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

Friday 25 April 2008

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
Assembly Commission

CORRIGENDA

OFFICE OF THE FIRST MINISTER AND DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER

Integrated Development Fund

Mr F McCann asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what arrangements it has made to extend the Integrated Development Fund pilot scheme.

(AQO 1500/08)

The First Minister and deputy First Minister (Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness): The future of the Integrated Development Fund (IDF) was considered as part of the broader work on central cross cutting programme funds, in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007 process. As a result of these considerations the Northern Ireland Executive’s Budget, Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland and Programme for Government covering the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 do not contain a provision for further allocations to central funds, including the IDF. This is on the basis that if the individual projects supported under these funds are considered to be of significant value then the funding provision should be “mainstreamed” by the relevant Departments, rather than being managed centrally. In these circumstances, there are no plans to review the IDF pilot scheme.

Funding for the outstanding IDF projects committed to in principle will be submitted for approval on a case by case basis, subject to the provision and approval of the required economic appraisals for the respective projects.

Integrated Development Fund

Mr P Maskey asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what plans it has to review the Integrated Development Fund.

(AQO 1501/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The future of the Integrated Development Fund (IDF) was considered as part of the broader work on central cross cutting programme funds, in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) 2007 process. As a result of these considerations the Northern Ireland Executive’s Budget, Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland and Programme for Government covering the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 do not contain a provision for further allocations to central funds, including the IDF. This is on the basis that if the individual projects supported under these funds are considered to be of significant value then the funding provision should be “mainstreamed” by the relevant Departments, rather than being managed centrally. In these circumstances, there are no plans to review the IDF pilot scheme.

Flash Flooding

Mr Kennedy asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the steps being taken by the Civil Contingency Policy Branch to deal with the threat of regular flash flooding.

(AQW 4926/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The role of the Civil Contingencies Policy Branch (CCPB) is to promote effective civil contingencies policy and development across the public sector. There is a well-established “lead department principle” which means that departments are responsible for civil contingencies within their policy sectors. Responsibility for preparing for and responding to coastal and river flooding rests with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD); and responsibility for preparing for and responding to other types of flooding rests with the Department for Regional Development (DRD).

As part of its role in promoting effective civil contingencies development across the public sector, CCPB facilitated a review of the response to the June 2007 flooding on behalf of the Executive and is about to establish a multi-agency Severe Weather Group. The objectives of the group will be to assess the current capability of public services in Northern Ireland to respond to a severe weather incident and identify actions which could further strengthen resilience. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has agreed to chair the Severe Weather Group.

CO2 Emissions

Mr S Wilson asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the steps being taken to reduce CO2 emissions.

(AQW 4929/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland and its associated Implementation Plan contain a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2025.

Lead responsibility for achievement of this target lies with the Department of the Environment, with contributions being made by the Department of Finance and Personnel, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, and by other Departments.

Actions are being taken in areas which include:

Review of the NICS estate to determine suitable, and cost effective, renewables technology installations in public buildings by DFP;
Implementation of the Northern Ireland Strategic Energy Framework by DETI;
Schemes designed to support household energy efficiency by DSD; and
Policy development in the area of transport emissions by DRD.

Commissioner for Children and Young People

Miss McIlveen asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the budget that has been allocated to the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (i) in each of the last 3 years; and (ii) for each of the next 3 years.

(AQW 5139/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The budget allocation for the Commissioner for Children and Young People in each of the last three years (2005-08) was £1,897,000 per annum.

The Budget allocation for each of the next three years is as follows:

08/09 - £1,853,000
09/10 - £1,806,000
10/11 - £1,762,000

The year on year reduction relates to efficiency measures which have been applied to the administration element of the Commissioner’s budget.

This allocation is without prejudice to the outcomes of the Commissioner’s Article 24 Review of the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 and the Deloitte Review on the effectiveness of the Commissioner for Children and Young People for Northern Ireland.

Sub Group on Children

Mrs D Kelly asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail (i) the number of meetings of the Ministerial sub group on children that have been held; and (ii) the dates of those meetings.

(AQW 5349/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The Ministerial Sub-Committee on Children and Young People has held two meetings to date. The meetings were held on 13 March 2008 and 10 April 2008.

Deloitte and Touche Research

Dr Farry asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the cost of commissioning the Deloitte and Touche research into the financial cost of the Northern Ireland divide.

(AQW 5852/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The cost of commissioning Deloitte to conduct the research into the financial cost of the Northern Ireland divide was £86,244. This cost was incurred during direct rule. A further £4,183 was spent on printing copies of the research report for circulation to Assembly Members.

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail its plans to ensure that all departmental policies are rural-proofed.

(AQW 5867/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: OFMDFM has developed a Policy Toolkit containing practical guidance for all Departments on the wide range of impact assessments, including rural proofing. Officials in OFMDFM apply the guidance provided in the development of policy.

Disciplinary Procedures

Mr Savage asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the number of staff in their department who, since 8 May 2007, have (i) received official warnings; and (ii) faced disciplinary procedures.

(AQW 6044/08)

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: Since 8 May 2007, 17 staff have received official warnings and one member of staff has faced disciplinary procedures.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Forest Service Staff

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the percentage of Forest Service staff who were transferred to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in 2006, that have been on long-term sick leave in the last two years.

(AQW 5483/08)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms M Gildernew): The percentage of staff who were transferred to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in 2006, that have been on long-term sick leave in the last two years is 100% (2 staff transferred and both were on long-term sick leave).

Staff Meetings

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of occasions on which the department's personnel section has arranged meetings with members of staff in canteens, with the potential of members of the public being present, in each year since 2004; and to give her assessment of this practice.

(AQW 5484/08)

Ms M Gildernew: There are no records kept of such meetings since these are held on an ad-hoc basis. I am aware that some meetings do take place in canteens but these are infrequent and held in discreet areas with the agreement of the individual(s) concerned. I see no difficulty in this practice provided all parties are in agreement with the meeting arrangements and the location, and where there is no potential for anyone to overhear or disturb the meeting.
I can advise that both formal and informal meetings are held in designated conference or interview rooms.

Staff Suspension

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to confirm if a member of staff is suspended from work for one working day, is it normal practice for the member of staff to be escorted from the workplace and stripped of personal assets owned by the department (such as mobile telephones, keys, etc.).

(AQW 5485/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Where a decision has been taken to suspend an officer, for whatever period, it is normal practice to discreetly escort the officer from the workplace. Immediately prior to this the officer will be asked to hand over all items/equipment in their possession which are Departmental property. Examples include mobile telephones, keys, security passes, IT equipment.

Townland Names

Mr Ford asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the action her department is taking to use townland names, where applicable, in view of the resolution passed by the first Assembly on 1 October 2001.

(AQW 5538/08)

Ms M Gildernew: My Department recognises the historic, cultural and linguistic importance of townland names and uses them where applicable in its documents and correspondence.

Generating Energy

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide an update on her department's policy on generating energy from waste.

(AQW 5555/08)

Ms M Gildernew: As outlined in the Renewable Energy Action Plan my Department recognises the opportunities presented by generating energy from agri-food waste.

The Department recognise that renewable energy technologies will create opportunities for livestock farmers as assessed and reported by the Expert Group on Alternative Use of Manures in March 2006.

Currently my Department are exploring the potential to develop an Energy from Agri-Food Waste Challenge Fund. An Agricultural Stakeholder Forum on Renewable Energy and a number of studies currently underway will inform the development of this fund.

The Agri-Food and Bio-Sciences Institute (AFBI) has a key role to play in the development of a Renewable Energy Centre of scientific excellence at AFBI Hillsborough. A dedicated programme of research will support the continued development of renewable energy options appropriate to the land based sector in the North.

The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) continue to deliver tailored education, training and technology transfer programmes to those entering and within the industry in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment.

DARD work closely with DETI on renewable energy, there have been and will be continue to be numerous contacts between the two Departments at official level to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the development of renewable energy.

Farming Industry

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of times she has met formally with representatives of the farming industry since assuming office in May 2007.

(AQW 5569/08)

Ms M Gildernew: I have met with representatives of the farming industry on 70 occasions in my capacity as Minister since May 2007.

Forest Service

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail how much notice (in working days) was given to employees transferred from the Forest Service to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in 2006.

(AQW 5576/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Those Forest Service staff, who transferred to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in 2006, received formal transfer notes on their last working day 30 March 2006, before the effective date of transfer, 3 April 2006. However the staff had been aware of the likelihood of transfer for several months and had been verbally informed of the decision to transfer the training function from Forest Service to College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise approximately three weeks prior to the receipt of formal transfer notes. The planned date of transfer was known by the staff at least four working days before receipt of the formal note of transfer.

Katesbridge Farm Raid

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if her department was aware that those who were responsible for the farm near Katesbridge that was raided by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Friday 4 April 2008, had convictions for animal cruelty and were banned from keeping livestock.

(AQW 5582/08)

Ms M Gildernew: This case is currently under investigation by the PSNI, assisted by veterinary and enforcement staff from my Department. While I cannot speculate on who was responsible, my Department is aware of animal welfare convictions and disqualifications applying to a number of people associated with the holding in Katesbridge. One person was convicted and disqualified as recently as 28 March 2008.

Animal Exports

Mr T Clarke asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of live animal exports from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that subsequently went straight to slaughter, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 5602/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The following table summarises the number of live animals exported from the North. As DARD only records figures for exports from the North the relevant Departments in the South and Britain were asked to provide figures for their jurisdictions. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), Dublin have advised that they can only provide figures for 2008 exports to date. However, whilst a very limited set of figures can be produced they could not be provided within the timescale of this Assembly Question. The Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra), London have advised that they do not hold the figures requested.

Year	No of direct slaughter exports from the North (including to Britain)
2003	350,406
2004	359,847
2005	212,376
2006	331,621
2007	333,861
2008 (Up to 11 April)	66,532

Tank Costs

Mr T Clarke asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pursuant to AQW 5081/08, if the actual costs agreed by a chartered quantity surveyor in relation to these tanks should be reviewed, and to confirm that farmers should not be penalised on account of the length of time it takes her department to deliver.

