NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY

Friday 06 July 2007

Written Answers to Questions

Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
Agriculture and Rural Development
Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education
Employment and Learning
Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Environment
Finance and Personnel
Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Regional Development
Social Development

Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister

Northern Ireland Bureau

Mr David Burnside asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister what direct business input there has been to the management and direction of the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington D.C. (AQW 375/07)

The First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness): Economic Development is one of the primary objectives for the Northern Ireland Bureau. The business community is actively involved in the Bureau’s management through an informal economic advisory group of business people from both the United States and Northern Ireland, based in the Greater Washington, DC area. Members of this network were consulted in the development of the Bureau’s strategy and meet regularly with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Invest NI and Ministers during economic development visits to Washington, DC.

Contract to Draft Legislation

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to give details of all private companies under contract to draft legislation on behalf of Northern Ireland government departments; and the total costs incurred due to the use of these companies in each of the last three years. (AQW 585/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: The Office of the Legislative Counsel in our Department drafts all primary legislation (Assembly Bills) for the Executive’s Legislative Programme. Normally the drafting of subordinate legislation (Statutory Rules) is carried out by officials in the relevant department with the assistance of the Departmental Solicitor’s Office in the Department of Finance and Personnel.

The Department for Regional Development employed the law firm Herbert Smith to provide legal advice in relation to the development of the new arrangements for delivering water and sewerage services. This included the drafting of some subordinate legislation but we understand that the cost of this cannot be readily disaggregated from the total cost of advice provided.

Lisburn City Council

Mr Paul Butler asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister if it will examine the reasons why the Equality Commission did not ensure Lisburn City Council's compliance with its recommendations on the Council's policy in respect of flags, arising from the investigation of 4 July 2006. (AQW 649/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister has no legal authority to scrutinise investigations undertaken by the Equality Commission under its powers and duties contained in Schedule 9 to the NI Act 1998, except where they relate to Government Departments.

Unemployment and Economic Inactivity

Ms Martina Anderson asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister what steps it has taken, in legislative and policy measures, to address the religious differential in terms of unemployment, long-term unemployment, and economic inactivity. (AQW 668/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: While we note from the Labour Force Survey 2005 religion report that progress has been made since 1990, we remain committed to tackling the differential experience in unemployment between the two communities and a range of measures both legislative and non-legislative have been put in place to deal with this.

One of the challenges is the need to tackle inequality in the labour market. Key to tackling such inequality is the creation of employment opportunities as a primary route out of poverty and the promotion of equality of opportunity.

New Targeting Social Need has in the past directed resources and effort at those in greatest need as a means of reducing community differentials. Future policy to tackle poverty and patterns of deprivation must continue to be based on objective need. In addition, a strong framework of fair employment and broader anti-discrimination legislation provides protection from discrimination in the area of employment, including training, recruitment and promotion.

Policy responsibility to help people move towards and into work rests with the Minister for Employment and Learning. Programmes and services for the unemployed and economically inactive are available to all eligible clients, irrespective of their community background.

Equality Impact Assessment

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to provide a schedule of equality impact assessments conducted by each department, including the number of policies screened out, and those which were subject to a full equality impact assessment, over the past two years. (AQW 865/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: The details requested by the member are published in the annual reports on implementation of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which are submitted annually to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland by each individual Department. Details for 2004/05 and 2005/06 are currently available on Departments’ respective websites. Information for 2006/07 is in preparation and will be available at the end of August 2007, when these reports are submitted to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Rural Poverty

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to detail what steps it has taken to identify the extent of rural poverty in Northern Ireland, and what action it proposes to deal with the issue. (AQW 893/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: The preferred Government method of measuring poverty is through the Family Resources Survey. This survey was first introduced to Northern Ireland in 2002/03. The survey is sponsored by the Department for Social Development (DSD). The survey incorporates a geographical marker that allows for poverty levels to be compared on an urban and rural basis.

The most recent year for which data has been published by DSD is 2004/05. Results for 2004/05 estimated that 19% of all individuals live in relative income poverty after adjustments for housing costs have been made. A household is classed as being in relative income poverty if the household income is less than 60% of the contemporary median income level.

In terms of urban and rural, the level of relative income poverty in the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (BMUA) of 17% compares with 23% in other urban areas and 19% in rural areas.

‘Lifetime Opportunities – Governments Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland’(which still has to be formally considered and adopted by the Executive Committee) highlights that while poverty and multiple deprivation tend to be concentrated in urban areas, rural communities are also at risk with high levels of deprivation in less accessible rural areas.

Within the strategy the need, to strengthen the social and economic infrastructure of rural areas by supporting farm based non-agri businesses and non-farm small rural businesses in the creation of rural jobs, is recognised. Government commits to work to ensure that rural and fisheries dependent villages and communities in greatest need, are sustained and regenerated and have equitable access to public services and programmes. Government further commits to seek to build a strong rural community infrastructure which will help provide economic and social opportunities for everyone, but in particular, for young people who want to live and work in the countryside.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DARD) vision of a thriving and sustainable rural community and environment means that it is engaged in many activities that will directly and indirectly tackle rural poverty.

DARD is in the final stages of obtaining approval for it’s 2007-13 Rural Development Programme. This programme will invest over £500m in rural areas over the next 6 years, with the focus on supporting the farming industry, improving the environment, and improving the quality of life in rural areas. The Programme will make a significant contribution to Government’s Anti Poverty strategy by supporting initiatives to ensure that, by 2015, the needs of rural communities are met by equitable access to public services and programmes and through programmes which enhance economic opportunities in rural areas and strengthen their social infrastructure.

In addition DARD’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise aims to build up a skilled workforce within the agri-food sector by providing training opportunities for those entering and working in the industry, and development programmes to assist the development of competitive and sustainable farm businesses.

Staff Surveys

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister how many staff surveys were carried out by this department in each of the last two years, and what was the total cost. (AQW 916/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister has undertaken a total of 20 staff surveys in the last 2 years, 14 in 2005/06 and 6 in 2006/07 at a total cost of £750.

Older People's Commissioner

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to provide details of work undertaken by junior Ministers in relation to the creation of an Older People's Commissioner. (AQW 947/07)

Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: A key concern for Ministers is how best to champion older people’s issues and Junior Ministers have been given particular responsibility for older people.

This matter of an Older People’s Commissioner was debated by the Assembly on Tuesday 5^th June when an undertaking was given to examine carefully the case for establishing such an office.

Junior Ministers will now agree how this assessment should be taken forward and on completion of the work will seek agreement on proposals through the Executive Committee, in consultation with the Departmental Committee.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Tree Felling Licences

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she will consider the introduction of tree felling licences. (AQW 814/07)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Gildernew): My Department has completed an extensive review of forestry policy which resulted in the publication of Northern Ireland Forestry: A Strategy for Sustainability and Growth in March 2006 and which confirmed future forest policy and produced a strategy for its delivery.

A key recommendation is to regulate the felling of trees so that woodland owners will be compelled to manage their woods with greater consideration to sustainability, including the timing and extent of felling and the composition of regenerating woodlands.

It will be necessary to amend the Forestry Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 to give effect to the proposed regulation and I am currently considering this and other amendments to the Act. Once drafted, there will be a formal 13 week consultation period when interested parties will be given the opportunity to comment on the changes and the Bill will also be considered within the Assembly.

Rivers Agency

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development how many Rivers Agency officials are available within her department to address problems in (a) Ards Borough, and (b) Strangford. (AQW 818/07)

Ms Gildernew: Drainage and flooding problems in Ards Borough and Strangford Council Areas are handled by the Rivers Agency’s Eastern Region Office in Lisburn (which covers the Greater Belfast and Lisburn areas)

Routinely 10 industrial workers together with 2 Foremen are available for frontline operations in these areas. These are supervised and managed by the respective Area Engineers and other engineering and technical staff who have broader management responsibilities across wider areas. These frontline staff may be augmented by staff from other Rivers Agency Areas as the scale and nature of an emergency may demand.

Detailed information on the deployment of staff may be obtained from the Rivers Agency’s Regional Manager in Lisburn at Telephone 028 92606110.

Fishing Industry

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide figures for those who have been working in the fishing industry in 2004, 2005 and 2006. (AQW 821/07)

Ms Gildernew: My Department gathers information regarding the number of people employed in the fishing industry, including the processing and marketing sector as well as those employed in professions related to the fishing industry in the harbours of Ardglass, Kilkeel, Portavogie and the North Coast ports. Minor ports are not included.

In 2004, there were 1433 people employed full-time and 227 employed part-time within the fishing industry. In 2005, there were 1401 employed on a full-time basis, with 268 employed part-time. In 2006, 1319 were employed in the fishing industry full-time, with 282 employed part-time.

Bird Flu

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, with reference to the recent outbreak of bird flu in Wales, what steps she has taken, and proposes to take in the future, to ensure that Northern Ireland and its agricultural interests are protected from a possible outbreak. (AQW 897/07)

Ms Gildernew: My Department is constantly monitoring developments and reviewing the risk of Avian Flu being introduced to Northern Ireland. A range of preventive measures are in place, which are on-going, to address the risk of Avian Flu entering Northern Ireland and to prevent it spreading in poultry. Surveillance of domestic poultry and wild birds is undertaken. A NI Bird Register is in place to gather essential information about poultry, game and other captive birds for the purposes of risk assessment, disease prevention and control. My Department has issued extensive guidance to bird keepers on biosecurity measures to protect their birds. This is also available on the DARD website.

In response to confirmation of low pathogenic Avian Flu H7N2 in North Wales, my Department carried out an assessment of the risk and took additional precautionary measures to minimise the risk of spread of the disease to Northern Ireland. A temporary precautionary ban was imposed on the movement of poultry from Great Britain to attend bird gatherings in Northern Ireland. Additional General Licence conditions were introduced in relation to imports of poultry and ornamental fowl from Great Britain to ensure protection and traceability were maintained. My Department reiterated its advice that bird keepers remain vigilant for signs of disease and maintain good biosecurity and reminded bird keepers of the requirement to register on the NI Bird Register. These precautionary steps were in proportion to the risk associated with the Wales outbreak. Throughout the outbreak, my Department worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Welsh Assembly Government, and in conjunction with NI stakeholders, to monitor developments and to keep the position under review. Very close contact was also maintained with the Department of Agriculture and Food in Dublin.

As regards future steps, it is my intention that the range of on-going preventive measures that is already established in Northern Ireland will remain in place. In addition, my Department will continue to keep the Avian Flu situation and the need for further measures under constant review in proportion to the level of risk.

My Department has a contingency plan in place to ensure that Avian Flu is dealt with quickly and effectively if it does occur here.

DARD Staff Surveys

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development how many staff surveys were carried out by her department in each of the last two years, and what was the total cost. (AQW 915/07)

Ms Gildernew: The following table highlights the number of staff surveys conducted by DARD over the last two years and the total cost involved in conducting these surveys.

Year	Number of surveys	Total cost
2005/06	8	£10,078
2006/07	7	£9,070.50

Staff Employed Beyond the Age of 65

Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what facility exists, at present, for members of staff in her department to work in their existing post beyond the default retirement age. (AQW 937/07)

Ms Gildernew: Since 1 October 2006 staff in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development wanting to continue working beyond the default retirement age of 65 can apply to do so. Until the NICS policy has been finalised all such applications are approved for periods of up to 6 months, and extended at up to 6 monthly intervals (subject to the normal performance and attendance requirements). To date all staff in DARD have remained in their existing posts.

Flooding at Killyleagh Football Club

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what steps she will take to alleviate the flooding at Killyleagh Football Club playing fields; and if she will consider providing a larger water pipe crossing the main road in order to help the water to drain. (AQW 941/07)

Ms Gildernew: Rivers Agency is investigating the recent flooding at Killyleagh Football Club playing fields and the scope and responsibility for remedial action. The culverted watercourse crossing the football field (which may have contributed to the flooding) is not designated under the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 and therefore maintenance is the responsibility of adjacent occupiers of land. Rivers Agency is not yet in a position to comment on the adequacy of the main road culvert but will liaise with DRD Roads Service on this as necessary. Road culvert would be a matter for Roads Service.

Flooding at Killyleagh Football Club

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to explain why the excess water at Killyleagh Football Club playing fields was not cleared by officials, following their call to the site on Sunday 17 June 2007. (AQW 942/07)

Ms Gildernew: When Rivers Agency officials attended the flooding incident on 17 June they placed sand bags to protect the Club pavilion. The depth of flood waters and the need for further investigation of the complex drainage system affecting the playing fields made it impossible to clear excess water. This was achieved during a further site inspection on 20 June. I would explain that in the initial emergency response to flood reports Rivers Agency’s immediate priority is to alleviate risk to life, and damage to built property such as dwellings or, in this case, the pavilion.

Watercourse at Greyabbey

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to confirm that Rivers Agency is responsible for the water course that runs behind numbers 2 and 4 Strangford View, Greyabbey; and to explain why her department has stopped cleaning the metal grid that covers the entrance to the water course. (AQW 943/07)

Ms Gildernew: The watercourse in question is not designated within the terms of the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 and therefore Rivers Agency has never had responsibility for maintenance of either the watercourse or the metal grid (grille) that covers the entrance to it. Responsibility for maintenance rests with adjacent landowners. The Agency did however provide an emergency response to reported flooding at this location on 15 June 2007 and, on a one-off basis to alleviate flooding, cleared the blocked grille.

Underspend of European Funding

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail, as a consequence of N+2 underspend, (a) the amount of European funding not spent by her department; (b) the amount of European funding transferred to other departments or agencies; (c) how transferred monies were ultimately spent; and (d) what impact this has had on meeting the outcomes contained within the Rural Development Action Plan. (AQW 965/07)

Ms Gildernew: As a consequence of N+2 underspend my Department:

(a) did not spend €1,500,000 (EU) and €500,000 (National) from Measure 1.4 of the Interreg programme;

(b) all of this funding was transferred to either the Department of Finance and Personnel or the Department of Regional Development;

(c) this money was transferred to other Interreg measures which directly target rural economic and business development projects and the improvement of rural infrastructure in cross-border hinterlands.

(d) as the reallocated funds remained within the Interreg Programme it was used to achieve the targets contained in that programme such as creating and safeguarding jobs in rural businesses / enterprises.

Use of Meat and Bone Meal

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what is his department's policy on the use of meat and bone meal. (AQW 991/07)

Ms Gildernew: The use of meat and bone meal must be conducted in accordance with the EU Animal By-Products Regulation No. 1774/2002, which is implemented by the Animal By-Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003. The options for use depend on whether it is considered to pose a high risk to animal and public health, for example, if it contains Specified Risk Material; or a low risk if it contains material that was fit for human consumption. Depending on the risk, meat and bone meal may be used for energy production, as an organic fertiliser, or in petfood.

Bridge Replacement at Aghagallen

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to give a timescale for the replacement of the bridge on the laneway to the farm at 109 Cornakinnegar Road, Aghagallen. (AQW 1063/07)

Ms Gildernew: As advised in a letter of 18 June 2007 from officials in DARD, Rivers Agency, there are no plans to replace the bridge. A site inspection by Rivers Agency staff failed to identify any hydraulic reason to replace the bridge. Rivers Agency did not construct the bridge therefore responsibility for its structural integrity and replacement rests with the riparian owner.

Culture, Arts and Leisure

Multi -Sports Stadium

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he will disclose the reasons why the potential sites for a multi-sports stadium, other than the Maze prison, were ruled out. (AQW 811/07)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr Poots): All the sites submitted for consideration for a Shared Future Multi-Sports Stadium were initially subject to a rigorous technical review covering planning, transport, contamination, site assembly and other related issues. The short-listed sites were then tested against cost, development potential and acceptability to the three sports bodies, Soccer, Rugby and Gaelic. Only the Maze/Long Kesh site was deemed capable of delivering against these criteria. This report will be made available on request.

Multi-Sports Stadium

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he will make available, in full, all information relating to the selection of the site for the proposed multi-sports stadium. (AQW 812/07)

Mr Poots: All relevant information in relation to the selection of the site for the proposed Multi-Sports Stadium will be released once negotiations with the 3 sports bodies and business planning exercises are completed and a decision is reached. In the meantime, the SIB is planning to release the technical study that covered the deliverability criteria in response to a request it has received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lough Neagh

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what plans he has to work with local authorities to regain ownership of the soil and bed of Lough Neagh. (AQW 906/07)

Mr Poots: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has never owned the bed and soil of Lough Neagh. As this Department’s only relevant statutory functions on Lough Neagh are restricted to dredging and marking the mouth of the River Sixmilewater, I can confirm that I have no plans to take forward the possibility of bed and soil purchase from its owners.

Multi-Sports Stadium

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail (a) the organisation responsible for the preparation of the business case for a multi-sports stadium at the Maze; (b) when the business case was completed; and (c) when it was submitted to the department. (AQW 939/07)

Mr Poots: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were engaged in 2005 on behalf of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Strategic Investment Board to prepare an economic appraisal on a multi-sports stadium for Northern Ireland. PwC are currently updating this appraisal and preparing an outline business case. Work on the updated outline business case is well advanced and will be considered by the Department once complete.

Promoting Target Sports

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, further to his answer to AQW 358/07, to detail the target sports that have applied for funding from Sport NI; and when the decisions will issue. (AQW 979/07)

Mr Poots: Sport NI (SNI) is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of funding. The Minister for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) can confirm that Comber Shooting Club, in conjunction with Hollow Farm Shooting Club, together with Dungannon Rifle and Pistol Club have applied for funding to improve their grounds through the Elite Facilities Competition for Northern Ireland’s Olympic/Paralympic Sports.

The decision on who can proceed to the second stage of the Elite Facilities Programme will be taken by SNI’s Council at its meeting on Tuesday 4^th September 2007.

New Library in Newtownards

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to outline the total cost of the new library for Newtownards. (AQW 980/07)

Mr Poots: The cost of the new library in Newtownards was estimated, in March 2006, to be in the region of £3.3m. This figure is subject to revision as more detailed costs are identified as part of the ongoing appraisal process.

Multi-Sports Stadium

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if the Strategic Investment Board has employed the services of external consultants in preparing a business case for a multi-sports stadium at the Maze, and if so, to name the consultants. (AQW 998/07)

Mr Poots: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were engaged in 2005 on behalf of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Strategic Investment Board to prepare an economic appraisal on a multi-sports stadium for Northern Ireland. PwC are currently updating this appraisal and preparing an outline business case for the Multi-Sport Stadium. PwC are also completing a business plan which will assess the operational viability of the Multi-Sports Stadium.

International Football Games

Lord Browne asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what steps he has taken, or intends to take, to ensure that international football games can continue to be played in Northern Ireland. (AQW 1020/07)

Mr Poots: Responsibility for ensuring international football games can continue to be played in Northern Ireland rests with the Irish Football Association (IFA) which is the governing body of soccer in Northern Ireland. I am currently developing proposals for a new Multi-Sports Stadium which will meet the future facility requirements of the IFA for international football. In the meantime, Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure officials, in conjunction with Sport Northern Ireland, are in discussions with the IFA over their current needs for staging international football games in Northern Ireland.

Soccer Strategy

Lord Browne asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to explain why a key recommendation of the 'Soccer Strategy', namely the provision of modern facilities exclusively for football, has not been implemented. (AQW 1021/07)

Mr Poots: Primary responsibility for implementing the recommendations of the ‘Soccer Strategy’ rests with the Irish Football Association, which is the governing body of football in Northern Ireland. The IFA has developed a facilities strategy for football which is designed to enable more modern facilities to be provided for the game. Sport Northern Ireland (SNI), with support from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), is assisting the IFA with the implementation of this facilities strategy. The ‘Soccer Strategy’ did not recommend that modern facilities should be provided exclusively for football.

Ulster- Scots Agency

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail (a) the recruitment process used to appoint the first interim chief executive of the Ulster-Scots Agency; (b) when he took up the appointment; and (c) when he left the position. (AQW 1032/07)

Mr Poots: The first interim Chief Executive of the Ulster-Scots Agency was recruited through a NICS wide trawl notice/interest circular and took up the appointment on 2 December 1999. He resigned from the position as Accounting Officer of the Ulster Scots Agency on 2 August 2001 and retired from the Civil Service on 14 August 2001.

Arts Council of NI and An Chomhaírle Ealaíon

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what matters of co-operation and mutual interest have been brought forward as a result of the North-South committee meetings between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and An Chomhairle Ealaíon, during the years 2005-2007. (AQW 1035/07)

Mr Poots: During the years 2005-07 the following matters of co-operation and mutual interest were brought forward as a result of the North-South committee meetings between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and An Chomhairle Ealaíon:

A joint art exhibition organised at the Glucksman Gallery, Cork, in partnership with the British Council (as part of the European Capital of Culture programme, 2005);

Consideration of the advantages and benefits of continuing to fund organisations on a joint basis;

Agreement to review the arrangements for the appointment of members to the board of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre;

Agreement to jointly fund a curated visual arts award;

Proposals to encourage north/south touring;

Agreement to update and upgrade the Arts and Disability Handbook from a printed to an online publication;

Agreement to co-operate on a joint language and traditional arts initiative (pilot launched May 2007);

Agreement to support a common position urging an amendment to the rules relating to VAT on non-resident artists’ earnings;

Agreement to support the formation of a literature touring network on a pilot basis for three years.

Soccer Strategy

Lord Browne asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to advise (i) at what stage is the 'soccer strategy'; and (ii) what recommendations from the Soccer Advisory Panel have yet to be implemented. (AQW 1044/07)

Mr Poots: The governing body of soccer in Northern Ireland, the Irish Football Association (IFA) has agreed to implement the ‘soccer strategy’ and is currently doing so with assistance from Sport Northern Ireland (SNI) and the support of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). All the recommendations from the Soccer Strategy Advisory Panel are currently being implemented, but work to date has focused mainly on governance and administration, youth football and facilities.

Education

Homophobic Bullying

Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Education what plans she has to ensure that all secondary-level schools have policies in place to deal with homophobic bullying. (AQW 533/07)

The Minister of Education (Ms Ruane): All schools are required by law to have measures in place to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.

The Department’s publication 'Pastoral Care in Schools: Promoting Positive Behaviour’ offers detailed guidance, practical initiatives and case studies to support schools to tackle bullying. However, the detail of each school’s policy and their approach to tackling bullying of any type is a matter for each school to determine in consultation with pupils and parents.

Within the next few weeks, the Department will be publishing a research report on the nature and extent of bullying in the North of Ireland. This will provides us with further insight into the nature and extent of bullying in our schools and will help us in our efforts to tackle this problem.

Staff Non-Pensionable Bonuses

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister of Education to outline how many non-pensionable bonuses were paid to staff in her department in each of the last three years; and what steps she has taken to ensure that such bonuses are not used as a cheaper alternative to an appropriate salary increase. (AQW 640/07)

Ms Ruane: Non-pensionable bonuses can be paid to staff at all grades to reward performance in two ways: (a) as part of the annual pay round, and (b) under the NICS Special Bonus Scheme. The number of payments made in the last three financial years is as follows:

Year	Performance - related bonuses	Special Bonuses
2004/05	670	37
2005/06	562	42
2006/07	563	157

Performance related bonuses are an important and integral element of the NICS reward strategy, and as such are used as part of the annual pay round to acknowledge and reward higher performing staff in year.

The NICS Special Bonus Scheme allows Departments to reward staff for exceptional performance in particularly demanding tasks.

The award of bonuses is therefore regarded as being complementary to, rather than as a substitute for, the award of consolidated pay increases.

Merger of Donaghadee and Movilla High Schools

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Education what is the timescale for the proposed merger of Donagahdee High School and Movilla High. (AQW 656/07)

Ms Ruane: The South Eastern Education and Library Board has commenced preliminary consultations with Donaghadee High School and Movilla High School in relation to a potential rationalisation between the two schools. A formal consultation by the Board is expected to commence during the forthcoming autumn term. Should the Board decide to proceed with the rationalisation, it would be required to publish a statutory development proposal which would initiate a 2-month period during which all interested parties can make their views known to the Department of Education. The Board has suggested September 2008 as the date for rationalisation though this would be subject to the consultation process, and the subsequent approval of a development proposal. No decisions have therefore been made at this time.

Merger of Donaghadee and Movilla High Schools

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Education what assurances she can give to the staff of both Donaghadee High and Movilla High, in terms of job security, following the proposed merger of the two schools. (AQW 658/07)

Ms Ruane: The South Eastern Education and Library Board (the Board) has commenced preliminary consultations with Governors, staff and parents at Donaghadee High School and Movilla High School, Newtownards, in relation to a potential amalgamation of the two schools.

If the proposed amalgamation proceeds, teaching staff at both schools would be offered posts in the new school and be eligible for protection under the terms of the Collective Agreement with the Teachers’ Unions (Teachers’ Negotiating Committee Circular - TNC 1999/4). This Agreement ensures (inter alia) that in the two years immediately following the date of the amalgamation, there will no compulsory redundancies of those permanent teachers who transfer to the new school. In addition, it provides that transferring teachers, who are unable to secure a post of a similar level of responsibility in the new school and thus suffer a reduction in salary, are eligible for a Re-organisation Allowance (Department of Education Circular 1996/1) to protect their salary to the level they would have been paid had they remained in their previous post.

There is no comparable agreement for other staff in the schools. However, the Board would make every reasonable effort to find employment for all non-teaching staff who would want to continue working, whether this is in the new school or at a suitable alternative location.

Armagh Integrated College

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister of Education to detail the capital expenditure costs of Armagh Integrated College over the past four financial years. (AQW 675/07)

Ms Ruane: Armagh Integrated College opened in 2004 as a new grant maintained integrated (GMI) school. As for all new GMI schools, it must satisfy intake criteria set down by the Department of Education before capital grant aid is provided. The capital expenditure for this school has to date been incurred by the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) amounting to £59k in 2005-06 and £9.7m in 2006-07.

Special Needs Pupils

Dr William McCrea asked the Minister of Education what is the current policy in relation to enabling young people attending special needs schools to remain in education after their nineteenth birthday, until the end of the school term; and to detail if this policy is equally applied across all education and library board areas in Northern Ireland. (AQW 686/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department of Education has obtained extra-statutory approval for the 2006/07 school year to allow Education and Library Boards to maintain a statement of special educational needs until the end of the school year following the young person’s 19^th birthday. An extension of that approval will be sought for the 2007/08 school year. Boards are currently preparing information for the Department to enable this extra-statutory approval to be sought. The Department of Education will be taking the first available legislative opportunity to amend the current legislation, which only allows Boards to maintain a statement of special educational needs until the end of the school term following the young person’s 19^th birthday.

