on other sites is not available.
DOE	11,733,829	Includes pasture lands within Nature Reserves and some Country Parks which are managed by the NIEA, including grassland managed by grazing (10,850,000 sqm)
DRD	72,400,000
DE	9,113,447
DCAL	300,579	Excludes water recreation sites and towpaths as area is not available.
OFMDFM	12,140
DSD	13,349,021
DETI	Not available	The area of grass cannot be readily disaggregated as it is included as part of a comprehensive grounds maintenance contract which also includes maintenance of shrub beds, tree pruning and plant replacement.
DARD	3,925,000 to 3,930,000	Includes grass maintained by cutting and livestock grazing.

Maintained Grass Areas

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what the total cost to each Department was of maintaining grassed areas in 2008/09.

(AQW 8699/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The total cost of maintaining grassed areas is as follows:-

Department	Cost £	Comments
DEL	Nil
DHSSPS	Nil
DFP	Not Available.	Cost for maintaining grassed areas can not be disaggregated from the overall cost of ground maintenance.
DOE	£153,098	Excludes the cost of grass maintenance which is carried out as part of maintaining pasture lands (£25,000) the grass maintenance element of which can not be disaggregated.
DRD	£5,400,000
DE	£1,117,038
DCAL	£75,994
OFMDFM	£16,785
DSD	£2,348,201	Excludes the cost of grass maintenance which is carried out under a general ground maintenance contract (£54,965) the grass maintenance element of which can not be disaggregated.
DETI	Not Available.	Cost for maintaining grassed areas can not be disaggregated from the overall cost of ground maintenance.
DARD	£159,600	This includes costs for general grounds maintenance (including grass maintenance) across several DARD sites. However, it is not possible to disaggregate the costs for maintaining some grassed areas on these sites from the overall cost of ground maintenance.

Sexual Harassment

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel (i) how many claims of sexual harassment have been made by members of the Civil Service against fellow members of the Civil Service in each of the last 5 years; (ii) how many of these cases resulted in disciplinary action and; (iii) to provide a breakdown of the disciplinary action taken.

(AQW 8864/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The information requested is set out in the attached table.

Year	Number of complaints of sexual harassment	Number of complaints upheld	Disciplinary action
2008	2	Investigations on-going	Investigations On-going
2007	2	0	N/A
2006	8	5	2 cases – disciplinary action was not taken due to officer’s retirement 2 cases – disciplinary transfer to another location and required to give a written apology 1 case – formal warning
2005	4	3	1 case – formal warning 1 case – formal warning on file for 3 years and £150 fine 1 case – formal warning on file for 3 years; not eligible for promotion for duration of warning; disciplinary transfer to another location; fine of deduction of 1 incremental salary point; and equal opportunities training.
2004	5	0	N/A

Central Procurement Directorate

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel how many contracts were awarded by the Central Procurement Directorate in each of the last 3 years; and the number of these that were awarded to Northern Ireland based companies.

(AQW 8866/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The table below provides details of contracts awarded by Central Procurement Directorate in each of the last three years.

Periods	No of Contracts Awarded	No of Contracts Awarded to NI based Companies
2006-07	562	465
2007-08	610	462
2008-09	495	383
Totals	1667	1310

The table includes individual contracts, new framework agreements and contracts awarded following secondary competitions under existing framework agreements.

Purchase Orders placed using call-off arrangements in existing contracts are not included.

Press and Public Relations Department

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the number of staff employed in his press and public relations department and their overall cost in each year from 2003/04.

(AQW 8885/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The information requested is set out in the table below.

Financial Year	Total salary costs	Number of Staff in post at 1 April
2003/04	£136,412	5
2004/05	£141,047	6
2005/06	£144,763	6
2006/07	£129,547	6
2007/08	£117,790	6
2008/09	£136,696	7

Planned Receipts

Mr D McNarry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to give details of all planned receipts for all Departments for this current financial year and the current level of such receipts with particular reference to any indications of shortfall.

(AQW 8919/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: At the June monitoring round the resource receipts planned for my department in the 2009/10 financial year amount to £68.9m. These projected receipts relate to services provided by DFP to the wider public sector and services to the public including land registration, the General Register Office and mapping services. To date, my department has received resource income of £16.3m in 2009/10 and is currently on course for achieving the planned levels.

No capital receipts are anticipated for 2009/10 at this time, although the department continues to review all of its income projections throughout the year in the context of in-year monitoring.

My department does not hold details of all planned receipts for departments and enquiries related to the receipts of other departments should be referred to the relevant Ministers.

Financial Year

Mr D McNarry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel (i) for his assessment of his Department's performance in the last financial year; and (ii) to detail (a) what projects it failed to deliver; (b) what projects it postponed to the next financial year or later; and (c) whether it overspent or underspent on projects, and by how much.

(AQW 8921/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: My Department has made significant progress during 2008/09, with key reform projects having been implemented or progressed to critical phases of implementation, and an enormous amount has been achieved in improving access to public services, under the NI Direct Programme.

The implementation of key reform projects has been a significant challenge for both my Department and indeed the wider NICS. These are large and complex projects and those areas in which there has been some slippage are:

Account NI which at the 31 March had been implemented for the majority of NICS Departments, with the final 2 Departments migrating to the new service on 6 July 2009; and
HR Connect which comprises seven HR services. Of these, five services were operational by the end of March 2009, the sixth service went live in May 2009, and the final service is the Industrial Payroll which is due to go live next month.

The Workplace 2010 PFI procurement was terminated earlier this year, due to external circumstances, and a review of alternative means of achieving the objectives of the programme is currently underway.

For the 2008/09 financial year there was an underspend of £1.0m resource and £nil capital on key reform projects.

Selection Process for Senior Management

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to outline the selection process for senior management in each Department, including Permanent Secretaries.

(AQW 8974/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The vast majority of senior management positions (Grade 5 and above, including Permanent Secretaries) are filled by external competition with a small number of posts filled internally. The selection process used for internal competitions largely mirrors that for external recruitment which is explained in detail in the Northern Ireland Civil Service policy and procedures manual which can be accessed at www.nicsrecruitment.gov.uk

This process consists of a competition initiation meeting which agrees the selection criteria for the competition and in the case of external competitions, is chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner. The competition is only advertised after all of the selection criteria are formally agreed and approved. Following the closing date for applications, the selection panel meet and determine which applicants have satisfied the eligibility and shortlisting criteria. These candidates are invited to interview and in some cases a test or required to do a presentation. The candidate who best demonstrates the selection criteria and who is top in the order of merit will be processed with a view to offering her/him an appointment.

Average Salary

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what the average salary is in the NI Civil Service.

(AQW 8976/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The most up to date figure held for the full-time equivalent average salary for Northern Ireland Civil Servants is that for 31 October 2008, and is £22,370.

NI Civil Service

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel how many people are employed in the NI Civil Service.

(AQW 8986/09)

Minister of Finance and Personnel: The number of NI Civil Servants (permanent and temporary, industrial and non-industrial), based on headcount, in the eleven Northern Ireland Departments and their Agencies at 1 April 2009, was 25,213.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Mr P Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what services exist for people over 16 years old with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

(AQW 4552/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr M McGimpsey): Health and Social Care Trusts (Trusts) have responsibility for the provision of services in Northern Ireland.

All five Trusts provide a wide range of services for people over the age of 16 who have Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Services range from assessment and intervention, carried out by Clinical Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists, to residential placements, day support and transitions services.