(AQW 5609/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The Department does not intend to review actual costs agreed by a chartered quantity surveyor as the revision of upper limits for items would be inconsistent and would allow inflation on some aspects of projects and not others.

I am aware that farmers have had to absorb the cost of inflation in their projects. However, I would emphasise that this is not due to any processing delay by the Department following my securing of budget last June.

Budget is available to ensure that all farmers who applied have an opportunity for grant and the budget secured was based on costs at application. Since receiving assurance of the budget availability I am pleased to note that my Department has made significant progress in delivering this scheme.

Farm Nutrient Management Scheme

Mr Elliott asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the estimated number of farmers who do not meet the required storage capacity for slurry following the ending of the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme.

(AQW 5618/08)

Ms M Gildernew: It is estimated that some 18,700 farms either have sufficient existing slurry storage or are planning to invest in additional storage through the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme (FNMS) to meet the minimum slurry storage requirement of the Nitrates Directive Action Programme.

The remaining 8000 farms had the option of applying to the FNMS and did not. It is likely that these are smaller farms with relatively extensive farming practices. They may chose to reduce stock numbers, rent additional storage off farm or change farm management practices to meet the minimum slurry storage requirement.

The exact number of farmers who do not meet the minimum slurry storage requirement in future will depend on a range of variable factors including the storage available to them either on or off farm, livestock numbers and farm management practices.

Replanted Woodland

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the amount of land, in hectares, where woodland was replanted in each of the last 3 years.

(AQW 5621/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The area of Forest Service forest replanted in each of the last 3 years is set out below.

2004/2005 903 hectares
2005/2006 840 hectares
2006/2007 750 hectares
In addition, 233 hectares of the estate is currently under re-establishment by natural regeneration.

Fishing Industry

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of times she has formally met with representatives of the fishing industry since May 2008.

(AQW 5656/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Since May 2007 I have met with representatives of the fishing industry on 13 occasions.

Flood Protection Measures

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the amount she has invested in flood protection measures, broken down by (i) parliamentary constituency; and (ii) local government district, over each of the last five years.

(AQW 5659/08)

Ms M Gildernew: DARD, Rivers Agency as the statutory drainage and flood defence authority for Northern Ireland provides flood protection measures in relation to flooding from rivers and the sea.

Rivers Agency does not hold the amounts invested in flood protection measures broken down by parliamentary constituency. The figures set out below detail the capital expenditure on flood defence schemes over the last five calendar years by District Council area.

District Council Area	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
	£	£	£	£	£
Antrim	1,244,051	258,646	41,928	6,583	16,372
Ards	64,332	48,221	3,477
Armagh	65,193	35,318
Ballymena	145,800	133,143	102,189	11,611	330
Banbridge	14,371	263,877	216,872	38,673	39,358
Belfast	279,791	18,710	375		7,299
Carrickfergus	220,880			24,842	203,119
Coleraine	17,310	89,996	541,840	50,120	26,393
Cookstown				700
Craigavon	378,282	314,165	16,556	694	12,872
Derry	35,360	543,076	374,014	5,994	13,361
Down		377,060	672,544	217,029	47,264
Dungannon	68,494	2,286
Fermanagh	235,581	706,452	777,302	1,418,942	602,517
Larne	52,345	25,884		345	1,628
Limavady	172,830	234,093	67,475	972	12,615
Lisburn	11,010	198,395	279,574	457,340	333,153
Magherafelt	164,755	15,926	101,280	74,824	397,183
Newry & Mourne	458,475	874,617	1,482,690	3,548,136	1,227,008
Newtownabbey	2,140	236,515	20,410	6,215	1,819
North Down	513	85,747	14,058	922	82
Strabane	274,167	188,434	2,875
Totals	3,905,679	4,650,561	4,715,461	5,863,941	2,942,374

In addition the Rivers Agency undertakes an annual maintenance programme of designated watercourses, sea defences and grilles to minimise the risk of flooding. The maintenance costs for the last five financial years are detailed below. These figures are not held by parliamentary constituency or by District Council area.

2002/03 £'000	2003/04 £'000	2004/05 £'000	2005/06 £'000	2006/07 £'000
2485	3978	2861	2118	1567

Bulls Imported

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of bulls imported in each of the last six months, broken down by breed and age.

(AQW 5709/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The number of bulls imported in each of the last six months and in April to date are shown in the table below:

Month of import	Breed	Number imported 30 months of age or under	Number imported over 30 months of age
October	Charolais	16	1
	Salers	0	1
	Aberdeen-Angus	7	0
	Friesian	1	0
	Hereford	3	0
	Limousin	8	0
	Parthenais	1	0
	Shorthorn	1	0
	Simmental	5	0
November	Charolais	5	2
	Salers	1	0
	Aberdeen-Angus	3	0
	Friesian	1	0
	Limousin	4	0
	Holstein	2	0
	Montbeliarde	2	0
	Simmental	4	0
December	Charolais	11	0
	Friesian	3	1
	Hereford	0	1
	Limousin	10	1
	Holstein	14	0
	Montbeliarde	2	0
	Simmental	2	0
	Maine Anjou	1	0
	Ayrshire	2	0
	Belted Galloway	1	0
	Galloway	0	1
January	Charolais	2	1
	Aberdeen-Angus	2	0
	Friesian	4	0
	Limousin	1	0
	Holstein	21	2
	Shorthorn	0	1
	Montbeliarde	1	0
	Ayrshire	1	0
	Belted Galloway	2	0
	Galloway	1	0
	Blonde D’Aquitaine	1	0
	Danish Red	1	0
	Jersey	2	0
February	Charolais	10	0
	Salers	2	0
	Aberdeen-Angus	2	0
	Friesian	2	1
	Hereford	1	0
	Limousin	13	0
	Holstein	2	0
	Shorthorn	1	0
	Montbeliarde	2	0
	Simmental	3	1
	Ayrshire	2	0
	Belted Galloway	0	1
	Belgian Blue	2	1
	Blue Albion	1	0
	Lincoln Red	1	0
	Longhorn	1	0
March	Charolais	15	1
	Aberdeen-Angus	6	0
	Friesian	5	0
	Hereford	1	0
	Limousin	16	0
	Holstein	4	0
	Simmental	2	0
	Blonde D’Aquitaine	1	0
	Belgian Blue	4	0
April (to date)	Charolais	2	0
	Aberdeen-Angus	2	0
	Hereford	1	0
	Limousin	10	0
	Blond D’Aquitaine	1	0

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she plans to introduce legislation which would make it mandatory for all departmental policies to be rural-proofed.

(AQW 5720/08)

Ms M Gildernew: As set out in the Programme for Government I am currently looking at reinvigorating the rural proofing process and defining the role of a rural champion. The Programme for government also outlines my intention to develop a Rural White Paper and these important initiatives will help ensure that rural issues are given due consideration within Government. My Department will be consulting later this year on how rural proofing can be enhanced and the issue of a legislative base will be considered as part of that consultation.

Fishing Industry

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to estimate the value the fishing industry to the Northern Ireland economy.

(AQW 5766/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Provisional figures for 2007 estimate the value of sea fish landed into our ports at £20.5m.

For the fish processing sector the latest data available is for 2005. In that year gross turnover was £77.9 million.

Farmimg and Fishing Figures

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail, for the 2006-07 financial year, (i) the total number of farmers; (ii) the total amount paid out by her department in the form of Single-Farm payments; (iii) the number of fishing boats registered at ports; and (iv) the total amount of funding made available to the fishing industry through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance.

(AQW 5824/08)

Ms M Gildernew: £220.79m (excluding modulation) was paid to 39,426 farmers in respect of Single Farm Payments for the 2006 scheme year.

Figures for the number of fishing boats registered at ports is only available on a calendar year basis and is outlined below:-

2006 - 326 boats
2007 - 321 boats.

The total amount of funding made available to the fishing industry through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance was £26.54m of which £5.55m was committed during 2006/07.

Single Farm Payments

Miss McIlveen asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the number of Single Farm Payments that are still outstanding in the Strangford constituency.

(AQW 5859/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Single Farm Payment (SFP) Branch (The Department) does not hold SFP details on a constituency basis. The data is currently held by county/postcode.

Woodland Planting

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the action she is taking to address the shortfall in woodland planting and targets not being met.

(AQW 5865/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The Forest Service has met its targets to establish new plantations in the public and private sector combined over the previous three years. The targets and outturn of new woodland area created are as follows:

Year	Target	Outturn
2007-2008	550 ha of new plantation including 100 ha of Short Rotation Coppice	552 ha of new plantation including 275 ha of Short Rotation Coppice
2006-2007	500 ha of new plantation including 100ha of Short Rotation Coppice	549 ha of new plantation including 195 ha of Short Rotation coppice
2005-2006	500 ha of new plantation	606 ha of new plantation

Forest Service will continue to provide grant aid and advice to encourage the creation of new woodlands and the sustainable management of existing woodland through the forestry measures in the Rural Development Programme.
This year, Forest Service also intends to improve the awareness among farmers and landowners of the benefits of woodland creation through a series of events and media opportunities.

Abattoir in Downpatrick

Mr Wells asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the contact her department has had with the Planning Service in relation to the planning application for an abattoir in Downpatrick, lodged by Finnebrogue Venison.

(AQW 5873/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Ian Pearson, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, liaised with Angela Smith - former Minister responsible for the Planning Service - in January 2005 to ascertain if the Planning Service had taken into account the potential economic consequences when considering the planning application and the subsequent appeal.

My Department officials involved in the administration of project claims have been in regular contact with the Planning Service in relation to the Finnebrogue project. This is in a general capacity to determine if planning approval has been granted. This information has been used to inform budget profiling for the scheme.

Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings

Mr Bresland asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide an update of the progress that has been made in the implementation of the Rural Development Programme, particularly measure 1.3 - 'Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings'.

(AQW 5892/08)

Ms M Gildernew: You will be aware that the objective of Axis 1 of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (NIRDP) is to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sectors by supporting restructuring, development and innovation. The total budget of the Axis is approximately £45 million, and Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings is supported under measure 1.3.