I have sought and obtained assurances from each education and library board that this change of policy is equally applied across all 5 boards.

Ulster-Scots Language

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Education which organisation made the representation to her department, in January 2001, regarding the lack of educational resources available for the teaching of the Ulster-Scots language. (AQW 702/07)

Ms Ruane: This representation was made by Balnamore Primary School.

Expenditure for Ulster - Scots

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Education to itemise the expenditure of £69.95, which was the total expenditure by her Department in relation to Ulster-Scots in the year 2003-2004. (AQW 703/07)

Ms Ruane: This expenditure was due to the translation of a leaflet entitled ‘Information about Transfer Tests and New Post-Primary Arrangements’ into Ulster-Scots.

Funding for Additional Administrative and Support Staff

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education if she will undertake to review the resources allocated to primary schools, with specific reference to the provision of funding for additional administrative and support staff in schools, and to the discrepancy between the primary school and secondary school surplus funds. (AQW 708/07)

Ms Ruane: The rationale for the differential in funding for primary and secondary schools stems from the additional cost demands which arise for secondary schools in the delivery of the curriculum. I am, however, committed to reducing the current differential and will be looking very carefully, within the resources I can secure for education under the Comprehensive Spending Review, at how we can improve the current balance and allow more investment in early years. At a local level, it is for school boards of governors and principals to determine how best to spend their funding allocations in meeting their needs and priorities, including provision of administrative and support staff. This includes the flexibility, in the interests of prudent financial management, to hold modest surpluses in reserve in order to allow the school to live within its budget allocation or to plan for specific future expenditure.

Teacher Education

Mr David McClarty asked the Minister of Education if she will consider introducing a bursary scheme to support teachers' continuing professional development. (AQW 709/07)

Ms Ruane: My Department and the Department for Employment and Learning are jointly carrying out a review of teacher education.

The Review is almost complete and Sir Reg Empey, the Minister for Employment and Learning and I will, in the coming months, be carefully considering the way forward on all aspects of teacher education. This will include consideration not only of the introduction of a bursary scheme to support teachers’ continuing professional development but also the way forward on all phases of teacher education: initial teacher education, induction, early and continuing professional development. In considering the way forward account will be taken of the overall resources made available for education.

School Meals

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of schools in each Education and Library Board area, where meals are prepared on site, that are buying in pre-packed sandwiches for sale to pupils. (AQW 715/07)

Ms Ruane: The number of schools in each Board area, where meals are provided on-site, that are buying-in pre-packed sandwiches for sale to pupils is:

Belfast: 19

North-Eastern: 12

South-Eastern: 15

Southern: 9

Western: 19

School Meals

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the amount of funding allocated for the provision of school meals that is actually used for this purpose. (AQW 716/07)

Ms Ruane: Education and Library Boards receive allocations to cover the delivery of the full range of services that they provide, including school meals. It is a matter for each Board to determine how much of its centre allocation is spent on school meals. Additionally, however, my Department is allocating a further £3 million to schools in the current financial year which is ring-fenced and must be used to ensure that expenditure on the food and nutritional content value of school meals amounts to at least 50p in nursery, primary and special schools and 60p in post-primary schools.

Early Years Strategy

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Education if she will review the maximum size of pre-school education groups, currently set at 26 places, with particular reference to rural areas. (AQW 717/07)

Ms Ruane: My Department is currently working on an Early Years Strategy for the 0-6 age group. Policy responsibility for early years services transferred from DHSSPS to DE in November 2006. I will ensure this issue, particularly as it may impact on rural areas, is taken into consideration as the new policy for early years is developed.

Education Transition Co-ordinators

Dr William McCrea asked the Minister of Education what is the current position in regard to the recruitment of two education transitions co-ordinators per Education and Library Board area, as outlined in the report of the Transitions Inter-departmental Working Group; and to detail when the positions were (a) advertised; and (b) filled. (AQW 722/07)

Ms Ruane: I am advised by the Chief Executive Officers of the Education and Library Boards (ELBs) that following the publication of the Transitions Report in February 2006, all permanent appointments to the post of Education Transition Co-ordinators were made by March 2007.

Home Tuition

Dr William McCrea asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children who have been in receipt of home tuition in the North Eastern Education and Library Board area in each of the last three years. (AQW 754/07)

Ms Ruane: The information requested is shown in the following table:

School Year	Number of Pupils in Receipt of Home Tuition
2003/04	188
2004/05	242
2005/06	237

Figures for the 2006/07 school year are not yet available.

11+ Examination

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to explain the rationale behind the instruction given to staff to find a way of replacing the 11+ examination, no matter what form this replacement takes. (AQW 761/07)

Ms Ruane: No such instruction has been given.

Draft Disability Action Plan

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to explain the reasoning behind the omission of the term 'Northern Ireland' from her department's draft disability action plan, with particular reference to the inclusion of the term in this document when initially posted on the department's website, and its subsequent removal during the course of the week commencing 11 June 2007. (AQW 764/07)

Ms Ruane: The draft Disability Action Plan was published on the Department of Education website on the 5^th June for a limited and targeted consultation.

This version did not reflect my preferred terminology in a number of respects and an amended version was placed on the Departmental website on 7^th June. There were no substantive changes made to the actions or intentions of the plan which are the subject of consultation.

Maintenance Expenditure by SEELB

Mr Jimmy Spratt asked the Minister of Education to detail the total spend on maintenance within the South Eastern Education and Library Board, in this financial year. (AQW 767/07)

Ms Ruane: I have been advised that the amount of maintenance expenditure by the South Eastern Education and Library Board during the 2006/07 financial year was £3,935k.

School Meals

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail what measures she will take to maintain the current level of school meal preparation at schools across Northern Ireland. (AQW 804/07)

Ms Ruane: The arrangements for school meal preparation are an operational matter for the Education and Library Boards. However, the Member will be assured to know that, for 2007-08, the Department is continuing to provide additional, earmarked funding of over £3 million to Education and Library Boards and other school authorities over and above the normal centre budget allocations to improve the quality of food in schools. That funding helps deliver enhanced food and nutritional content value of school meals. It also supports training arrangements for the many hundreds of canteen staff and assists with additional staff costs and preparation time.

Pupils Attending Post Primary Schools

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children currently attending secondary schools in (a) the state sector; (b) the maintained sector; and (c) the integrated sector, in each Education and Library Board area. (AQW 805/07)

Ms Ruane: The information requested is as follows:

Pupils attending Post Primary Schools in each Education and Library Board Area 2006/07

	Education and Library Board area
School Management Type	Belfast	Western	North Eastern	South Eastern	Southern	Total
Controlled	5,807	6,113	15,442	10,847	11,265	49,474
Maintained¹	8,954	10,631	6,130	4,535	11,821	42,071
Integrated²	1,586	1,750	2,122	3,713	1,555	10,726
Voluntary³	14,382	8,482	8,961	6,998	8,671	47,494
Total	30,729	26,976	32,655	26,093	33,312	149,765

Note:

¹Maintained schools include Catholic Maintained and Other Maintained schools.

²Integrated schools include Controlled Integrated and Grant Maintained Integrated schools.

³Voluntary Grammar schools may be Catholic Managed or Other Managed.

Children with Autism

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Education how she plans to improve services for children with autism. (AQW 822/07)

Ms Ruane: In 2002 the Task Group on Autism published its report providing a framework for action over a ten-year period. Since its publication the Department of Education (DE) has secured additional resources totalling some £7.5m to support positive measures in the area of autism. Many of these measures are already underway, however future measures include:

additional resources for special educational needs (SEN) pressures made available to the Education and Library Boards (ELBs) in 2007/08;

the continued funding of an Interboard Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) group to advise the ELBs’ Regional Strategy Group and DE on progress on ASD-related matters;

the implementation of the strategy for the Interboard ASD Group to progress the work of the group within the ELB’s overall ASD services and to which ELBs are committed;

the ongoing observation by the Education and Training Inspectorate of the use of DE-produced classroom resources to support positive interventions for children with ASD.

the establishment by ELBs of multi-disciplinary, multi-agency intervention practices for children and young people with autism.

The Department plans to work closely with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, through the SEN Interdepartmental Group, to jointly review ASD provision.

DE and the Department of Education and Science (DES), are taking forward arrangements to enable the Middletown Centre of Excellence for Autism to begin offering services later this year.

In addition, DE and DES are exploring the possibility of jointly hosting an all-island ASD conference, also later this year.

Devenish College

Mr Tom Elliott asked the Minister of Education what is the estimated start date and completion date for the new Devenish College in Co Fermanagh. (AQW 878/07)

Ms Ruane: The Western Education and Library Board has advised that the estimated date for construction work to start on the new Devenish College is autumn 2008 with an estimated completion date of spring 2011.

Expenditure for Teaching Irish Language and Irish-Medium

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Education to confirm that, in 2006/07, her department's expenditure on the Irish language and Irish-medium teaching was close to £13 million. (AQW 909/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department of Education’s expenditure on the Irish language and Irish-medium teaching for 2006/07 is provisionally £11,721,530.

Staff Surveys

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Education how many staff surveys were carried out by her department in each of the last two years, and what was the total cost. (AQW 914/07)

Ms Ruane: In the two years 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007 the Department of Education commissioned two staff surveys and the total cost was £10,324

Primary School in Keady

Mr Cathal Boylan asked the Minister of Education what is the future of the state primary school in Keady; and if she will make a statement on the effect of the closure of small rural schools on the local community. (AQW 925/07)

Ms Ruane: The Southern Education and Library Board has initiated discussions with this school on its future but these discussions are at an early stage and no decisions have yet been taken.

Rural schools are an important and integral part of rural life and I fully understand community concerns when the future of such schools is under review. Reviews of small rural schools should be handled carefully with a focus on educational quality and the needs of the children in the area.

Post Retirement Age

Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Education what facility exists, at present, for members of staff in her department to work in their existing post beyond the default retirement age. (AQW 936/07)

Ms Ruane: Since 1 October 2006 staff in the Department of Education, who want to continue working beyond the default retirement age of 65 can apply to do so. Until the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) policy on the age of retirement has been finalised all such applications are automatically approved for periods of up to 6 months, and extended at up to 6 monthly intervals (subject to the normal performance and attendance requirements).

Number of Pupils Attending Primary School

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children currently attending primary schools in (a) the state sector; (b) the maintained sector; and (c) the integrated sector, in each Education and Library Board area. (AQW 951/07)

Ms Ruane: The information requested is as follows:

Pupils¹ attending Primary Schools in each Education and Library Board Area 2006/07

	Education and Library Board area
School Management Type	Belfast	Western	North Eastern	South Eastern	Southern	Total
Controlled	10,032	9,170	23,957	21,880	14,411	79,450
Maintained²	13,072	20,509	12,054	10,919	22,769	79,323
Integrated³	847	1,105	1,714	2,343	1,282	7,291
Voluntary⁴	1,320	0	147	615	38	2,120
Total	25,271	30,784	37,872	35,757	38,500	168,184

Note:

Figures include children in nursery, reception and Year 1 – 7 classes.

Maintained schools include Catholic Maintained and Other Maintained schools.

Integrated schools include Controlled Integrated and Grant Maintained Integrated schools.

Includes preparatory departments of Voluntary Grammar schools.

Administrative and Advisory Staff

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of additional administrative and advisory staff recruited by (a) Education and Library Boards; and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, in the last two years. (AQW 959/07)

Ms Ruane: The 5 Education & Library Boards and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools have advised that they have not recruited any additional administrative and/or advisory staff in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 financial years. This answer relates to permanent appointments that are additional to the 2004/05 approved staffing complement for ELB and CCMS Headquarters based staff. Fixed term appointments and temporary appointments are therefore excluded.

A Vacancy Control Policy was introduced in October 2006 in the Department’s "RPA-affected bodies", following the publication of the agreed Public Service Commission Principle ‘Managing Vacancies Effectively’, to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to safeguard and secure the employment of existing education sector staff until the new Education and Skills Authority is established.

Heads of Departments Redundancies

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of heads of department that will be made redundant, and the total cost of redundancy payments, in (a) each Education and Library Board; and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. (AQW 960/07)

Ms Ruane: The number of posts in the Education and Skills Authority will be determined by the arrangements established for the delivery of services and the associated organisational structure. Work in these areas is ongoing and it is not therefore possible, at this stage, to determine the number and cost of redundancies arising from the establishment of ESA.

Every effort will be made to avoid compulsory redundancies and as part of this process a Vacancy Control Policy has been put in place across existing education organisations.

Second Tier Officer Redundancies

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of second tier officers that will be made redundant, and the total cost of redundancy payments, in (a) each Education and Library Board; and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. (AQW 961/07)

Every effort will be made to avoid compulsory redundancies and as part of this process a Vacancy Control Policy has been put in place across existing education organisations.

Chief Executive Redundancies

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of Chief Executives that will be made redundant, and the total cost of redundancy payments, in (a) each Education and Library Board; and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. (AQW 962/07)

Every effort will be made to avoid compulsory redundancies and as part of this process a Vacancy Control Policy has been put in place across existing education organisations.

Suicide Prevention in Schools

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Education what plans she has to liaise with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the development of strategies and support, in order to address suicide prevention within schools and the community sector. (AQW 967/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department of Education contributed to the development of the Suicide Prevention Strategy published by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in March 2006. My Department is also an active member of the Suicide Strategy Implementation Body. The action plan for this Body sets out a number of measures aimed at preventing suicide across all age groups and communities. These actions require close co-operation across Departments as well as with the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.

I have met with the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety to examine progress with these measures and to discuss how to ensure effective co-operative working in this area. I plan to continue monitoring progress on a regular basis.

Alcohol Abuse in Schools

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of pupils excluded from schools as a result of alcohol abuse, broken down by Education and Library Board area, in each of the last three years. (AQW 990/07)

Ms Ruane: Statistics on the reasons for pupil suspension are gathered annually from each Education and Library Board, and relate to the number of incidents of suspension not to the number of pupils suspended. In 2002/03, data on alcohol abuse was combined with data on substance abuse, however from 2003/04 it has been identified separately. Available information on the number of incidences of suspension for alcohol abuse is shown in the following table:

Number of incidences of pupils being suspended for Alcohol Abuse by ELB area
	2003/04	2004/05
Belfast	3	6
Western	11	14
North Eastern	0	16
South Eastern	29	7
Southern	8	27
Total	51	70
Note
There was a change in the data collection systems between these two years

Reasons for pupil expulsions were first collected in 2003/04, and alcohol abuse was combined with data on substance abuse. In 2004/05, data on alcohol abuse was collected separately and, in that year, there were 2 pupils expelled for this reason.

The suspension and expulsions statistics for the 2005/06 school year are currently being analysed and will be placed on the DE website when this has been completed.

Promotions in Catholic Maintained Schools

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education how many existing staff in (a) each Education and Library Board; and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools have been promoted, in advance of the implementation of the Review of Public Administration recommendations. (AQW 993/07)

Ms Ruane: The 5 Education and Library Boards (ELBs) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) have provided the following information for the period 22 November 2005 (when the Review of Public Administration was announced) to 31 March 2007. The information relates only to non-teaching ELB and CCMS headquarter based staff and reflects only permanent promotions, ie fixed term promotions and temporary promotions are excluded.

BELB	WELB	NEELB	SEELB	SELB	CCMS
15	20	23	16	29	6

Teacher to Pupil Ratios

Mr Pat Ramsey asked the Minister of Education to detail the current target teacher-to-pupil ratios at each of the key stages in primary and secondary schools; and what plans she has to change target ratios in the near future. (AQW 1008/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department of Education does not set targets for pupil: teacher ratios. It is for schools to decide, within their delegated budgets, how many teachers to employ.

Pupil:teacher ratios are compiled and published each year by the Department based on pupil numbers from the Annual School Census and teacher numbers verified with schools.

The following table provides the current (2006/07) pupil:teacher ratios for schools in the North of Ireland by school type.

School type	Pupil: teacher ratio
Nursery	25.9
Primary*	20.8
Preparatory	16.8
Secondary	14.0
Grammar	15.3
Special	5.9
All	16.9

*includes pupils and teachers in Nursery classes

School Attendance

Ms Ruane: The information requested is as follows:

Primary	Secondary
1985/86 1990/91 1995/96 2000/01 2005/06	182,697 152,917 184,874 141,146 185,413 151,576 172,491 155,553 161,143 151,840

Note:

Figures for primary include pupils in primary schools and preparatory departments in grammar schools in years 1 – 7.

Secondary includes both secondary and grammar schools

Pupils Learning English as an Additional Language

Mr Dominic Bradley asked the Minister of Education how many pupils learning English as an additional language are attending (a) primary schools; (b) special schools; (c) post-primary selective schools; (d) post-primary non-selective schools, in each of the Education and Library Board areas, and what are the countries of origin of these pupils. (AQW 1015/07)

Ms Ruane: Information on the country of origin of pupils learning English as an Additional Language is not collected. The number of pupils with English as an Additional Language in each school sector, by Education and Library Board and by main language spoken is as follows:

English as an Additional Language pupils in primary¹ schools by first language spoken ²

Main Language spoken	Belfast	Western	North Eastern	South Eastern	Southern	TOTAL
Polish	79	120	120	30	261	610
Lithuanian	10	25	31	22	274	362
Portuguese	*	*	15	*	193	217
Filipino	62	16	19	46	25	168
Cantonese	42	9	32	44	15	142
Malayam	38	13	17	18	0	86
Hindi	19	*	22	8	10	63
Arabic	12	7	6	17	*	43
Latvian	0	6	5	*	28	43
Indian	6	5	9	18	*	41
Bengali	16	0	*	19	*	39
Slovakian	13	*	8	*	14	39
Mandarin	10	7	6	*	7	34
Urdu	9	7	8	*	6	32
Punjabi	13	5	9	*	*	31
Russian	7	*	7	*	13	31
German	7	*	6	5	7	29
Tagalog	13	*	6	7	0	28
Spanish	7	*	*	7	*	22
Malaysian	5	*	*	*	*	15
French	5	*	*	0	*	14
Hungarian	*	7	*	0	*	13
Gujarati	*	*	0	0	7	10
Italian	*	0	0	7	*	10
Czech	*	0	7	0	0	9
Chinese	*	0	*	*	*	8
Albanian	7	0	0	0	0	7
Korean	*	*	*	0	0	6
Thai	*	*	0	*	0	6
Dutch	*	0	*	*	*	5
Farsi (Persian)	0	5	0	0	0	5
Other Languages/ not specified³	55	33	68	47	54	257
TOTAL	453	292	417	325	938	2,425

English as an Additional Language pupils in special schools by first language spoken ²

Main Language spoken

Belfast

Western

North Eastern

South Eastern

Southern

TOTAL

Other

Languages/ not specified³

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary selective schools by first language spoken ²

Main Language spoken	Belfast	Western	North Eastern	South Eastern	Southern	TOTAL
Cantonese	66	*	*	8	44	122
Polish	*	7	*	*	*	17
Lithuanian	*	*	0	0	5	8
Indian	0	*	*	*	0	7
Mandarin	6	0	0	0	*	7
Filipino	*	0	0	0	*	5
German	*	0	0	*	0	5
Urdu	*	0	0	*	0	5
Other Languages/ not specified³	33	7	12	9	*	63
TOTAL	119	19	21	23	57	239

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary non selective schools by first language spoken ²

Main Language spoken	Belfast	Western	North Eastern	South Eastern	Southern	TOTAL
Polish	32	24	41	19	113	229
Lithuanian	5	14	7	22	118	166
Portuguese	*	*	0	6	102	112
Cantonese	13	6	8	29	8	64
Filipino	43	*	*	*	*	53
Latvian	0	6	*	*	21	30
Spanish	*	*	0	*	17	21
Hindi	*	0	5	8	*	18
Indian	6	6	0	5	0	17
Bengali	6	0	0	6	*	13
Mandarin	*	*	*	*	*	13
Urdu	0	0	*	*	7	12
German	0	9	0	*	0	10
Hungarian	0	*	0	0	7	10
Arabic	5	*	0	0	0	8
Punjabi	0	0	5	*	*	8
Malaysian	*	*	0	0	*	5
Other Languages³	12	17	17	20	54	120
TOTAL	133	100	92	125	459	909

Notes:

"*" denotes fewer than 5 pupils.

Figures for primary schools include preparatory departments in grammar schools and enrolments in years 1 – 7.

Country of origin information is not collected by the Department. An alternative indicator is the main language spoken by these pupils. It is this information that has been provided.

The "Other Languages" category includes those languages which were listed by schools as ‘Other first language spoken’, as well as those first languages were there were very small numbers of pupils listed.

New School at Glastry

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to outline whether a price been agreed concerning the site for a new school at Glastry, following the discussions between the South Eastern Education and Library Board and the landowners. (AQW 1016/07)

Ms Ruane: Negotiations for the purchase of the land are currently ongoing between the Land and Property Services (Valuation and Lands Agency), who are acting for the South Eastern Education and Library Board, and the landowners. Subject to the outcome of these negotiations the Board have advised that they hope to complete the acquisition of the land within the current financial year.

Sale of Land for Glastry College

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to give a timescale for the completion of the sale of land for Glastry College; and to outline whether a direct contract been developed with the landowners, and, if so, what has been the outcome of negotiations. (AQW 1017/07)

English as an Additional Language

Mr Dominic Bradley asked the Minister of Education to detail (a) the number of pupils learning English as an additional language that are currently fee-paying boarding pupils in schools in Northern Ireland; (b) what schools they attend; and (c) what are their countries of origin. (AQW 1018/07)

Ms Ruane: Information on the countries of origin of pupils learning English as an Additional Language is not collected. In 2006/07 the number of pupils with English as an Additional Language who are fee-paying boarding pupils by school attended and by main language spoken is as follows:

Main Language spoken

	Cantonese	Mandarin	Russian	Other
METHODIST COLLEGE	22	*	*	*
VICTORIA COLLEGE	8	*	0	0
THE ROYAL SCHOOL DUNGANNON	30	0	0	0

Notes:

"*" denotes fewer than 5 pupils

Country of origin information is not collected by the Department. An alternative indicator is the main language spoken by these pupils. It is this information that has been provided.

Vandalism at Schools

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the cost of damage caused by vandalism at schools in each Education and Library Board area, in each of the last three years. (AQW 1029/07)

Ms Ruane: The Education and Library Boards have provided the following information on the cost of repairing vandalism in controlled and maintained schools in each of the last three years:

Board Area	2004/05 £000s	2005/06 £000s	2006/07 £000s
Belfast	115	131	60
Western	55	63	58
North Eastern	180	134	194
South Eastern	132	129	122
Southern	157	222	128
Total	639	679	562

Figures rounded to the nearest £1,000.

Information for Voluntary Grammar and Grant Maintained Integrated Schools is as follows:

Board Area	2004/05 £000	2005/06 £000
Belfast	29	27
Western	1	-
North Eastern	1	3
South Eastern	6	3
Southern	2	19
Total	39	52

The information for 2006/07 for schools in the Voluntary Grammar and Integrated sectors is not yet available and has been requested. I will write to you with the information as soon as possible.

Special Education

Dr William McCrea asked the Minister of Education if she will determine when the fundamental review of Special Education will be published. (AQW 1030/07)

Ms Ruane: It is anticipated that the policy proposals which have emerged from the review will be published for consultation by January 2008 following consideration by the Education Committee.

Unqualified Teachers in Irish Language Schools

Mr Sammy Wilson asked the Minister of Education to outline whether any comment has been made by inspectors on the impact of unqualified teachers teaching in Irish language schools. (AQW 1036/07)

Ms Ruane: The Education and Training Inspectorate (Inspectorate) has made comment to the Department of Education, in relation to its review of Irish Medium Education, of the need to ensure, that all teachers in Irish Medium schools have a recognised teaching qualification. The Inspectorate gives similar advice in relation to all teachers in all schools.

Formal Teaching Qualifications for Teachers in Irish Language Schools

Mr Sammy Wilson asked the Minister of Education what plans she has to require teachers in Irish language schools to have formal teaching qualifications. (AQW 1037/07)

Ms Ruane: The Teachers’ (Eligibility) Regulations 1997 require that all teachers hold the relevant qualifications as laid down by the Department. This provision covers all sectors.

All teachers employed currently in Irish Medium schools on Permanent, Pro rata or Job share contracts are confirmed as eligible to teach.

However, under the provisions of the Teachers' (Eligibility) Regulations 1997 an employer may appoint, for a period normally not exceeding 4 weeks, a person who is not eligible to teach.

There are currently 25 unqualified teachers employed by virtue of this provision in Irish Medium schools.

Unqualified Teachers in Irish Language Schools

Mr Sammy Wilson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of teachers in Irish language schools who do not have a formal teaching qualification. (AQW 1039/07)

Ms Ruane: The Teachers’ (Eligibility) Regulations 1997 require that all teachers hold the relevant qualifications as laid down by the Department. This provision covers all sectors.

All teachers employed currently in Irish Medium schools on Permanent, Pro rata or Job share contracts are confirmed as eligible to teach.

However, under the provisions of the Teachers' (Eligibility) Regulations 1997 an employer may appoint, for a period normally not exceeding 4 weeks, a person who is not eligible to teach.

There are currently 25 unqualified teachers employed by virtue of this provision in Irish Medium schools.

Modern Languages

Mr Alastair Ross asked the Minister of Education what efforts are being made to encourage more children to study modern languages. (AQW 1040/07)

Ms Ruane: I am introducing a primary languages programme from September 2007 to give our youngest pupils an enjoyable introduction to language learning, with a view to encouraging them to continue with languages at post-primary and beyond.

The purpose of this initiative is to prepare the ground for the languages strategy, which the Department has asked the universities to develop by March 2008. The strategy will include recommendations on how we can encourage greater uptake of language learning at all levels of education.

Under-Spend in Capital Investment

Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of Education to detail the reason for her department's £30.7 million under-spend in capital investment in 2006/07, in light of the deteriorating conditions of school premises and the accepted cases for renovation and new build for schools. (AQW 1052/07)

Ms Ruane: Of the £30.7million under-spend in capital incurred in 2006/07, £28.9million was attributable to the schools capital programme. This under-spend arose from issues arising for individual building projects. The main reasons were delays in planning approvals and, site purchase, site difficulties and reviews of projected enrolments. The funding committed to those capital projects where there has been slippage in spending will be carried forward for those projects in future years.