Due to the number of different settings in which assessment can take place and the professional skills involved, services are identified through individual care planning processes, involving the full multi-disciplinary team as appropriate.

Referrals for Heart Surgery

Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many referrals for heart surgery there have been to the (i) Mater Private Hospital, Dublin; (ii) Blackrock Hospital, Dublin; (iii) Guys Hospital, London; and (iv) HCI International Medical Centre, Glasgow, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 6987/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The table below shows the number of referrals from the BelfasThealth and Social Care Trust (the only Trust that provides cardiac surgery in Northern Ireland) to (i) Mater Private Hospital, Dublin; (ii) Blackrock Hospital, Dublin; (iii) Guys Hospital, London; and (iv) HCI International Medical Centre, Glasgow for heart surgery in each of the last three years.

Number of referrals for heart surgery from Belfast HSC Trust to:	Year
	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
Mater Private Hospital, Dublin	74	159	349
Blackrock Hospital, Dublin	60	0	24
Guys Hospital, London	16	91	38
HCI International Medical Centre, Glasgow	0	0	0

Source: Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

I am committed to improving access to hospital services and I have set a target that, by the end of March 2009, no patient should wait longer than 13 weeks for cardiac surgery. Referral to other centres has ensured a reduction in waiting times for the surgery they require to improve their health and quality of life. It has also improved access for patients who require cardiac surgery. Patients are offered a choice of referral to other centres.

Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the cost of (i) hotel accommodation; and (ii) flights for consultants flown in to reduce outpatient waiting lists by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last three financial years.

(AQW 7203/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Contracts for the procurement of assessment and/or treatment services from the independent sector are negotiated through a competitive tendering process aimed at ensuring best value for money. Contracts are agreed on a price per case basis. The agreed price includes all of the costs associated with the contract, including any staff travel or accommodation costs where appropriate. Separate information on accommodation or travel costs is not available.

BelfasThealth and Social Care Trust

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the cost of (i) hotel accommodation; and (ii) flights for consultants flown in to reduce outpatient waiting lists by the BelfasThealth and Social Care Trust, in each of the last three financial years.

(AQW 7204/09)

Northern Health and Social Care Trust

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the cost of (i) hotel accommodation; and (ii) flights for consultants flown in to reduce outpatient waiting lists by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last three financial years.

(AQW 7205/09)

Western Health and Social Care Trust

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the cost of (i) hotel accommodation; and (ii) flights for consultants flown in to reduce outpatient waiting lists by the Western Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last three financial years.

(AQW 7206/09)

Nursing Agency Fees

Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how much has been spent on nursing agency fees, in each Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 7292/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Information on the cost of Agency staff is published on a bi-annual basis on the departmental website at www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hrd/wpu/wpu-monitoring.htm

Facial Vascular Malformation

Mr T Buchanan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what treatment is currently available for Facial Vascular Malformation.

(AQW 7498/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: It is assumed that this question refers to Facial Vascular Malformation. Vascular malformations are usually congenital and affect the vascular system including arteries, veins, capillaries and lymphatic channels.

A regional multi-disciplinary vascular anomalies clinic is held at least four or five times a year at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and is attended by health professionals from a range of medical disciplines, principally plastics and dermatology, with an interest in vascular cases. The clinic sees patients with all types of vascular anomalies including facial vascular malformation. Patients are referred to the RVH for radiology treatment and surgery and the Ulster Hospital for laser treatment and surgery.

The BelfasThealth and Social Care Trust submitted a service development proposal in November 2008 for a sclerotherapy service at the RVH Imaging Centre. Sclerotherapy is an interventional radiology procedure less invasive than surgery which is used in the treatment of facial vascular malformation. The proposal is currently being considered by the Health and Social Care Board.

ICATS Project

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many GPs are taking part in the ICATS project in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.

(AQW 7504/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services (ICATS) are provided by multi-disciplinary teams of health service professionals, including GPs with special interests, specialist nurses and other allied health professionals. ICATS are provided in a variety of primary and secondary care settings and include assessment, treatment, diagnostic and advisory services for patients referred to the service.

ICATS ensures that patients are referred to the most appropriate next step in a defined care pathway. Patients assessed as needing to see a hospital consultant will do so after having had all the necessary diagnostic tests completed.

I am advised that five GPs within the South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust area are taking part in ICATS.

The ICATS service commenced in December 2006, initially dealing only with orthopaedics. The present service covers orthopaedics, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology, urology and cardiology.

Substantial investment has been available to Boards for the development and implementation of ICATS services. I allocated £2m to support the initial implementation of ICATS in 2006/07 and have increased this allocation to £9m recurrently from 2007/08.

ICATS Project

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail which health specialities are involved in the ICATS project.

(AQW 7505/09)

I am advised that five GPs within the South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust area are taking part in ICATS.

The ICATS service commenced in December 2006, initially dealing only with orthopaedics. The present service covers orthopaedics, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology, urology and cardiology.

ICATS Project

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for how long has the ICATS project been running.

(AQW 7506/09)

I am advised that five GPs within the South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust area are taking part in ICATS.

The ICATS service commenced in December 2006, initially dealing only with orthopaedics. The present service covers orthopaedics, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology, urology and cardiology.

ICATS Project

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how much the ICATS project costs.

(AQW 7507/09)

I am advised that five GPs within the South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust area are taking part in ICATS.

The ICATS service commenced in December 2006, initially dealing only with orthopaedics. The present service covers orthopaedics, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology, urology and cardiology.

Diary Engagements

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail what his diary engagements were for Tuesday 5 May 2009.

(AQW 7614/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: On each of the days listed, primary diary commitments were superseded by the need to respond urgently to the impending threat of a Swine Flu pandemic.

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 5 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

Diary Engagements

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail what his diary engagements were for Tuesday 5 May 2009.

(AQW 7616/09)

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 5 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

Diary Engagements

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail what his diary engagements were for Monday 11 May 2009.

(AQW 7618/09)

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 2 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

Maternity Support Strategy

Ms S Ramsey asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he is aware that officials in his Department from the 31 October 2008 removed the Maternity Support Strategy as a departmental target.

(AQW 7655/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The Departmental Board position on this matter reflects my decision that in light of priorities emerging in 2008, this work was better delayed until the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority review of maternity services and the Eastern Health and Social Services Board review of maternity capacity were completed.

Once both these reviews are completed and the results examined, a new departmental objective in this area will be considered.

Epilepsy Services

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will establish a review of epilepsy services similar to the review carried out by the Welsh Assembly.

(AQW 7810/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: In Northern Ireland people suffering from this very debilitating condition have access to appropriate care and treatment, ranging from primary and community care to specialist regional neurology services, depending on their assessed individual needs.

I can advise that in 2002, following a review of neurology services, my Department published 30 recommendations for improvements in the provision and delivery of services, including epilepsy. I have now commissioned a full and comprehensive evaluation and report of the effectiveness of the implementation of those recommendations.

In parallel with that evaluation my Department will review the continued relevance of these recommendations in light of any professional or other guidance issued since their publication. That review will include advice and guidance issued in other parts of the United Kingdom.

The work now underway will inform the Department as to the need for the further development of services for people with epilepsy in Northern Ireland.

Consultants

Mr J Craig asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how much his Department has spent on internal and external consultants, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 7899/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Departmental expenditure (including Health Estates Agency),on Internal and External consultancy is as follows:-

2008/09 Figures have not been finalised

2007/08 £2,312,561

2006/07 £2,519,016

Paediatric Epilepsy

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many diagnosed cases of paediatric epilepsy there are in the Western Health and Social CareTrust area.