Axis 1 also supports: measure 1.1, Vocational Training and Information Actions; measure 1.2, Adding Value to Agricultural and Forestry Products and Improving Marketing Capability; and measure 1.4, the Supply Chain Development Programme.

An economic appraisal of Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings is currently being carried out by external consultants. That should be completed by the end of April, after which it will require clearance from my Resource and Economics Branch and the Department of Finance and Personnel.

My officials are working on the terms of reference and operating guidelines necessary to appoint a third-party delivery agent to administer the scheme. A list of eligible items of equipment that will attract the grant and lead to modernisation across all farming sectors is also being prepared. Those documents cannot be finalised until the economic appraisal process is complete, but I expect that the measure will be open in full for applications before the end of 2008.

Regarding measure 2.1, I can confirm that Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowances for both 2007 and 2008 have been paid under the new programme.

Measure 2.2, the Agri-environment Programme, will be delivered through the new and improved Countryside Management Scheme (NICMS) and the Organic Farming Scheme. Legislation passed through the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on 8 April. Scheme literature and computer delivery mechanisms for the NICMS are at an advanced stage of development. It is anticipated that the NICMS will open to applications in late spring or early summer 2008.

There are three forestry measures in the NIRDP. All are open for applications, and some existing commitments have been carried forward from the previous programme. Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) is part of measure 1.3, Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings. The establishment of SRC under the measure is designed to assist the development of wider renewable energy markets. Approximately 270 hectares of SRC were planted last year, with a further 122 hectares approved for planting in 2008.

The aim of Measure 2.3, First Afforestation, is to promote a steady expansion of tree cover to increase the diverse benefits that forests provide. Approximately 287 hectares were planted under the measure last year.

Measure 2.4, Forest Environments, grant-aids environmental improvements to existing woodland, for example, control of the rhododendron and replanting a greater range of tree species after harvesting to encourage biodiversity. Approximately 87 hectares were grant-aided under the measure.

Axis 3, quality-of-life measures, of the NIRDP, which aim to improve the quality of life in rural areas and encourage diversification of the rural economy, will be delivered by seven Joint Council Clusters, each in partnership with a newly appointed Local Action Groups (LAG). The Axis 3 has been allocated £100 million of funding, within which up to (20%) may be utilised for local animation and support of the bottom up (Leader) delivery mechanisms stipulated by the EU.

The animation activity necessary to stimulate the new cluster areas is mostly completed. The Ards Cluster has selected a Local Action Group while Antrim and Cookstown have opened calls for their Local Action Groups. Ballymena and Omagh intend making their call this week and Armagh cluster has commenced animation of its area. I anticipate that my Department will open a call for development strategies at the beginning of May and the closing date for completed strategies will be 31st July.

Cappagh Burn

Mr Doherty asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to confirm if she will instruct her department to designate Cappagh Burn, and immediately engage in the maintenance of this water course.

(AQW 5924/08)

Ms M Gildernew: DARD is not responsible for designation of watercourses. The designation of watercourses for maintenance by DARD Rivers Agency, at public expense, is determined by the Drainage Council for Northern Ireland as provided for under the terms of the Drainage (NI) Order 1973.

Proposals for designation of watercourses should meet objective criteria whereby intervention at public expense is justified and these guide Rivers Agency in making recommendations to the Drainage Council. Rivers Agency has no plans to submit proposals to the Drainage Council to consider designation of the Cappagh Burn as maintenance is considered to be within the capabilities of riparian landowners.

It is open to any person to make a submission to the Drainage Council requesting designation of a watercourse.

Killyclogher Burn

Mr Doherty asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail her department’s plans to conduct a survey of the Killyclogher Burn, with a view to generating measures that will protect the river bank from erosion.

(AQW 5925/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The Department carries out annual inspections of this watercourse and the latest inspection did not indicate that any structures were affected by erosion of the river bank. The level of expenditure to provide further bank protection to the properties at Knock-na-moe Bunglows could not be justified under benefit – cost considerations.

Killyclogher Burn

Mr Doherty asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide (i) an update on the survey carried out on Branch B of the Killyclogher Burn, affecting the Knock-Na-Moe Bungalows; and (ii) an indicative timeline for the completion of remedial works at this location.

(AQW 5926/08)

Ms M Gildernew: The survey carried out on Branch B of the Killyclogher Burn at Knock-Na–Moe Bungalows has indicated several structural deficiencies in the watercourse culvert that require remedial works. Cost beneficial options for the remedial works to address flooding are currently being considered and the preferred option for the works will be submitted to the Drainage Council for consideration at a future meeting. Subject to Drainage Council acceptance, the works will be prioritised in the Rivers Agency works programme for 2009/2010.

Seed Potato

Mr Irwin asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide a timescale within which her department will be in a position to open a tendering process for (i) companies; and (ii) individuals to bid to become a marketing partner in relation to the new varieties of seed potato developed by the Northern Ireland Horticultural and Plant Breeding Station, Loughall.

(AQW 6249/08)

Ms M Gildernew: I have indicated that I would like to continue to support the public/private potato breeding partnership at AFBI, Loughgall. My officials are currently working up options and costings.

I know that the potato industry works to an annual cycle and so I aim to have any future partnership(s) in place for this year’s harvest. With this in mind, I hope to make further contact with industry in the coming weeks.

Seed Potato

Mr Irwin asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, in light of the Quinn/Ultimo reviews on the need for new varieties of seed potato, to detail the steps she has taken to bring to market the stream of new varieties produced within the last 5 years.

(AQW 6251/08)

Ms M Gildernew: My officials have worked to withdraw the commercialisation rights of the Loughgall potato varieties from the Department’s previous commercial partner. All rights to these varieties currently rest with DARD/AFBI. At the present time DARD/AFBI have not decided what to do with the commercialisation rights to these varieties. One possible option would be to assign these to any new commercial partner(s).

Neighbourhood Renewal Areas

Mrs McGill asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail, in addition to her department's mainstream responsibilities, the resources that have been allocated to (i) Neighbourhood Renewal Areas; and (ii) the Strabane Neighbourhood Renewal Area, in each of the last 2 years.

(AQW 6285/08)

Ms M Gildernew: Neighbourhood Renewal Areas were defined under the Department for Social Development's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy. This strategy targets the 36 most deprived urban areas over which my Department has no remit.

CULTURE, ARTS AND LEISURE

Loyal Orders

Mr Simpson asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the steps he is taking to assist the Loyal Orders in accessing Government support.

(AQW 5608/08)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr E Poots): In order to assist Loyal Orders in accessing Government support, the Department has set up a liaison group to facilitate dialogue with both Bands Associations and Loyal Orders. The liaison group will take the lead in identifying current and potential sources of public sector support for Loyal Orders. This will include highlighting areas of existing good practice which might be replicated in other areas.

Also, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has, over the last two years, assisted the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland by visiting and providing preservation advice on records at Schomberg House, piloting digitisation of a sample of records held by Lodges and offering on-going advice on storage, preservation and access matters.

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail his plans to ensure that all departmental policies are rural-proofed.

(AQW 5797/08)

Mr E Poots: All DCAL policies are proofed, or have their impact assessed against a wide range of criteria including: equality, environmental, regulatory and rural tests. The Department makes use of the Integrated Impact Assessment tool (IIA) in undertaking the various assessment processes.

Protestant Working Class Communities

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to confirm whether he intends to continue to fund programmes recommended by the Taskforce on Protestant Working Class Communities.

(AQW 5835/08)

Mr E Poots: The Renewing Communities programme was supported by a 2 year funding package which ended in March 2008. The Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure has not provided funds to continue the pilot projects beyond that date.

The Re-Imaging Communities programme will continue with funding provided by the Arts Council, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the International Fund for Ireland. This programme is open to all communities.

Shooting Sports

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the assistance he is giving to shooting sports in their preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

(AQW 5899/08)

Mr E Poots: Responsibility for assisting shooting sports in their preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games rests, in the first instance, with the governing bodies of the sports. Sport Northern Ireland , however, which is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of funding, administers the Athlete Support Programme which provides athletes with financial support to train, compete and access a range of support services such as coaching, sports science and sports medicine.

Shooting Sports

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the incentives his department can offer beginners to the sport of shooting, in preparation of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

(AQW 5900/08)

Mr E Poots: Responsibility for providing incentives to beginners to the sport of shooting rests, in the first instance, with the governing bodies of the sports. Sport Northern Ireland (SNI), which is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of funding, invests in governing bodies through its lottery and exchequer budgets. In terms of shooting sports, any SNI participation programmes will fall under the remit of the respective shooting governing bodies.

Departmental Funding

Mr McCarthy asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail (i) the funding his department has provided to (a) POBAL; and (b) the Ulster-Scots Agency; and (ii) the date on which these 2 organisations last submitted an annual report and accounts to his department.

(AQW 5905/08)

Mr E Poots: My Department has not provided funding to POBAL nor has it received any annual reports and accounts from the organisation.

As part of the North South Language Body, the Ulster-Scots Agency has received the following funding from DCAL:-

2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
£0.5m	£0.97m	£1.07m	£1.16m	£1.34m	£1.36m	£1.61m	£1.93m

The annual reports and accounts from the Ulster-Scots Agency are consolidated and published with those for Foras na Gaeilge as the North South Language Body (NSLB). The last agreed published consolidated annual report and account for the NSLB was for the 2003 year.

Departmental Funding

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail, for the 2008-09 financial year, the funding allocated by his department to sports and recreation clubs in the East Antrim constituency.

(AQW 5938/08)

Mr E Poots: Sport Northern Ireland is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of funding. Details of the exchequer funding allocated to sports and recreation clubs in the East Antrim constituency for the 2008/09 financial year are as follows:

Year	Applicant Organisation	Project title	Grant Amount (£)
2008/09	Larne Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club 112-120 Glenarm Road Larne BT40 1D Z	Club house facilities	520,000

Departmental Funding

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail, since May 2007, the funding allocated by his department to sports and recreation clubs in the East Antrim constituency.