Children Suspended from Schools

Mr Roy Beggs asked the Minister of Education to advise of the number of children per thousand who have been suspended from schools, broken down by (a) Education and Library Board; and (b) District Council area or postcode area, in each of the last 5 years. (AQW 1057/07)

Ms Ruane: The information requested is set out in the following tables:

	2000/01	2001/02	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05
BELB	17.2	20.1	16.8	20.1	19.0
NEELB	16.5	15.3	16.7	18.0	18.7
SEELB	12.6	14.4	15.6	15.6	15.4
SELB	10.5	12.6	16.2	15.1	14.7
WELB	14.9	14.5	15.0	15.7	16.6
All Boards	14.2	15.3	16.1	16.8	16.8

No. of pupils per thousand suspended from schools by DC area
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05
Antrim	22.1	18.4	18.9
Ards	14.0	15.9	14.0
Armagh	13.4	7.6	10.4
Ballymena	17.6	20.6	18.5
Ballymoney	15.7	23.9	19.8
Banbridge	6.3	10.9	12.3
Belfast	16.2	19.5	18.5
Carrickfergus	18.2	17.9	18.6
Castlereagh	18.6	17.2	25.3
Coleraine	20.1	21.9	22.8
Cookstown	20.9	20.4	18.4
Craigavon	14.7	16.1	17.4
Derry	19.5	19.6	23.0
Down	18.3	16.1	12.1
Dungannon	15.8	12.4	12.3
Fermanagh	10.5	19.4	13.7
Larne	16.1	10.4	12.7
Limavady	13.4	11.1	10.6
Lisburn	12.5	13.0	12.9
Magherafelt	8.9	8.8	11.8
Moyle	21.6	28.9	26.8
Newry & Mourne	22.2	20.3	16.1
Newtownabbey	14.5	17.0	21.0
North Down	18.8	19.4	17.8
Omagh	11.2	8.7	14.8
Strabane	14.3	11.2	8.0
TOTAL	16.1	16.8	16.8

The numbers of pupil suspensions per thousand were first collected by District Council area in 2002/03 and therefore no data is held for previous years. The suspension statistics for the 2005/06 school year are currently being analysed and will be placed on the DE website when this has been completed.

Grammar School Enrolment

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of grammar school places there are in Northern Ireland, broken down by the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies. (AQW 1064/07)

Ms Ruane: The total approved grammar school enrolment numbers for the 2007/08 school year by constituency are as follows:

CONSTITUENCY	TOTAL APPROVED GRAMMAR SCHOOL ENROLMENT NUMBERS

BELFAST EAST	4765
BELFAST NORTH	3510
BELFAST SOUTH	7240
BELFAST WEST	2190
EAST ANTRIM	3075
EAST DERRY	3860
FERMANAGH AND SOUTH TYRONE	4730
FOYLE	4751
LAGAN VALLEY	2130
MID-ULSTER	2717
NEWRY AND ARMAGH	3960
NORTH ANTRIM	4363
NORTH DOWN	3110
SOUTH ANTRIM	1950
SOUTH DOWN	3974
STRANGFORD	1856
UPPER BANN	3100
WEST TYRONE	3560

TOTAL	64841

Children Travelling to School

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children living within the Strangford constituency that are estimated to travel outside the constituency in order to attend a grammar school. (AQW 1065/07)

Ms Ruane: In the 2006/07 school year, there were 3,134 children living within the Strangford constituency who attended a grammar school outside the constituency.

Unqualified Teachers in Irish Language Schools

Mr Sammy Wilson asked the Minister of Education to outline any proposals she has to pay the fees of unqualified teachers in Irish language schools, in order to enable them to obtain formal teaching qualifications. (AQW 1070/07)

Ms Ruane: I do not have any proposals to pay the fees of unqualified teachers in Irish Language schools in order to enable them to obtain formal teaching qualifications.

Preparation Of Briefings and Speeches

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to confirm that she has instructed her officials, when preparing her briefings and speeches, to refer to 'England, Scotland and Wales' rather than the 'United Kingdom'. (AQW 1074/07)

Ms Ruane: I have not instructed my officials regarding my use of language. I have, however, indicated my own preference in relation to language and am committed to ensuring the principles of equality apply to all areas of my work.

Permanent Teaching Posts

Mr Dominic Bradley asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of teachers on the substitute teachers' roll who have not yet been in full-time permanent employment in teaching; and to state the number that are (a) male; and (b) female. (AQW 1075/07)

Ms Ruane: Based on the payroll information, since September 2005 there have been 3176 female and 695 male teachers paid who worked as substitute teachers and who have never worked in a permanent teaching post. It includes teachers paid on the DE payroll regardless of qualified status, e.g. teachers who are not treated as qualified until they graduate and those who are qualified to teach in the FE sector only, but are employed on a temporary capacity in the primary and secondary sector.

The Curran Report

Mr Dominic Bradley asked the Minister of Education to outline the business case put to her by the Teachers Trades Unions, regarding the implementation of aspects of the Curran Report on teachers' conditions of service. (AQW 1077/07)

Ms Ruane: I have not received a business case from the Teachers’ Trades Unions regarding the implementation of any aspect of the Final Report Part 2 of the Teachers’ Pay & Conditions of Service Inquiry (the Curran Report).

Preparations of Briefings and Speeches

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to confirm that she has instructed her officials, when preparing her briefings and speeches, to use the terms 'Derry' instead of 'Londonderry' , and 'the North' or 'the North of Ireland' instead of 'Northern Ireland'. (AQW 1081/07)

Preparation of Briefings and Speeches

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education to confirm that she has instructed her officials, when preparing her briefings and speeches, to use the term 'South of Ireland' instead of the 'Republic of Ireland'. (AQW 1087/07)

East West Co-operation

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Education to detail how she will develop and expand education as an area of east-west co-operation. (AQW 1121/07)

Ms Ruane: I am keen to build on the progress made and to develop and expand East-West co-operation in the area of education.

The Department funds the Education and Training Group of the British Council to support and encourage schools to participate in the East-West Schools Programme. This Programme aims to build educational links on a tripartite basis, involving schools from the North and South of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

Council for Catholic Maintained Schools

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of Education what discussions she has had with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools regarding the proposals for the closure of St Aloysius High School in Cushendall; and what was the outcome of these discussions. (AQW 1136/07)

Ms Ruane: I have had no discussions with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) about proposals for the closure of St Aloysius High School. The CCMS and the Trustees are examining possible rationalisation of post-primary provision in the Glens and East Antrim area involving three schools, including St Aloysius HS. A feasibility study which examines options for rationalising provision has been presented by CCMS to the Department of Education for consideration. Any proposal for rationalisation which CCMS and the Trustees bring forward in due course will require the publication of a statutory development proposal which will be the subject of consultation.

Expenditure for Award Schemes

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Education to detail, for the last two years, the amount spent by each Education and Library Board in relation to the achievement of (a) quality assurance awards; (b) Investors in People awards; and (c) other similar awards. (AQW 1149/07)

Ms Ruane: The 5 Education and Library Boards (ELBs) have provided the following information on spend (excluding VAT) for the 2005/06 and 2006/07 financial years.

	Quality Assurance Awards		Investors in People Awards		Other Similar Awards
	2005/06 £	2006/07 £	2005/06 £	2006/07 £	2005/06 £	2006/07 £
BELB	0	0	0	0	0	0
WELB	2,436	526	0	0	0	0
NEELB	8,442	2,801	0	0	0	0
SEELB	3,441	1,244	0	0	0	0
SELB	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	14,319	4,571	0	0	0	0

Promotion and Teaching of the Ulster-Scots Language

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Education what guidance she has sought from the Interdepartmental Charter Implementation Group as to what 'resolute action' it should take to promote the teaching and use of the Ulster-Scots language in the sphere of education. (AQW 1163/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department has not sought guidance from the Inter-Departmental Charter Implementation group. However, the Department is represented on this group and has been involved in the guidance developed for public servants to help them meet their obligations under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Learning Outside the Classroom

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of Education what proposals she has to introduce a 'Learning Outside the Classroom' manifesto in Northern Ireland, similar to those established in England and Wales by the Department for Education and Skills. (AQW 1187/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department of Education specifies the minimum curricular content that schools are required to provide but does not specify how the curriculum should be delivered. It is a matter for schools, with the support of the Education and Library Boards, to determine what out-of-classroom learning opportunities they provide.

The Education and Library Boards issued an ‘Education for Sustainable Development Good Practice Guide’ to schools in 2005, which includes guidance on Education Outside the Classroom. The Boards also worked with CCEA to produce a ‘Learning Outdoors’ resource for primary schools in 2005 to support teachers in provide high quality outdoor play experiences. In these circumstances, I do see a need to introduce such a ‘manifesto’ here.

Sign Language Interpreters

Mr Sammy Wilson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of teachers in Northern Ireland that are qualified as sign language interpreters. (AQW 1213/07)

Ms Ruane: The Department does not hold this information centrally and contacted the 5 Education and Library Boards and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (who employ teachers), for the information.

The Southern Education and Library Board have advised they have 4 and the Western Education and Library Board have 7. These figures relate to Peripatetic Teachers in the Boards Sensory Impaired Services. The other employing authorities have advised they do not hold this information.

Sign Language

Mr George Robinson asked the Minister of Education what plans she has to introduce sign language onto the school curriculum. (AQW 1222/07)

Ms Ruane: Although sign language is not currently a specific requirement within the curriculum, there are already some schools who offer it as an extra-curricular option. Indeed, the revised curriculum provides greater flexibility for schools to teach sign language as part of the opportunities pupils have to develop the cross-curricular skill of communication, and through the Language and Literacy Area of Learning.

I am also awaiting recommendations in March 2008 from the joint University of Ulster-Queen’s University Belfast Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies on a languages strategy. The strategy will include recommendations on how we can encourage greater uptake of language learning and will include coverage of sign language.

The Vacancy Control Policy

Mrs Claire McGill asked the Minister of Education to detail, if there is a delay in establishing the new Education and Skills Authority, whether the Education and Library Boards and other education bodies will continue to operate vacancy control policy. (AQW 1228/07)

Ms Ruane: The Vacancy Control Policy has been in place since November 2006 and operates in accordance with the 2^nd PSC Guiding Principle. It is a key means of minimising potential redundancies which may arise in the future from the streamlining of education administration. There are currently no plans to discontinue the operation of the policy.

Irish Medium Education

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Education (a) to give the date on which her department initiated the review of Irish-medium education; (b)what is the scope and nature of the review; and (c) to advise whether this review is being carried out internally, or whether consultants have been employed to take forward the work. (AQW 1286/07)

Ms Ruane: (a) The Review of Irish-medium education was initiated on 14 December 2006 by the then Minister, Maria Eagle.

(b) The scope of the review is to take stock of the best way to facilitate continued and sustainable growth of Irish Medium education for the next decade, ensuring the highest quality education outcomes for pupils, particularly in light of the revised Northern Ireland curriculum.

The objective of the project is to review current DE policy towards the development of high-quality education through the medium of Irish. This will be achieved by fulfilling the Terms of Reference (TOR), agreed by Maria Eagle. The full TOR are:

i. an analysis of past and likely future demography and demand;

ii. an analysis of how DE's policy has developed and operated over the last five years with regard to pre-school, primary and post-primary education;

iii. a consideration of the current approaches of Irish-medium schools, units and streams;

iv. a review of Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta (InaG) and Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta’s (CnaG) development plans, particularly in light of the forthcoming Bain Review;

v. through ETI, an evaluation of quality and standards across Irish-medium provision;

vi. a study of the outcomes of Government’s financial investment in Irish-medium education over the last five years;

vii. an analysis of the challenges and issues facing the Irish-medium sector;

viii. a gathering of information on how such provision is developed and operated elsewhere;

ix. an analysis of the implications of "A Shared Future" for Irish-medium provision;

x. a consideration of future policy towards the provision of Irish Medium Education; and

xi. an investigation and analysis of how cross-border approaches in the development of IME might enhance provision.

(c) Consultants have not been employed to take forward the work of the review. The review is being taken forward internally by departmental officials, based on the PRINCE II methodology. This requires a Project Board, supported by an Advisory Group which quality assures the information that the Review considers. Both groups have members from outside the department.

Enrolment at Portstewart Primary School

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister of Education if she is aware of allegations of malpractice in the recording of enrolment figures at Portstewart Primary School; and if she will make a statement. (AQW 1311/07)

Ms Ruane: I am aware of allegations of malpractice in the recording of enrolment figures at Portstewart Primary School. My Department has investigated the allegations.

While no evidence of criminality was established, there were matters identified during the investigation which are subject to further consideration. It would be unfair and prejudicial to the outcome of those considerations to release any information at this time.

Saint MacNisius' School

Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of Education to detail whether Saint MacNissius Primary School in Tannaghmore will be included in the Buildings List. (AQW 1331/07)

Ms Ruane: A scheme for a replacement school at St MacNisius’ Primary School was stopped in March this year following a review of all previously announced schemes then in planning. It was announced at that time that there were concerns over enrolments, raising the issue of longer term viability. The school has 73 pupils.

Employment and Learning

Modern Apprenticeships

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what proposals he will bring forward to generate greater flexibility in the modern apprenticeship framework; and if he will consider alternatives to National Vocational Qualifications. (AQW 156/07)

The Minister for Employment and Learning (Sir Reg Empey): Although normal practice, it is not always necessary to use NVQ frameworks in undertaking a Modern Apprenticeship. However, all apprentice frameworks must include a competence based element assembled from the National Occupational Standards set by the employment sector for which the framework is designed and, if required, other employment sectors.

The content of the competence element may be determined by the Sector Skills Councils, Sector Bodies and their employers. Subject to assessment methods designed to test competency, it is not a mandatory requirement to use National Vocational Qualifications. Alternatives may be considered.

Health and Safety

Mr Jimmy Spratt asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if any provisions are being made by his department, to provide courses to precede apprenticeships, in order to provide skills and knowledge on matters such as health and safety. (AQW 1022/07)

Sir Reg Empey: All Apprenticeship training has a Health and Safety element built into the qualification frameworks. Health and Safety awareness is usually delivered in the early stages of the training as part of induction.

Skills Deficit in Northern Ireland

Mr Jimmy Spratt asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what proactive steps are being taken by his department, in order to address the skills deficit in Northern Ireland. (AQW 1023/07)

Sir Reg Empey: Success through Skills, the Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, aims to identify current and future skills needs both at a regional and local level and seek appropriate interventions.

The Strategy advocates the use of the Department’s existing provision to raise the population’s overall level of skills. This provision includes Essential Skills, Leading..to Success, Management Analysis Planning (MAP), Investors in People, Training for Success and the implementation of an all age Careers Strategy.

In addition, the Department is examining more sector specific requirements through an employer led network consisting of the Skills Expert Group, six Workforce Development Forums and the 25 UK wide Sector Skills Councils. Two priority skills sectors have already been identified: Financial Services and Information and Communication Technology.

Once specific skills needs have been identified the Department will work with the relevant stakeholders to put in place suitable interventions.

My Department has undertaken to work more closely with Invest NI. This continued collaboration is aimed at ensuring the local workforce has the skills needed to take full advantage of future Foreign Direct Investment and business opportunities.

Information and Communications Technologies Skilled Labour

Mr Jimmy Spratt asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what steps are being taken to increase the number of skilled workers in Information and Communications Technologies, in order to address the needs of indigenous firms, and eliminate the need for them to locate elsewhere for skilled labour. (AQW 1024/07)

Sir Reg Empey: The demand for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills in Northern Ireland is experiencing a period of rapid expansion. This together with the loss of image of the sector as a career choice following the retrenchment in the sector about 5 years ago, has created pressure on the demand for skills. The department is working with key stakeholders such as E-skills, the Sector Skills Council, Invest NI and employers from the sector to profile the demand for specific skills and find solutions. In order to do this, the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) has established a Future Skills Action Group which brings together all of these interests with representative of Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE).

In the meantime a range of initiatives have taken place, including the creation of a 30-week software professional course delivering through 3 FE Centres of Excellence. This DEL "Budget to Employment" funded course provides software developers through the conversion of non-IT graduates. This is in addition to training undertaken on behalf of specific companies. In addition, work continues with the sector employers, E-skills and other interests to improve the attractiveness of IT careers, prepare new entrants to the workforce and determine how best to develop the existing workforce.

Acceptance of Corporate Gifts

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to outline whether his department has conveyed any views or advice to the University of Ulster on the acceptance of gifts, such as Rolex watches, from a middle eastern company. (AQW 1059/07)

Sir Reg Empey: The University of Ulster is an independent autonomous institution, with responsibility for its own policies and practices, including those in relation to corporate gifts and hospitality. The Department has not, therefore, conveyed any views or advice to the University on the acceptance of gifts. The University’s Financial Procedures Manual sets out the policy statement to provide guidance as to circumstances when it is and is not appropriate to accept gifts, gratuities and hospitality.

Comparisons with Qualification Recognition

Mr Paul Butler asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to give an update on the issue of mutual recognition of qualifications for apprentices, for example, City and Guilds, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. (AQW 1090/07)

Sir Reg Empey: The UK awarding and qualifications regulatory bodies and the Irish awarding bodies and qualifications authorities embarked on an exercise to align/cross reference the qualifications frameworks in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Following completion of this exercise in June 2005 the document "Qualifications can cross boundaries – a rough guide to comparing qualifications in the UK and Ireland" was published and is on the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland website.

Potential Redundancies

Mr Gerry McHugh asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to give his assessment of whether redundancies will take place as a result of the merger of Fermanagh, Omagh and Dungannon Colleges; and to detail the number of potential redundancies. (AQW 1097/07)

Sir Reg Empey: As incorporated bodies, the Further Education Colleges in Northern Ireland are the employers for all college staff. The College Governing Bodies are the legal entities. Accordingly, it will be for the Governing Body of the new South West College, supported by the senior management team, to consider the staffing requirements of the new college, and whether or not there will be a need for redundancies. Therefore, I am not in a position to provide the assessment you have requested.

Apprenticeships in Manufacturing

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of apprenticeships in the manufacturing industry available in (a) Northern Ireland; (b) the Ards Borough Council area; and (c) the Strangford constituency, in the last three years. (AQW 1145/07)

Sir Reg Empey: The Department’s method of data recording makes it very difficult to report the number of apprentices in the manufacturing industry within the specific areas of Ards Borough Council and the Strangford constituency. To do so would incur disproportionate cost. However, I can confirm that in Northern Ireland, a total of 1,027 young people commenced a manufacturing apprenticeship in 2004-05, 1,049 in 2005-06 and 988 in 2006-07.

Enterprise, Trade and Investment

Water-Based Tourism on Lough Neagh

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the commitment the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is making to the development of water-based tourism on Lough Neagh. (AQW 891/07)

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Mr Dodds): In the NITB Activity Tourism Strategy 2005-08, priority has been given to adventure activity, walking and cycling. Watersports is an integral part of adventure activity and therefore marketed alongside other adventure tourism activities.

NITB encourages key tourism organisations to work together to develop product around more regional and local areas (such as Lough Neagh). For example NITB recently hosted a Countryside Recreation Network (CRN) Seminar in Northern Ireland titled "Activity Tourism – A Practical Approach". Activity providers, Local Authority and Countryside Officers throughout Northern Ireland were invited.

Once developed and market-ready NITB will support and help promote activity tourism developments as an integrated part of our overall marketing strategies.

Foreign Nationals

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the numbers of foreign nationals currently living in Northern Ireland by (a) constituency; and (b) District Council area. (AQW 954/07)

Mr Dodds: My officials are still working on the response. I will have a substantive answer to you by Wednesday 11 July 2007 at the latest.

Shooting Sports

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment if he will consider including shooting sports as a priority within the Northern Ireland Tourist Board Activity Tourism Strategy 2005-2008. (AQW 981/07)

Mr Dodds: Shooting sports did not emerge as a priority for Northern Ireland’s key customer segments in either extensive recent research by Tourism Ireland Limited or the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s on-going work on "Product Development Priorities".

As future developments for NITB must be customer led and market focused, there are no plans to add shooting sports as a priority area within the Northern Ireland Tourist Board Activity Tourism Strategy 2005-2008.

Tourist Signage

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, further to his response to AQW 454/07, if he will review the decision not to place a 'white on brown' Northern Ireland Tourist Board sign at Hollow Farm Shooting Grounds. (AQW 1013/07)

Mr Dodds: The responsibility for deciding eligibility for tourist signing rests between NITB and Roads Service of the Department of Regional Development and is an operational matter. Hollow Farm Shooting Grounds is not considered a tourist attraction in accordance with section 1.2.p (Tourist Utility) and section 4.1.8. (Sports Facilities) and as such not eligible for tourist signing; therefore I see no grounds for review. However, the applicant may wish to discuss the signing of the facility with Roads Service in black-on-white directional signage if there are traffic management or road safety issues.

Forbairt Feirste

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the amount of funding given by his department to Forbairt Feirste, in each year since 1998. (AQW 1034/07)

Mr Dodds: No offers of assistance have been made to Forbairt Feirste by my department since 1998. A grant of £1,450 was paid by the Local Enterprise and Development Unit in March 1998 under a letter of offer dated November 1997. This grant was made under the Making Belfast Work Enterprise Awareness Programme.

Public Sector Jobs

Mr Roy Beggs asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the current number of public sector jobs located in each of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies, broken down by department, agency or quango. (AQW 1051/07)

Mr Dodds: Estimates of the number of employee jobs at Parliamentary Constituency level are only available from the Census of Employment which is conducted on a biennial basis with the most recent figures relating to September 2005. Estimates of the total number of employee jobs in the public sector for each Parliamentary Constituency Area within Northern Ireland at that time can be found in Table 1 below.

The Census of Employment is conducted under the Statistics of Trade and Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 and Article 7 of the Order prohibits the disclosure of information relating to individual undertakings except under certain conditions. It is therefore not possible to provide data on individual public sector organisations from this source.

Table 1 Number of Employee Jobs in the Public Sector at September 2005 for each Parliamentary Constituency Area

Parliamentary Constituency Area	Public Sector Employee Jobs at September 2005
Belfast East	13,386
Belfast North	15,609
Belfast South	32,183
Belfast West	16,629
East Antrim	5,171
East Londonderry	9,488
Fermanagh & South Tyrone	9,647
Foyle	14,721
Lagan Valley	10,707
Mid-Ulster	6,174
Newry & Armagh	14,431
North Antrim	10,814
North Down	6,490
South Antrim	12,972
South Down	7,856
Strangford	10,715
Upper Bann	12,649
West Tyrone	9,761
Northern Ireland	219,403

Source: Census of Employment, DETI

Giant's Causeway Site

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline whether the Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre will be progressed in accordance with the proposed timetable; and what role his department will have in any other applications for development at the Giant's Causeway site. (AQW 1068/07)

Mr Dodds: Although the detailed design for the replacement visitor facilities has reached an advanced stage of development, progress has not been as swift as originally anticipated. Key issues which have delayed the project have been the resolution of car parking requirements and planning considerations. We are continuing to work to resolve these issues.

Currently, my Department has no role in other applications for development at the Giant’s Causeway.

Invest NI Initiatives

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail, in each of the last five years, the number of jobs created by Invest Northern Ireland initiatives, broken down by District Council area. (AQW 1126/07)

Mr Dodds: Invest NI does not create jobs. It provides assistance for businesses to improve their competitive position, which in turn may lead to employment creation. The number of jobs promoted and safeguarded through assisted inward-investment projects since 2002/03 is presented by District Council Area in Table 1(a) and 1(b) respectively.

It should be noted that these areas are not self-contained labour markets and a project assisted in a particular location has the potential to create benefits across a much wider area. Northern Ireland is a relatively small place and evidence indicates that many investments draw their workforce from areas beyond constituency and council area boundaries. Invest NI’s scope to ‘direct’ investment to specific geographic areas is limited, although it has been able to influence the location decisions of some inward-investment projects. Ultimately, however, the final location decision rests with the business itself.

In addition, the number of jobs expected to be created through assistance offered to new locally-owned business starts by district council area is presented in Table 2.

Table 1(a): Jobs Promoted through Inward-Investment Projects (2002/03 – 2006/07)

District Council	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	Total
Antrim	5		319	20		344
Ards	70	5			20	95
Armagh	25			84	304	413
Ballymena						0
Ballymoney						0
Banbridge			13			13
Belfast	251	884	2,561	1,073	1,694	6,463
Carrickfergus	100					100
Castlereagh			24			24
Coleraine						0
Cookstown	32		148	40		220
Craigavon	16	110		49		175
Derry	93	486	40	361	754	1,734
Down						0
Dungannon		8	17			25
Fermanagh	350	194		11	441	996
Larne		25	112	155		292
Limavady		24				24
Lisburn			16	71		87
Magherafelt			1			1
Moyle			23			23
Newry & Mourne	50			1,045		1,095
Newtownabbey		42		82		124
North Down	41	200	140		233	614
Omagh				75		75
Strabane		175	53	34	44	306
Total	1,033	2,153	3,467	3,100	3,490	13,243

Notes:
1. 2006/07 figures are provisional and subject to change.
2. Figures include both first-time inward investments and reinvestments by existing externally-owned clients.

Table 1(b): Jobs Safeguarded through Inward-Investment Projects (2002/03 – 2006/07)

District Council	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	Total
Antrim	48					48
Ards					16	16
Armagh						0
Ballymena		518				518
Ballymoney						0
Banbridge			66			66
Belfast		1,258	12	47	183	1,500
Carrickfergus						0
Castlereagh			67			67
Coleraine						0
Cookstown			118			118
Craigavon	807	680	550			2,037
Derry	1,033		117	1,258		2,408
Down						0
Dungannon			38			38
Fermanagh		214		65		279
Larne				358		358
Limavady				787		787
Lisburn			17	278		295
Magherafelt						0
Moyle			123			123
Newry & Mourne				392		392
Newtownabbey				96		96
North Down			147			147
Omagh						0
Strabane	1,127		57			1,184
Total	3,015	2,670	1,312	3,281	199	10,477

Notes:
1. 2006/07 figures are provisional and subject to change.
2. Figures include both first-time inward investments and reinvestments by existing externally-owned clients.