(AQW 7910/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Information on the number of diagnosed cases of epilepsy and paediatric epilepsy there are in the Western Health and Social Care Trust area is not available.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to confirm that pay awards to Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service directors did not follow the proper approval process.

(AQW 8337/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) upgraded the salaries of three non-uniformed directors without seeking the required prior approval from the Department . Immediately it became aware of these events, my Department instructed the NIFRS to remove the salary increases to the three Directors. While the retrieval of unauthorised payments made to the non-uniformed Directors is a contractual matter for resolution between the NIFRS and the individuals concerned, I have made it clear that the NIFRS should explore all possible means available to them to recover all the unauthorised payments.

This situation is unacceptable and as a result the Department is closely monitoring the decisions of the NIFRS Board.

Health Service

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the current number of (i) nurses and (ii) doctors employed by the Health Service.

(AQW 8922/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: As at 31 st March 2009, the total number of qualified nurses employed by the Health Service was 16,336 and the total number of medical doctors employed by the Health Service was 3,672 This data has been extracted from the Human Resource Management System.

Average Salary of a Nurse

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what the average salary of a nurse is.

(AQW 8950/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Nurses like all staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions of employment are paid in line with the responsibilities of their particular job. Qualified Nursing roles fall into Agenda for Change pay Band 5, 6, 7 and 8A depending on the level of responsibility. The current salary ranges for these pay bands are available at http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/PayCirculars/Pages/PaycircularAfC12009.aspx

In addition to the basic salary, nurses may also be entitled to enhancements for working in the evenings and at weekends and overtime payments.

Average Salary of a Doctor

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what the average salary of a doctor is.

(AQW 8951/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: There is a range of different types and grades of doctor and it would not be possible to determine the average salary of a doctor.

Obesity

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many people had surgery for obesity aged (i) 21 years and under; (ii) 22-50 years; and (iii) over 50 years, in (a) 1998; and (b) 2008.

(AQW 8961/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: There were no surgical procedures carried out for obesity (bariatric surgery) in Health and Social Care Hospitals in Northern Ireland during either 1998 or 2008.

Budget Allocation

Mr D O'Loan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the budget allocation, before and after efficiency savings, made to the Northern Health and Social Care Trust for the years (i) 2007-08; (ii) 2008/09 and (iii) 2009/10; and any subsequent or planned budgetary adjustments.

(AQW 8964/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The Department does not allocate budgets directly to the Trusts. Funding is provided to the Health & Social Care Board, as well as the Public Health Agency.

The allocations made available to the PHA and HSCB are after the deduction of the total efficiency savings to be achieved.

The Northern HSC Trust achieved efficiency savings of some £8.2m in 2007/08 and their budget after these savings were deducted was some £450.1m. In addition, the budget allocations, before and after efficiency savings, made to Northern Trust in 2008/09 were:

	2008/09
Allocation before efficiency savings were deducted	£506.0m
Efficiency savings – target for 2008/09 in addition to the savings achieved by 2007/08	£11.7m
Allocation after efficiency savings were deducted	£494.3m

The overall budget allocation for Northern HSC Trust for 2009/10 is being refined. The efficiency savings target for Northern HSC Trust for 2009/10 is £26.5m (in addition to the savings achieved by 2007/08).

Drug Rehabilitation

Mr T Elliott asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail (i) the total number of people who have been given drug rehabilitation treatment; (ii) aged 16 and under; (iii) aged 21 and under; and (iv) the drugs for which they have received rehabilitation.

(AQW 8971/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Information on the number of people who have been given drug rehabilitation treatment is not available in the format requested. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the 1,984 individuals who presented to treatment services in 2007/08 by age groups and main drug of misuse. The information in table 1 has been treated for disclosure to protect individual’s confidentiality and therefore information for some drugs of misuse have been suppressed.

Table 1	Age Group
Main Drug of Misuse (¹)	16 & under	21 & under	All persons (²)
Cannabis	99	332	692
Ecstasy	15	46	84
Cocaine	-	31	201
Heroin	0	-	158
Other opiates	0	-	82
Benzodiazepines	-	37	622
Codeine & Paracetamol	0	-	48
Other drugs	-	13	97
Total	124	471	1,984

¹The main drug of misuse is the drug which is causing the individual the most problems at the time they presented themselves to the Agency for treatment.
²This column includes 11 individuals whose date of birth was not known.

Carers

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail whaThe is doing to ensure that people who have carers help for 1-3 hours per week have this help retained; and to outline why many people in this position are having their carers removed.

(AQW 8972/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Health and Social Care Trusts provide services in line with assessed need. My Department already spends over £630m supporting our older people in the community, including the provision of domiciliary care, and I am investing a further £60m in this CSR period to support an additional 1,500 older people.

I am also investing over £1m on the development and implementation of the Northern Ireland Single Assessment Tool for older people. The tool will ensure standardised, comprehensive assessment of needs are undertaken to enable Trusts, in consultation with service users, their families and carers, to provide the best possible package of care.

It is standard practice for the HSC to review a service user’s care needs to determine if those needs have changed, and how best the HSC can respond to any changes. In some cases this will result in increased support levels, just as with others, support may be reduced where, for example, a service user’s condition has improved.

Nurses Redeployed from Tyrone County Hospital

Mr B McElduff asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what action his Department has taken to address the concerns of nurses who have been redeployed from Tyrone County Hospital to the Erne and Altnagelvin Hospitals.

(AQW 8981/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Conditions of employment for individual staff are, in the first instance, a matter for the employing Trust. I am advised that concerns raised by nurses who have been redeployed are raised and addressed through their line management structure and through their Trade Union representatives who meet with the Western Trust on a regular basis.

I would also refer you to the answers I gave in response to AQW 8195/09 and AQW 8196/09.

Hoax Calls

Mr T Burns asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the of number of hoax phone calls that were responded to by (i) Ambulance Service; and (ii) Fire and Rescue Service, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 8983/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The table below provides the information requested:

Hoax call responses

	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
NI Fire and Rescue Service	1,714	1,394	1,279	1,204	1,099
NI Ambulance Service	1,914	1,824	1,951	1,903	1,430

Private Security

Mr T Burns asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the amount spent by his Department on private security in each of the last five years.

(AQW 8984/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: The cost of providing private security in hospital A&E Departments is met by the Health and Social Care Trusts. According to the information that is available this has amounted to £629,424 in 2004/05; £601,488 in 2005/06; £604,345 in 2006/07 and £768,216 in 2007/08, £759,613 in 2008/09.

Bed Blocking

Mr J Dallat asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to state what procedures are in place to ensure "bed blocking" is eliminated in hospitals; and that the highest level of co-ordination is in place to facilitate the smooth transfer from hospital to home or other suitable community care.

(AQW 8985/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: I have set stringent new targets for delayed discharge, which mean that, from April 2009, non-complex cases should be discharged within 6 hours of being declared fit and complex cases should be discharged within 48 hours of being declared fit. These targets are subject to rigorous monitoring arrangements and I can report that achievement rates for May 2009 are 96% and 88% respectively .

In tandem with improving systems within hospitals, we are also working to expand the range of flexible and responsive intermediate care services in the community. We already spend over £630m supporting our older people, and I am investing a further £60m over the CSR period in a wide range of community care support services to support at least an additional 1,500 older people in the community by March 2011.