(AQW 5939/08)

Year	Applicant Organisation	Project title	Grant Amount (£)
2008/09	Larne Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club 112-120 Glenarm Road Larne BT40 1DZ	Club house facilities	520,000

Departmental Funding

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the funding he has allocated to sports and recreation clubs in North Down parliamentary constituency for 2008/2009.

(AQW 5992/08)

Mr E Poots: Sport Northern Ireland (SNI) is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of funding. SNI has advised that, to date, no exchequer funding has been allocated to sports and recreation clubs in the North Down parliamentary constituency for 2008/2009.

Staff Absent

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail, for each of the last 5 years, the number of staff in his department that were absent due to stress for more than (i) 5 days; (ii) 10 days; (iii) 15 days; (iv) 20 days; (v) 25 days; (vi) 30 days; (vii) 35 days; and (viii) 40 days, broken down by grade.

(AQW 6010/08)

Mr E Poots:

YEAR	Number of Staff Absent with Work Related Stress
2003	None
2004	None
2005	1 Staff Officer or analogous absent more than 10 days
2006	1 Administrative Officer or analogous absent more than 10 days
2007	1 Administrative Officer or analogous absent more than 5 days 1 Staff Officer or analogous absent more than 10 days 1 Staff Officer or analogous absent more than 30 days 1 Deputy Principal or analogous absent more than 40 days

Armagh Observatory

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the funding available for the Armagh Observatory.

(AQW 6012/08)

Mr E Poots: In 2008/09 the funding available for the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium is as follows:

Revenue: £1.3m
Minor capital: £0.05m
Cost of capital and depreciation: £0.511m
Total: 1.861m

It is a matter for the Board of Governors of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium to decide what proportion of that funding to allocate to the Armagh Observatory.

Football Grounds

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, further to AQW 5059/08, when the Health and Safety improvements for football grounds will commence.

(AQW 6015/08)

Mr E Poots: Responsibility for commencing health and safety improvements at football grounds rests, in the first instance, with the owners of the grounds. Sport Northern Ireland (SNI), however, which is responsible for the development of sport including the distribution of funding, has been assisting owners implement health and safety improvements for some time through the Interim Safe Sports Grounds Scheme and the Stadia Safety Programme. This work is ongoing.

Maze Stadium

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail (i) the amount of money allocated towards a new stadium; (ii) when this money was allocated towards a new stadium; (iii) if this money is ringfenced for a new stadium; (iv) if this money is conditional on the new stadium being located at the Maze/Long Kesh site; and (v) whether this money could be used for a new stadium at a site other than the Maze/Long Kesh site

(AQW 6045/08)

Mr E Poots: An indicative allocation of £70 million has been made in the current budget period of 2008/09 to 2010/11 for the proposed Multi-Sports Stadium. The Outline Business Case, which presents a number of options on the Stadium, is presently being considered by the Department of Finance and Personnel. In the event of a decision not to proceed with the stadium proposal, the Department will seek approval from the Executive to reassign this funding. The Department will look to other priorities, initially within Sport, and then within its other programmes to utilise this money

Sport NI

Mr McElduff asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to provide an update on the progress of the recruitment process undertaken in relation to the appointment of a chairperson and vice-chairperson of Sport NI; and to detail (i) the reasons for the delay in making these appointments; and (ii) when these posts will be filled.

(AQW 6050/08)

Mr E Poots: An appointment process for the position of Chair to the Board of Sport NI is ongoing. The previous appointment process did not provide a sufficient range of candidates from which I could make a choice and I therefore decided to extend the competition.

I expect to appoint a Chair to the Board of Sport NI in July 2008.

Mr Dominic Walsh was appointed as Vice- Chair from 1 January 2008 and is currently Acting Chair.

Disciplinary Procedures

Mr Savage asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the number of staff in his department who, since 8 May 2007, have (i) received official warnings; and (ii) faced disciplinary procedures.

(AQW 6141/08)

Mr E Poots: My Department has

(i) 14 staff who have received official warnings since 8 May 2007 however one was overturned on appeal.
(ii) No staff who faced disciplinary procedures.

Maze Stadium

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the amount of money spent by his department to date on proposals to have a Multi Sports stadium built at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 6155/08)

Mr E Poots: My department has spent £ 3,397,835 to date on the proposals for a Multi-Sports Stadium. The large majority of this expenditure, £ 2,953,370 , has been incurred on stadium design. Business planning, Programme, Management and other consultancy costs account for the balance of £ 444,465 .

World Police and Fire Games

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, pursuant to his answer to AQW 5356/08, to detail the proposals in the bid document relating to the opening and closing ceremonies for the World Police and Fire Games; and to confirm that these ceremonies are being held in the new stadium at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 6165/08)

Mr E Poots: Further to my answer to AQW5356/08 I can confirm that the Belfast Bid Committee did state in their bid documentation that it was proposed that the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2013 World Police and Fire Games would be held at the proposed Multi-Sports Stadium at the Maze.

However, I would emphasis that this was a proposal and it will be for those with responsibility for the delivery of the Games to finalise the arrangements for the opening and closing ceremonies.

2012 Olympics Games

Mr O'Dowd asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (i) to detail the current status of the Strategic Business Case for Elite Facilities Programme for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games; (ii) to give a timescale within which Stage Two of the programme will begin; and (iii) to give a timescale within which bidders will be advised of the success or otherwise of their applications.

(AQW 6203/08)

Mr E Poots: The Strategic Outline Business Case for the Elite Facilities Capital Programme has been approved and Sport Northern Ireland has begun work on the next stage of the competition. This includes preparing a revised timeline for the delivery of the programme and Sport Northern Ireland will be in contact with those short listed in the near future.

EDUCATION

Assembly Questions

Mr Buchanan asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of requests she has received from MLAs to have answers to written Assembly questions translated into Irish.

(AQW 4743/08)

The Minister of Education (Ms C Ruane): I answer my questions in English and in Irish and I believe people should celebrate the diversity of language. Irish is the native language of Ireland and is protected and promoted in accordance with the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. I take my statutory duties very seriously as I do my right to use the Irish language.

Is iomaí Comhalta de chuid an Tionóil seo a bhfuil an Ghaeilge luachmhar acu mar atá agamsa.

There are many Members of this Assembly who value Irish as I do.

Pay Award

Mr Cree asked the Minister of Education to provide an update on the current situation in relation to the pay award agreed with the joint negotiating council last year, and to give a timescale within which this payment will be implemented.

(AQW 5073/08)

Ms C Ruane: I n accordance with the agreed pay policy process business cases for the implementation of the pay award for Education sector staff were submitted by DE to the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) in late February/March. My officials are currently progressing these cases in conjunction with DFP.

Pay remits covering the majority of staff have been agreed and payment of the new rate and arrears will commence in April.

Déanfaidh oifigigh s’agamsa iarracht a chinntiú go socrófar gach seoltán pá neamhíoctha go gasta agus ar bhealach sásúil.

My officials will endeavour to ensure that all outstanding pay remits are brought to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.

Educational Psychologists

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister of Education to detail (i) the number of pupils waiting for referral to an educational psychologist from (a) primary level schools; and (b) secondary level schools, and (ii) the waiting time for such a referral in each Education and Library Board area.

(AQW 5149/08)

Ms C Ruane: I have been advised by the Chief Executives of the Education and Library Boards that the numbers of pupils at primary and secondary level schools waiting for referral to an educational psychologist is not available as this data would be held at school level and would involve a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources to obtain.

Dá bharr sin, níl an t-aga feithimh d'atreorú mar sin ar fáil ach an oiread. Dhíreoinn aird an chomhalta ar an fhreagra a thug mé do AQW 1314/08, ceist a chuir an Comhalta do Loch Cuan, Michelle McIlveen, síos agus a foilsíodh sa Tuarascáil Oifigiúil ar 9 Samhain 2007. Léiríonn an freagra sin cá fhad a bhí ar pháistí fanacht de ghnáth nuair a atreoraíodh iad le síceolaí oideachais a fheiceáil i ngach ceann de na cúig bliana acadúla dheireanacha.

Consequently the waiting time for such a referral is also not available. I would, however, refer the Member to my reply to AQW 1314/08, tabled by the Member for Strangford, Michelle McIlveen, and published in the Official Report on 9 November 2007 which details the average waiting time for assessment by an educational psychologist, for each of the last five academic years, once a child has actually been referred.

Bangor Grammar School

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Education to detail her plans for the disposal of the Bangor Grammar School site when the school is moved to the Gransha Road, Bangor.

(AQW 5255/08)

Ms C Ruane: Ní leis an Roinn Oideachais an suíomh atá in úsáid ag Scoil Ghramadaí Bheannachair agus, dá thairbhe sin, oibreoidh an Roinn i gcomhpháirtíocht leis an scoil maidir leis an suíomh a chur de láimh nuair a bheas an scoil lonnaithe ar a suíomh úr.

The Department of Education does not own the site occupied by Bangor Grammar School and thus disposal of the site will be managed in conjunction with the school once it relocates to its new site.

Ballywalter Primary School

Miss McIlveen asked the Minister of Education to provide an update on the provision of a new school building for Ballywalter Primary School.

(AQW 5412/08)

Ms C Ruane: A necessary step before a project to replace a building can be considered eligible for capital funding, is that there is an approved economic appraisal between the Department and the relevant authority. The timescale for a scheme is also dependent on the availability of funding.

De réir mar a thuigim, tá sé ar intinn ag Bord Oideachais agus Leabharlann an Oirdheiscirt (BOLOD) measúnú geilleagrach athbhreithnithe a chur faoi bhráid na Roinne sna seachtainí amach romhainn i ndiaidh dó aiseolas a fháil ón Roinn ar leagan a cuireadh isteach ní ba luaithe.

I understand that the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) is planning to submit to the Department for consideration a revised economic appraisal within the next few weeks following comments on an earlier version from the Department.

Ballywalter Primary School

Miss McIlveen asked the Minister of Education to account for the delay in providing a new school building for Ballywalter Primary School.