Table 2: Expected Job Creation by Assisted Locally-Owned Business Start Ups (2002/03 – 2006/07)

District Council Area	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	Total
Antrim	60	66	108	95	107	436
Ards	124	198	202	226	131	880
Armagh	109	146	168	166	134	723
Ballymena	83	77	129	94	107	489
Ballymoney	51	49	83	85	99	366
Banbridge	87	105	137	142	127	598
Belfast	274	415	560	492	431	2,172
Carrickfergus	53	68	112	69	66	368
Castlereagh	62	92	134	108	122	519
Coleraine	82	92	161	135	134	605
Cookstown	81	98	135	117	124	554
Craigavon	122	177	255	226	122	902
Derry	182	276	468	329	303	1,557
Down	125	204	303	257	164	1,053
Dungannon	103	151	196	176	160	785
Fermanagh	121	192	295	264	285	1,157
Larne	74	79	114	103	113	484
Limavady	60	86	146	125	104	520
Lisburn	200	164	213	208	191	976
Magherafelt	133	142	170	190	134	768
Moyle	20	22	53	57	70	222
Newry & Mourne	211	189	356	265	207	1,227
Newtownabbey	109	186	181	187	125	788
North Down	105	165	178	148	129	725
Omagh	87	98	135	153	163	636
Strabane	55	81	108	103	103	449
Total	2,772	3,615	5,099	4,520	3,953	19,959

Notes:

2006/07 figures are provisional and subject to change

Environment

Urban Streams

Mr Ken Robinson asked the Minister of the Environment if she will review the role that urban streams play in re-establishing nature corridors within towns and cities, with particular reference to the level of inter-agency consultation that exists with regard to the processing of planning applications affecting the catchment areas of such streams. (AQW 751/07)

The Minister of the Environment (Mrs Foster): My Department is aware of the role urban streams play in relation to nature conservation and the protection of wildlife. This is reflected in the number of key planning policy statements and protective designations, where appropriate, in area plans aimed at conserving and enhancing their biodiversity. Comprehensive inter-agency consultation between Planning Service, Environment & Heritage Service, Rivers Agency and Northern Ireland Water, in particular, has been and continues to be an integral part of the policy and plan-making process. It is also an integral part of the processing of planning applications affecting the catchment areas of such streams. While my Department is continually seeking to make operational improvements to the consultation process, I am satisfied with the current level of inter-agency consultation and have no plans to review it.

Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of the Environment to outline the measures of protection given to the lake and woodland area on the site of the Rathgael Training Centre in Bangor, with specific reference to the approved planning permission and the draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan. (AQW 799/07)

Mrs Foster: Both the existing planning approval and the draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) contain conditions and policies respectively which are intended to provide the appropriate level of protection for the lake and woodland area at Rathgael Training Centre site, Bangor.

The planning conditions attached to the approval identify among other matters a defined acceptable development area and provide for the retention and protection of trees outside that development area and the retention of the important nature conservation features of the site.

The relevant policies of draft BMAP propose the designation of the area as a Local Landscape Policy Area and as a Site of Local Nature Conservation Importance as well as specifying key site requirements which include requirements regarding the protection of landscape and vegetation and existing flora and fauna.

Road Safety Strategy

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister of the Environment if she will ensure that all Northern Ireland political parties are involved in the group that has been established to review the road safety strategy; and if she will give a timescale within which all parties will be represented on the group. (AQW 839/07)

Mrs Foster: No group has been established to review the Road Safety Strategy. As the review progresses, my Department will engage with the Environment Committee and all Northern Ireland political parties will be included in any consultation process.

I shall be meeting shortly with the Minister for Regional Development and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the key statutory partners in developing and delivering the current Road Safety Strategy, to discuss the way forward on the review including the timescale within which the process can be completed.

Road Safety Authority

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister of the Environment to detail how her department intends to work the Road Safety Authority (RSA), and other relevant authorities, in the Republic of Ireland. (AQW 841/07)

Mrs Foster: My Department works closely with the relevant authorities in Ireland, including the Road Safety Authority. I intend to ensure that those close working relationships continue to secure shared road safety benefits.

Tree Preservation Order

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of the Environment to give an assurance that Tree Preservation Orders are not lifted on trees, because of disease, without the confirmation of an independent expert. (AQW 843/07)

Mrs Foster: In the event of consideration being given to lifting a Tree Preservation Order because of disease, it would be normal practice to seek an opinion from the Department’s consultant arboriculturist. However, the Department will not seek expert advice where it is obvious that the extent of the disease has affected the structure of the tree.

Diseased trees that are dead, dying or dangerous are exempt from the provisions of a Tree Preservation Order requiring the Department’s consent for works to be carried out.

Climate Change

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of the Environment to state what proposals she has to introduce a Climate Change Bill to set targets for the reduction of carbon emissions. (AQW 844/07)

Mrs Foster: The UK government and each of the devolved administrations are committed to tackling the issue of climate change. I met with my environment Minister colleagues in the other UK administrations to discuss the Climate Change Bill on 18 June. I will be meeting with the Committee for the Environment on 5 July and am currently getting feedback on the DEFRA consultation which finished on 12 June.

Once I have reflected on the matter, particularly on the issue of statutory targets, I intend to bring my policy position to the Executive for agreement.

In Northern Ireland the issue of climate change is already central to the NI Sustainable Development Strategy which identifies challenging targets on greenhouse gas reductions and a range of actions to support this.

Road Safety

Mr Raymond McCartney asked the Minister of the Environment if she can provide an indicative time-line for her review of road safety. (AQW 881/07)

Mrs Foster: I shall be meeting shortly with the Minister for Regional Development and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the key statutory partners in developing and delivering the current Road Safety Strategy, to discuss the way forward on the review including the timescale within which the process can be completed.

Water Quality at Lough Neagh

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of the Environment what is her assessment of how the water quality standard of Lough Neagh compares to that required under EU Directives. (AQW 889/07)

Mrs Foster: Lough Neagh is designated as ‘salmonid’ under European Directive (2006/44/EEC) ‘on the quality of fresh waters needing protection or improvement in order to support fish life’. Monitoring by Environment and Heritage Service, in the period 2000 to 2006, has shown that the quality of the water in the Lough has intermittently failed to comply with the requirements of the Directive.

Failure to comply has in the main been due to exceedences in the level of pH value. The high pH values are attributed to the effects of plant nutrients in the rivers which flow into the Lough.

Lough Neagh is ‘eutrophic’ which means that it contains high levels of nutrients, especially compounds of nitrogen and/or phosphorus, which affect the balance of organisms in the water and the quality of the water itself.

The vulnerability of the Lough was recognised in 1994 when it was designated as Sensitive (Eutrophic) under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

My Department’s Environment and Heritage Service has responsibility under the Nitrates Directive Action Programme for enforcing good practice in relation to the application of nutrients to land, and it is envisaged that work under this programme will also reduce the nutrient loadings to water bodies including Lough Neagh.

As it is a source of drinking water, Lough Neagh is also monitored by Northern Ireland Water for compliance with the European Directive (75/440/EEC) on Surface Water Abstraction. Under the terms of the Directive, water bodies are graded as Category A, B or C, and Lough Neagh is currently graded as ‘B’.

Park Land, Open Space and Playing Fields

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister of the Environment, with reference to the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1973, what action she proposes to take to stop District Councils selling off park land, open space and playing fields for development. (AQW 899/07)

Mrs Foster: Both the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure and my Department have policy responsibility for local government functions concerning park land, open spaces and playing fields. District councils can apply to the Natural Heritage Grant Programme to purchase or manage open space to enable a wide range of people to enjoy and appreciate our natural heritage. However, district councils are not permitted to appropriate any part of the land aided under this scheme for any purpose other than nature conservation or to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of it without the prior consent of my Department.

In addition if councils wish to dispose of land the Local Government Act (NI) 1972 provides that except where disposal is at less than best price or rent (when the approval of my Department is required) district councils are free to dispose of any land in their ownership.

Protection of the Irish Hare

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment what consultations she has undertaken with the Countryside Alliance in relation to the special protection order for the Irish hare. (AQW 935/07)

Mrs Foster: No consultation took place between my Department and Countryside Alliance prior to the publication on 15^th June of the notice proposing a new Special Protection Order for the Irish Hare. In accordance with the powers contained within the 1928 Game Preservation Act, under which the Special Protection Order is made, the Department published notice of the proposal in the Belfast Gazette and the local press, providing a suitable period to receive objections to the proposal. In addition individual letters were sent to relevant interests, including Countryside Alliance, advising them of the proposal and the deadline for objections. No further consultation was considered appropriate.

The Minister is meeting Countryside Alliance in the near future.

Green Shoots Survey

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment what discussions she has had with the British Association of Shooting and Conservation regarding its Green Shoots survey for Northern Ireland; and if she will give her assessment of the content of the survey. (AQW 938/07)

Mrs Foster: I have not yet had the opportunity to discuss The Green Shoots Survey with British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). However I am aware that my officials commissioned BASC to complete a Green Shoots Survey of its members in Northern Ireland. I am delighted to learn that over 400 BASC members completed the survey, covering some 25% of Northern Ireland and generating over 16,000 wildlife records. I welcome this engagement of grass roots support within the shooting community.

I understand that BASC now wishes to encourage its members to build on these results and develop projects which would improve the biodiversity potential of large tracts of Northern Ireland. I look forward to seeing some of these projects come to fruition.

Renewable Energy

Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of the Environment what is her current position on the development of renewable energy; and what considerations are in place for the inclusion of renewable energy sources in the planning application process. (AQW 949/07)

Mrs Foster: I believe that renewable energy has an important part to play in tackling climate change.

Planning policy for renewable energy is currently set out in Policy PSU 12 of the Planning Strategy for Rural Northern Ireland which advises that proposals for the development of renewable energy sources will be assessed against the need to protect and conserve the environment.

There is currently no requirement for developers to include renewable energy sources as part of their planning application.

Dibney River

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment if the Dibney River is monitored and maintained for river quality. (AQW 984/07)

Mrs Foster: It is the role of the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) to conserve, protect and where possible improve both the freshwater and marine aquatic environment in Northern Ireland.

EHS protects the aquatic environment through a variety of activities including targeted programmes to conduct water quality monitoring in waterways designated under the EC Freshwater Fish Directive (2006/44/EC). The Dibney River does not have a large enough flow to be designated and monitored under this Directive and is therefore not monitored chemically.

In a 1999 review of the Northern Ireland river monitoring network, the Dibney River was investigated for inclusion in the freshwater biological river monitoring programme. For health and safety reasons related to sampling, the river was not added to the monitoring programme and as a result it is not monitored biologically.

EHS is also responsible for taking action to combat or minimise the effects of pollution on waterways and groundwater sources in Northern Ireland. Where pollution occurs it is the policy of EHS to take formal enforcement action, if this is warranted by the severity of the pollution and the circumstances which led to it occurring.

In the period 1 January 2004 to date, there were ten reports of pollution received and investigated by EHS in relation to the Dibney River. None were found to be significant enough to merit formal enforcement action.

Backlog of Planning Applications

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of the Environment to provide an update on the number of planning applications that are currently backlogged; and to detail the length of time it will take the Planning Service to clear this backlog. (AQW 992/07)

Mrs Foster: The total number of valid applications awaiting decision at 31 May 2007 is 19,279. It is not possible to give definitive timescales for the processing of all applications, but in an effort to ease the current operational pressures a Divisional Support Team has been established and is currently in operation in the Craigavon Divisional Planning Office. Alongside the work of the team, the Planning Service’s Operations Directorate will be critically examining existing practices within Divisions with a view to changes that will further assist. Specific areas of focus include, but will not be limited to, arrangements for handling planning appeals; the approach to processing reserved matters applications; and arrangements for handling telephone contact with offices.

Recycling in the Work Place

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of the Environment what percentage of businesses, in particular large businesses, regularly recycle in the workplace. (AQW 1042/07)

Mrs Foster: The Department currently co-sponsors the Business in the Community ARENA Network’s Environmental Management Survey. The Survey benchmarks the environmental management performance (inclusive of solid waste) of Northern Ireland’s 200 leading firms, 26 local authorities, Health Trusts and the education sector.

While it is not possible to provide separate figures for businesses, this year’s Survey identified that 93% of organisations taking part collected data on the amount of waste they produced. Furthermore, 82% of participants were able to demonstrate greater diversion of waste from landfill through waste reduction and recycling.

Recycling and Domestic Waste Separation

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of District Councils currently providing information leaflets on recycling and domestic waste separation in languages other than English. (AQW 1043/07)

Mrs Foster: My Department does not hold this information, as District Councils are not statutorily obliged to provide it.

Finance and Personnel

Industrial De-Rating

Mr Seán Neeson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what proposals exist to give businesses in the services sector similar tax breaks to those enjoyed by manufacturers, in respect to industrial de-rating. (AQO 126/07)

The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr Robinson): There are presently no firm proposals to introduce local taxation breaks for businesses in the service sector. However, the Economic Research Institute has been engaged to undertake a study into small business relief, alongside the work they are undertaking into industrial derating. This is in connection with a review of the decision made by the previous administration in 2006 not to introduce a small business rate relief scheme in Northern Ireland.

Public Sector Jobs

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to list the number of public sector jobs, per 100 economically active people or otherwise, in each (a) travel-to-work area, (b) district council area, and (c) constituency, in Northern Ireland. (AQW 826/07)

Mr Robinson: The number of full-time equivalent public sector jobs per 100 economically active people is as follows:

travel-to-work areas

Ballymena	16.8	Enniskillen	17.3
Belfast	28.1	Mid-Ulster	14.5
Coleraine	19.1	Newry	19.4
Craigavon	21.7	Omagh	31.0
Londonderry	25.9	Strabane	13.3
Dungannon	17.6

(b) district council areas

Antrim	31.1	Down	17.5
Ards	11.1	Dungannon	17.9
Armagh	23.8	Fermanagh	18.1
Ballymena	21.6	Larne	10.4
Ballymoney	13.5	Limavady	17.0
Banbridge	11.4	Lisburn	17.6
Belfast	53.2	Magherafelt	15.9
Carrickfergus	10.6	Moyle	13.8
Castlereagh	32.1	Newry and Mourne	19.5
Coleraine	21.4	Newtownabbey	13.3
Cookstown	11.3	North Down	13.6
Craigavon	23.5	Omagh	30.8
Derry	29.9	Strabane	12.2

Belfast East	33.8	Mid Ulster	12.8
Belfast North	42.6	Newry and Armagh	27.0
Belfast South	62.3	North Antrim	18.4
Belfast West	45.6	North Down	12.9
East Antrim	10.1	South Antrim	20.4
East Londonderry	19.8	South Down	13.7
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	19.6	Strangford	18.3
Foyle	29.9	Upper Bann	22.0
Lagan Valley	17.4	West Tyrone	22.9

Notes:

1. The economically active population is taken as those economically active aged 16-74 as recorded in the 2001 census of population. Area is where the economically active population lives.

2. The estimates given of public sector jobs are from the Census of Employment and refer to the number of employee jobs in the public sector at September 2005. The public sector comprises Central Government (including bodies under the aegis of Central Government), Local Government and Public Corporations.

3. The most up-to-date employee jobs estimates for the public sector are available from the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) with the most recent data available relating to March 2007. However these estimates are only available at Northern Ireland level. Employee jobs figures below Northern Ireland level are only available from the biennial Census of Employment with the most recent figures relating to September 2005.

4. The Census of Employment has been carried out biennially since 1987 and covers all employers in non-agricultural sectors. Results are available at detailed levels of disaggregation and geographical location (subject to confidentiality being maintained), including a split by public and private sector. Sub Northern Ireland analysis from the Census of Employment is primarily based on the location of the jobs, not on the home address of the employees. Furthermore, in a small number of instances where employers were not able to provide figures by actual location, the employees were allocated to the address where pay records were held (e.g. head office). The re-location or change of reporting procedures by large employers can therefore affect the Census of Employment sub NI analysis.

5. The Census of Employment (and the QES) collect information on the number of persons in full-time and part-time employment. The surveys both count the number of jobs rather than the number of persons with jobs. Therefore a person holding both a full-time and a part-time job, or someone with two part-time jobs, will be counted twice. Persons working 30 hours or less per week are normally regarded as being in part-time employment.

6. The sub-Northern Ireland analysis is based on 1992 ward boundaries, which have been aggregated to form Parliamentary Constituency Areas, District Council Areas and Travel-to-Work Areas. Individual companies were assigned to 1992 wards using the Central Postcode Directory. In the case of Travel-to-Work Areas (TTWAs), the 11 existing TTWAs were constructed from 1984-wards - the data presented is therefore a best fit of 1992 wards.

7. To convert employee jobs data to full-time equivalents, part-time employee jobs were considered to equal 0.5 of a full-time employee job.

Secretary of State's Financial Package

Mr Basil McCrea asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel if he has received any assurances from the Secretary of State that there will be progress made on a suitable financial package. (AQW 884/07)

Mr Robinson: The Secretary of State played an important role in the negotiations on a financial package before the devolution of power to the Assembly and Executive. Responsibility for continuing discussions with the Treasury on a suitable financial package now lies with the Northern Ireland Executive. No further specific assurances have been received from the Secretary of State about changes to the financial package. However, the Northern Ireland Executive will continue to seek the support from the Secretary of State and other members of the Government on this matter.

Gross Domestic Product

Mr Robinson: Estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics indicate that the percentage of Northern Ireland’s Gross Value Added (GVA) produced directly by the agricultural sector was 5.5% in 1996; 2.7% in 2001; and 2.6% in 2004 (the latest year for which these statistics are available).

Irish Language Film and Television Fund

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to provide a list of the names of the companies that tendered for the preparation of the business case for the Irish language film and television fund. (AQW 971/07)

Mr Robinson: The Department of Finance and Personnel did not award a contract for the Preparation of the Business Case for the Irish Language and Television Fund. The Department did, however, act as an agent on behalf of the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, in the establishment of a contract for the provision of a Business Case and Economic Appraisal of the Minority Language Broadcasting Fund. The purpose of the Business Case was to support a bid for resources to deliver Irish language film and television production in Northern Ireland.

Three companies tendered for this contract and they were-:

BDO Stoy Hayward;

FPM Chartered Accountants; and

Peter Quinn Consultancy Services.

Design and Build Contracts

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what is his assessment of the transfer of risk on Design and Build contracts, with specific reference to value for money for the taxpayer. (AQW 999/07)

Mr Robinson: The purpose of Design and Build contracts is to reduce the risk to the Client and to maximise the opportunity for value for money gains in project delivery.

Integration of the design and construction functions facilitates:

partnership working with the client team;

innovation;

joint commitment to best whole-life value; and

improved risk management through early contractor involvement.

In addition, it provides the public sector client with single point responsibility for delivery on time and to budget.

Disposal of Land

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel in view of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development's decision to sell-off DARD property to finance the Nitrates Directive, if it is now policy across departments for land and other valuable assets to be sold in order to fund departmental initiatives. (AQW 1056/07)

Mr Robinson: All departments have a responsibility to ensure their capital infrastructure supports the delivery of effective and efficient public services. Where departments identify and dispose of surplus assets, the proceeds remain in Northern Ireland to support the delivery of public services. Decisions on the reinvestment of such proceeds are taken collectively by the Executive, in the context of strategic priorities and available resources.

Quangos

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel how many quangos there are in Northern Ireland; and if he will list them. (AQW 1060/07)

Mr Robinson: The latest information on all the public bodies sponsored by Northern Ireland departments, including the amount of government funding received by each body and the number of staff employed by each body, is contained in the Cabinet Office publication, ‘Public Bodies 2006’ and can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006.pdf

I have placed a copy of an extract from this report referring to Northern Ireland departments in the Library.

Information on whether or not those employed are full-time or part-time is not readily available and could only be compiled at disproportionate cost. However, information is currently being gathered in respect of 2007 to inform a report on public bodies sponsored by Northern Ireland departments only and I have asked to have these employment details included. The report is due to be published at the end of August.

Funding for Quangos

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the amount of funding from the Northern Ireland Block grant used to fund quangos in Northern Ireland. (AQW 1061/07)

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006.pdf

I have placed a copy of an extract from this report referring to Northern Ireland departments in the Library.

Staff Employed by Quangos

Mr George Savage asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the number of people that are employed by quangos, both full-time and part-time. (AQW 1062/07)

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006.pdf

I have placed a copy of an extract from this report referring to Northern Ireland departments in the Library.

Review into Forecasting and Monitoring

Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to comment on how his department intends to address the recommendations of the PKF (UK) Review into forecasting and monitoring. (AQW 1118/07)

Mr Robinson: My officials will work with departments in taking forward all the recommendations of the review. The initial focus will be on improving the quality of financial information used by departmental boards and on training for non-finance professionals.

Financial Subvention

Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what plans he has to set targets for reduction in the level of financial subvention to Northern Ireland from the Treasury. (AQW 1120/07)

Mr Robinson: The size of the financial subvention, or fiscal deficit, can best be reduced by encouraging economic growth in the local private sector. A more buoyant and vibrant private sector will generate greater tax yields within Northern Ireland thereby reducing the estimated subvention.

Workplace 2010

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to give an assurance that Workplace 2010 will not act as a barrier to decentralisation of civil service jobs, either in structural or financial terms, if a decision to decentralise is made by the Executive. (AQW 1122/07)

Mr Robinson: The Workplace 2010 contract, if approved by the Executive, will contain appropriate flexibility provisions to accommodate future movement of business. The price will be determined upfront in a competitive environment thus ensuring best value for money. I am satisfied that this procurement will not fetter any future decisions on the location of public sector jobs.

Gross Domestic Product

Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what plans he has to set targets for reduction in the public sector share of Northern Ireland's Gross Domestic Product. (AQW 1125/07)

Mr Robinson: The public sector share of Northern Ireland’s Gross Domestic Product is estimated to be the highest of all UK regions. However, this is mainly due to the small scale of the local private sector. Therefore, growing the Northern Ireland private sector is crucial to reducing the public sector’s relative contribution to the local economy.

Draft Regional Economic Strategy

Mr Seán Neeson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what plans he has to revise the draft Regional Economic Strategy. (AQW 1142/07)

Mr Robinson: Public consultation on the draft Regional Economic Strategy concluded on 19 April 2007. I am currently assessing the responses and I will place a response on the DFP website after discussion with Executive colleagues. The next stage in the Regional Economic Strategy will need to await the outcome of the ongoing Varney Review which will be critical to future economic development policy in Northern Ireland.

Car Parking for Civil Servants

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the amount spent on car parking for civil servants, in the last five years. (AQW 1147/07)

Mr Robinson:

Cost of Car Parking to DFP
Year	Cost
2003/04	£1,080,738.23
2004/05	£1,205,648.21
2005/06	£1,507,055.29
2006/07	£1,353,138.64
2007/08	£948,677.02
	Total	£6,095,257.39

Note:

The Department of Finance and Personnel has historically had responsibility for the provision of car parking to essential users within all the Northern Ireland Departments. The table above reflects this DFP expenditure.

When Departments require additional spaces, these are acquired from within Departmental budgets.

Rates Holiday

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail whether any incoming business to Northern Ireland receives a rates holiday, either now or in the past. (AQW 1170/07)

Mr Robinson: There is no provision in the rating legislation to provide for a rates holiday for incoming business to Northern Ireland, either now or in the past.

Rating of Unoccupied Non-Domestic Properties

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what plans he has to introduce changes to the rating of unoccupied non-domestic properties in the near future. (AQW 1355/07)

Mr Robinson: I have no plans to do so at present. My Department is monitoring the current reforms being taken forward for England and Wales and I will examine the issue further following the outcome of the current review of industrial derating by the Economic Research Institute.

Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Respite Care

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what measures are being put in place to ensure that the assessed needs of those with severe learning disabilities who require respite care are met, within each Health and Social Care Trust area. (AQW 987/07)

The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr McGimpsey): My Department and Health and Social Care Trusts are working collaboratively to progress business cases for identified capital projects. I am also considering respite care in setting my budgetary priorities for the coming year.

Respite Care

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the action being taken by each Health and Social Care Trust to ensure the availability of age appropriate facilities for those with severe learning disabilities aged 19-25, who require respite care. (AQW 988/07)

Mr McGimpsey: Places are allocated on a compatibility basis rather than by specific age bands; however age alignment takes place when respite is being planned, where possible.

As part of the current modernisation plans, Trusts are taking cognisance of age appropriateness when modernising and replacing existing residential provision.

Compensation Paid for Medical Negligence

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will detail the amount of money paid to legal representatives, for both the claimants and Health and Social Care Trusts, in terms of claims for compensation for medical negligence made against each of the Health and Social Care Trusts, in each of the past five years. (AQW 1005/07)

Mr McGimpsey: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Successful Recipients of Compensation Payments for Medical Negligence

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will detail the amount of money paid out to successful claimants, in terms of claims for compensation for medical negligence made against each of the Health and Social Care Trusts, in each of the past five years. (AQW 1006/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The information requested has been set out in the table below.

AMOUNTS PAID OUT TO SUCCESSFUL CLAIMANTS IN TERMS OF CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION FOR MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE MADE AGAINST EACH OF THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES TRUSTS IN EACH OF THE LAST 5 YEARS

HSS Trust	2005/06	2004/05	2003/04	2002/03	2001/02
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Altnagelvin Hospitals	305	358	214	205	416
Armagh and Dungannon	45	132	144	147	3
Belfast City Hospital	728	548	594	797	1,526
Causeway	364	1,009	414	192	472
Craigavon and Banbridge Community	72	0	0	0	0
Craigavon Area Hospital Group	144	2,546	559	55	520
Down Lisburn	1,652	492	504	155	161
Foyle	0	10	7	3	0
Green Park Healthcare	117	37	112	2	57
Homefirst Community	6	0	0	0	0
Mater Hospital	93	61	179	279	47
Newry & Mourne	116	27	193	332	41
NI Ambulance Service	0	0	0	0	0
North & West Belfast	21	0	46	0	0
Royal Group of Hospitals & Dental Hospital	1,364	733	2,249	1,090	508
South & East Belfast	309	0	667	30	16
Sperrin Lakeland	492	75	36	122	41
Ulster Community & Hospitals	616	279	710	184	194
United Hospitals	1,187	940	115	50	652

The five new Health and Social Care Trusts came into operation on 1 April 2007. Since the information requested is in respect of the years 2001/02 – 2005/06, the answer has been given in relation to the nineteen Health and Social Services Trusts which existed prior to that.

Compensation Claims for Medical Negligence

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will detail the number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made against each of the Health and Social Care Trusts that are still pending determination, in each of the past five years. (AQW 1007/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The information requested has been set out in the tables below.