Swine 'Flu

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, for a breakdown of how much money his Department has spent on Swine Flu, and what the money has been used for.

(AQW 8989/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: To date my Department has spent or firmly committed to some £29.9m of expenditure on swine flu for 2009/10. This expenditure has been incurred mainly on the purchase of pandemic vaccines, the purchase of antibiotics, anti-virals and consumables based on national agreements, storage and distribution, IT including the national flu line service, communications and staffing. Our current estimates expect spend on swine flu to be at least some £55m in 2009/10. These figures will continue to rise.

Nursing Posts

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he has agreed to the reduction of nursing posts by all five Health and Social Care Trusts under their efficiency plans.

(AQW 8990/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: All five Trusts did not propose reductions in nursing posts.

Health Service Staff Complaints

Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many complaints have been made by Health Service staff over the last three years.

(AQW 8991/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: There have been 525 complaints relating to employment issues made by Health and Social Care staff in the last two years. Similar information prior to the setting up of HSC Trusts in April 2007 is unavailable.

Paramedics

Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of paramedics employed by each Health and Social Care Trust.

(AQW 9007/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Paramedics are employed by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) Trust on a regional basis rather than by individual Health and Social Care Trusts. As at 31 st March 2009, there were 326 Band 5 paramedics (324.2 whole-time equivalent) and 47 (47.0 WTE) Band 6 Ambulance Officers (who are also paramedics) employed by the NIAS.

Note that the whole-time equivalent (WTE) number of staff is calculated by aggregating the total number of hours that staff in a grade are contracted to work, and dividing by the standard hours for that grade.

Paramedics

Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the salaries for all grades of paramedics employed by each of the Health and Social Care Trusts.

(AQW 9008/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Parmedics are employed by the Northern Ireland Ambulance HSC Trust and like all staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions of employment are paid in line with the responsibilities of their particular job. The Ambulance Officer role falls into Agenda for Change pay Band 6. Paramedic roles are currently paid at Agenda for Change Band 5 but this is under review pending a full job evaluation.

The current basic salary ranges for these pay bands are available at http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/PayCirculars/Pages/PaycircularAfC12009.aspx

In addition to the basic salary, these staff are also entitled to enhancements of up to 25% of their basis pay for working in the evenings and at weekends.

Swine 'Flu

Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail how many hours he has dedicated each week to Swine 'flu since its outbreak; and what proportion of his working time this represents.

(AQW 9009/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: Since its outbreak I have dedicated very many hours each week to swine flu. This has included:

Statements to the Assembly;
Briefing the Executive;
Briefing the Assembly Health, Social Services & Public Safety Committee;
COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers: Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with those Health Ministers;
Meeting Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning;
On site visits, to, for example, the Ulster Hospital and Belfast International airport;
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation; and
Media interviews

This work represents a substantial proportion of my working time.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr D O'Loan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (i) if he accepts that approximately 85% of Speech and Language Therapists graduating in Northern Ireland are forced to leave to seek employment; (ii) to confirm whether waiting lists of up to two years for speech therapy are common; and (iii) if he will take urgent action to address the imbalance between the supply and the demand for speech and language therapy.

(AQW 9012/09)

Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: My Department has no evidence to support the statistics quoted.

My Department is not aware of any two year waiting lists for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT). The current Allied Health Professional elective care standard states that no patient should wait longer than 13 weeks from referral to commencement of treatment. At 31 March 2009, the target to reduce SLT waiting times to 13 weeks had been achieved.

The number of commissioned training places for speech and language therapy is kept under regular review through the Department’s workforce planning mechanism and adjusted to ensure appropriate balance in supply and demand. The number of speech and language therapists in the workforce has increased by 14% over the past 3 years. In addition, speech and language therapy support staff numbers have more than doubled.

DEPARTMENT FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Castlerock Signal Box

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to AQW 8338/09, if he will reconsider applying for a preservation order on Castlerock signal box.

(AQW 8847/09)

Minister for Regional Development (Mr C Murphy): Under the Planning ( Northern Ireland) Order 1991 responsibility for protecting buildings of special architectural or historic interest lies with The Department of the Environment. I understand that the Department of the Environment is already considering the protection of the Castlerock signal box and officials in that Department will advise you of the outcome of that process in due course.

Manse Court to Main Street, Carrowdore

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development what action his Department is taking to provide a footpath from Manse Court to Main Street, Carrowdore, taking into account the safety of children walking to school.

(AQW 8960/09)

Minister for Regional Development: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that there are a number of proposed housing developments between Manse Court and Main Street, Carrowdore. As a condition of planning permission for these developments, developers will be required to provide footway links.

Following completion of the development works, Roads Service will reassess the need for any additional pedestrian facilities at this location.

Roads Service

Mr A Ross asked the Minister for Regional Development how many claims against Road Service have been made by members of the public who claim that their vehicles or property had been damaged during roads maintenance; and how many were successful, in each of the last three years.

(AQW 8968/09)

Minister for Regional Development: The table below sets out the number of claims received against Roads Service in each of the last three financial years in respect of damage to vehicles or property arising from roadworks.

If the roadworks were carried out by the Contractor on behalf of Roads Service, the claim is usually referred to that Contractor because the contract contains a clause indemnifying the Department against claims arising from the Contractor’s works. It is not known how many of those claims referred to Contractors were successful.

Some roadworks are undertaken internally by Roads Service Direct, the direct labour work provider within Roads Service.

The table also shows the number of claims that were referred to Contractors and the outcome of those remaining with the Department.

	08/09	07/08	06/07
Number of claims received	62	102	94
Number referred to Contractor	34	48	46
Number remaining with Department	28	54	48
Number successful	6	17	18
Number unsuccessful	18	35	30
Number outstanding	4	2	0

Unpaid Parking Tickets

Mr A Ross asked the Minister for Regional Development how many prosecutions have been secured for unpaid parking tickets in each of the last 3 years.

(AQW 8969/09)

Minister for Regional Development: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that the majority of parking offences changed from criminal offences to civil contraventions, in October 2006. This was when responsibility for parking enforcement transferred to Roads Service and became known as decriminalised parking enforcement. Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are now issued for parking contraventions, with a PCN representing a civil charge owing to a civil authority, i.e. the Department for Regional Development.

Unpaid PCNs cannot be pursued through the criminal courts, therefore, prosecutions cannot be secured. Unpaid parking penalties are pursued using the administrative process set out in the Traffic Management (NI) Order 2005. Ultimately, the Enforcement of Judgements Office, and Clamping and Removal operations may be used for the recovery of civil debt.

Unadopted Roads

Mr T Burns asked the Minister for Regional Development (i) to provide an updated list of unadopted roads in the South Antrim constituency; (ii) to detail which roads have been adopted in the last six month; and (iii) to detail which roads are likely to be adopted within the next six months.