(AQW 5413/08)

Middletown Centre for Autism

Mr D Bradley asked the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQQW 4713/08, to name who her department consulted on the Middletown Centre for Autism, and where, when and in what form this consultation took place.

(AQW 5464/08)

Ms C Ruane: Dhíreoinn aird an Chomhalta ar fhreagraí a thug mise ar cheisteanna (AQWs) a cuireadh cheana. Soláthraíonn na freagraí sin sonraí den chomhairliúchán ar fad atá déanta ag an Roinn maidir le hIonad Uathachais Choillidh Chanannáin.

I would refer the member to my replies to previous AQWs which provide details of all consultation carried out by the Department regarding the Middletown Centre for Autism. These are AQW 29/08 – published 28 September 2007; AQW 777/08 – published 26 October 2007; AQW 778/08 & AQW 779/08 – published 2 November 2007. All of these AQWs were tabled by the Member for South Down, John McCallister.

Allegations Against Teachers

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Education to detail (i) the number of instances of pupils making allegations against teachers in each of the last five years; and (ii) the number of cases in which these allegations were proved to be false or unfounded.

(AQW 5471/08)

Ms C Ruane: The Department does not hold the information sought.

This information is held only by schools. A special exercise would be required to collect data on all allegations made against teachers by pupils and those subsequently deemed to be false or unfounded. This information once collected from schools would then need to be collated for presentation. There are no plans to undertake such an exercise.

Cuirtear comhairle ar an Roinn i gcás go gcuirtear múinteoir ar fionraí mar réamhchúram de bharr líomhna ina (h)aghaidh. Is féidir múinteoir a chur ar fionraí ar chúiseanna éagsúla, áfach, seachas imscrúdú a bheith ar bun mar go ndearna dalta líomhain.

The Department is advised when an allegation against a teacher has led to a precautionary suspension. However, such a suspension may be imposed for reasons other than the active investigation of an allegation made by a pupil.

Classroom Assistants

Mr Durkan asked the Minister of Education to detail, for each Education and Library Board area, (i) the number of classroom assistants by gender; and (ii) the number of male and female classroom assistants who are on permanent and temporary contracts respectively.

(AQW 5580/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá an t-eolas a iarradh leagtha amach sa tábla thíos. Chuir na Boird Oideachais agus Leabharlann an t-eolas sin ar fáil maidir le cuiditheoirí ranga a bhí fostaithe ag na Boird ar 1 Eanáir 2008.

The information requested is set out in the table below and has been provided by the Education and Library Boards in respect of classroom assistants employed by the Boards at 1 January 2008.

As some classroom assistants can have more than one contract, the figures are based on the number of contracts rather than the actual number of classroom assistants which total approximately 6,500.

Number of Classroom Assistants Contracts in the Education and Library Boards
at 1 January 2008 (broken down by gender and employment contract type)

BELB					WELB				NEELB				SEELB				SELB
Male		Female			Male		Female		Male		Female		Male		Female		Male		Female
P	T		P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T	P	T
12	35		370	643	7	12	1015	417	5	19	833	566	9	8	994	419	3	10	856	1226
47			1013		19		1432		24		1399		17		1413		13		2082
1060					1451				1423				1430				2095

Key

BELB: Belfast Education and Library Board
WELB: Western Education and Library Board
NEELB: North Eastern Education and Library Board
SEELB: South Eastern Education and Library Board
SELB: Southern Education and Library Board
P: Permanent contract
T: Temporary contract

Religious Education

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of teachers employed in primary schools who hold a certificate in religious education recognised by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools.

(AQW 5586/08)

Ms C Ruane: Thug Príomhfheidhmeannach Chomhairle na Scoileanna Caitliceacha faoi Chothabháil le fios go bhfuil teastas san Oideachas Réiligiúnach ag 3610 múinteoir in Earnáil na Bunscolaíochta .

The Chief Executive of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools has advised that there are 3610 teachers in possession of an RE certificate in the Primary Sector.

School Closure

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Education if it is a legal requirement for the South Eastern Education and Library Board to fully consult with parents before deciding to recommend the closure of any school.

(AQW 5596/08)

Ms C Ruane: Any Education and Library Board proposing to close a school is required to publish a Development Proposal to support that intent. Article 14 of the Education and Libraries ( Northern Ireland ) Order 1986 is the primary statutory provision on the publication of development proposals. The publication of a Development Proposal initiates a two month consultation period on the proposal.

Sonraíonn Airteagal 24 de Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 an gá atá le comhairliúchán leis an Bhord Gobharnóirí, le múinteoirí agus le tuismitheoirí na ndaltaí atá cláraithe ag an scoil áirithe; ní mór an comhairliúchán sin a dhéanamh sula bhfoilsítear a dhath.

Article 24 of the Education and Libraries Order 2003, specifies the requirement, prior to publication, for consultation with the Board of Governors, teachers and parents of registered pupils at the school concerned.

Priority Written Questions

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the length of time it has taken, on average, for her to answer two-day priority written questions.

(AQW 5651/08)

Ms C Ruane: Ó cineachadh cumhacht chugainn d’fhreagair Roinn s’agamsa 67 ceist scríofa a raibh tosaíocht dhá lá acu. Ghlac sé 10 lá ar meán chun na ceisteanna sin a fhreagairt.

Since devolution my Department has answered 67 two-day priority written questions. The average time taken to answer these questions is 10 working days.

Killard Special School

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Education to give a timescale within which the new build will commence for Killard Special school in Newtownards.

(AQW 5667/08)

Ms C Ruane: Chuir Bord Oideachais agus Leabharlann an Oirdheiscirt an scéim chaipitiúil móroibreacha do Killard House ar athlá, go dtí go gcríochnófar an t-athbhreithniú reatha ar riachtanais speisialta oideachais, mar gur mian leo a chinntiú go bhfuil moladh s’acusan i gcomhréir le toradh an Athbhreithnithe.

The South Eastern Education and Library Board has placed the proposed capital major works scheme for Killard House on hold, pending the outcome of the current review of special educational needs, as they wish to ensure that their proposal is consistent with the outcome of the Review.

Newtonbreda Primary School

Ms Lo asked the Minister of Education to clarify the proposal to close Newtonbreda primary school in Belfast, given that amalgamation with other schools in the area could be an alternative to closure.

(AQW 5688/08)

Ms C Ruane: Newtownbreda is a controlled primary school within the remit of the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB).

The Board has advised that amalgamation is an option that they are considering but they are only at an early stage of consultation and have not as yet made any firm proposals on the future of this school.

Bheadh tacaíocht i bhfoirm moladh forbartha foilsithe de dhíth ar aon mholadh a thiocfas amach as an phróiseas seo. Beidh tréimhse reachtúil 2 mhí mar pháirt den phróiseas; is féidir le daoine teagmháil a dhéanamh leis an Roinn le linn na tréimhse sin le barúil a thabhairt nó le cur i gcoinne an mholta sula ndéanfar cinneadh.

Any proposal that does emerge from this process would require the support of a published development proposal. The process includes a statutory 2-month period during which comment or objection may be offered to my Department before a decision is made.

South Eastern Education and Library Board

Mr McNarry asked the Minister of Education to detail the mechanism for recruiting new independent board members to the South Eastern Education and Library Board.

(AQW 5723/08)

Ms C Ruane: General interest category board members are appointed through open competition. The Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 requires that 3 of the general interest members must be teachers in grant-aided schools in the board area and 3 must have declared a specific interest in the public library service.

Athrinneadh Boird na mBord Oideachais agus Leabharlann i 2005 agus ceapadh comhaltaí le haghaidh tréimhse 4 bliana; tá an tréimhse sin le críochnú i 2009.

Boards of Education and Library Boards were last reconstituted in 2005 with members appointed for a 4 year term; this is due to end in 2009.

South Eastern Education and Library Board

Mr McNarry asked the Minister of Education to detail the cost of the Commissioners in the South Eastern Education and Library Board since July 2006.

(AQW 5725/08)

Ms C Ruane: Thug Bord Oideachais agus Leabharlann an Oirdheiscirt le fios gurbh é £164,142 an tsuim iomlán, costais san áireamh, a d'íoc sé le Coimisiniéirí ó ceapadh iad ar 6 Iúil 2006 go dtí deireadh mhí Feabhra 2008.

The South Eastern Education and Library Board have advised that the total amount, including expenses, paid to the Commissioners since their appointment on 6 July 2006 until the end of February 2008 is £164,142.

Primary School Principals

Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of (i) male; and (ii) female, primary school principals, broken down by Education and Library Board area.

(AQW 5907/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá an t-eolas a iarradh sa tábla thíos.

The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
BOARD	GENDER	NUMBERS
	FEMALE	44
	MALE	37
BELB	TOTAL	81
	FEMALE	110
	MALE	69
WELB	TOTAL	179
	FEMALE	102
	MALE	100
NEELB	TOTAL	202
	FEMALE	56
	MALE	92
SEELB	TOTAL	148
	FEMALE	105
	MALE	113
SELB	TOTAL	218

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
BOARD	GENDER	NUMBERS
	FEMALE	961
	MALE	194
BELB	TOTAL	1155
	FEMALE	1203
	MALE	251
WELB	TOTAL	1454
	FEMALE	1569
	MALE	248
NEELB	TOTAL	1817
	FEMALE	1369
	MALE	278
SEELB	TOTAL	1647
	FEMALE	1596
	MALE	303
SELB	TOTAL	1899

Primary School Teachers

Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of (i) male; and (ii) female, primary school teachers, broken down by Education and Library Board area.

(AQW 5909/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá an t-eolas a iarradh sa tábla thíos.