Altnagelvin Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	43	8	3	32
2002/03	44	10	3	31
2003/04	54	5	6	43
2004/05	31	3	1	27
2005/06	46	0	0	46

Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	4	1	2	1
2002/03	1	0	1	0
2003/04	3	0	0	3
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	5	0	0	5

Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	61	22	7	32
2002/03	37	9	1	27
2003/04	57	9	5	43
2004/05	50	4	2	44
2005/06	40	5	3	32

Causeway HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	14	2	3
2002/03	15	8	0	7
2003/04	14	3	2	9
2004/05	12	2	1	9
2005/06	20	1	0	19

Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	0	0	0	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	0	0	0	0
2005/06	0	0	0	0

Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	38	9	19	10
2002/03	52	28	5	19
2003/04	40	8	8	24
2004/05	39	4	4	31
2005/06	36	1	3	32

Down Lisburn HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	12	5	2
2002/03	38	22	5	11
2003/04	28	10	3	15
2004/05	55	6	25	24
2005/06	30	4	1	25

Foyle HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	3	1	0	2
2003/04	4	0	0	4
2004/05	3	0	0	3
2005/06	3	0	0	3

Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	16	13	0	3
2002/03	14	7	1	6
2003/04	10	5	0	5
2004/05	10	1	1	8
2005/06	20	0	2	18

Homefirst Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	2	2	0	0
2002/03	8	3	1	4
2003/04	5	1	0	4
2004/05	2	0	2	0
2005/06	1	0	0	1

Mater Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	30	12	7	11
2002/03	20	5	3	12
2003/04	38	7	3	28
2004/05	20	2	0	18
2005/06	30	2	0	28

Newry & Mourne HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	22	5	3	14
2002/03	20	4	1	15
2003/04	15	2	0	13
2004/05	14	0	1	13
2005/06	7	0	1	6

NI Ambulance Service HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	1	1	0	0
2003/04	2	1	0	1
2004/05	2	0	0	2
2005/06	1	0	0	1

North & West Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	7	3	4	0
2002/03	4	3	1	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	2	1	0	1
2005/06	7	0	0	7

Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	77	31	10	36
2002/03	80	21	8	51
2003/04	82	14	5	63
2004/05	95	10	8	77
2005/06	77	3	0	74

South & East Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	5	2	2	1
2002/03	1	0	0	1
2003/04	2	1	1	0
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	2	0	0	2

Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	17	3	6	8
2002/03	38	1	5	32
2003/04	20	3	2	15
2004/05	25	4	0	21
2005/06	26	0	0	26

Ulster Community & Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	42	7	5	30
2002/03	50	8	7	35
2003/04	39	3	2	34
2004/05	43	0	0	43
2005/06	49	2	0	47

United Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	58	14	10	34
2002/03	43	10	7	26
2003/04	34	5	3	26
2004/05	59	4	7	48
2005/06	37	6	2	29

Compensation Paid for Medical Negligence

Mr McGimpsey: The information requested has been set out in the tables below.

Altnagelvin Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	43	8	3	32
2002/03	44	10	3	31
2003/04	54	5	6	43
2004/05	31	3	1	27
2005/06	46	0	0	46

Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	4	1	2	1
2002/03	1	0	1	0
2003/04	3	0	0	3
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	5	0	0	5

Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	61	22	7	32
2002/03	37	9	1	27
2003/04	57	9	5	43
2004/05	50	4	2	44
2005/06	40	5	3	32

Causeway HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	14	2	3
2002/03	15	8	0	7
2003/04	14	3	2	9
2004/05	12	2	1	9
2005/06	20	1	0	19

Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	0	0	0	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	0	0	0	0
2005/06	0	0	0	0

Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	38	9	19	10
2002/03	52	28	5	19
2003/04	40	8	8	24
2004/05	39	4	4	31
2005/06	36	1	3	32

Down Lisburn HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	12	5	2
2002/03	38	22	5	11
2003/04	28	10	3	15
2004/05	55	6	25	24
2005/06	30	4	1	25

Foyle HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	3	1	0	2
2003/04	4	0	0	4
2004/05	3	0	0	3
2005/06	3	0	0	3

Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	16	13	0	3
2002/03	14	7	1	6
2003/04	10	5	0	5
2004/05	10	1	1	8
2005/06	20	0	2	18

Homefirst Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	2	2	0	0
2002/03	8	3	1	4
2003/04	5	1	0	4
2004/05	2	0	2	0
2005/06	1	0	0	1

Mater Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	30	12	7	11
2002/03	20	5	3	12
2003/04	38	7	3	28
2004/05	20	2	0	18
2005/06	30	2	0	28

Newry & Mourne HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	22	5	3	14
2002/03	20	4	1	15
2003/04	15	2	0	13
2004/05	14	0	1	13
2005/06	7	0	1	6

NI Ambulance Service HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	1	1	0	0
2003/04	2	1	0	1
2004/05	2	0	0	2
2005/06	1	0	0	1

North & West Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	7	3	4	0
2002/03	4	3	1	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	2	1	0	1
2005/06	7	0	0	7

Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	77	31	10	36
2002/03	80	21	8	51
2003/04	82	14	5	63
2004/05	95	10	8	77
2005/06	77	3	0	74

South & East Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	5	2	2	1
2002/03	1	0	0	1
2003/04	2	1	1	0
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	2	0	0	2

Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	17	3	6	8
2002/03	38	1	5	32
2003/04	20	3	2	15
2004/05	25	4	0	21
2005/06	26	0	0	26

Ulster Community & Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	42	7	5	30
2002/03	50	8	7	35
2003/04	39	3	2	34
2004/05	43	0	0	43
2005/06	49	2	0	47

United Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	58	14	10	34
2002/03	43	10	7	26
2003/04	34	5	3	26
2004/05	59	4	7	48
2005/06	37	6	2	29

Compensation Pending Determination for Medical Negligence

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will detail the number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made against each of the Health and Social Care Trusts that have been settled or successfully pursued through court, in each of the past five years . (AQW 1012/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The information requested has been set out in the tables below.

Altnagelvin Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	43	8	3	32
2002/03	44	10	3	31
2003/04	54	5	6	43
2004/05	31	3	1	27
2005/06	46	0	0	46

Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	4	1	2	1
2002/03	1	0	1	0
2003/04	3	0	0	3
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	5	0	0	5

Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	61	22	7	32
2002/03	37	9	1	27
2003/04	57	9	5	43
2004/05	50	4	2	44
2005/06	40	5	3	32

Causeway HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	14	2	3
2002/03	15	8	0	7
2003/04	14	3	2	9
2004/05	12	2	1	9
2005/06	20	1	0	19

Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	0	0	0	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	0	0	0	0
2005/06	0	0	0	0

Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	38	9	19	10
2002/03	52	28	5	19
2003/04	40	8	8	24
2004/05	39	4	4	31
2005/06	36	1	3	32

Down Lisburn HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	19	12	5	2
2002/03	38	22	5	11
2003/04	28	10	3	15
2004/05	55	6	25	24
2005/06	30	4	1	25

Foyle HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	3	1	0	2
2003/04	4	0	0	4
2004/05	3	0	0	3
2005/06	3	0	0	3

Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	16	13	0	3
2002/03	14	7	1	6
2003/04	10	5	0	5
2004/05	10	1	1	8
2005/06	20	0	2	18

Homefirst Community HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	2	2	0	0
2002/03	8	3	1	4
2003/04	5	1	0	4
2004/05	2	0	2	0
2005/06	1	0	0	1

Mater Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	30	12	7	11
2002/03	20	5	3	12
2003/04	38	7	3	28
2004/05	20	2	0	18
2005/06	30	2	0	28

Newry & Mourne HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	22	5	3	14
2002/03	20	4	1	15
2003/04	15	2	0	13
2004/05	14	0	1	13
2005/06	7	0	1	6

NI Ambulance Service HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	0	0	0	0
2002/03	1	1	0	0
2003/04	2	1	0	1
2004/05	2	0	0	2
2005/06	1	0	0	1

North & West Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	7	3	4	0
2002/03	4	3	1	0
2003/04	1	0	0	1
2004/05	2	1	0	1
2005/06	7	0	0	7

Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	77	31	10	36
2002/03	80	21	8	51
2003/04	82	14	5	63
2004/05	95	10	8	77
2005/06	77	3	0	74

South & East Belfast HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	5	2	2	1
2002/03	1	0	0	1
2003/04	2	1	1	0
2004/05	1	0	0	1
2005/06	2	0	0	2

Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	17	3	6	8
2002/03	38	1	5	32
2003/04	20	3	2	15
2004/05	25	4	0	21
2005/06	26	0	0	26

Ulster Community & Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	42	7	5	30
2002/03	50	8	7	35
2003/04	39	3	2	34
2004/05	43	0	0	43
2005/06	49	2	0	47

United Hospitals HSS Trust

Year	Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year	Current situation of those cases as at 30 November 2006
Year		Dismissed No.	Settled or successfully pursued No.	Pending determination No.
2001/02	58	14	10	34
2002/03	43	10	7	26
2003/04	34	5	3	26
2004/05	59	4	7	48
2005/06	37	6	2	29

Alcohol Related Incidents

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail how many alcohol related incidents have been dealt with by the A&E departments of hospitals in Northern Ireland, in each of last three years. (AQW 1028/07)

Mr McGimpsey: I am not in a position to provide the precise number of alcohol related incidents that have been dealt with by A&E departments of hospitals in the last three years.

The information requested is not held centrally by my Department.

Figures collated by my Department relate to the number of verbal and physical abusive incidents that occur within Trusts, Boards and Agency’s and can only be detailed by staff group but not by hospital departments.

Financial Contributions by Care Home Residents

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to state the number of dwellings which have been acquired from care home residents by Health and Social Care Trusts to cover the cost of care, in the last five years. (AQW 1053/07)

Mr McGimpsey: This information is not collected. Care home residents are required by legislation to contribute to the cost of their care. Each resident undergoes a financial assessment to determine the level of this contribution. That assessment takes into account savings and other assets. Health and Social Care Trusts do not acquire properties to enable people to contribute to the cost of their care. It is for residents and their advisers to decide how best to meet their assessed contribution to the cost of their care.

Lurgan Hospital

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to comment on the future of Lurgan Hospital, both in the short term and long term, with specific reference to the closure of two respite care wards, and the moving of the skin clinic to Craigavon Area Hospital. (AQW 1164/07)

Mr McGimpsey: Lurgan Hospital will continue to provide a range of services locally including elderly care and therapy services.

The Southern Health and Social Care Trust, which is responsible for Lurgan Hospital, has recently approved proposals for a number of major service developments for older people living in the Southern area. The proposals include moving respite care which is currently provided at Lurgan Hospital to a community setting. This is consistent with my Department’s policy that high quality care should be provided in the most appropriate settings, preferably in or near people’s homes. The Trust also plans to develop new services for older people, including a ‘one-stop’ consultant led clinic based at Lurgan Hospital.

A review of dermatology services is currently under way within the Trust to examine new ways of delivering services to improve access for patients. The review is part of the Trust’s ongoing modernisation and reform programme and is focusing on how and where dermatology should be most appropriately provided in future. The process will include the introduction of a Dermatology Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Service (ICATS), which will help to reduce the length of time patients wait for specialist assessment and treatment.

Availability of Drugs for Dementia

Mr Kieran McCarthy asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to make a statement on the comparison between the availability of clinically effective drugs for dementia in Northern Ireland and their availability in England and Wales. (AQO 242/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The prescription of drugs for the Alzheimer’s form of dementia in England and Wales is subject to guidance issued by NICE which recommends that certain drugs be used for treating people at the moderate stage of the disease only. The process by which NICE developed this guidance is currently subject to judicial review.

In Northern Ireland we would generally expect to apply NICE guidance on the use of drugs as this provides the most robust evidence base available to inform such decisions. However, NICE guidance on Alzheimer’s drugs has not yet been applied in Northern Ireland and remains under review by my Department. Consequently a number of drugs used in treating people with Alzheimer’s disease are currently more widely available in Northern Ireland compared to England and Wales.

NHS Direct

Mr David McClarty asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will undertake to extend NHS Direct to Northern Ireland to enable patients to have 24 hour access to NHS staff and advice. (AQO 231/07)

Mr McGimpsey: I am interested in developing an NHS Direct-type service for the people of Northern Ireland. I believe this would provide improved access to advice and information on health matters, enabling people to deal with many issues at home, thus avoiding attendance at their Doctor or A & E services. However, this will, quite properly, have to be considered by the Executive against a range of priorities as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Dental Patients

Ms Carmel Hanna asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what is the number of dental patients in receipt of NHS funded treatment, broken down by Trust area. (AQO 206/07)

Mr McGimpsey: By Trust area, the numbers of patients receiving Health Service dental treatment in 2006/07 were as follows:

Belfast Trust: 176,273

Northern Area Trust: 180,685

South Eastern Area Trust: 123,671

Southern Area Trust: 136,097

Western Area Trust: 95,189

These total 711,765.

DHSSPS Spending on Consultancy and Public Relations

Dr Alasdair McDonnell asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how much money has been spent by his department in each of the last five years on (a) public relations, and (b) other consultancy services. (AQO 288/07)

Mr McGimpsey: In 2002/03, £1,009,481 was spent on external consultancy.

In 2003/04 £1,590,641 was spent on external consultancy, including £1,435 on public relations

In 2004/05, £1,885,458 was spent on external consultancy including £6,197 on public relations.

In 2005/06, £2,669,216 was spent on external consultancy, including £6,894 on public relations.

The final figures for 2006/07 are not yet available. We estimate that £3.1m will have been spent on external consultancy.

Cost of Drugs Wastage

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what is the total cost to the Health Service in relation to the annual cost of drugs wastage, and what measures he is taking to address this wastage. (AQO 217/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The information requested on cost is not routinely collected. On the basis of figures extrapolated from Great Britain, it is estimated that the cost of unused medicines in Northern Ireland amounts to approximately £2.5million per year. I should add, however, that even this is an inaccurate figure as it represents only those unused drugs returned to pharmacies for disposal. It is impossible to estimate accurately how much people dispose of privately. However, even £2.5m is a tiny fraction – about 0.7% - of the total drugs bill for NI, which stands at some £354million.

To reduce drugs wastage, my Department is pursuing a number of initiatives. These include medicines management initiatives, where patients are provided with information and support by their pharmacist on when and how to take their tablets and so reduce the opportunities for medicines to be wasted. In addition, repeat dispensing is currently being rolled out across Northern Ireland – this allows patients to get their repeat medicines for up to a year from their community pharmacy, under careful monitoring by the pharmacist, without having to contact their GP.

We are also rolling out an Integrated Medicines Management initiative, which includes promoting, where appropriate, the use of patients’ own drugs during a hospital stay, thereby contributing to a reduction in medicines wastage.

Re-Branding of Hospitals

Mr David Ford asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to make a statement on the cost and value for money of re-branding hospitals, following reconstitution of the Health Trusts. (AQO 236/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The changes to the health and social care structures in Northern Ireland as a result of the Review of Public Administration provided an opportunity for a single identity to be developed. For the first time patients and staff can recognise that organisations belong to one coherent system delivering consistent, high quality services across Northern Ireland.

In terms of cost, and regardless of re-branding, the reduction in the number of Trusts from 19 to 6 necessitated a change to the corporate identity of all the health and social care facilities and buildings across Northern Ireland. Every effort has been made to minimise costs in this area including keeping all design within the Service and using up existing stocks of stationery where possible. The only separately identifiable cost to date has been for signage at just over £33,000.

I am satisfied that to date the process for re-branding is beneficial, should be applied to other areas as appropriate and represents value for money. I have made it clear that as the process rolls out cost must be kept to the absolute minimum.

Autism

Rev Dr Robert Coulter asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to give an update on his approach to autism. (AQO 212/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The steep rise in diagnosed cases of autism in the past few years has placed considerable pressure on the services available. I share in the cross party support for improving these services and to that end my Department will shortly be undertaking a review of autism service provision to identify gaps, share best practice and promote innovation.

New Acute Hospital at Enniskillen

Mr Gerry McHugh asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline what services will be available to the new acute hospital at Enniskillen when it is completed. (AQO 270/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The new acute hospital at Enniskillen will provide a wide range of acute services for the people of the south west including Accident and Emergency, inpatient medicine and surgery, critical care and maternity. It will also provide day case surgery and day procedures together with a comprehensive range of diagnostics, including radiology and laboratory tests and a comprehensive range of outpatient services.

Enabling works have already begun on the selected site at Wolf Lough to the north of Enniskillen and it is expected that the hospital will be completed in 2011.

Mental Health

Mr Samuel Gardiner asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to give an update on his department's approach to mental health. (AQO 211/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The Bamford Review has made recommendations on the future configuration of mental health services. My officials are currently developing detailed proposals for handling Government’s response to the Review’s recommendations as a whole, including the resource implications over coming years although we have already begun to implement a number of the recommendations from reports received to date.

Cushendall Fire Station

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety when the Fire and Rescue Service will provide a new fire station in Cushendall, Co. Antrim. (AQO 205/07)

Mr McGimpsey: The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service has identified Cushendall Fire Station as a high priority for rebuild on the existing site in its current Strategic Infrastructure Development Plan. The timing of the new build will depend on the successful completion of work currently being jointly undertaken by my Department, the Fire and Rescue Service and the Strategic Investment Board to secure the funding which has been identified in the current Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland for the modernisation of emergency services,

Investment Package for Dentistry

Mr John McCallister asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to introduce an investment package for dentistry to ensure that dental practices can invest in oral health promotion. (AQO 230/07)

Mr McGimpsey: My officials are currently engaged in negotiations with the British Dental Association on the development of a Dental Contract which will underpin the Primary Dental Care Strategy and provide a framework for the delivery of primary dental services. The contract will enable both independent contractors and commissioning authorities to further enhance and develop the role of dentistry in improving the health and well being of the Northern Ireland population, including oral health promotion.

Hospital Performance

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what efficiency measures he plans to put in place to ensure a better performance from hospitals in Northern Ireland. (AQO 232/07)

Mr McGimpsey: My Department is currently finalising challenging efficiencies of £338m for the period 2008/09 to 2010/11, as part of the Executive Committee’s agreed approach to the Comprehensive Spending Review. This builds on existing efficiencies of £146m to be achieved by 2007/08.

Savings will be attained through a range of measures such as improved procurement; more efficient prescribing and dispensing of medicines; improved productivity and reduced administration.

My Department is also currently working on an updated set of financial rules to govern transactions between commissioners and providers. This will enhance the efficiency of the service by improving the link between the level and appropriateness of services provided and the income of the provider.

Carrickfergus Fire Station

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to give his assessment of the current condition of Carrickfergus fire station. (AQO 251/07)

Mr McGimpsey: Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that the condition of the Fire and Rescue Station at Carrickfergus is adequate for the immediate needs of the Fire and Rescue Service.

However, Carrickfergus Fire Station has been identified by NIFRS as High Priority for the construction of a new station in a new location in its Strategic Infrastructure Development Plan. In the interim further minor improvements to the condition of the Station are planned in this financial year, which will accommodate NIFRS plans for changes in the duty system where fulltime fire fighters will provide an enhanced attendance time at incidents.

Regional Development

Civil Servant's Car Share Scheme

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the incentives made available by the Northern Ireland Civil Service, in order to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work. (AQW 636/07)

The Minister for Regional Development (Mr Murphy): The promotion of car sharing is a matter for my Department’s Roads Service.

A car share scheme was introduced in June 2005 to encourage Civil Service staff to share the journey to work on the basis that it reduces traffic congestion, saves on fuel costs, and contributes to a reduction in exhaust emissions. In Clarence Court, the Headquarters of my Department, 23 spaces in the car park are reserved for car sharers.

A free on-line car-share scheme is promoted across the Civil Service through my Department’s Travelwise initiative. Participating staff can register their journey details on the car share website. The system then automatically searches for potential journey partners travelling in the same direction and allows individuals to contact each other via email or telephone. Staff can register by logging on to www.travelwisenicarshare.com or by contacting the Travelwise NI information line on 0845 378 0908. More than 1050 Civil Servants are currently registered on the scheme. I can also advise that the Travelwise Car Share Scheme has now been rolled out to businesses and the public.

Roads Service also promotes the use of free Park & Share sites, where staff and the public may park their cars, meet their car share partners and continue the journeys to work.

Street Lighting

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will conduct a new survey in relation to the request for lighting along the coast road from Larne to Drains Bay, in particular before and after the Black Arch area, due to the popularity of this route with walkers, runners and cyclists. (AQW 782/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised me that there is a 300m length of road with a 30 mph speed limit on the Larne side of the Black Arch at Drain’s Bay. While there has been no recent development on this section of road, Roads Service’s current policy would allow street lighting to be installed from the Arch up to end of the 30mph speed limit.

There are, however, some strong arguments against extending the lighting on this rural road which is in a particularly scenic setting. I have therefore asked Roads Service officials to arrange to meet some of the Larne Borough Councillors to discuss these arguments and agree a course of action. If it is agreed that the street lighting should be extended to the end of the 30 mph limit, Roads Service will also discuss the siting of columns close to the Black Arch, so that they do not detract from its appearance.

Maintenance of Drainage Systems

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development what steps he is taking to have a clearance of gullies undertqaken to prevent blockages after the recent storms, within (a) Ards Borough, and (b) Strangford. (AQW 820/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised me that, it aims to inspect, and clean where necessary, all gullies in urban areas twice each year and gullies in rural areas once each year. This is in line with road maintenance guidelines which apply equally to the Ards Borough and Strangford areas. This policy ensures that a reasonable level of maintenance is carried out to drainage systems, taking account of the Department’s finite funding and staff resource levels.

In addition to the scheduled operation, further cleaning is carried out to deal with blocked gullies, particularly at locations where fallen leaves represent an ongoing problem at certain times of the year, or where there has been a history of gullies becoming blocked for other reasons.

I have been assured that Roads Service’s local staff are in the process of identifying and cleaning any gullies or storm drainage systems that became blocked during the recent storms.

Cycle Lane in Carrickfergus and Larne

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to outline his strategic plan for cycle lanes in Carrickfergus and Larne. (AQW 827/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department, which continues to promote cycling as a sustainable mode of travel, has a number of high-level policy documents that deal with cycling. These include the Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy, the Regional Transportation Strategy, the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan which includes Carrickfergus, and the Sub-Regional Transport Plan which includes Larne.

The Department’s strategic plan for cycle lanes in Carrickfergus is set out in Chapter 8 of the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan. In summary, the thrust of the proposals is to improve facilities along the A2 coast road, with appropriate linkages into Carrickfergus and beyond to the B90 (Middle Road).

The Sub Regional Transportation Plan outlines the Strategic Plan for cycle lanes in Larne. The plan contains a blueprint for Larne that outlines the existing and proposed cycle infrastructure for the town. A significant amount of the plan contained in the blueprint has been delivered by Roads Service, working in conjunction with Larne Borough Council and Sustrans over the past number of years, for example, a new off-road shared use facility was provided along the A8 from the Old Belfast Road to Pound Street during 2004/05 at a cost of some £60,000.

Road Works, Larne

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to confirm when work will be completed on the main road that is to connect Walnut Hollow, Oakdene, and Hampton Manor in Larne. (AQW 828/07)

Mr Murphy: These streets are in a large residential development, known locally as Larne West, which is to be served by a main housing distributor road. In accordance with the overall concept plan, individual housing developers are constructing sections of this main road as part of their planning approvals, with the final desired outcome being the complete delivery of the road. As such, the timing of the delivery lies outside my Department’s direct control, and depends on suitable housing proposals being brought forward by developers through the planning process. I am unable therefore, to give a definite date for overall completion.

Light Rail System for Belfast

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister for Regional Development to set out the progress which has been made in providing a light rail system for the Greater Belfast area. (AQW 830/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department is currently examining the feasibility of two pilot rapid transit routes in the Belfast Metropolitan Area (BMA): EWAY, which would serve the Newtownards corridor; and the CITI Route (City Airport Titanic Quarter route) as a new route linking Belfast city centre and George Best Belfast City Airport through the Titanic Quarter and the new retail development in the Belfast Harbour Estate. The study is also looking at routes through the City centre to the Queens University area of South Belfast and to West Belfast.

While the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan, published in 2004, suggested that Rapid Transit should be bus-based, the current study is considering both light rail and a variety of bus-based rapid transit options to determine the most appropriate technology for the BMA. The study is due to make an initial report in the summer on the EWAY and CITI routes, with a supplementary report in the autumn on the feasibility of routes through the City centre to South and West Belfast.

Belfast to Derry / Londonderry Railway Line

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development to outline the steps that have been taken to minimise breakdowns on the Belfast to Derry/Londonderry and Portrush railway lines. (AQW 831/07)

Mr Murphy: NIR currently operates 7,248 services from Belfast and Derry each year. During the period July 2005 to June 2006 there were 62 cancellations and 178 delays on services due to technical faults on trains. In the period July 2006 to June 2007 this fell significantly to 17 cancellations and 72 delays.

The trains currently used on the Derry line are a combination of the Class 80 trains and the new C3K trains. The use of the new trains has helped combat breakdowns on the line and NIR continues to work with the train manufacturer, CAF, to further improve fleet reliability. Translink also proposes to undertake a programme of works between June and December of this year in order to improve the reliability of the remaining class 80 trains. This will have a beneficial impact on the Portrush line where services are mainly provided by the class 80s.

Belfast to Derry/Londonderry Railway Line

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of mechanised defects which led to (a) cancellations, and (b) late arrivals, of the trains operating on the Belfast to Derry/Londonderry and Portrush lines in the last two years. (AQW 832/07)

Mr Murphy: Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates a total of 7248 services per year from Belfast and Derry/Portrush. During the period July 2005 to June 2006 there were 178 delays and 62 cancellations to these services and, in the period July 2006 to June 2007, 72 delays and 17 cancellations. The improvement in service reliability is a direct result of the deployment of the class 3k trains on services to the North West.

Parking Facilities at Prior's Lea, Holywood

Mr Alex Easton asked the Minister for Regional Development what plans he has to put in place better parking facilities for residents, particularly the elderly residents, of Priors Lea in Holywood. (AQW 833/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service, has previously received requests from residents and elected representatives for the conversion of a grassed area to allow a new access road from Palace Grove and additional parking facilities at Prior’s Lea, Holywood.

These requests were assessed using established guidelines, which have been agreed with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), for use when considering the provision of car parking facilities in existing NIHE housing areas, such as Prior’s Lea, Holywood.