(AQW 8995/09)

Minister for Regional Development: My Departments Roads Service has compiled the following updated list of roads in the South Antrim area that remain unadopted, and are subject to Private Streets Order Legislation:-

The Oaks, Church Road, Randalstown
Bramblewood, Ballytromery Road, Crumlin
Millmount, Bridge Street, Randalstown
The Brambles, Craigstown Road, Randalstown
Spire Way, Moneyglass
Between Castle Drive and Ashdale, Castle Road, Randalstown
Edgewood , Moylena Road, Antrim
St James Meadow, Cidercourt Road, Crumlin
Millhouse Village , Stiles Way, Antrim
Greenvale, Belmont Road, Antrim – 5 bonds unadopted
Birchdale, Portglenone Road, Randalstown
Riveroaks, Mill Road, Crumlin
Carnbeg, Kilbegs Road, Antrim
Millwater Lodge, Mill Street, Crumlin
Grangers Mill, Seven Mile Straight, Muckamore
Cherrygrove, Belfast Road, Antrim
Millview, Clonboy Walk, Randalstown
Castle Avenue , Castle Road, Randalstown
Bushforde, Steeple Road, Antrim – Phase 1
Bushforde, Steeple Road, Antrim – Phase 2
Maple Park , Lurgan Road, Crumlin
Glencraig Manor, Springfarm Road, Antrim
The Cedars, Cunningham Way, Antrim
Bleach Green, Islandreagh Drive, Dunadry
Main Street , Crumlin
Dublin Road , Antrim
Niblock Oaks, Niblock Road, Antrim
Lamonts Mill, Riverside, Antrim
Moylena Court , Cunningham Way, Antrim
Internal Roads, Junction One, Antrim
Main Street , Toomebridge
Bush Road , Antrim
Killtraugh Grange, Glenavy
Duneden Grove, Glenavy
Kilbride Lodge, Doagh
Glebecoole Park , Carnmoney
Lyle Hill Road East , Mallusk
Fernridge, Ballycraigy
Sally Gardens , Ballyclare Road
The Beeches, Mallusk
Michelin Road , Mallusk
Milewater Way , Mossley
Plantation Avenue , Ballyclare
Hawthorn Way, Ballyclare
Green Road , Ballyclare
Oakgrove Manor, Glenavy
Hydepark Road , Mallusk
The Longshot, Doagh
Millars Lane , Glenavy

(ii) The following roads have been adopted in the last six months:-

Glenoak Grange Close, Nutts Corner Road, Crumlin
Old Mill, Dunadry Road, Dunadry
Castle Lodge, Castle Road, Randalstown
Greenvale, Belmont Road, Antrim – 10 bonds adopted
The Mews, Cidercourt Road, Crumlin
Ballytromery Avenue , Ballytromery Road, Crumlin
Junction One, Ballymena Road, Antrim
Fox Lodge, Dunadry
Ballymena Road (south dualling), Antrim
Six Mile Manor, Ballyclare
20/30 Ballynure Road , Ballynure
Lyngrove Hill, Glenavy
Village Green, Ballyclare
Ashford Lodge, Ballyclare, Road

(iii) The following roads are likely to be adopted in the next 6 months:-

The Beeches, Mallusk
Duneden Grove, Glenavy

Public Roads

Mr J Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development what procedures are in place to ensure that the surface of all public roads is maintained at a standard which ensures vehicles can come to a halt in the shortest possible braking distance.

(AQW 9000/09)

Minister for Regional Development: My Department’s Roads Service constantly strives to improve road safety standards. One means of achieving this is to ensure that roads have a satisfactory level of skidding resistance, which reduces the risk of uncontrolled skids and improves braking efficiency.

Roads Service has a programme of measuring skidding resistance, using the Sideways-force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine (SCRIM), on the upper roads hierarchy, that is, motorways, trunk roads and non-trunk A Class roads, and reports annually on the percentage of the network which is equal to or below the relevant investigatory level. Roads Service engineers carry out investigations on all roads that are found to be below the investigatory level and arrange remedial work, where necessary.

Although routine measurements of skid resistance using the SCRIM vehicle are not carried out on the B, C and U class network, regular visual inspection surveys provide information which assists Roads Service engineers develop planned maintenance programmes, such as surface dressing, which makes a positive contribution to skidding resistance.

In addition, Article 8 of the Roads (NI) Order 1993, places a duty on Roads Service to maintain all public roads in reasonable condition. To comply with this obligation, Roads Service has in place a set of maintenance standards, which establish the frequencies for road inspections dependent on traffic volumes, and specify response times for the repair of defects.

Inspection frequencies vary from daily cycles for motorways, to four-monthly cycles for carriageways and footways carrying low volumes of traffic. Response times specified for the repair of defects are dependent on the severity of the defect and range from one calendar day, to the inclusion of the defect in the next work programme for that particular route.

Roads Service

Dr S Farry asked the Minister for Regional Development what instructions are given to Roads Service staff to enable them to respond to complaints from residents regarding flags erected on lampposts.

(AQW 9002/09)

Minister for Regional Development: In responding to all types of complaints, including those about flags erected on lampposts, officials from my Department’s Roads Service are required to act in an impartial, professional and open manner.

Roads Service officials are instructed to record the details of the complaint, and explain Road Service’s policy, in line with the multi agency Flags Protocol, and outline Roads Service’s role in support of the Flags Protocol lead agency, which is usually the PSNI. They should then confirm what steps will be taken next.

Roads Service officials are also required to follow the matter up, and ensure that any commitments made are carried out.

I do not, however, feel that the current multi-agency protocol which involves other Departments and agencies is adequate in effectively addressing the issue of the display of flags in public places in 2009. I believe that it needs reviewed and have outlined my position publicly in recent weeks.

Roads Service

Dr S Farry asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on the nature of the perceived threat that prevents the Roads Service from removing flags from lampposts in contrast to other illegally erected posters or advertisements.

(AQW 9003/09)

Minister for Regional Development: The removal of flags is significantly different from the removal of other illegally erected posters or advertisements, due to the political and societal sensitivities associated with flag flying in the North.

The risks that prevent my Department’s Roads Service from removing flags from lampposts are that:-

there is the threat to the safety of those involved in such work; and
there is the threat to public order where the removal of flags could raise tensions, or lead to even more flags being put up in an area.

To assess and manage these risks, Roads Service consults with the lead agency, in line with the multi agency Flag Protocol. This is usually the PSNI, but will include the other Protocol partners and community contacts, as appropriate.

Sewerage Infrastructure Ardmeen, Downpatrick

Mr P J Bradley asked the Minister for Regional Development whether work is planned that will permanently address the problem of foul odours that continue to emanate from the sewerage infrastructure in the Ardmeen area of Downpatrick.

(AQW 9010/09)

Minister for Regional Development: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water (NIW) that the chemical dosing regime introduced in April 2008 at Ballynagross Wastewater Pumping Station has proven largely effective in reducing malodours in the Ardmeen Green area of Downpatrick. However, on Tuesday 2 June 2009 a process fault at the local pumping station caused the dosing pumps to shut down and as a result malodours recurred. NIW immediately instructed its contractor to repair the station’s automatic dosing pumps and in the interim implemented a daily manual chemical dosing regime. This work was completed on Monday 8 June 2009.

Telemetry to remotely monitor the functionality of the site and the associated chemical dosing plant on a 24 hours-a-day basis is now fully operational and this will give NIW advance notice of any potential incidents and enable it to respond promptly. Regrettably, given the nature of the materials transported through the public sewerage system, it is not possible to guarantee that odours will never recur.

Translink

Mr P McGlone asked the Minister for Regional Development what processes are used for the tendering of fuel supply contracts for Translink in circumstances where alternative offers of contract have been made by other suppliers which may provide potential savings.

(AQW 9015/09)

Minister for Regional Development: Fuel supply is regularly tendered according to best practice and EU procurement regulations. A new tender process will start in September 2009, with the contract being advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and the Translink website for any interested suppliers.

Translink have advised me that the most economically advantageous offer was chosen in the last tendering exercise.

DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social Housing

Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development (i) to detail the number of social housing new builds completed in the last 2 years; and (ii) for a religious breakdown of the new tenants.