The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
BOARD	GENDER	NUMBERS
	FEMALE	44
	MALE	37
BELB	TOTAL	81
	FEMALE	110
	MALE	69
WELB	TOTAL	179
	FEMALE	102
	MALE	100
NEELB	TOTAL	202
	FEMALE	56
	MALE	92
SEELB	TOTAL	148
	FEMALE	105
	MALE	113
SELB	TOTAL	218

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
BOARD	GENDER	NUMBERS
	FEMALE	961
	MALE	194
BELB	TOTAL	1155
	FEMALE	1203
	MALE	251
WELB	TOTAL	1454
	FEMALE	1569
	MALE	248
NEELB	TOTAL	1817
	FEMALE	1369
	MALE	278
SEELB	TOTAL	1647
	FEMALE	1596
	MALE	303
SELB	TOTAL	1899

Children Statemented

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children who have been statemented, broken down by Education and Library Board area.

(AQW 5943/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá an t-eolas a iarradh sa tábla thíos.

The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

Pupils with statements of Special Educational Need, 2007/08

	ELB
School level	BELB	WELB	NEELB	SEELB	SELB	Total
Pre school	11	29	27	19	20	106
Primary (Year 1-7)	423	683	732	1,234	1,438	4,510
Post primary	456	744	738	994	1,231	4,163
Special	1,061	695	1,007	1,055	377	4,195
Total	1,951	2,151	2,504	3,302	3,066	12,974

Source: School census in the north of Ireland

Note:

Figures for the pre-school sector include nursery and reception pupils in primary schools and children in nursery schools and in funded places in voluntary and private pre-school centres

Integrated Schools

Dr Farry asked the Minister of Education to report on the viability criteria for integrated schools.

(AQO 3002/08)

Ms C Ruane: Cé go bhfuil dualgas ar an Roinn Oideachais an t-oideachas imeasctha a spreagadh agus a éascú, le bheith i dteideal maoinithe phoiblí caithfidh gach scoil nua riachtanais reachtúla éagsúla agus riachtanais eile a shásamh.

While the Department of Education has a duty to encourage and facilitate integrated education, in order to qualify for public funding, all new schools have to satisfy a number of statutory and other requirements. The viability criteria include:

Minimum pupil intake figures which are as follows:

a 15-pupil intake in year 1 for new primary schools in Belfast and Derry;
a 12-pupil intake in year 1 in primary schools elsewhere; and
a 50-pupil intake in year 8 for secondary schools

A new integrated school must attract 30% of its pupils from the minority community, be that Protestant or Catholic, in the area where the school is situated.

Existing schools, transforming to integrated status, must demonstrate the ability to achieve a minimum of 10% of their 1st year intake drawn from the minority tradition within the school’s enrolment and the potential to achieve a minimum of 30% in the longer term.

Under the criteria, September 2007 saw the recognition by the Department of Education of Rowandale Integrated Primary School, and the transformation to integrated status of Ballycastle Primary School, Tyrella Primary School and Crumlin High School.

In addition I approved the establishment of Blackwater Integrated College with effect from September 2008. This scheme sees the amalgamation of Down Academy, a transformed integrated school, and Rowallane Integrated College, an independent integrated school. It demonstrates the flexibility of the criteria and the imaginative approaches being taken to the development of the integrated sector.

Single Education Authority

Mr Elliott asked the Minister of Education to give a timescale within which she intends to inform the Assembly of her decision on the future role of local councillors in relation to the proposed Single Education Authority.

(AQO 2973/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá mo Roinn ag cur bailchríche ar an chéad Bhille de dhá Bhille le hAthbhreithniú an Riaracháin Phoiblí san oideachas a chur i bhfeidhm.

My Department is currently finalising the first of two Bills to implement the Review of Public Administration in education. I intend to bring the first Bill forward before the summer recess.

In finalising the Bill there are a number of matters that I wish to give careful consideration to. These include:

Equality.
Local democratic accountability, in terms of both the membership of the Education and Skills Authority, and its working relationships with local councils and other public bodies;
The employing authority role of the ESA in relation to staff in schools, and

The RPA is the most significant reform of education administration in over 30 years, and I want to be satisfied that the new arrangements will deliver the necessary strategic changes in education, whilst underpinning local democratic accountability. I also want to take the opportunity to ensure that the promotion of equality is mainstreamed into all aspects of the education system.

I intend to make a decision on these matters in the very near future. At that point I will advise the Education Committee, and offer the Committee an opportunity to comment on the draft legislation before taking it to the Executive.

Modern Languages

Mrs Hanna asked the Minister of Education to outline the steps she is taking to increase the uptake of modern languages at GCSE level.

(AQO 3022/08)

Ms C Ruane: Is maith a aithním an tábhacht atá le foghlaim teanga. Creidim go dtig le foghlaim na dara teanga cuidiú lenár n-aos óg a bheith ina ndaoine cruthaitheacha, muiníneacha agus deaslabhartha a fhéadann páirt iomlán a imirt sa tsochaí agus a fhéadann barr a gcumais a bhaint amach.

I very much recognise the importance of language learning. I believe that learning a second language can help our young people to become creative, confident and articulate individuals, able to play their full part in society and to achieve to their full potential.

We are living in an increasingly diverse society across the island of Ireland and competing in a global marketplace. We know from experience in other European countries, and our own Irish-medium sector, that an early start to learning a second language is a key way of ensuring success.

I believe that, if we engage young people in language learning from an early age, they will develop greater confidence and enjoyment in their language skills and this can only encourage more young people to want to continue learning a language at post-primary level and seek qualifications at GCSE level and beyond.

There is good work already happening in our primary schools in teaching modern languages. To support more primary schools in delivering this, I am putting a programme in place from this school year, providing peripatetic tutors to support those primary schools who wish to offer Spanish and Irish. Tutors have been recruited and will be starting to work in schools from the summer school term. I am pleased to report a high level of interest among primary schools and very positive feedback from the awareness-raising events held for teachers in March.

At post-primary level, schools are encouraged to offer a wider range of modern languages and the revised curriculum provides them with greater flexibility to do so. Instead of being limited to offering 1 of only 5 languages as previously, schools are now able to choose any of the languages of the 27 EU member states to meet the minimum requirement, and any other additional languages they wish. The introduction of the Entitlement Framework will facilitate greater choice across a range of subject areas such as languages, including through collaboration among schools and with FE colleges. Improved careers advice and guidance will also support our young people when deciding which GCSE subjects they should take.

In addition to this, I am expecting recommendations shortly from the joint University of Ulster-Queen’s University Belfast Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies on a languages strategy for the North. This work is looking at ways of promoting language learning in primary and post-primary schools, promoting the uptake of a wider range of languages and language learning, teaching and assessment at post-primary level. Another key area this will consider is the language of newcomers who can have a positive impact in extending languages across communities. I look forward to receiving the Centre’s recommendations.

Dickson Plan

Mr Simpson asked the Minister of Education to outline the representations she has received (i) for; and (ii) against, the retention of the Craigavon-based Dickson Plan for education for schools in the area in which it operates.

(AQO 2989/08)

Ms C Ruane: Mar a bheadh súil leis, fuair mé comhfhreagras mór maidir le socruithe aistrithe iarbhunscoile sa todhchaí.

As one might expect I have received a great deal of correspondence on the issue of future post-primary transfer arrangements. This correspondence has included the whole range of opinions on this subject including support for and opposition to the system that operates in the Craigavon-based Dickson plan. There has also been substantial research into the performance of the Dickson plan – most recently the study produced by the Southern Education and Library Board. In addition to this, my Department’s discussions on future post-primary transfer arrangements, in the wake of my December 4, 2007 statement, have included representatives of all schools.

I made clear in that statement that 14 should be the key decision point in terms of matching provision to children, and outlined a possible system of informed election at 14 to educational pathways which will be facilitated through the implementation of the Entitlement Framework and could be accommodated within a number of different structural options:

Access within an 11-19 school;
Transfer to an alternative 11-19 school;
Access through an 11-19 school or a post 14 school which provides access in collaboration with other schools, FE Colleges or other providers working within a learning community;
A local area may offer general provision in 11-14 schools, followed by specialism and diversity in 14 plus provision.

Models of transfer similar to the Dickson Plan therefore remain a possibility, but without academic selection which I consider unjust and unnecessary to achieve academic excellence. The optimum arrangement of provision within an area will be considered over the coming months by the area planning groups which I announced on 4 March 2008, to facilitate transition to post-primary education and delivery of the Entitlement Framework.

Numeracy and Literacy Strategy

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Education to give a timescale within which she intends to commence consultation on her numeracy and literacy strategy.

(AQO 2953/08)

Ms C Ruane: Is é mo bharúil go bhfuil leasú ó bhonn de dhíth ar struchtúir iarbhunscoile anseo má táimid leis an dul chun cinn sa litearthacht agus san uimhearthacht a fheiceáil a ba mhaith linn uilig a bheith againn.

It is my view that radical reform of post-primary structures here is needed if we are to make the gains that we all want to see in literacy and numeracy. The revised Literacy and Numeracy strategy will therefore be rolled out in a much reformed educational landscape, principally as a result of m y decision to end the unfair system of academic selection from later this year.

Work to develop the revised strategy is nearing completion and a draft strategy will issue shortly for public consultation in both English and Irish.

Our intention is to issue the strategy for consultation in June 2008 with the consultation period straddling the summer holidays and running until 31 st October 2008. This is to ensure that schools, in particular, have sufficient time to consider its proposals.

In advance of publication of the consultation document, we will also be setting out and testing the thinking behind the strategy with key stakeholders, which I hope will include the teaching unions as well as school governors, education support professionals and parents.

Demographic Decline

Mr W Clarke asked the Minister of Education to detail how demographic decline has affected (i) grammar schools; and (ii) secondary schools.

(AQO 3045/08)

Ms C Ruane:

Sa bhliain scoile naoi déag nócha a sé/a seacht bhí an líon daltaí céad triocha míle, cúig chéad seasca a trí. Sa bhliain dhá mhíle a sé/a seacht bhí sé céad fiche a trí mhíle, seacht gcéad seachtó a hocht; sin titim de níos mó ná cúig faoin chéad.

The 11-16 pupil population in the 1996/7 school year was 130, 563. In 2006/7 it was 123,778, representing a fall of over 5%.