Under these guidelines the Housing Executive processes all requests for such facilities and decides, in consultation with Roads Service, where additional parking areas/lay-bys should be provided. If a scheme is deemed to be justified by both parties and duly agreed, it is then financed jointly by Roads Service and the Housing Executive, subject to the availability of funds, with the necessary work executed by Roads Service.

Whilst Roads Service has in the past contributed towards the cost of improved parking provision within some housing estates, such contributions have been restricted to routes where there is a significant traffic progression difficulty to through traffic, or where road safety is compromised. Where this is not the case, the provision of additional parking facilities is the responsibility of the landowner.

As part of a full assessment of this request, a site inspection and traffic surveys were carried out at various times of the day at Palace Grove/Prior’s Lea. These surveys indicated that traffic progression was not a significant problem at this location. It was also noted that there were no recorded personal injury collisions in this area and that the conversion of the grassed area at Prior’s Lea would result in the removal of existing parking bays on Palace Grove, which provides 11 marked parking spaces for the residents of Prior’s Lea. It was therefore considered that the expenditure of limited public funds to provide additional car parking at Prior’s Lea could not be justified.

However, an additional traffic survey was carried out between 10.00am & 10.30pm at Palace Grove, at the request of residents, who believed that any traffic progression problems would be evident at this time. The results of this survey were considered as part of an independent review of this case. This review was carried out in March 2007, by a senior Roads Service official not previously involved in the matter. He considered all the relevant facts and procedures used to assess this request, along with the additional survey results which did not highlight any significant traffic progression problems for through traffic on Palace Grove, and agreed with the decision not to provide additional parking facilities at Prior’s Lea, Hollywood.

As the facts surrounding this request have not changed since the March 2007 review, I can confirm that there are no current plans to provide additional parking facilities at Prior’s Lea, Holywood.

Improvements to Abercorn Bridge

Mr Allan Bresland asked the Minister for Regional Development what plan he has to make improvements to the Abercorn Bridge, Castle Brae, Newtownstewart. (AQW 834/07)

Mr Murphy: I understand that Abercorn Bridge, Castle Brae, Newtownstewart, has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Following an assessment carried out in December 2006, a 3T weight restriction was imposed on the bridge and traffic was reduced to single lane operation. These restrictions have not had as severe an effect on traffic as they would have had a few years previously, due to the construction, by my Department’s Roads Service, of the Newtownstewart Bypass, in December 2002. This provided additional linkages between Plumbridge Road and the town centre.

I am advised that it would be neither practical nor economical to repair the bridge, and that a replacement bridge is estimated to cost in the region of £1million. As with any of my Department’s functions, bridge improvement works have to be prioritised. A scheme to replace Abercorn Bridge is currently approximately five years away.

A32 Omagh to Enniskillen

Mr Tom Elliott asked the Minister for Regional Development what plans are in place for the upgrade of the A32 Omagh to Enniskillen route, particularly in relation to the recent announcement of two new hospitals for the south-west region of Northern Ireland. (AQW 838/07)

Mr Murphy: In July 2006, my Department’s Roads Service issued a consultation document entitled ‘Expanding the Strategic Road Improvement Programme 2015’, which contained a number of road improvement proposals including a £10 million programme of single carriageway improvement and realignment schemes including guaranteed overtaking sections (2+1s) for the A32 between Omagh and Enniskillen.

Roads Service is currently considering responses to the consultation document. Work on the assessment of this Programme is at an advanced stage, and as it has not yet been finalised, I am presently not in a position to advise on details of its content or timing.

I am advised that, the Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety will contribute £5 million towards upgrading this route as a result of new hospital provision in Enniskillen.

A5 Dual - Carriageway

Mr Raymond McCartney asked the Minister for Regional Development to provide an outline plan of how officials from road services will liaise with their counterparts in the National Road Authority for the proposed A5 dual-carriageway from Londonderry/Derry to Aughnacloy. (AQW 882/07)

Mr Murphy: You may be aware that as part of the Chancellor’s package announced on 22 March the Irish Government confirmed its intention to make available a contribution of £400 million to fund an unprecedented package of infrastructure investment, including a major new roads programme to provide dual carriageway standard on routes within the North serving the North West Gateway of Letterkenny/Derry and on the eastern seaboard corridor from Belfast to Larne.

As management arrangements have not yet been finalised I am not in a position to provide an answer to your question at present.

However, I can advise you that senior officials in my Department’s Roads Service currently meet regularly with their counterparts in the National Roads Authority and that there is precedent for excellent working relationships in projects such as the Newry-Dundalk dual carriageway, which is due to be completed shortly.

Northern Ireland Water Customer Service

Mr John McCallister asked the inception of Northern Ireland Water a) what is the target time for the Northern Ireland Water Customer Relations Centre to reply to queries from customers b) what percentage of replies to queries are reached by way of a 'holding letter' c) on how many occasions 'holding letters' have been issued and d) how many customers have received more than one' holding letter' (AQW 885/07)

Mr Murphy: As Minister for Regional Development, I have policy responsibility for water and sewerage, but The Water and Sewerage Services (NI) Order 2006 introduced by the previous administration transferred responsibility for the operational delivery of water and sewerage services to Northern Ireland Water (NIW).

I have, however, contacted NIW in relation to this matter and the Director of Customer Services has advised me that the target times for Northern Ireland Water to reply to customer queries are in line with the standards that apply for service delivery in the water industry in England and Wales. The target response time for billing queries is 5 days and for complaints is 10 days. Response times for other customer queries range from 10 days for general correspondence and up to 60 days for adoptions of sewers under Article 167 of The Water & Sewerage Service (NI) Order 2006.

Since the inception of Northern Ireland Water on 1 April 2007, a total of 314 holding letters have been issued to customers. This represents just under 1.8% of all queries received in writing. During this period, only 3 customers received more than one holding reply.

Belfast to Derry / Londonderry Railway Line

Mr John McCallister asked the Minister for Regional Development what assessment has been made of the condition of track on the Belfast to Derry/Londonderry rail line, with particular reference to the Ballymena to Derry/Londonderry section; and what money has been earmarked to invest in renewing and replacing track on the Belfast to Derry/Londonderry rail line. (AQW 887/07)

Mr Murphy: The network of continuous welded track is inspected twice per week and ultrasonic rail inspections, which check the integrity of the rails, are undertaken every 6 months. Permanent Way Inspectors walk their respective track sections on a quarterly basis and ad hoc train cab rides permit additional track evaluation. During April and May of this year, NIR’s Professional Head of Track and the District Engineer also completed a full inspection of the tracks between Ballymena and Londonderry on foot.

As a result of its examinations, Translink has assessed that the line between Ballymena and Londonderry is in poor condition and the speed limit for the overall line has been reduced from 70mph to 60mph. In areas of particularly poor condition the speed limit has been further restricted.

Following the carrying out of an appraisal which assessed the merits of a range of options for future railways provision, the Department is bidding for additional funding to upgrade the Derry line as part of the second Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, work between Belfast and Derry is planned to maintain services at existing levels in accordance with the Railways Review Group Report published in 2004. Translink have recently submitted to the Department an economic appraisal of options in support of a £12.0million project to deliver track life extension on parts of the Ballymena to Derry Line. This is currently with the Department’s Economists who are carrying out an evaluation of the business case before inviting DFP approval.

Finally action is currently being taken to address problems which have arisen on the line close to Ballymoney where wet beds are leading to deterioration of the track. The Department has approved capital grant of £489 thousand in this regard.

Public Transport

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development what action his department has taken to address the public transport needs of residents in (a) Ballymena Borough Council area; (b) Ballymoney Borough Council area; and (c) Moyle District Council area, in each of the last two years. (AQW 907/07)

Mr Murphy: AQW 907/07

Public transport needs have been addressed through the development and publication of the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan, published in March 2005 and the Sub-Regional Transport Plan (SRTP), published in June 2007. Specifically the SRTP proposes infrastructure improvements and service improvements in the Ballymena Borough Council, Ballymoney Borough Council and Moyle District Council areas.

During the last two years my Department’s Roads Service has introduced a number of measures to improve the transport needs of residents in Ballymena, Ballymoney and Moyle Council areas. These measures are as follows:

Council Area	Year	Costs	Measures
Ballymena Borough Council	2006/07	£3,000	Direction signage to Ballymena Bus Station; direction signage to a new park and ride facility adjacent to Ballymena Bus and Railway station; and hardstand area at bus stop at Largy Road/Kilcurry Road junction.
	2005/06	£18,000	Footway links at Tullygarley bus shelter; footway links and central reservation crossings provided to a number of bus stops along the Lisnevenagh Road.
Ballymoney Borough Council	2006/07	£9,000	Footway link at junction of Craig’s Road at Drumack Road to bus shelter; footway link at Vow Road to bus shelter; footway link at Clintyfinnan to bus shelter; footway link on Kilraughts Road at junction of Boyland Road to bus shelter; and hardstand area on Frosses Road at Burnquarter at bus stop.
	2005/06	£6,000	Footway link at Derrykeighan to bus shelter; footway link at Knockahollet Primary School to bus stop; any footway link at Bellaghy Road at junction of Bellaghy Road at bus stop.
Moyle District Council	2006/07	£12,000	Bus Stop Upgrades, including footway links, Giant’s Causeway
	2005/06	£Nil

Residents of the Ballymena Borough Council, Ballymoney Borough Council and Moyle District Council have also benefited from general expenditure on public transport services. In the past two years my Department’s expenditure on public transport services has been as follows:

	2005-06 £000	2006-07 £000
Railway Services	60,382	36,026
Road Passenger Services	58,132	61,214

Part of this expenditure is aimed specifically at residents of the three Council areas.

My department provides support to North Antrim Community Transport and Coleraine Area Rural Transport. These are community based transport partnerships which offer a range of transport options, including door-to-door (demand responsive to members) transport and group hire services to rural dwellers.

The door–to-door transport scheme was introduced in Ballymena and Ballymoney on 27 April 2007. The door-to-door scheme is a transport service for people living in urban areas (defined as areas whose population is in excess of 10,000), who through disability find it difficult or impossible to use mainstream public transport.

Public Transport at Rathlin Island

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development what new initiatives his department has introduced to address the public transport needs of residents of Rathlin Island, in the last two years. (AQW 908/07)

Mr Murphy: No new initiatives have been introduced in the last two years. Rathlin Island is served by a ferry service which is provided under long term contract and this is currently under review.

Public Transport needs in Craigavon and Banbridge

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development what action he has taken to address the public transport needs of residents in (a) Craigavon Borough Council; and (b) Banbridge District Council, in each of the last two years. (AQW 919/07)

Mr Murphy: Public transport needs have been addressed through the development and publication of the Regional Strategic Transport Network Transport Plan, published in March 2005 and the Sub-Regional Transport Plan (SRTP), published in June 2007. Specifically the SRTP proposes infrastructure improvements and service improvements in the Craigavon Borough Council and Banbridge District Council areas.

I understand that my Department’s Roads Service has spent approximately £100,000 over the last two financial years in providing and improving bus lay-bys and shelters in the Craigavon and Banbridge Council areas. The breakdown of this investment, which involves improving linkages to bus shelters, is as follows:

Council Area	Year	Costs	Measures
Craigavon Borough Council	2006/07	£32,000	Bus lay-bys have been provided at Drumgor 2 and Tullygalley East.
	2005/06	£41,200	Bus lay-bys have been provided at Drumgor 1, Moyraverty Road, Main Street Waringstown and Lake Street Lurgan Footway Link.
Banbridge District Council	2006/07	£21,000	A bus stop and lay-by have been provided at Lawrencetown.
	2005/06	£6,000	A bus lay-by has been provided at Ballybrick/Glenburn/ Mays Corner.

Residents of the Craigavon Borough Council and Banbridge District Council areas have also benefited from general expenditure on public transport services. In the past two years my Department’s expenditure on public transport services has been as follows:

	2005-06 £000	2006-07 £000
Railway Services	60,382	36,026
Road Passenger Services	58,132	61,214

Part of this expenditure is aimed specifically at residents of the two Council areas. My department provides support to Down Armagh Rural Community Transport, a community based transport partnership which offers a range of transport options, including door-to-door (demand responsive to members) transport and group hire services to rural dwellers in both the Craigavon Borough Council and Banbridge District Council areas.

The door–to-door transport scheme was introduced in Craigavon on 11 May 2007 and in Banbridge on 30 March 2007. The door-to-door scheme is a transport service for people living in urban areas (defined as areas whose population is in excess of 10,000), who through disability find it difficult or impossible to use mainstream public transport.

Traffic Calming Measures

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the amount spent on traffic calming measures in Carrickfergus and Larne in 2006/07; and what plans there are for providing traffic calming measures for these areas in 2007/08. (AQW 921/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service receives many requests for traffic calming schemes and, as demand greatly exceeds the capacity to supply these measures, priorities must be established. I should also explain that the funding for traffic calming measures is allocated on a Divisional basis and not by individual Council area. Within each of Roads Service’s four Divisions schemes compete for inclusion within a minor works programme on the basis of merit. Implementation is then subject to the successful completion of resident’s consultation and legislative process.

The table below outlines the spend in both the Carrickfergus and Larne areas in 2006/07 and the proposed spend for 2007/08.

Area	Year	Cost	Scheme
Carrickfergus	2006/07	£Nil
Carrickfergus	2007/08	£30,000	Alexander Road. Barn Road.
Larne	2006/07	£Nil
Larne	2007/08	£45,000	Drumahoe Road/Gardens, Millbrook. The Upper Waterloo Road/Recreation Road area of Larne. Ballycarry village.

Ownership of Land

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to confirm that his department owns the land upon which garages are built at the rear of Shannagh Park, Carrickfergus; and if so, to detail the planned maintenance programme for the removal of litter at this site. (AQW 922/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department does not own the unregistered land upon which the garages at Shannagh Park, Carrickfergus are built. However, the surfaced area to the rear of Shannagh Park, Carrickfergus is adopted by Roads Service and is therefore part of the public road network.

Under Article 7 of The Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, responsibility for litter removal from a ‘relevant road’ is a function of the appropriate district council (every road is a ‘relevant road’ unless specifically designated otherwise by the Department).

Bus Service in Ballymena and Moyle

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail, for each of the last three years, the amount spent by his department on (a) improving bus services; (b) providing, repairing or improving bus lay-bys and shelters; (c) establishing new conventional bus services linking isolated communities to villages and towns; and (d) developing innovative demand-responsive services for residents in deep rural areas in (i) Ballymena Borough Council area; and (ii) Moyle District Council area. (AQW 929/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service introduces a number of measures each year aimed at improving access to bus services. Work is carried out in liaison with local councils and is frequently aimed at locations where the local council has provided bus shelters.

In the Ballymena Borough Council area during the last three years the following works have been carried out:

Year	Costs	Measures
2006/07	£3,000	Direction signage to Ballymena Bus Station; direction signage to a new park and ride facility adjacent to Ballymena Bus and Railway station; and hardstand area at bus stop at Largy Road/Kilcurry Road junction.
2005/06	£18,000	Footway links at Tullygarley bus shelter; footway links and central reservation crossings provided to a number of bus stops along the Lisnevenagh Road.
2004/05:	£47,000	New bus lay-by and turning area between Crebilly Road and Old Crebilly Road in Ballymena, removing the need for buses to turn in area of heavy pedestrian movement; bus boarder provided at bus stops at Ballymoney Road, Ballymena; footway links at Mount Pleasant, Craig’s Road to a bus shelter; footway link on Ballnafie Road at Tully Road to a bus shelter; footway link on Whitesides Road at Caddy Road to a bus shelter; and footway link on Grove Road at Dunclug Gardens to bus stop removing need to use steps.

In the Moyle District Council area during the last three years the following works have been carried out:

Year	Costs	Measures
2006/07	£12,000	Bus Stop Upgrades, including footway links, Giant’s Causeway
2005/06	£ NIL
2004/05:	£ NIL

During the past three years my Department has provided support to road passenger services as follows:

Year	Amount
2004/05	£36,967,000
2005/06	£58,132,000
2006/07	£61,214,000

Part of this expenditure has been aimed specifically at residents of the two council areas.

My Department has supported the provision of services for residents in deep rural parts of the Council area through providing Rural Transport Fund support to North Antrim Community Transport as follows:

Year

Amount

2004/05

£61,687

2005/06

£60,000

2006/07

£130,150

Rural Transport Funding support was also provided Translink to support services which are uneconomic but socially necessary as follows:

Year	Ballymena Borough Council	Moyle District Council
2004/05	Nil	Nil
2005/06	£1,863	£8,415
2006/07	£3,591	£47,685

In 2006/07 my Department spent £17.501.70 on door-to-door transport services in the Ballymena urban area. The door to door scheme is a transport service for people living in urban areas (defined as areas whose population is in excess of 10,000), who through disability find it difficult or impossible to use mainstream public transport.

Parking Meters in Belfast

Ms Carmel Hanna asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail (a) the number of parking meters in Belfast; and (b) the number that are not working at present. (AQW 933/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service advises that there are 158 pay and display machines in Belfast, of which 152 are located on-street and 6 are located in off-street pay and display car parks.

The machines are fitted with a report-back facility that details faults as they occur, to a back-office monitoring system. At the time of investigating this request, on Thursday 21 June 2007, 8 on-street machines were not working.

Planning Policy Statements

Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister for Regional Development what are his plans for future planning policy statements. (AQW 944/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department is currently preparing four Planning Policy Statements (PPSs), which are at different stages of development. They are a revision of PPS 12 (Housing in Settlements), PPS 5 (Retailing Town Centres and Commercial Leisure Developments), PPS 20 (The Coast), and PPS 14 (Sustainable Development in the Countryside. There are presently no plans to prepare further Planning Policy Statements.

Road Closures in Strangford

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development what steps he is taking to address the closure of roads within (a) the Ards Borough Council area; and (b) the Strangford constituency, as a result of bad weather and storms; and to detail the number of roads in these areas that have been closed, in each of the last three years. (AQW 957/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised me that, whilst several roads in the Ards Borough Council area were flooded as a result of the recent prolonged and intense rainfall, none were deemed to be fully closed. The situation on the ground was that although a small number of vehicles became stranded having attempted to drive through the floods, the majority of drivers were able to negotiate the flood water and the roads were passable with care. This is clearly not an ideal situation and Roads Service staff are working closely with staff in the Rivers Agency to determine if any steps can be taken to avoid this happening again or, at the very least, reduce the risk in the future.

Although I am unable to provide exact details of the number of roads which have been closed as a result of bad weather in the past three years, I understand that there is some history of flooding on the A20 between Newtownards and Portaferry which has resulted in the road having to be closed. This tends to occur on one or two occasions during the year when heavy rain and strong winds coincide with abnormally high tides. Unfortunately there is little that can be done to combat these combined forces of nature and closing the road is the only option and this is done in the interests of motorists’ safety.

In the Strangford constituency, one road, Park Drive, Dundonald, was closed to traffic for a relatively short period of time on Tuesday, 12 June 2007, as a result of the heavy rain. Roads Service aims to inspect and clean where necessary, all gullies in urban areas between once and twice per annum depending on local circumstances. Gullies in rural areas are inspected and cleaned on average once per annum. This policy ensures that a reasonable level of maintenance is carried out to drainage systems, taking account of the Department’s finite funding and staff resource levels.

Residents Parking Schemes

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the measures his department is taking to ensure that residents are able to park outside their homes; and to outline the steps taken to provide residents with parking permits. (AQW 966/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has received numerous requests from elected representatives and community groups to introduce Residents’ Parking schemes in areas subjected to all day commuter parking. Following a public consultation on a draft Residents’ Parking policy, which was completed in February 2007, Roads Service is now finalising a policy, which will facilitate the introduction of such schemes. Subject to my approval of this policy, Roads Service expects to introduce the first Residents’ Parking schemes towards the end of 2007.

I understand that operating times for Residents’ Parking schemes will be designed to reduce commuter parking in residential areas during weekdays. However, outside the operating times, normal parking will be permitted, unless no other waiting restrictions are in place.

Prior to the introduction of a Residents’ Parking scheme, residents will be consulted on the scheme design. Once a Residents’ Parking Order has been introduced, Roads Service will issue a letter to residents explaining how the scheme will operate and how to apply for a Residents’ permit.

Northern Ireland Water

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the criteria that are applied in assessing the requirement for representatives from Northern Ireland Water to attend District Council meetings. (AQW 978/07)

Mr Murphy: There is no statutory requirement under the Water and Sewerage Services (NI) Order 2006 for representatives from Northern Ireland Water (NIW) to attend District Council meetings. I have asked the Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Water (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) to write to you about any operational approach taken by NIW.

Road Signs

Mr Cathal Boylan asked the Minister for Regional Development what steps she is taking to introduce signs detailing the number of road deaths in each county in Northern Ireland, similar to those in the Republic of Ireland. (AQW 983/07)

Mr Murphy: As road signage is a matter for the Department for Regional Development, your question has been passed to me, as Minister responsible, to answer.

Signs of this nature have been erected by the National Roads Authority (NRA) in the South, generally on each National Primary approach road to each county, to indicate the number of road deaths in each county. I am advised that the NRA has concerns about the use of such signs, is unconvinced of their value and is proposing to remove them. My Department’s Roads Service has, therefore, no plans to introduce such signs in the North.

Road Signs

Mr Cathal Boylan asked the Minister for Regional Development what plans he has to introduce road signs detailing distances in kilometres, in addition to the existing signs showing distances in miles. (AQW 985/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has no plans to introduce road signs detailing distances in kilometres in addition to miles for cost, safety and amenity reasons.

The inclusion of a metric (km) equivalent on road signs in the North, which currently carry the distance in miles, would incur a significant capital cost, as all existing signs would need to be retrofitted or replaced. These costs would be disproportionate to any overall benefit to be derived from the change and, given the current budgetary pressures on the Department, would be difficult to justify.

From a safety aspect, there is the potential for driver confusion where distances are given in both metric and imperial units.

The addition of a metric equivalent on road signs would require the use of larger signs and would increase the visual intrusion on the landscape, particularly in rural areas.

Disabled Parking Facilities

Mr Pat Ramsey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of applications received in each year from 2000 to 2006 inclusive, for disabled parking facilities, made by non-disabled drivers of people with disabilities; and how many of these applications were successful. (AQW 1002/07)

Mr Murphy: I should explain that applications for disabled parking bays are made by the person with the disability, giving details of the requested location, their vehicle (and details of the driver, if the latter is not the applicant) and other relevant details.

Complete statistics of the number of these applications received by my Department’s Roads Service, where the driver of the vehicle was not the applicant, and those subsequently successful, are only available from 2002, as detailed in the table below:

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Applications where the driver of the vehicle was not the applicant	115	131	126	129	133
Successful Applications	34	26	32	27	25

Residents Disabled Parking

Mr Pat Ramsey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of applications received in each year from 2000 to 2006 inclusive, for disabled parking facilities outside peoples' homes; and how many of these were rejected. (AQW 1003/07)

Mr Murphy: Complete statistics of the number of applications for disabled parking bays received by my Department’s Roads Service, and those subsequently rejected, are only available from 2002, as detailed in the table below:

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Applications for disabled parking facilities outside homes	278	333	347	355	336
Rejected Applications	180	208	218	198	187

Applications are made by the person with the disability giving details of the requested location, their vehicle (and details of the driver, if the latter is not the applicant) and other relevant details.

Free Travel for Women aged 60

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail when free travel for women aged 60 will become available. (AQW 1041/07)

Mr Murphy: I have no current plans to introduce free travel for women aged 60 and over. However, following a review of the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme, I have made bids as part of the Budget 2007 process to secure the resources to extend the Scheme in a number of ways, including lowering the eligible age for free travel for all men and women to 60. Any extension of the scheme will be dependent upon securing the necessary resources which means that the case for such an extension will need to be considered alongside not only other possible changes to the scheme, but against many other spending priorities which will be put before the Executive later this year. An extension of the scheme would also require that both equality impact and public consultation processes were successfully completed.

Severance Package to Former Chief Executives

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development to outline whether his department has endorsed the salary and severance package levels paid to the last two chief executives of Translink. (AQW 1054/07)

Mr Murphy: Salary levels and the terms of reference for Translink Chief Executives are determined by the Remuneration Committee of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC).

The financial framework, within which NITHC and its subsidiary companies is required by the Department to operate, is set out in the Financial Memorandum implemented in July 2006. While there is no provision for the Department to endorse salary levels, recommendations of the NITHC Remuneration Committee in respect of periodic reviews of Directors’ remuneration and the award of annual bonuses must be submitted to the Department prior to adoption. The Department reserves the right to direct the Remuneration Committee in relation to remuneration levels.

Regarding severance any proposal by NITHC to pay any redundancy or compensation for loss of office over and above the standard terms requires the approval of the Department for Regional Development and the Department of Finance and Personnel.

Consequently the Department did not endorse the salary packages paid to the last two Chief Executives of Translink. It was aware of the baseline salary for Mr Moffatt, the last Chief Executive, and did approve his severance package. However, it did not approve the severance package for the previous Chief Executive Mr Hesketh who retired in March 2003, prior to the implementation of the Financial Memorandum.

Severance Package to Head of Infrastructure

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail whether any severance or enhanced retirement package was paid to Translink's Infrastructure and Property Executive on his retirement in 2002; and, if so, what was the amount of this payment. (AQW 1055/07)

Mr Murphy: There was no severance or enhanced retirement package paid to the former Head of Infrastructure on his departure from the Northern Ireland Holding Company (NITHC) in March 2002. However, he did receive an exgratia payment of £28,500 under an agreement with NITHC that he would stay to March 2002 instead of leaving the company in July 2001 as he had originally intended.

Comber Bypass

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will enhance safety and security for pedestrian and vehicular users of the second phase of the Comber Bypass, now known as the Cherryvalley Line, by providing additional lighting. (AQW 1066/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that the 800 metre unlit section of the Cherryvalley Line between the Copeland Link Roundabout and Killinchy Road Roundabout is covered by a 50mph speed limit, which defines it as "semi-urban". It is Roads Service policy that semi-urban roads may only be considered for road lighting if there is continuous frontage development beyond the urban limit, there is another lighted area within 300 metres, or night-time collision statistics indicate that lighting is justified as a collision remedial measure.

As this section of the Cherryvalley Line does not meet any of these criteria, Roads Service cannot consider providing road lighting along this stretch.