(AQW 8867/09)

Minister for Social Development (Ms M Ritchie): In relation to (i) the number of social housing units completed in the last two years is set out in the following table:-

Type	2007/08	2008/09
Existing Satisfactory Purchase	285	204
Off the Shelf	110	359
New Build	951	760
Rehabilitation	64	23
Re-improvement	0	19
Total	1410	1365

In relation to (ii) the religious breakdown of the new tenants is set out in the following table:-

	2007/08	2008/09*
Protestant	32.1%	30.8%
Catholic	59.2%	61.0%
Mixed	0.5%	0.2%
No religious belief	5.2%	4.1%
Other (not stated)	2.8%	3.8%
Muslim	0.1%	0.0%
Total **	100.0%	100.0%

* 2008/09 data is still provisional
** Total shown is 99.9% due to rounding

Community Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge

Mr P Doherty asked the Minister for Social Development (i) if her Department has considered the application submitted by Strabane District Council, through the North West Development Office, to provide funding towards the community pedestrian and cycle bridge across the river Mourne in the town (ii) if the Department is supportive of this application; (iii) to provide a timescale as to when a decision will be made about this application; and (iv) when an announcement will be made on it.

(AQW 8903/09)

Minister for Social Development: Officials in my North West Development Office are currently considering the application for funding made by Strabane District Council. However, given the nature and escalating costs of this project it is important that a robust and comprehensive project appraisal is carried out and that the relevant financial, technical and specialist information is fully considered and evaluated.

It is unlikely that any decision will be made on this application before late summer. However when a decision is taken, there will be an announcement, as appropriate.

Housing Executive

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development the average time taken for the sale of Housing Executive houses, from initial enquiry to completion, and how this compares to (i) 12 months ago; and (ii) 24 months ago.

(AQW 8904/09)

Minister for Social Development: The average time taken for the sale of Housing Executive dwellings from initial enquiry to completion was 32 weeks in 2008/09. This compares to 44 weeks in 2007/2008 and 49 weeks in 2006/07.

Housing Executive

Mr J Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development how many properties the Housing Executive has sold in each constituency in the past twelve months.

(AQW 8905/09)

Minister for Social Development: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table details the number of dwellings sold by the Housing Executive by District Office area in 2008/2009:-

Housing Executive District Office	House sales 2008/09
Belfast West	4
Belfast East	0
Belfast North	2
Belfast Shankill	0
Belfast South	3
Bangor	0
Newtownards	1
Castlereagh	1
Lisburn Antrim Street	2
Lisburn Dairyfarm	1
Downpatrick	3
Banbridge	0
Newry	3
Armagh	3
Lurgan	0
Portadown	1
Dungannon	1
Fermanagh	8
Ballymena	3
Antrim	1
Newtownabbey 1	0
Newtownabbey 2	4
Carrickfergus	0
Larne	1
Ballycastle	1
Ballymoney	2
Coleraine	1
Londonderry 1	2
Londonderry 2	4
Londonderry 3	1
Limavady	0
Magherafelt	0
Strabane	0
Omagh	1
Cookstown	0
Total	54

Press and Public Relations Department

Mr S Gardiner asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of staff employed in her Department's press and public relations department and their overall cost in each year from 2003/04 to 2008/09.

(AQW 8925/09)

Minister for Social Development: The tables below detail the numbers of staff employed within the Department for Social Development in the press and public relations department and the associated salary costs for each financial year from 2003/04 to 2008/09.

Year	Information Grades* (WTE)	Admin Grades** (WTE)	Total Staff Nos.	Total Salary Costs
2003-04	PIO, SIO, IO = 3 staff	4 staff	7	£165,422
2004-05	PIO, SIO, IO = 3 staff	4 staff	7	£189,066
2005-06	PIO, 2 x SIO, IO, AIO = 5 staff	3 staff	8	£236,250
2006-07	PIO, 2 x SIO, IO, AIO = 5 staff	3 staff	8	£232,987
2007-08	PIO, 2 x SIO, IO, AIO = 5 staff	2 staff	7	£212,364
2008-09	PIO, 2 x SIO, IO, AIO = 5 staff	2 staff	7	£240,887

*Information Officer Grades: PIO, Principal Information Officer, SIO, Senior Information Officer IO, Information Officer, AIO, Assistant Information Officer.
**Admin Grades: Administration Assistant, Administration Officer, Executive Officer 2

All figures shown are Whole-time equivalent (WTE)

Housing Executive Maintenance Grants

Mr M Brady asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people who have received confirmation that their Housing Executive maintenance grants have been accepted, broken down by parliamentary constituency and Housing Executive divisional area, since she came into office.

(AQW 8939/09)

Minister for Social Development: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the table below details home improvement grant approvals by District Council and by Housing Executive areas for the period April 2007 to June 2009.

District Council Area	Housing Executive Administrative Area	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10 (to June 09)	Total

Belfast	Belfast	1,415	1,234	152	2,801

Carrickfergus		85	55	8
Larne		98	41	6
Newtownabbey		195	102	13
Antrim		82	53	6
Ballymena		62	58	5
Ballymoney		56	54	12
Coleraine		88	106	11
Moyle		33	40	4
TOTALS:	North East	699	509	65	1,273

Armagh		267	175	30
Craigavon		458	407	88
Fermanagh		685	570	41
Banbridge		122	104	4
Newry & Mourne		724	568	45
TOTALS:	South	2,256	1,824	208	4,288

Ards		161	104	25
Castlereagh		134	117	10
North Down		171	123	29
Down		236	222	25
Lisburn		208	201	30
TOTALS:	South East	910	767	119	1,796

Derry		424	375	26
Limavady		128	126	5
Magherafelt		164	139	8
Strabane		223	232	21
Cookstown		256	237	30
Dungannon		306	285	37
Omagh		290	269	18
TOTALS:	West	1,791	1,663	145	3,599

OVERALL TOTALS		7,071	5,997	689	13,757

Housing Executive Maintenance Grants

Mr M Brady asked e Minister for Social Development, of those people who had received confirmation that their Housing Executive maintenance grants had been accepted, since she came into office, how many subsequently received notice that their grants will not be honoured, broken down by parliamentary constituency and Housing Executive divisional area.

(AQW 8940/09)

Minister for Social Development: All statutory grant applications that have been formally approved by the Housing Executive will be honoured.

New Build Social Housing

Mr A Ross asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, all (i) new build social housing; and (ii) maintenance work in the East Antrim constituency, in each of the last 3 years.