Despite this decline, the numbers of pupils in grammar schools has remained static at approximately 46,000. However, the profile of this 46,000 has changed and is changing further with each annual intake:

Approximately 9,000 pupils are admitted to grammar school each year. For the 1996/7 intake, when the size of the transferring cohort was at its most recent peak, there were no more than 6,714 A-grade applicants for the 9,000 grammar places. In 2006/7, there were no more than 6,041 A-grade applicants, representing a 10% drop in A-grade applicants;
In 2007/8, Grades B2, C1&2 and D represented at least one third of intake in 26 grammar schools. 7 schools exclusively admitted A-grade applicants;

So far, in relation to total intakes the demographic decline has been felt almost exclusively in the non-grammar sector. For instance, in the non-grammar sector

In 1996/7, the 11-16 population was 84,063. In 2006/7 it was 77,789. Only 15 out of 159 non-grammars were over-subscribed in 2007/8. A quarter of non-grammar schools was more than 25% under-subscribed.

Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Review

Mr O'Dowd asked the Minister of Education to outline how she plans to spend the £25 million for the implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Inclusion review.

(AQO 3039/08)

Ms C Ruane: Tá mé sásta gur aimsigh mé fiche a cúig mhilliún punt leis na tograí polasaí deiridh a chur i bhfeidhm don oideachas riachtanais speisialta agus don Chuimsiú.

I am pleased to have secured £25m to implement the finalised policy proposals for SEN and Inclusion.

The draft policy proposals which have emerged from the review will issue for formal consultation in the autumn term.

Once the policy proposals are finalised, it will be determined how this £25m will be spent.

Children with Autism

Mr Bresland asked the Minister of Education to outline how the Western Education and Library Board addresses the educational needs of post-primary school children with autism.

(AQO 2944/08)

Ms C Ruane: Dúirt Príomhfheidhmeannach Bhord Oideachais agus Leabharlainne an Iarthair liom go gcuireann Seirbhís Taca agus Comhairle Uathachais an bhoird, atá bunaithe san Ómaigh, seirbhís uathachais ar fáil ar fud cheantar Bhord an Iarthair.

I have been advised by the Chief Executive of the Western Education and Library Board that their Autism Support and Advice Service, which is centrally based in Omagh provides an autism service across the Western Board area. The Advice Service currently employs two specialist post-primary teachers. An Assistant Advisory Officer and two Autism Intervention Officers may also support pupils in this age group when demand is high.

Further support is available to post-primary schools, pupils and families in the area through a telephone advice and information service, which provides support on general matters relating to autism.

The Board provides a range of in-service autism-specific training for Board and school staff, which is aimed at promoting the development of a range of relevant skills and tailored to their individual needs. The Board also provides training for parents and families of children with autism, which hopes to promote the development of relevant support skills that can be used in the home. Training in life skills, transfer arrangements and a tool kit for educational professionals are examples of the type of training provided by the Board.

The Board provides specialist teaching support on an individual basis for children in schools in the area, which varies depending on the level of need.

Area Planning Groups

Mr Storey asked the Minister of Education to detail the date(s) on which she wrote to the Chief Executives of each of the Education and Library Boards outlining her proposals for area planning groups.

(AQO 2987/08)

Ms C Ruane: Ar an dóú lá d'Aibreán dhá mhíle a hocht scríobh mé chuig Príomhfheidhmeannaigh na mBord Oideachais agus Leabharlainne agus leag mé amach mo chuid pleananna do ghrúpaí pleanála atá bunaithe sa cheantar agus id'iarr mé ainmniúcháin do na grúpaí seo.

I wrote to the Chief Executives of the Education and Library Boards setting out my plans for area-based planning groups and seeking nominations for representation on these groups on 2 April, 2008.

Transport Budget

Mr McCartney asked the Minister of Education to detail the proportion of her department's transport budget that is spent transporting children to grammar schools outside their own locality.

(AQO 3056/08)

Ms C Ruane: Níl an t-eolas a iarradh ar fáil san fhormáid a hiarradh agus níorbh fhéidir é a chur ar fáil ach ar chostas díréireach.

The information requested is not available in the required format and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, in 2006/07 transport assistance was provided to 26,503 voluntary grammar school pupils at a cost of £15.8 million. (Separate figures are not available for controlled grammar schools.)

I should add that assistance is normally only provided where a child is unable to obtain a place in a suitable school within the statutory walking distance of 3 miles of the parents’ home or where no such suitable school exists within that distance.

Extra Curricular Activities

Mr Burnside asked the Minister of Education to outline the steps she is taking to promote pupil uptake in extra curricular activities and schemes across the entire school estate.

(AQO 2976/08)

Ms C Ruane: Is cuid thábhachtach de shaol scoile iad gníomhaíochtaí seach-churaclaim, cuma cé acu tacaíocht staidéir, spórt, foghlaim teaghlaigh iad nó más gníomhaíochtaí caitheamh aimsire nó fóillíochta iad.

Extra-curricular activities are an important aspect of school provision whether they are in the form of study support, sport, family learning or based on hobby or leisure activities. It is worth acknowledging that most schools offer activities of at least one kind or another. Advice and support for schools in planning activities is available from Education and Library Boards and there is also a web-based toolkit containing some helpful pointers.

Given the strong link between social disadvantage and educational outcomes I consider it particularly important that disadvantaged children have access to extra curricular activities. Schools with the majority of pupils drawn from disadvantaged communities will therefore continue to receive additional resources under the extended schools programme to help in the provision of these activities and we have been encouraging schools, in planning their activities, to not only work together but also engage with other organisations and agencies in the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.

I have recently written to the Finance Minister outlining the extent of the impact that the reduction in funding will have on the Extended Schools programme and requesting that further funding be made available.

New Build Schools

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister of Education to detail progress on the new builds in the Craigavon area, in particular those at (i) St Michael's Grammar School; (ii) Portadown College; and (iii) St Theresa's Primary School, Lurgan.

(AQO 2940/08)

Ms C Ruane: Is cuid de athbhreithniú atá na hIontaobhaithe agus Comhairle na Scoileanna Caitliceacha faoi Chothabháil ag déanamh ar sholáthar iarbhunscoile sainchreidmhí sa Lorgain Scoil Gramadaí Naomh Mícheál; clúdaíonn sé Ardscoil Shóisearach Naomh Pól agus Ardscoil Cailíní Naomh Muire fosta.

St Michael’s Grammar School is included in a review by the Trustees and the CCMS of denominational post primary provision in the Lurgan area, and also involving St Paul’s Junior High School and St Mary’s Girls’ High School. A new building scheme for St Michael’s would need to await the outcome of that review.

Portadown College has received funding approval for a replacement school though planning of this project has not yet got underway. The Southern Education and Library Board has submitted a revised Economic Appraisal to the Department for consideration. The appraisal had to be revised because a proposed new road layout will impact on the existing school site which means that the new build plans had to be revised to set the school further back on the site.

The position at St Teresa’s Primary School is that final design drawings and costs have been submitted and are under consideration.

There are several other schools in the Craigavon area for which capital funding has been approved. Final design drawings and costs have recently been submitted for Tannaghmore Primary School and are being considered. Construction work on Waringstown Primary started in August 2007 and is due to complete in September 2008.

The planning of for a project for Lurgan College have not yet got underway as the Southern Education and Library Board have recently submitted a revised Economic Appraisal to the Department for consideration.

North-South Educational Projects

Mr Attwood asked the Minister of Education to detail the new North-South educational projects she has introduced since taking up office.

(AQO 3018/08)

Ms C Ruane: Faoi choimirce na Comhairle Aireachta Thuaidh/Theas tá comhoibriú oideachais ann cheana féin ar ábhair éagsúla: páistí a bhfuil riachtanais speisialta oideachais acu; an tearc-ghnóthachtáil san oideachas; cáilíochtaí múinteoirí agus cúrsaí aoisliúntais; agus malairtí scoileanna, óige agus múinteoirí.

Under the auspices of the North/South Ministerial Council there is existing education cooperation across a specified range of issues: education for children with special needs; educational underachievement; teacher qualifications and superannuation issues; school, youth and teacher exchanges.

I met with Mary Hanafin TD, Minister for Education and Science, in Dublin in November last year to review progress in these areas and to initiate further work on the full range of matters. We agreed to develop proposals to tackle educational underachievement, including ongoing work by the Literacy and Numeracy Working Group, and to undertake a formal review of co-operation on educational exchanges and supporting mechanisms, including the North South Exchange Consortium. Following the significant progress made so far to establish a Centre of Excellence for Autism at Middletown, we endorsed the plans to provide training, advisory and research services and education, learning and support services once building work is complete. Other joint projects are currently underway in the field of special education needs, such as the “ Cross Border School and Parent Community Partnership Programme” and a major conference on autistic spectrum disorders (“Autism Through the Spectrum”). This event took place in Croke Park, Dublin, on 15 April, having been planned jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Education and Science. It gave parents, professionals and the voluntary sector the opportunity to hear about developments in educational provision across the island of Ireland and to share models of good practice across the age range. Both Minister Mary Hanafin TD and I addressed the conference. Through the Teachers Qualifications Working Group, progress is being made on improving teacher mobility.

In December 2007, Conor Lenihan TD, the Irish Minister for Integration and I jointly launched a Toolkit for Diversity in the Primary School sector. The Toolkit will develop cross-border collaboration to assist children whose language, culture and ethnicity are not Irish and to allow us all to benefit from this rich diversity. Last October I accompanied Edwin Poots, MLA, Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, to a meeting of the North South Language Body to discuss issues relating to Irish and Ulster Scots.

As part of my desire to raise awareness of the important role science and technology in our schools, I have supported the all-Ireland BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibitions, attending the formal opening of the most recent event in Dublin in January with Micheál Martin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

I will be hosting the next North South Ministerial Council meeting in Education Sectoral format in Downpatrick on 28 May and will, of course, report back to the Assembly on progress made on these and other issues.

Academic Entrance Criteria

Mr Moutray asked the Minister of Education to detail the legal rights of a school to set its own academic entrance criteria for post primary transfers.