Water Treatment Facilities at Lisbarnett and Ringneill

Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development to confirm that the upgrade of waste water treatment facilities at Lisbarnett and Ringneill will go ahead this year, as originally planned. (AQW 1067/07)

Mr Murphy: As Minister for Regional Development, I have policy responsibility for water and sewerage, but the Water and Sewerage Services (NI) Order 2006 introduced by the previous administration transferred responsibility for the operational delivery of water and sewerage services to Northern Ireland Water (NIW). As the issues raised are operational matters, I have asked the Chief Executive of NIW (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) to write to you in response to these questions.

Street Lighting

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his department's expenditure on street lighting, broken down by Divisional Roads Office, in the last four years. (AQW 1099/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department’s expenditure on street lighting in the last four years, broken down by the four Roads Service Divisions, is detailed below:

Division	Year
Division	03/04 (£m)	04/05 (£m)	05/06 (£m)	06/07 (£m)
Northern	4.2	5.5	5.2	4.4
Eastern	6.1	8.7	9.5	7.5
Southern	4.0	4.9	5.0	4.6
Western	2.2	2.9	2.8	2.6
Totals	16.5	22	22.5	19.1

NB: The figures shown in the table consist of all expenditure recorded against street lighting operations in the last four financial years. These include, capital street lighting works, operation and maintenance activities, electricity costs, Strategic Investment Programme funding where granted, and costs related to street lighting operational activities by Roads Service Direct (internal contractor).

Motorway Lighting

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his department's expenditure on motorway lighting, broken down by each motorway in Northern Ireland, for the last four years. (AQW 1100/07)

Mr Murphy: I must advise that my Department’s Roads Service does not maintain specific details of expenditure on motorway lighting. However, in my recent answer to AQW 1099/07, I detailed the overall expenditure on street lighting in each Roads Service Division for the last four years.

Park and Ride Facilities at Lisburn

Mr Trevor Lunn asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on plans to improve park and ride facilities at Lisburn, in connection with the Belfast-Portadown railway line. (AQW 1101/07)

Mr Murphy: Translink is currently evaluating options to improve park and ride facilities at Lisburn station by providing up to 200 extra spaces. The economic appraisal will then be submitted to the Department for approval. If approved Translink hopes to complete the project in 2011.

Belfast to Derry/Londonderry Railway Line

Mr David Ford asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on plans to improve the railway timetable on the Belfast-Londonderry railway line. (AQW 1102/07)

Mr Murphy: Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) currently operates 9 trains each way daily Monday to Saturday between Belfast and Derry plus two trains daily between Belfast and Portrush.

Additional temporary speed restrictions between Ballymena and Coleraine have recently resulted in extended running times on some services by up to 8 minutes. The Department is currently considering a Business Case for remedial work to the line. If approved this work, which is likely to take until 2010 to complete, is expected to yield journey time improvement of 10-15 minutes.

In the short term, Translink proposes to commence additional commuter services between Ballymena and Belfast, commencing 2 September 2007 (two extra morning Ballymena to Belfast services and two extra Belfast to Ballymena evening services).

In the longer term, subject to a detailed feasibility review, Departmental approvals and funding, NIR plans to upgrade the infrastructure and rolling stock fleet to deliver an hourly frequency service between Derry-Coleraine and Belfast with half-hourly frequencies between Belfast and Ballymena.

Public Transport

Mr David Ford asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on the relative percentage split of the transport budget between public transport and private transport. (AQW 1103/07)

Mr Murphy: From this year’s total budget allocation for transport of £452.5 million, 39% (£178.6 million) has been allocated to public transport. This will be the largest spend on public transport since the introduction of the Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS).

The Department does not directly fund private transport; however 61% (£273.9 million) of this year’s transport budget has been allocated to roads which benefits all transport users and includes walking and cycling.

The RTS set out the spending priorities for transport to tackle the historic underinvestment in roads and public transport. It suggested a spending ratio for roads to public transport of 65: 35.

Park and Ride Facilities at Bangor

Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on plans to improve park and ride facilities, in connection with the Bangor-Belfast railway line. (AQW 1107/07)

Mr Murphy: Translink is currently assessing options to improve park and ride facilities at Bangor railway station; these options include the possibility of providing up to 120 additional spaces.

Exploratory discussions are also underway about the possibility of leasing up to 20 car parking spaces to provide a park and ride facility at Bangor West railway halt. In addition Translink is also hoping to provide up to 15 additional spaces at the Holywood park and ride facility on the Belfast to Bangor line. All of these projects will be subject to economic appraisals being approved by the Department.

Park and Ride Facilities at Larne

Mr Seán Neeson asked the Minister for Regional Development to report on plans to improve park and ride facilities, in connection with the Belfast-Larne railway line. (AQW 1112/07)

Mr Murphy: Plans to improve park and ride facilities, in connection with the Belfast to Larne railway line are as follows:

Greenisland

The Department has already approved funding for the provision of 72 additional spaces.

Whitehead

There are approximately 20 additional spaces planned.

Carrickfergus

Between 100 and 150 additional spaces are planned.

Jordanstown

There are plans for up to 46 additional spaces.

Whiteabbey

There are plans for up to 58 additional spaces.

The planned Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Jordanstown and Whiteabbey projects will be subject to economic appraisals being approved by the Department.

Trooperslane

In the longer term, the possibility of providing up to 20 additional spaces is being considered.

Translink is also liaising with Roads Service about the possibility of providing an overflow car park in Carrickfergus for the life of the A2 (Greenisland) roadworks which are due to commence next year.

New Traffic Management System

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister for Regional Development to give details of traffic attendant patrols in the Moyle District Council area; giving specific dates, times and areas in which patrols have taken place; and to list traffic enforcements in the area, since the implementation of the new traffic management system. (AQW 1146/07)

Mr Murphy: As you will be aware, Traffic Attendants are employed by National Car Parks Services (Ltd), who are contracted to my Department’s Roads Service, to provide parking enforcement and car park management services.

Since the commencement of the new Parking Enforcement Contract on 30 October 2006 several towns and villages in the Moyle District Council area have been patrolled by Traffic Attendants. The following information summarises the enforcement carried out in these towns and villages, broken down by street and time period, and identifies the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) that have been issued under each type of contravention.

Ballycastle

Ballycastle has been patrolled 62 times from 9 November 2006 to 28 June 2007.

Ann Street

45 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 2

- Re-parked in the same parking place within prohibited time - 2

- Not wholly parked within the markings of the bay or space - 1

- Vehicle not parked close to the kerb - 1

- Parked for longer than permitted - 23

- Parked in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge - 7

- Stopped on a crossing marked by zigzags - 9

Castle Street

34 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 2

- Parked for longer than permitted - 25

- Parked on a restricted bus stop - 7

Clare Street

1 PCN has been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 1

Fair Hill

2 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 2

Market Street

3 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 1

- Parked in a parking place not designated for that class of vehicle - 1

- Parked in a loading bay without loading - 1

North Street

2 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked for longer than permitted - 1

- Parked in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge - 1

Quay Road

1 PCN has been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge - 1

The Diamond

16 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 5

- Not wholly parked within the markings of the bay or space - 1

- Parked for longer than permitted - 7

- Parked in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge - 3

Bushmills

Bushmills has been patrolled 6 times from 14 April 2007 to 27 June 2007.

Main Street

2 PCNs have been issued for the following contraventions:

- Parked in a prohibited street during prescribed hours - 1

- Parked on a restricted bus stop - 1

Giants Causeway

Giants Causeway has been patrolled 3 times from 28 May 2007 to 27 June 2007. No PCNs have been issued.

Railway Station at George Best Belfast Airport

Mr Brian Wilson asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will allocate the required resources in order to enable Translink to provide a station at the George Best Belfast City Airport. (AQW 1185/07)

Mr Murphy: There are no immediate plans to commit resources to provide a station at the George Best Belfast City Airport.

The Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan (BMTP) does however include a 'longer-term' proposal for a single new railway station at Tillysburn. If this went ahead it could serve both the Holywood Exchange and George Best Belfast City Airport. However, a new station located directly opposite the City Airport would be very close to the existing, relatively well used, Sydenham station. Given their proximity it could be difficult to operate services calling at both stations in an efficient manner. The Sydenham station would therefore have to be closed or significantly downgraded in status – causing substantial disbenefits to existing rail users.

At present a feasibility study for a pilot rapid transit scheme linking Belfast city centre to Titanic Quarter, George Best Belfast City Airport and the retail development in the Belfast Harbour Estate is underway. It is due to report around August 2007 and is expected to provide a view of the various route options and technologies. The outcome of the study cannot yet be anticipated, but it may offer an alternative public transport connection to the George Best Belfast City Airport.

Public Spending on Transport

Mrs Naomi Long asked the Minister for Regional Development to make a statement on the ratio of public money spent on roads to that spent on public transport. (AQO 240/07)

Mr Murphy: From this year’s budget allocation for transport of £452.5 million in total, 61% (£273.9 million) has been allocated to roads and 39% (£178.6 million) to public transport. This will be the largest spend on public transport since the introduction of the Regional Transportation Strategy.

The Regional Transportation Strategy sets out the spending priorities for transport in the north to tackle the historic underinvestment in its roads and public transport. It suggested a spending ratio for roads – including walking and cycling – to public transport of 65:35.

Rights of Rural Dwellers

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development to state when he expects to restore the rights of rural dwellers to live in the rural community by removing Planning Policy Statement 14: Sustainable Development in the Countryside. (AQO 261/07)

Mr Murphy: Ensuring that appropriate rural planning policy is devised is a priority for me, and I shall be giving due consideration to the full range of views expressed during the public consultation on the draft policy, including the conclusions of the Report of the Programme for Government Committee on RPA and Rural Planning.

Planning Policy Statement 14 is a complex and topical issue. It was also subject to a judicial challenge, the Hearing of which concluded on 27 June 2007. However, judgement was reserved. The timing and outcome of this Judicial Review will impact upon the publication of a final policy.

Nonetheless, and in the interim I am considering the way forward on this important issue. To this end I will be submitting a paper to the Executive Committee later this week. I also intend to initiate further debate on the issues with key stakeholders, via ‘round-table’ discussions, some of which will be chaired by me.

Review of Water Rates

Mr Kieran McCarthy asked the Minister for Regional Development to make a statement on the absence of conservation and sustainability of water issues from the terms of reference for the review of water rates. (AQO 243/07)

Mr Murphy: Naomi Long, raised a similar issue on Monday 11 June after my Statement to the Assembly and I will reaffirm now what I said then.

Conservation and sustainability of water are important considerations in examining the financing of water and sewerage services and will form part of the review.

Water Charges

Mr P J Bradley asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will undertake to review the policy relating to water charges that arise from undetected leaks in the supply to farms and commercial businesses. (AQO 209/07)

Mr Murphy: Under the Water and Sewerage Services (NI) Order 2006, which was introduced on 1 April this year, responsibility for the delivery of water and sewerage services transferred from the Department for Regional Development to a statutory water and sewerage undertaker. A government-owned company, Northern Ireland Water, was appointed as the undertaker from that date with direct responsibility for the operational delivery of water and sewerage services.

However, I have raised this question with Northern Ireland Water and the Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Water has advised me that the Company plans to carry out a review of this policy commencing in January 2008.

Road Schemes

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of road schemes that ran over their expected completion date, in each of the last three years. (AQO 226/07)

Mr Murphy: I assume the Question relates to major road schemes. I can report that seven major road schemes have exceeded the date of completion that was expected at the outset of the works, over the course of the last three financial years. The schemes are:

A1 Loughbrickland to Beech Hill;

A5 Omagh Throughpass - Stage 3;

Foyle Bridge, Londonderry – Strengthening;

A1 underpass at Hillsborough Road junction, Dromore;

Bann River Bridge, Portadown – strengthening;

A8 Belfast to Larne Road - dual carriageway from Doagh Road to Hillhead Road; and

M1 Blacks Road to Stockmans Lane.

In the same period 3 other major schemes were competed on or ahead of schedule. These were the A6 Toome Bypass; the A1 Flyover at Rathfriland Road Junction, Banbridge; and the A8 Belfast to Larne Road, Ballynure.

There are legitimate contractual reasons that have attributed to the majority of these extensions, and which may have been permissible under the terms of the contracts. For example, unforeseen ground conditions; adverse weather conditions; archaeological finds; and additional works, which have accrued additional benefits.

Furthermore target completion dates for major road schemes are deliberately set to be challenging in order to encourage early completion of the works.

Ferry Passengers to Rathlin Island

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of people who travelled on the Ballycastle to Rathlin Island ferry in 2005/06 and 2006/07. (AQO 225/07)

Mr Murphy: In 2005/06 there were 47,742 single tickets issued for passenger journeys. This number increased to 49,516 in 2006/07.

Belfast-Dublin rail link

Mr David Simpson asked the Minister for Regional Development what meetings he has had in relation to disruption to the Belfast-Dublin rail link. (AQO 228/07)

Mr Murphy: I have had no meetings in relation to disruption to the Belfast – Dublin rail link. However, I hope to meet the Southern Minister for Transport and the Marine in the near future and will discuss this amongst other public transport issues.

Where disruption arises as a result of civil unrest Northern Ireland Railways follows PSNI advice in relation to the closure of the line.

A55 Knock Road

Mr Alex Maskey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail concerns raised by local residents in relation to the proposed A55 Knock Road widening scheme; in particular, concerns raised by the Residents' Associations of Cherryvalley, Kensington, and Shandon. (AQO 208/07)

Mr Murphy: Over the past year my Department’s Roads Service has been developing a number of options for the A55 Knock Road widening scheme, to be considered in more detail upon commencement of the formal statutory procedures, which I announced on 14 May 2007.

As part of this work Roads Service officials held an informal two day public consultation in June 2006; public meetings were held on 11 November 2006 and 17 January 2007 and a further meeting with residents on 27 March 2007.

Roads Service is fully aware of the concerns that local residents have in relation to the proposed road improvements. In particular, the speed and volume of traffic using local residential streets, such as Shandon Park, Kensington Road and Cherryvalley, and the further impact that the proposed right-turning facilities on the A55 Knock Road may have.

Now that the statutory procedures have formally commenced, Roads Service will be carrying out a detailed evaluation of the environmental impacts of the scheme, including a further evaluation of alternative options assessing criteria such as the provision of right-turn facilities and the traffic impacts on the surrounding area. This work will be used to prepare an Environmental Statement, which will be published for public consultation.

Concurrent to this, detailed land vesting proposals will also be published. Following receipt of all objections and comments to these proposals, I am advised that Roads Service may then decide to hold a public inquiry. It is only after receipt of the Public Inquiry Inspector’s report that a final decision will be taken on the scheme’s progression.

I can confirm that no final decision has been taken on the scheme implementation. All those affected by the A55 Widening Scheme, including local residents, will have a formal opportunity to express their views on the proposals when the Environmental Statement and other Statutory Orders are published in due course.

Ports in Northern Ireland

Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will undertake an evaluation of the impact of the development of the new port at Bremore in the Republic of Ireland on ports in Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint. (AQO 258/07)

Mr Murphy: I am aware that consideration is being given to development of new port facilities at Bremore. However there are, as yet, no definitive plans upon which an evaluation could be made. Ports in the north currently make their own assessments of the commercial threats and opportunities that they face. I would expect them to continue to do so.

Northern Ireland Water

Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will give a commitment that he will require Northern Ireland Water to implement (a) a full equality impact assessment, and (b) full public consultation, on its Debt Management Policy. (AQO 280/07)

Mr Murphy: On 10 May the Executive agreed not to introduce domestic charges in 2007/08 and to conduct a comprehensive review to address the approach that should be adopted to financing water and sewerage services. In light of this decision NIW will not be implementing any domestic debt arrangements this year.

On 11 June I announced the Terms of Reference of the review and have since appointed Professor Paddy Hillyard as chair.

The Terms of Reference are broad and the review can look at this and other issues of concern.

Rural Non-Trunk Roads

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister for Regional Development (a) what plans he has to bring all the rural non-trunk roads in the North Antrim constituency up to an acceptable standard; (b) what is the timetable for doing this; and (c) what is the estimated cost. (AQO 216/07)

Mr Murphy: My Department's Roads Service prepares annual work programmes covering the development and maintenance of the network, which reflect the availability of finances. This year’s work programme is currently being finalised in preparation for presentation to the respective district councils.

In the North Antrim constituency, Roads Service currently plans to spend in excess of £4 million in the 2007/2008 financial year on structural maintenance of the rural road network. This includes resurfacing/strengthening, surface dressing, patching and structural drainage.

Of course, it is always the case that if more funding was available, more maintenance work would be carried out and I can assure you that Roads Service will continue to make strong bids for additional structural maintenance funds. In the meantime, Roads Service will continue to make best use of the resources available to it to develop and maintain the road network.

A2 Carrickfergus-Newtownabbey Road Widening Scheme

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Regional Development to outline what progress has been made to date with the A2 Carrickfergus-Newtownabbey road widening scheme. (AQO 227/07)

Mr Murphy: I can confirm that the A2 Shore Road Carrickfergus – Newtownabbey scheme is included in my Department’s Roads Service, Major Works Preparation Pool, at an estimated cost of £41.1million.

In March 2007 the Statutory Orders for the proposed road improvement scheme were published. These comprised of an Environmental Statement, a Notice of Intention to Make a Direction Order and a Notice of Intention to make a Vesting Order. A two day public exhibition was held over 21-22 March 2007 in the Clarion Hotel, Carrickfergus to explain the Department’s proposals. Following the publication of the Statutory Orders, 69 formal comments were received, 48 of these objecting to the proposals.

Bearing in mind the nature of the proposals and the likelihood that a number of the objections would not be resolved, I announced, on 19 June 2007, that a Public Inquiry will be held in October this year to hear the objections and comments received on the scheme. Arrangements are now being made for this, and a formal notification with details of the inquiry will be published in due course.

Social Development

Tenders for Installing Gas Appliances

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development to confirm the amount of public money expended under the original tenders for installing gas appliances, broken down by Northern Ireland Housing Executive district; and to identify the successful bidders in each tender. (AQW 778/07)

The Minister for Social Development (Ms Ritchie): Gas appliances were installed prior to March 2001 using the traditional contract arrangements. These contracts also included solid fuel appliance renewal in some homes to accord with individual tenants’ wishes. These contracts for combined gas and solid fuel installations are detailed below:

NIHE DISTRICT	PROJECT	CONTRACTOR	AMOUNT EXPENDED (£)
Belfast 1	District 1 Phase 1	H & A	315,026
Belfast 1	Roden Street/Grosvenor Road	Danros	121,959
Belfast 1	Suffolks/Blacks Road	H & A	497,331
Belfast 1	Lenadoon	Utilicom	573,031
Belfast 2	Short Strand	H & A	468,873
Belfast 2	Knocknagoney	HGS	236,804
Belfast 2	Garnerville	HGS	279,817
Belfast 2	Clarawood	H & A	300,361
Belfast 2	Lower Newtownards Road	H & A	414,010
Belfast 3	Turf Lodge Phase 2	George Nelson	359,736
Belfast 3	District 3 Phase 4	Utilicom	518,400
Belfast 3	Ballymurphy District 3	HGS	549,392
Belfast 3	Turf Lodge Phase 1	Danros	479,826
Belfast 3	District 3 Phase 3	H & A	396,063
Belfast 3	District 3 Phase 2	H & A	320,683
Belfast 3	Lower Falls	Danros	212,900
Belfast 3	District 3 Phase 1	Danros	132,371
Belfast 4	Duncairn Phase 1	H & A	615,360
Belfast 4	Duncairn Phase 2	George Nelson	625,187
Belfast 4	Duncairn Phase 3	George Nelson	389,735
Belfast 4	Duncairn Phase 4	P E Keenan	476,862
Belfast 4	District 4 Mount Vernon	HGS	345,678
Belfast 4	Skegoneill	H & A	463,350
Belfast 5	Woodvale	Danros	271,295
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 5	H & A	330,160
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 1	George Nelson	323,056
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 3	George Nelson	354,537
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 4	Danros	312,062
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 2	George Nelson	418,379
Belfast 5	Lawnbrook District 5	Utilicom	401,031
Belfast 5	Cambrai	Utilicom	545,178
Belfast 5	Lower Shankhill	Danros	345,332
Belfast 5	District 5 Phase 4	H & A	662,086
Belfast 6	Ardoyne Phase 1	H & A	571,670
Belfast 6	Ardoyne Phase 2	HGS	550,075
Belfast 6	Ardoyne Phase 3	P E Keenan	653,464
Belfast 6	Ardoyne Phase 4	HGS	400,464
Belfast 6	Cliftonville Phase 1	M & H Heating	352,483
Belfast 6	Cliftonville Phase 2	George Nelson	477,324
Belfast 6	Cliftonville Phase 3	Litton Group	465,616
Belfast 6	Westland District 6	HGS	372,606
Belfast 6	Ballysillan	Danros	265,670
Belfast 7	Willowfield	H & A	257,326
Belfast 7	Annadale Flats	Utilicom	364,295
Belfast 7	Lower Ormeau 2	George Nelson	272,950
Belfast 7	Lisburn Road	Utilicom	439,696
Belfast 7	Taughmonagh	Utilicom	402,887
Belfast 7	Finaghy	Utilicom	448,144
Belfast 7	District 7 Phase 2	Utilicom	664,108
Belfast 7	District 7 Phase 3	Utilicom	539,208
Belfast 7	District 7 Phase 1	HGS	149,485
Belfast 7	Donegall Road	Utilicom	190,200
North East	Newtownabbey 1 RHR Phase 1	G Nelson	74,825
North East	Newtownabbey 1 RHR Phase 2	HGS	173,284
South East	Laurelbank/Glenwood, Poleglass	G Nelson	568,999
South East	Cherry/Aspen (Twinbrook)	HGS	1,546,408
South East	Woodside Poleglass RHR	H & A	425,202
South East	Juniper & Jasmine	H & A	192,000
South East	Lisburn ‘A’	H & A	252,000
South East	S’Hill/Glasvey/Broom	H & A	603,000
		Rounded Total	24,729,272

Gas Installations

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of gas installations installed in social housing per Housing Executive district; and the number of gas installations deemed unsafe or dangerous per Housing Executive district. (AQW 779/07)

Ms Ritchie: As at 11 June 2007 the Housing Executive has installed 24,765 gas heating systems. None of these are deemed unsafe or dangerous. The number of gas installations in each District is detailed below.

DISTRICT	NUMBER
BELFAST EAST	2,136
BELFAST 5	2,198
BELFAST SOUTH	2,879
BELFAST WEST	3,129
BELFAST NORTH	4,189
AREA TOTAL	14,531

BANGOR	896
N'ARDS	1,252
C'REAGH	1,367
LISBURN (A/S)	1,570
LISBURN (D/F)	1,167

AREA TOTAL	6,252
`F'MANAGH	1
AREA TOTAL	1

B'MENA	75
ANTRIM	3
N'ABBEY 1	1,059
N'ABBEY 2	852
CARRICK	1,128
LARNE	575
B'CASTLE	2
B'MONEY	135
C'RAINE	7
AREA TOTAL	3,836

WATERSIDE	111
LIMAVADY	34
AREA TOTAL	145

NI TOTAL	24,765

Repair and Replacement of Gas Installations

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the amount of public money, over and above that provided under the tenders, expended on repairing and replacing gas appliances that had been incorrectly installed, or were otherwise unsafe due to faulty workmanship, broken down by Northern Ireland Housing Executive district. (AQW 780/07)

Ms Ritchie: Under the pre-Egan contract arrangements the Housing Executive expended £185K, in 2001 and 2002, in Belfast District 5, in repairing and replacing gas appliances that were incorrectly installed, or were otherwise unsafe due to faulty workmanship.

Repair and Replacement of Gas Installations

Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development what action has been taken to recover public money which has been expended on repairing and replacing gas appliances in public housing, that had been incorrectly installed, or were otherwise unsafe due to faulty workmanship. (AQW 781/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Housing Executive has entered into legal action against two contractors (pre Egan contracts in 1999) in respect of recouping monies expended on faulty workmanship and redecoration grants. In the case of one Contractor, in the region of £60K has been recovered. The case involving the other is currently at litigation to recoup a further £125K.

Maintenance of Bonfire Sites

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the planned maintenance programme, after 12 July, for the clean-up of bonfire sites on land owned by the Housing Executive. (AQW 786/07)

Ms Ritchie: While the Housing Executive does not include the maintenance of bonfire sites within its planned maintenance programmes, it will, in co-operation with local Councils and with the support of the local community, remove items which represent a health & safety issue, on request, from the site of a bonfire.

The clearances of bonfire sites, identified as being greater than 1.5 square metres in diameter, is dealt with as part of the Housing Executive’s Grounds Maintenance contract. All burnt litter and debris in areas less than 1.5 square metres will be considered to be part of the normal litter lifting operation, through its response maintenance programme.

Within 7 days of a bonfire being burnt, all bonfire debris (including ashes and material not burnt, or scattered) are removed. Damaged grass areas will be made good.

Allocation of Public Housing

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Social Development to give her assessment of the points system that is used for the allocation of public housing by the Housing Executive. (AQW 787/07)

Ms Ritchie:: All social housing in Northern Ireland is allocated in accordance with the Housing Executive’s Housing Selection Scheme which is based on the principle of need and availability. From time to time the Selection Scheme has been changed to reflect changes in standards and in society. However for more than 30 years the Scheme has fundamentally withstood the test of time. The Housing Executive is currently undertaking a review of the Common Waiting List, including in particular the level of the applicants on the list deemed to be in housing stress. This is expected to come before me in the autumn. Dependant on the outcome it may be necessary to look once again at the points system while holding rigidly to the fundamental principle of housing need which underpins it.

Maintenance of Bonfire Sites

Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the planned maintenance programme, during the run up to 12 July, for the removal of litter and household waste from bonfire sites on land owned by the Housing Executive. (AQW 790/07)

Within 7 days of a bonfire being burnt, all bonfire debris (including ashes and material not burnt, or scattered) are removed. Damaged grass areas will be made good.

Dunclug Action Plan

Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister for Social Development for an update on the implementation of the Dunclug Action Plan. (AQW 797/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Dunclug Action Plan was launched on 17 January 2007. Of the 22 actions contained within the plan, 3 have been delivered, 10 are on track for delivery within the envisaged timescale and 9 will be delivered with some minor delays. I have placed a full report on the implementation of the Dunclug Action Plan up to 20 June 2007 in the Assembly library.

Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to state when action plans for long-term funding to address multiple deprivation, arising from the neighbourhood renewal scheme, will be provided to those communities who are at present still receiving short-term funding or funding extensions. (AQW 846/07)

Ms Ritchie: Neighbourhood Renewal works across Government to tackle the root causes of deprivation, it is a move away from short term funding to a more strategic and co-ordinated response. Government Departments and Public Bodies are presently in discussions about how they can best respond to the priorities identified in Action Plans developed by Neighbourhood Partnerships. I expect that all statutory providers will have finalised their responses to Action Plans well in advance of March 2008 to enable a long term strategic approach to Neighbourhood Renewal funding beyond that date.

Urban Renewal Scheme

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to provide details of all urban renewal area schemes that have undergone economic appraisals in North Belfast. (AQW 847/07)

Ms Ritchie: Urban Renewal proposals which are currently under consideration include New Lodge (Upper) comprising improvements to some 300 homes, Queen Victoria Gardens/Fortwilliam Parade, comprising the demolition of 75 dwellings and 4 commercial, new build 24 homes, Parkside, comprising the demolition of 95 dwellings and 7 commercial, new build 69 homes and Stanhope, comprising the demolition of 13 dwellings, new build 24 homes

Urban renewal which is currently in progress includes Torrens. This was vested in 1998 and two phases of social housing have been completed, with a third phase, incorporating the former Finiston school site, programmed for 2008/09. The total new social housing units provided will be 168. Grove was vested in 1999 and three phases of social housing have been completed. Phase 4 (private housing) is on site. The total new social housing units provided is 126. Gainsborough was vested in 2003 and Phase 1, which included 26 new social housing units has been completed. A development brief for private housing is being prepared for part of the remaining cleared area.

A further 5 social units proposed in an infill site are programmed for 2008/09. Mountcollyer Urban Renewal Assessment was approved by the Housing Executive’s Board in May 2001, and vested in 2003. Phase 1, comprising 35 social housing units is currently on site. A development brief has been issued for private housing on the remainder of the cleared land. Glenbryn Urban Renewal Assessment approved by the Board in March 2001, and vested in 2002. Phase 1 which comprises 30 social housing units is complete. Phase 2, which comprises 55 units of private housing, is currently on site.

Urban renewal which has been completed includes Rosewood/Crumlin, which was vested in 1995 and completed in 2000, providing 43 units of new social housing. North Queen Street, which was vested in 1999 and completed in 2002, providing 22 units of new social housing. New Lodge (Lower) was vested in 1996 and completed in 2004, providing 90 units of new social housing. Clifton/Oldpark was vested in 1999 and completed in 2005, providing 95 units of new social housing.

Local Community Fund for West Tyrone

Mr Allan Bresland asked the Minister for Social Development to detail how much funding has been made available in west Tyrone from the local community fund in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and to list each project funded. (AQW 848/07)

Ms Ritchie: The total allocations from the Local Community Fund for West Tyrone in respect of the last three financial years is; 2004/2005- £301, 952; 2005/06-£364,056; 2006/07-£254, 239. The projects funded for this period are as follows;

Year	Project
2004/05	Midulster Community & Arts Trust
2004/05	Sunflower Playgroup
2004/05	Fintona C.C Youth Club
2004/05	Fintona Soccer Club
2004/05	Setenta Hurling Club
2004/05	Fintona Pearses
2005/06	Sunflower Playgroup
2005/06	Fintona C.C Youth Club
2005/06	Fintona Soccer Club
2005/06	Setenta Hurling Club
2005/06	Camowen Partnership
2006/07	Lisanelly Regeneration Group
2004/05	Aghyaran GAC - St Davog's
2004/05	Border Arts
2004/05	Kilclean Orange Lodge
2004/05	Killeter & District Development Trust
2004/05	Kilclean Women's Group
2004/05	Millbrook
2004/05	Shanaghey Clay Pigeon Club
2004/05	Termonamongan Bowls Club
2004/05	Castlederg Anglers
2004/05	Killeter Youth Club
2004/05	Coolcreaghy Community Association
2004/05	Derg Parish Bowling Club
2004/05	Ballycolman / Linkside CDA
2004/05	Sigersons
2004/05	Calverts
2004/05	Lisnafin / Ardnalee / Trust CCDA
2005/06	Strabane Sigersons GAA
2005/06	Ballycolman/Linkside CDA
2005/06	Naiscoil an tSratha Báin
2005/06	Lisnafin Ardnalee Trust
2005/06	Lisnafin Ardnalee Trust
2005/06	Friends of Knockavoe
2005/06	Killeter/Aghyaran Collaboration project
2005/06	Castlederg Anglers Club
2005/06	Shanaghey Clay Pigeon Club
2005/06	Kilclean Women's Group
2005/06	Killeter PWA
2005/06	Kilclean Orange Hall
2005/06	Lislaird Pipe band
2005/06	Killeter Youth Club
2005/06	Millbrook Comm Assoc.
2005/06	Garvagh & District CA
2005/06	Lislaird Orange Hall
2005/06	Aghyaran Lodge
2005/06	Aghyaran Accordian Band
2006/07	Naiscoil na Deirge
2006/07	Royal British Legion Women's section
2006/07	St Eugene's Youth Centre
2006/07	Teen Zone Kids Zone
2006/07	Castlederg Young Loyalists Flute Band
2006/07	Border Arts
2006/07	Castlederg Youth Forum
2006/07	Pride of the Derg Flute Band
2006/07	MourneDerg Partnership
2006/07	Castlederg Youth Forum
2006/07	Naiscoil na Deirge
2006/07	St Eugene's Youth Centre
2006/07	Ardbarron Pipe Band
2006/07	Killen Youth Football
2006/07	Killen Ladies Football
2006/07	Coolcreaghy Community Assoc
2006/07	Spamount CCA
2006/07	Killen Pipe Band
2006/07	Killen Women's Group
2006/07	Killen District Dev Assoc
2006/07	Whitehouse Pipe Band
2006/07	First Steps Day Care
2006/07	Garvetagh Pipe Band
2006/07	Killen District Dev Assoc
2006/07	Donemana Playgroup
2006/07	Castle Lough Out of Schools
2006/07	Dennett Interchange
2006/07	Donemana Cricket Club
2006/07	Drummond Centre
2006/07	Clann na nGael
2006/07	Donemana Cricket Club
2006/07	Glebe Community Association & Youth Club & Glebe United Football Club
2006/07	Happy Faces Playgroup
2006/07	Clady Community Association
2006/07	Urney GFC
2006/07	Glebe Community Association & Youth Club
2006/07	Mary Gray Farm Services Ltd
2006/07	Newtownstewart Leisure Complex
2006/07	Strawhill Pipe Band
2006/07	St Eugene's GAC
2006/07	Carebears Playgroup
2006/07	Newtownstewart Parent & Toddler Group
2006/07	Ardstraw & Baronscourt Youth Club
2006/07	Drumlegagh Pipe Band
2006/07	Sinclair Memorial Pipe band
2006/07	Ardstraw & Baronscourt Youth Club & Newtownstewart Parent & Toddler Group
2006/07	Carlton Drive/Greeves Park
2006/07	Lisnafin Ardnalee Trust CCDA

Northern Ireland Housing Executive Statistics

Mr George Savage asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, for each Northern Ireland Housing Executive office, (a) the number of houses let; (b) the number of houses occupied; (c) the number of transfers; and (d) the number of average points required to be provided with accommodation, broken down by month, in each year from 2005 onwards. (AQW 898/07)

Ms Ritchie: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Neighbourhood Renewal

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to reduce the potential for inequality to occur between those living in designated areas of neighbourhood renewal, and those living in areas that have been designated an area of risk. (AQW 901/07)

Ms Ritchie: Neighbourhood Renewal works across Government to tackle the root causes of deprivation in areas suffering the worst levels of deprivation and the greatest inequality in Northern Ireland. Thirty six areas, identified using the Noble multiple deprivation measure as suffering the highest levels of deprivation in Northern Ireland, are being targeted for intervention. The focus of Neighbourhood Renewal is to address the core causes of deprivation in a targeted way where the need is greatest. It is, however, recognised that there are other areas falling outside the top 10% which are also at risk of decline, and it is these areas which are targeted through the Areas at Risk programme.

Payment of Social Security Benefits

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, taking into account the amount of money saved through unclaimed benefits, her department's commitment to invest in advice services to ensure that those in the North Belfast area who are in most need, have access to information and entitlements. (AQW 902/07)

Ms Ritchie: The framework for public expenditure is divided between Departmental Expenditure Limit and Annually Managed Expenditure. All social security benefits are paid out of the Annually Managed Expenditure. Monies from this fund are not transferable to the Departmental Expenditure Limit from which the advice services are funded.

My Department is committed to supporting advice services and will shortly, subject to Executive approval, launch a comprehensive strategy to support the delivery of voluntary advice services to the community. This strategy is Northern Ireland wide and will encompass the North Belfast area.

I have also recently launched the Benefit Uptake Programme for 2007/08 which includes tendering for the delivery of six targeted exercises. Contracts for these exercises have been awarded to Citizens Advice and Advice NI and will include those targeted clients living within areas of North Belfast.

As part of the work of my Department, the North Belfast Community Action Unit also provides support to a thematic Community Empowerment Partnership, North Belfast Independent Advice Partnership which provides comprehensive advice services to those in need within that geographic area.

Urban Development Grant

Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Social Development how he proposes to roll-out the Urban Development Grant Scheme in the future; and to detail when (a) applications will be considered; and (b) awards will be made. (AQW 910/07)

Ms Ritchie: Urban Development Grant commenced in December 1982 with the aim of stimulating urban regeneration in inner city commercial areas and Enterprise Zones in Belfast and Londonderry in partnership with the private sector.

A pilot extension of the Urban Development Grant scheme was launched in May 2006 in five target towns; Ballymoney, Dungannon, Larne, Lurgan and Strabane. Thirteen applications have been received – two in Ballymoney, one in Dungannon, two in Larne, three in Lurgan and five in Strabane. To date two of these applicants has been granted an award.

My Department will consider a further extension of the UDG scheme to all regional towns when a full review of the programme, including the pilot scheme, is carried out. As the applications for the pilot scheme are at various stages of the assessment process it is unlikely that the review will take place before the end of 2008. Any decision to extend the scheme to new applicants will only be made after this review is complete.

Northern Ireland Housing Executive in Strabane

Mrs Claire McGill asked the Minister for Social Development to detail (a) the capital cost of the new Northern Ireland Housing Executive offices in Strabane; and (b) her commitment to maintain the current level of services and staffing at the new facility, including the Housing Benefits section. (AQW 927/07)

Ms Ritchie: In 2004 the Housing Executive estimated the capital value of the existing office at £190,000. Since then a total of £400,000 has been spent on major refurbishments in 2005 when additional space was leased in a new adjoining building. The annual cost of the lease is £29,000 per annum.

The matter of effective use of staff and resources is an issue for the Housing Executive. A local office will be retained in Strabane which will provide a response maintenance service, deal with housing allocations and homelessness, estate management, schemes and development of the community network. Housing Benefit and Rent Accounting will be processed in a new Area Service Centre in Derry but members of the public will still be able to call into the Strabane office for advice and assistance on these matters. A number of staff will move to the Area Service Unit but the majority of staff will remain in Strabane.

Regeneration of Former Military Sites

Mr Pat Doherty asked the Minister for Social Development to detail what progress she has made in attempting to secure the transfer to the Executive of the redundant Lisanelly and St. Lucia Ministry of Defence military sites in Omagh. (AQW 940/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Department for Social Development has taken a particular interest in the regeneration of a number of former military sites throughout Northern Ireland. This includes the two sites at Lisanelly and St Lucia in Omagh.

Officials from my Department are continuing to work with Omagh District Council and their counterparts in other Departments, in particular the Department of Education, to seek to explore the possible acquisition of both the Lisanelly and St Lucia sites for the benefit of the people of Omagh. The acquisition of these sites by the Department for Social Development, would allow a Masterplan for each to be prepared, with subsequent controlled disposal for a range of uses. Business Cases for the acquisition of both sites have been prepared but affordability will need to be considered by the Executive.

I remain concerned that sites have to be acquired at market cost which seems to go against the stated position in the 2003 Joint Agreement by the British and Irish Governments, in which there is a clear implication that redundant sites will be transferred, at no cost, to the Northern Ireland Administration, in order to enhance the asset base at our disposal, to revitalise and regenerate the Northern Ireland economy.

The Lagan Weir

Mrs Iris Robinson asked the Minister for Social Development if he will report on the contribution of the Lagan weir to flooding in south and east Belfast. (AQW 952/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Lagan Weir did not contribute to the flooding that occurred in south and east Belfast. During the recent heavy rainfall, the Lagan Weir was operated to ensure that the risk of further flooding in the area was minimised. The drainage infrastructure such as road gullies and storm culverts were unable to cope with the unusually high levels of run off caused by the exceptionally high level of rainfall in a short period of time.

The sewerage pumping station at River Terrace (Lower Ormeau) has an overflow pipe to the river to provide protection in case of a sewer blockage or pump failure. This pipe was designed and constructed to operate by gravity and cannot discharge if the river level is too high. At the request of Water NI, the Weir was used as a tidal barrier as a precaution on 13, 14, 19 and 20 June with the gates raised to maximum height in order to keep the water level as low as possible and allow the gravity over flow pipe to operate if their system became overloaded or failed.

Housing Association New Builds

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development what action she is taking to address the fact that there have been only 61 new builds by Housing Associations in the Ards Borough Council area in the past six years, compared to 129 in the Down District Council area, and 149 in the Castlereagh Borough Council area. (AQW 956/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Social Housing Development Programme is formulated by the Housing Executive on the basis of demonstrated need in each local area. The Housing Executive does recognise that housing need in the Ards area has shown a marked recent increase and has programmed a total of 310 additional houses to be provided over the current five-year planning period. Of these, 136 are scheduled to start in the current financial year.

There have been problems in securing land for social housing in the area. The Housing Executive is actively pursuing the possibility of earmarking sites of surplus land in the ownership of Ards Borough Council.

Disabled Bungalow at Grays Park, Helens Bay

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development to explain why there has been a twelve week delay in the completion and allocation of a disabled bungalow at Grey's Park, Helen's Bay; and to give a timescale for the allocation of this accomodation. (AQW 1014/07)

Ms Ritchie: This delay was caused by obtaining necessary approvals for water connections to this property.

The Water Service has confirmed that the connections will be made during the week commencing 2 July 2007. The Housing Executive anticipates that the property will be available during the week commencing 23July 2007.

Refusal of NIHE to the Purchase of Property by Tenants

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development how many applications from tenants for the purchase of property have been turned down or refused by the Housing Executive Land and Property Section at Craigavon for a) the Ards Borough Council area; and b) the Strangford constituency, in the last 3 years. (AQW 1019/07)

Ms Ritchie: The information is not readily available in the form requested.

The number of applications rejected by the Housing Executive in the last 3 years for areas defined as Castlereagh, Newtownards and Downpatrick was as follows:

	Castlereagh District	Newtownards District	Downpatrick District
2004/05	34	30	57
2005/06	46	68	42
2006/07	35	43	32
Total no. of cases - 387.

Neighbourhood Renewal

Mr Cathal Boylan asked the Minister for Social Development to advise of any mechanism through which a school that falls outside the neighbourhood renewal boundary by a matter of yards, and has pupils from within neighbourhood renewal areas, can access such funding. (AQW 1135/07)

Ms Ritchie: Neighbourhood Renewal works across Government to tackle deprivation where the need is greatest. 36 areas across Northern Ireland have been identified for intervention and Neighbourhood Partnerships have been established to develop action plans to address the key priorities for each area. Poor educational attainment is a significant problem in most Neighbourhood Renewal areas. It is the statutory responsibility of the Department of Education to consider and deliver appropriate actions through whichever delivery mechanism they consider appropriate. This can be through mainstream funding or with the support of the Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund. Support is not necessarily based on whether schools are physically situated within a Neighbourhood Renewal boundary, but on the catchment area of the school. Therefore, it is possible that funding could be provided to support a school outside a Neighbourhood Renewal area, but which will have a positive impact on pupils living within that area.

Shared Equity Schemes

Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the shared equity schemes that are available in Northern Ireland; and to detail the uptake of these schemes in the last three years. (AQW 1139/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Co-ownership scheme which is operated by the Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association (NICHA) is the only shared equity scheme in Northern Ireland. It operates on the basis of funding from the Department for Social Development in the form of Housing Association Grant (HAG) augmented by surpluses which the Association makes on equity sales to participants.

The aim of the scheme is to provide assistance to those on marginal incomes who would not be eligible to obtain a full mortgage, to allow them to become homeowners. Participants join on a 50/50 equity sharing basis and then purchase further tranches of equity – a process known as staircasing – at the prevailing market value, as and when their circumstances permit.

The uptake of the scheme for the last three years is detailed in the table below:

	2006/07	2005/06	2004/05
NO. OF PARTICIPANTS	325	504	502

Charities Bill

Mr Alex Attwood asked the Minister for Social Development to make a statement on the forthcoming Charities Bill. (AQO 274/07)

Ms Ritchie: I intend to introduce a draft Charities Bill for consideration by the Assembly before the summer recess, subject to agreement from the Executive Committee. This legislation will ensure that we have a robust regulatory framework in place for charities in Northern Ireland who do an immense amount of good work for some of the most disadvantaged in our communities

Social Housing

Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to outline what measures and timeframes she is putting in place, as part of a strategic response, to address the shortages in social housing that exist in North Belfast. (AQO 215/07)

Ms Ritchie: Housing in North Belfast is being addressed through the North Belfast Housing Strategy which set out to address two chronic housing problems, acute housing shortages (in Catholic areas mainly) and poor housing conditions (in Protestant areas mainly).

Its aims were to invest around £133m and provide 1,750 new social homes over the 7 year lifetime of the Strategy concluding in March 2008.

1,248 homes have been started and £113.7m has been invested in new housing in the first 5 years of the Strategy.

A Review of the Strategy is already underway and a final report is due by the end of the summer. This final report will identify the next steps to be taken.

Affordable Housing Crisis

Mr David Burnside asked the Minister for Social Development what role she envisages for private developers and builders in solving the affordable housing crisis. (AQO 262/07)

Ms Ritchie: Sir John Semple in his Review into Affordable Housing considered that developers have an important and varied role to play in solving the affordable housing crisis. These included –

building a range of housing types from affordable through to executive homes;

providing developer contributions of 20% of the houses provided in any housing development granted planning permission for affordable housing through Article 40 of the Planning (NI) Order 1991 and building relationships with housing associations, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Northern Ireland Co-ownership housing to assist with this;

working with the Planning Service and other key partners to develop a better relationship to assist in the planning and development process;

developing more sustainable buildings that incorporate modern methods of construction and renewable technologies; and

working with others to help develop the necessary skills in their labour forces to deliver new homes.

I will be considering all of Sir John Semple’s recommendations through the Inter Departmental Group I will be chairing and which will convene on 5 July.

Social Housing

Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Social Development to detail her plans to ensure that applicants for social housing, who have severe physical and/or mental health conditions, are properly assessed and given a range of options before being offered temporary accommodation. (AQO 223/07)

Ms Ritchie: A detailed housing needs assessment is carried out on all applicants for social housing under the Common Selection Scheme. This includes a Health and Social Wellbeing assessment to gauge the applicant’s ability to function in their current accommodation and their support and/or care needs. Points are awarded in recognition of a wide range of health and social factors relevant to each individual’s circumstances.

In the event that any such applicant is threatened with homelessness, the needs identified will be considered by the Housing Executive in deciding the most appropriate form of temporary accommodation to be offered. Care is taken to balance the needs of the application in terms of the physical layout and location of this accommodation.

Review of Public Administration

Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister for Social Development to make a statement on the effects of the Review of Public Administration on her department. (AQO 278/07)

Ms Ritchie: The key decisions announced by Direct Rule Ministers affecting my Department were:

the transfer of significant Urban Regeneration and Community Development and Housing functions from the Department and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to local councils;

the transfer of the Appeals Service to a new Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service; and

the closing of a small number of Arms Length Bodies, namely the Northern Ireland Housing Council and the Northern Ireland Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board.

However, the Executive recently announced its intention to undertake a review of the Review of Public Administration decisions relating to local Government and I will use this review to protect the integrity of my Department and of the Housing Executive.

Benefit Fraud

Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister for Social Development to make a statement on the levels of benefit fraud in Northern Ireland. (AQO 221/07)

Ms Ritchie: The estimated levels of fraud in benefits administered by the Social Security Agency have reduced by over half since 2001/2002 from £60.9m or 1.9% of benefit expenditure to £28m which equates to 0.8% of expenditure in 2005/2006. My Department also administers housing benefit and the equivalent estimate for housing benefit fraud is £4m, equivalent to 1.1% of housing benefit expenditure in 2005/2006.

Disability Living Allowances

Mr Roy Beggs asked the Minister for Social Development to account for the variations between constituencies in terms of the numbers of those in receipt of Disability Living Allowances. (AQO 275/07)

Ms Ritchie: There is no single definitive reason to account for the differences in Disability Living Allowance uptake between constituencies. Contributing factors may include differences in population size, health and the level of deprivation within particular constituencies.

Mixed-Religion Social Housing

Ms Anna Lo asked the Minister for Social Development to detail what plans she has to promote mixed-religion social housing. (AQO 247/07)

Ms Ritchie: In Northern Ireland social housing applicants exercise their choice by identifying where they want to live. Through Shared Future my Department is working to ensure that social housing applicants have the opportunity to exercise real choice free of fear.

Shared housing is not about socially engineering communities or neighbourhoods. Trust and safety will dictate the pace of change. Together with my Ministerial colleagues I will be working to create a climate where trust and safety can grow and thrive in our community.

The Housing Executive’s duty is to ensure housing is provided on the basis of need. There is no doubt that community division and segregation exerts a high price, in housing terms, preventing the best use being made of existing housing and land.

Shared Future states that the Housing Executive should bring forward as soon as is practicable its proposed 2 shared-future pilot housing schemes. The 2 pilot areas which have been chosen are Enniskillen, which is complete, and Loughbrickland. The Housing Executive is also in the process of examining the 5 year Social Housing Development Programme to identify further schemes which would be appropriate for the Shared Future model.

Property held by the Department for Social Department

Mr Alban Maginness asked the Minister for Social Development what lands are held by her department. (AQO 285/07)

Ms Ritchie: A list of lands held by my Department has been placed in the library.

Workforce Under-Representation of Protestants

Mr Nelson McCausland asked the Minister for Social Development if she will work with the Equality Commission and the main organisations in the voluntary sector, to address the imbalances which exist in the workforces of many of these organisations, especially the significant under-representation of members of the Protestant community. (AQO 279/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Equality Commission has not approached my department regarding any perceived imbalance in the workforce of any voluntary and community sector organisation. If the Equality Commission made such an approach I would of course assist it so far as I could within my responsibility as Minister for Social Development.

Social Housing Waiting Lists

Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development if she will give a commitment to address the waiting list for social housing in the Strangford constituency by building 250-300 homes, over the next 6 years. (AQO 220/07)

Ms Ritchie: The Social Housing Development Programme is managed on a 5 year basis. The programme contains proposals for 426 homes (27 schemes). 205 homes (11 schemes) are programmed to start in 2007/08 with the remainder over the following 4 years. However, sites have not yet been acquired for 4 schemes for the 2007/08 year.

In addition to the schemes formally programmed, Housing Associations have registered a further 47 sites within the Strangford constituency. 33 of these are within the Ards Borough Council area. Associations are currently working with the Housing Executive to confirm support and to determine whether the sites should be acquired.

A detailed site investigation programme is currently under way in areas of housing need across the Province as a whole. More than 30 potential sites within the Strangford constituency have been identified so far for further examination.

Shared Housing Estates

Mrs Naomi Long asked the Minister for Social Development to make a statement on further provision of shared housing estates in line with the policy document 'A Shared Future'. (AQO 241/07)

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY

Friday 06 July 2007

Written Answers to Questions

Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister

Northern Ireland Bureau

Contract to Draft Legislation

Lisburn City Council

Unemployment and Economic Inactivity

Equality Impact Assessment

Rural Poverty

Staff Surveys

Older People's Commissioner

Agriculture and Rural Development

Tree Felling Licences

Rivers Agency

Fishing Industry

Bird Flu

DARD Staff Surveys

Staff Employed Beyond the Age of 65

Flooding at Killyleagh Football Club

Flooding at Killyleagh Football Club

Watercourse at Greyabbey

Underspend of European Funding

Use of Meat and Bone Meal

Bridge Replacement at Aghagallen

Culture, Arts and Leisure

Multi -Sports Stadium

Multi-Sports Stadium

Lough Neagh

Multi-Sports Stadium

Promoting Target Sports

New Library in Newtownards

Multi-Sports Stadium

International Football Games

Soccer Strategy

Ulster- Scots Agency

Arts Council of NI and An Chomhaírle Ealaíon

Soccer Strategy

Education

Homophobic Bullying

Staff Non-Pensionable Bonuses

Merger of Donaghadee and Movilla High Schools

Merger of Donaghadee and Movilla High Schools

Armagh Integrated College

Special Needs Pupils

Ulster-Scots Language

Expenditure for Ulster - Scots

Funding for Additional Administrative and Support Staff

Teacher Education

School Meals

School Meals

Early Years Strategy

Education Transition Co-ordinators

Home Tuition

11+ Examination

Draft Disability Action Plan

Maintenance Expenditure by SEELB

School Meals

Pupils Attending Post Primary Schools

Children with Autism

Devenish College

Expenditure for Teaching Irish Language and Irish-Medium

Staff Surveys

Primary School in Keady

Post Retirement Age

Number of Pupils Attending Primary School

Administrative and Advisory Staff

Heads of Departments Redundancies

Second Tier Officer Redundancies

Chief Executive Redundancies

Suicide Prevention in Schools

Alcohol Abuse in Schools

Promotions in Catholic Maintained Schools

Teacher to Pupil Ratios

School Attendance

Pupils Learning English as an Additional Language

English as an Additional Language pupils in primary1 schools by first language spoken 2

English as an Additional Language pupils in special schools by first language spoken 2

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary selective schools by first language spoken 2

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary non selective schools by first language spoken 2

English as an Additional Language pupils in primary¹ schools by first language spoken ²

English as an Additional Language pupils in special schools by first language spoken ²

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary selective schools by first language spoken ²

English as an Additional Language pupils in post primary non selective schools by first language spoken ²