(AQW 8978/09)

Minister for Social Development: The details regarding the Housing Executive’s new build social housing and maintenance work for the East Antrim Constituency for the last 3 years is set out in the following tables:-

Social Housing Development Programme activity

Year	Housing Association	Scheme	Units	Need Group
2006/07	Choice	Hawthorn Grove, Carrickfergus	2	General Needs
	Choice	Gardenmore Place , Larne	14	Mental Health
	Fold	Railway Cottages, Taylors Avenue, Carrickfergus	26	Elderly (CAT 3)
	NIHE	Marine Hotel, Carrickfergus	25	Single Homeless
	NIHE	Marine Hotel, Carrickfergus Phase 2	5	Single Homeless
2007/08	BIH	1-3 Victoria Street , Carrickfergus	5	Vulnerable Women
2008/09	Clanmil	Beechlands, Carnlough	6	General Needs
TOTAL			83

Housing Executive Maintenance & Improvement Programme 2006/07

District Office Area	Scheme Name	Dwellings	Work Group
Carrickfergus	Greenisland	0	Grounds Maintenance
Carrickfergus	10 Cragfergus Ct Land Drainage	0	Estate Infrastructure
Carrickfergus	Drumhoy Heat Upgrade	33	Heating Installation
Carrickfergus	Dunloskin	48	Revenue Replacement
Carrickfergus	Kinbayne Kitchens	66	Revenue Replacement
Carrickfergus	Whitehead	0	Grounds Maintenance
Carrickfergus	Sunnylands	0	Grounds Maintenance
Carrickfergus	Carrickfergus	391	External Cyclical Maintenance
Larne	Ferris Park	171	External Cyclical Maintenance
Larne	Antiville	147	External Cyclical Maintenance
Larne	Millbrook/Craigyhill	86	Revenue Replacement
Larne	Fairway	74	Multi Element
Larne	Craigyhill Phase 9	35	Multi Element
Larne	Millbrook/ Antiville	81	Heating Installation
Newtownabbey 1	Newtownabbey 1 Ph 2 E7	70	Heating Installation
Newtownabbey 1	1-11 Altnacreeve Park - Flood	0	Estate Infrastructure
Newtownabbey 1	The Diamond Drainage & Access	0	Estate Infrastructure
Newtownabbey 1	Rathcoole Multis	116	Special Revenue
Newtownabbey 1	Abbeyglen	38	External Cyclical Maintenance
Newtownabbey 1	Ballyronan/Rathmore	90	Revenue Replacement
Newtownabbey 1	Woodland Crescent	49	Multi Element
Newtownabbey 1	Clonmore Green	20	Multi Element
Newtownabbey 1	11 & 13 Coolderry Gdns Ret Wal	0	Estate Infrastructure

Housing Executive Maintenance & Improvement Programme 2007/08

District Office Area	Scheme Name	Dwellings	Work Group
Carrickfergus	Glenfield Voids	4	Multi Element
Carrickfergus	Greenisland Phase 9	31	Multi Element
Carrickfergus	Glenfield Cap Kitchens	31	Single Element
Carrickfergus	Woodburn Ph 7	30	Multi Element
Larne	Antiville Cap Kitchens	34	Single Element
Larne	Beachlands Flats	5	Multi Element
Larne	Glynn, Ballystrudder, Chan Vis	0	Grounds Maintenance
Larne	Ferris Park Ph 1	42	Multi Element
Larne	Linn Road/Craigyhill	273	External Cyclical Maintenance
Larne	Antiville	49	Revenue Replacement
Newtownabbey 1	Glenville Green Ei	0	Environmental Improvement
Newtownabbey 1	Old Irish H'way Subsidence	0	Estate Infrastructure
Newtownabbey 1	21-33 Ardranny Dr Land Drain	0	Estate Infrastructure
Newtownabbey 1	O'Neill Road Hostel Repl Sewer	0	Estate Infrastructure
Newtownabbey 1	N'abbey 1 Elect Testing & Rep	300	Revenue Repair
Newtownabbey 1	Barna Sq/Abbeyville Pk Etc	48	Revenue Replacement
Newtownabbey 1	Rathcoole	0	Grounds Maintenance
Newtownabbey 1	Newtownabbey 1 Zone 1	395	External Cyclical Maintenance
Newtownabbey 1	Bawnmore/Longlands	265	External Cyclical Maintenance

Housing Executive Maintenance & Improvement Programme 2008/09

District Office Area	Scheme Name	Dwellings	Work Group
Carrickfergus	Woodburn	0	Grounds Maintenance
Carrickfergus	Carrickfergus	254	External Cyclical Maintenance
Larne	Larne Central	0	Grounds Maintenance
Newtownabbey 1	Newtownabbey 1 Ph 6	98	Heating Installation
Newtownabbey 1	Newtownabbey 1 Zone 4	194	External Cyclical Maintenance
Newtownabbey 1	Glencoole House	72	Multi Element
Newtownabbey 1	Ardmillan Dr/Ardgart Pl Etc	101	Revenue Replacement

Private Sector Grants

Mr B McElduff asked the Minister for Social Development to outline whaTher Department is doing to reinstate funding to honour commitments already made by the Housing Executive for Private Sector Grants; and when the grants will be paid.

(AQW 8979/09)

Minister for Social Development: This year £20.25 million has been allocated to fund the Private Sector Grants Scheme. Grant applications where the formal approval has been issued will continue as normal and payments will be made in line with current standards of service. However new non mandatory grant applications are not being accepted at this time due to the shortfall in funding.

I welcome the Executive's decision that £20 million will be made available for social housing in the June Monitoring Round. However, the £20 million only addresses part of what is a £100 million shortfall in the Housing Budget. I will continue to bid in future monitoring rounds to protect the housing agenda.

Private Sector Grants

Mr B McElduff asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of applications for Private Sector Grants in the districts of Omagh and Strabane that are being cancelled or rejected by the Housing Executive under direction from her Department.

(AQW 8980/09)

Minister for Social Development: The Department has not directed the Housing Executive to cancel or reject any applications. The table below details the discretionary grant applications and preliminary enquiry cases in the districts of Omagh and Strabane which have been/are to be cancelled by the Housing Executive since 1 April 2009. These will be held on file in the event that additional funding may become available at some future date. The Housing Executive will be write to all cases cancelled or refused due to the lack of funds and explain the approach to be taken.

District	Number of Grant Applications	Number of Preliminary Enquiry Cases	Total
Omagh	73	314	387
Strabane	88	210	298
Total	161	524	685

Disability Living Allowance

Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development to detail by constituency (i) how many Disability Living Allowance appeals were requested in 2008/09; (ii) how many were successful; and (iii) what was the average clearance time.

(AQW 9006/09)

Minister for Social Development: The information cannot be provided in the detail requested as The Appeals Service does not maintain statistical data on the basis of constituency areas.

In total The Appeals Service received 6,953 Disability Living Allowance appeals in 2008/09.

There were 5,756 final determinations by a tribunal, on Disability Living Allowance appeals, during 2008/09 and of those final determinations 1,948 were more advantageous to the appellant.

The average clearance time for Disability Living Allowance appeals during 2008/09 was 16 weeks

Social Security Agency

Mr D O'Loan asked the Minister for Social Development (i) how many staff at each of SSO I and SSO II levels have been appointed by each local office of the Social Security Agency in each of the last twelve months; (ii) how many of these in each case have an address within the area served by the office to which they were appointed; and (iii) for the same periods how many staff at each of these grades there were in each office with an address (a) in; and (b) outside, the area served by that office.

(AQW 9011/09)

Minister for Social Development: Tables 1 and 2 below set out the number of SSO1s and SSO11s that have been appointed to local offices of the Social Security Agency during the period from 01 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 and the number of those staff appointed with an address within the area serviced by that local office. Table 3 provides details at 31 March 2009 of the number of SSOIs and SSOIIs in each local office with an address either in or outside the area served by that office.

Table 1

(i) and (ii) SSOIs

	(A) = Number of staff appointed (B) = Number of staff appointed with an address within area serviced by office
Local Office	Jul-08		Aug-08		Sep-08		Oct-08		Nov-08		Dec-08		Jan-09		Feb-09		Mar-09		Apr-09		May-09		Jun-09
	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)
Andersonstown							2	0													2	1	1	0
Falls Road							1	0
Shankill					1	0																	1	0
Shaftesbury Square																	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	0
Carrickfergus																					1	0
Corporation Street													1	0
Larne																					1	1
Newtownabbey																							1	1
Bangor																					1	0
Holywood Road																	1	0
Ballymena																			1	1			1	1
Coleraine																							1	1
Cookstown																							1	0
Strabane																					2	0	1	0

Table 2
(i) and (ii) SSOIIs

	(A) = Number of staff appointed (B) = Number of staff appointed with an address within area serviced by office
Local Office	Jul-08		Aug-08		Sep-08		Oct-08		Nov-08		Dec-08		Jan-09		Feb-09		Mar-09		Apr-09		May-09		Jun-09
	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)	(A)	(B)
Andersonstown			2	1	1	1									1	1	3	2	1	0
Falls Road	1	0													1	0	1	1	2	1
Lisburn															1	0			2	2	1	0
Shaftesbury Square	1	0	1	0													4	1	1	1
Carrickfergus																					2	0
Corporation Street	4	0	1	0			1	0							1	0	7	0	2	2	3	0
Larne																							1	0
Newtownabbey	1	0															4	3	3	0
Shankill	1	0			1	0											2	0	1	0
Ballynahinch																			2	1
Bangor																			1	1	1	1
Holywood Road	1	0			2	0									1	0	3	1	2	1	1	1
Knockbreda	3	0			3	0									1	0	1	0	2	1	1	0
Newcastle																			2	1
Newtownards																	1	0
Antrim																	5	2			1	1	1	1
Ballymena																			1	0
Limavady																			1	1
Magherafelt																	1	0
Dungannon																	1	0
Newry																	2	0
Armagh																			1	0	1	0	1	0
Banbridge																			2	0
Lurgan																	3	1
Portadown																			3	1
Lisnagelvin																	1	1	1	0
Foyle																	2	0	2	1
Omagh																	1	0	1	1	1	1
Enniskillen																	2	0

Table 2
(i) and (ii) SSOIIs

Current Office	Grade				Total
	SSO1		SSO2		Total
	Living within office boundary		Living within office boundary		Living within office boundary
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
ANDERSONSTOWN	11	29	31	27	42	56
ANTRIM	6	8	18	11	24	19
ARMAGH	16	8	23	12	39	20
BALLYMENA	7	7	14	8	21	15
BALLYMONEY	6	2	14	1	20	3
BALLYNAHINCH	3	1	1	5	4	6
BANBRIDGE	6	1	9	6	15	7
BANGOR	12	0	20	4	32	4
CARRICKFERGUS	6	0	6	5	12	5
COLERAINE	12	4	19	10	31	14
COOKSTOWN	5	3	11	5	16	8
CORPORATION STREET	4	49	11	52	15	101
DOWNPATRICK	9	6	9	4	18	10
DUNGANNON	9	2	21	7	30	9
ENNISKILLEN	17	0	22	0	39	0
FALLS ROAD	1	16	10	20	11	36
FOYLE	18	14	32	25	50	39
HOLYWOOD ROAD	9	17	16	22	25	39
KILKEEL	3	1	10	0	13	1
KNOCKBREDA	3	10	1	16	4	26
LARNE	6	1	16	1	22	2
LIMAVADY	5	1	13	0	18	1
LISBURN	4	12	13	7	17	19
LISNAGELVIN	6	8	14	12	20	20
LURGAN	8	4	23	1	31	5
MAGHERAFELT	7	3	9	3	16	6
NEWCASTLE	5	0	7	3	12	3
NEWRY	14	4	23	7	37	11
NEWTOWNABBEY	4	7	9	10	13	17
NEWTOWNARDS	9	5	12	5	21	10
OMAGH	15	6	24	7	39	13
PORTADOWN	3	8	6	17	9	25
SHAFTESBURY SQUARE	0	17	1	38	1	55
SHANKILL ROAD	0	11	6	13	6	24
STRABANE	13	0	18	0	31	0
ALL OFFICES	262	265	492	364	754	629

Note: Only cases where postcodes could be matched are recorded

REVISED WRITTEN ANSWERS

Friday 7 August 2009

(AQW 9001/09)

I have no such plans in place because it is not the responsibility of my Department to ensure that buildings do not constitute a danger to the public or become a ‘honey pot’ for drug addicts and abusers. Responsibility for the upkeep and safety of such buildings lies with their owners.

(AQW 7614/09)

On each of the days listed, primary diary commitments were superseded by the need to respond urgently to the impending threat of a Swine Flu pandemic.

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 5 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

(AQW 7616/09)

On each of the days listed, primary diary commitments were superseded by the need to respond urgently to the impending threat of a Swine Flu pandemic.

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 5 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

(AQW 7618/09)

On each of the days listed, primary diary commitments were superseded by the need to respond urgently to the impending threat of a Swine Flu pandemic.

Other than my Swine Flu statement to the Assembly on Tuesday 2 May and Oral Questions on Monday 11 May, my time was predominantly spent engaged in the following:

COBRA teleconference meetings with Alan Johnson, former Secretary of State for Health, and the Devolved Health Ministers; Edwina Hart, Minister of Health and Social Services for Wales and Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing;
Individual teleconference meetings with Health Ministers and Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children in the Republic of Ireland;
Meetings with Public Health Doctors;
Meetings with my CMO, senior departmental officials and their staff re Health & Social Care emergency planning
Regular briefings from emergency planning officials regarding the evolving situation.

Friday 7 August 2009

Written Answers to Questions

Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister Agriculture and Rural Development Education Employment and Learning Enterprise, Trade and Investment Environment Finance and Personnel Health, Social Services and Public Safety Regional Development Social Development Revised Written Answers

OFFICE OF THE FIRST MINISTER AND DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER

European Union

Executive Office in Brussels

European Policy and Co-Ordination Unit

Economic Stimulus Measures

Consultants

Executive

Conflict Transformation Centre

Statement from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister regarding the future of the Maze/Long Kesh masterplan.

08 April 2009

Maze/Long Kesh

People with Disabilities

Capital Budget

National Childcare Strategy

Public sector targets

Playboard

Green New Deal Group

After School Programmes

Maze/Long Kesh

The Maze Site

Press and Public Relations

Peace III Projects

Meetings with the Prime Minister

Equality Bill

Decommissioning by Loyalist Groups

Office of Commissioner for Older People and a New Victims and Survivors’ Service

PfG Targets

A. Relative income poverty

B. Absolute income poverty

C. Mixed low income and material deprivation

Foreign Nationals

Head of the NI Civil Service

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Flags

Single Equality Bill

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

EU Veterinary Fund

EU Veterinary Fund

Efficiency Savings Proposals

Efficiency Savings Proposals

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

Bovine TB

June Monitoring Round

Press and Public Relations

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Farm Modernisation Scheme

Floods

Ulster Farm By-Products Plant

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Neighbourhood Renewal

European Law

Nursery Places

Swine Flu

Epilepsy

Post Primary Transfer

Teacher's

Classroom Assistant

Classroom Assistant Mainstream

Classroom Assistant Special Needs

Classroom Assistant Additional Special Needs

JOB EVALUATION: CLASSROOM ASSISTANT SCALES EFFECTIVE FROM 1 APRIL 2008

Notes:-

Teacher's

Notes

Classroom Assistant

Secondary Schools

DEPARTMENT FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING

Queen's University Academic Plan

Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Agriculture and Rural Development
Education
Employment and Learning
Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Environment
Finance and Personnel
Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Regional Development
Social Development
Revised Written Answers