(AQO 2988/08)

Ms C Ruane: Coscann an creatlach dlí do iontrálacha (an tOrdú Oideachais 1997) ar scoileanna a úsáideann critéir iontrála acadúla a dteist féin a cheapadh agus tugann sé orthu an Teist Aistrithe a úsáid.

The current legal framework for admissions (Education Order 1997) prohibits schools using academic admissions criteria from developing their own test and requires them to use the Transfer Test. When this legal framework lapses (for Transfer 2010), its successor, which I am currently seeking to establish, will define permitted admissions criteria practises. If, however, no new legal framework can be established there will neither be laws nor regulations permitting or prohibiting academic admissions criteria or proscribing the way such criteria should be used or what assessment mechanism(s) should support them.

Pupil Behaviour Management

Mr McFarland asked the Minister of Education to outline the training teachers receive in relation to pupil behaviour management.

(AQO 2972/08)

Ms C Ruane: Cuireann gach ceann de na boird oideachais agus leabharlainne oiliúint múinteoirí in-seirbhíse ar fáil. Tuigim ó na Boird go bhfuil cuid mhór oiliúna ar fáil do mhúinteoirí maidir le bainistíocht iompar daltaí.

In-service teacher training is provided by each of the education and library boards. I understand from Boards, that there is a significant amount of training available for teachers in relation to pupil behaviour management.

Each education and library board has a behaviour support Team to provide a school-based service to meet the needs of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. One of its key business objectives for those teams is to provide high quality advice and training to school staff, parents and representatives of other relevant support services and agencies.

The behaviour support teams offer advice to schools on appropriate behaviour programmes, and in certain cases, short term support for individual pupils; general advice on developing whole school approaches and teachers classroom management skills; and immediate advice on action in response to serious incidents.

Each multi-disciplinary team has experienced practitioners in the areas of psychology, educational welfare, youth service and teaching. These practitioners provide expert advice and on-the-job training for teachers in relation to individual pupils and/or incidents at a school’s request.

EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING

Financial Burden

Mr Durkan asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to outline the steps he is taking to ease the financial burden on families with more than one dependant in further or higher education.

(AQW 5647/08)

The Minister for Employment and Learning (Sir Reg Empey): A range of student support measures exist for students in further or higher education which are available to all eligible students regardless of the number of students in the household. In terms of higher education, fee deferral arrangements are particularly beneficial for households with more than one dependant in higher education since prior to AY 2006/2007 there was a requirement to pay fees up front.

Households with incomes in excess of £39,780 are required to make a financial contribution to the maintenance loan entitlement. In order to mitigate against the impact of this for families with more than one student in higher education, this contribution is split where there are two or more eligible students in the household.

Sustainable Employment Project

Mr McKay asked the Minister for Employment and Learning (i) to detail the amount of funding the Northern Regional College offered the sustainable employment project put in place by the North West Lifelong Learning Association and Community Focus Learning; and (ii) for his assessment of the appropriateness of this offer.

(AQW 5672/08)

Sir Reg Empey: I understand that Northern Regional College has not offered funding to either of these organisations.

I can confirm, however, that Community Focus Learning (CFL) has been liaising with Northern Regional College, to discuss the possibility of collaboration, under the terms of the Department’s Further Education third party funding regulations.

Educating for a Sustainable Future Project

Mr McKay asked the Minister for Employment and Learning for his assessment of the Educating for a Sustainable Future project put in place by the North West Lifelong Learning Association and Community Focus Learning, and to detail the support he is providing to this project.

(AQW 5673/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The Department is not aware of this project. Accordingly, the Department has not offered assistance to the North West Lifelong Learning Association (NWLA) or Community Focus Learning (CFL) in this regard.

However, I understand that NWLA has been in contact with North West Regional College to discuss opportunities for collaboration and that the College has since offered to provide match funding of £5,000 for an alternative EU funded project to be taken forward by the Association.

I am also informed that CFL has been liaising with the Northern Regional College, to discuss the possibility of collaboration, under the terms of the Department’s Further Education third party funding regulations.

South Eastern Regional College

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the planned investment in the Bangor, Ards and Ballynahinch campuses of the South Eastern Regional College and timescales for commencement and completion.

(AQW 5701/08)

Sir Reg Empey: A capital build programme valued at £20.6m is planned for the Bangor, Ards and Ballynahinch campuses of the South Eastern Regional College (SERC).

The £13m, design and build, Bangor project, which will include a Technology Innovation and Performing Arts Centre, is currently at design stage. A planning application has been lodged and, subject to the achievement of this, construction is expected to commence March 2009 with an estimated completion date of August 2010.

The £4.9m project at the Ards Campus, also design and build, will see a new Motor Vehicle Workshop and a Construction Centre to include Electrical, Plumbing, Carpentry, Wood Machining and Brickwork Workshops. Full planning approval was achieved in April 2007; design development has continued and construction is due to commence at September 2008, with an estimated completion date of September 2009.

The South Eastern Regional College has also recently signed a Public Private Partnership contract which will provide new facilities at, Downpatrick, Newcastle and Ballynahinch. The Ballynahinch campus will be a replacement new build, with a capital value of £2.7m. Now that the contract has been signed construction will commence immediately. The phasing of the development over the three sites is such that the Ballynahinch campus is scheduled for completion by May 2011.

Language Courses

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the English as a Second Language Courses provided by Further and Higher Education colleges, in each of the last 5 years.

(AQW 5740/08)

Sir Reg Empey: I would refer the honourable member to my response to his Assembly Question (Written) 5494/08 below:

The number of courses and enrolments relating to English as a foreign language, that are provided by further and higher education colleges in each of the last five years are detailed below:

Academic Year	Number of Courses	Total Enrolments
2002/03	25	1583
2003/04	84	1991
2004/05	211	4579
2005/06	385	8032
2006/07	360	8532

Source: Further Education Statistical Record (FESR)

Young People

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of people aged 16 to 18 not in employment, who are not participating in Government training schemes or in full-time education.

(AQW 5789/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The latest figures from the October-December 2007 Labour Force Survey estimate that there were 9,000 persons aged 16-18 in Northern Ireland not in employment, participating in government training schemes or in full-time education.

European Globalisation Adjustment Fund

Mr Durkan asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the efforts he has made to secure assistance from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for workers in Seagate, Limavady, as set out in the report of the European Commission Northern Ireland Task Force.

(AQW 5790/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Following a meeting with officials from the European Commission on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, Departmental officials have been working with the Department for Work and Pensions to clarify the process and information required to make an application in respect of Seagate. An application cannot be considered until redundancy notices are issued and it is clear that eligibility criteria have been met.

Institute of Professional and Legal Studies

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail (i) the course fees charged for the Institute of Professional and Legal Studies for 2006/07 and 2007/08; and (ii) the proposed fees for 2008/09.

(AQW 5827/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Information provided by Queen’s University shows that:

(i) Course fees charged in 2006/07 were £6,750, and £6,925 in 2007/08.

(ii) The proposed fees for 2008/09 are £7,400.

Postgraduate Courses

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail discussions he or his officials have had in relation to capping the level of fees charged for postgraduate courses.

(AQW 5828/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Unlike full-time undergraduate fee levels which are determined in regulations made under the Higher Education Order 2005, fee levels for postgraduate courses are unregulated and a matter for the institutions to determine. No discussions have taken place regarding the capping of postgraduate fees since my Department has no powers to regulate these. My Department does, however, provide assistance towards fee support for eligible postgraduate courses at Queen’s University and the University of Ulster which, for Academic Year 2008/2009, is a non-means tested award of £3,300.

Postgraduate Policy and Funding

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail progress made on the review of Postgraduate Policy and Funding.

(AQW 5830/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The contract for the Review of Postgraduate Policy and Funding was awarded to FGS McClure Watters in February 2008 and the first Steering Group meeting held on 5 March 2008. A Project Initiation Document has been drafted by FGS McClure Watters and is to be finalised following comments from the Steering Group. Initial meetings between the consultants and the universities are due to be held week commencing 21 April 2008, with the draft Final Report to be completed by the end of July 2008.

Potential Investment

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the plans his department has to address the gaps in skills, particularly in relation to the potential investment in the financial services and social economy sectors.

(AQW 5880/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Success through Skills, the skills strategy for Northern Ireland, remains the key overarching strategy in my Department, bringing together and focusing all of our efforts to ensure the necessary skills and workforce development required by the economy.

My Department has recognised the strategic importance of the Financial Services industry and has consequently designated the sector as a Priority Skills area. A Financial Services Future Skills Action Group, with membership drawn from the industry and government is developing short, medium and longer-term plans to ensure an adequate supply of appropriately qualified staff.

A number of programmes have been developed to support individuals to gain nationally recognized qualifications from the Securities and Investment Institute. These include the Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ)and IAQ certificates in, Introduction to Securities & Investmentand FSA Regulatory Environment. The Financial Services Action Group will work to promote greater collaboration across industry, professional bodies, and education to develop greater work readiness skills for the sector.

The Social Economy sector covers a very wide range of business types and consequently, skills areas. My Department continues to work to ensure that social enterprises can access all of our programmes for businesses. As an example, over half of the expenditure on the Management and Leadership Development bursary programme is spent on the voluntary and community sector.

Teacher Training Colleges

Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of people currently in teacher training colleges for primary education that are (i) male; and (ii) female.

(AQW 5910/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The number of male and female student enrolments in 2006/07 at NI teacher training colleges for primary education are shown in the table below;

	Number of student enrolments
Male	155
Female	1,010
Total	1,170

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

Notes: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 and do not sum to the total due to rounding. The latest available data are for 2006/07.

Studying Dentistry

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of students in each undergraduate year, currently studying dentistry at Queen's University Belfast.

(AQW 5933/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The number of student enrolments for each undergraduate year, in dentistry at Queen’s University Belfast in 2006/07 is shown below;

Year of programme	Number of enrolments
Year 1	45
Year 2	40
Year 3	40
Year 4	40
Year 5	40

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. The latest available data are for 2006/07.

Dentist Graduates

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail (i) the number of dentist graduates leaving university in 2007; and (ii) the number of those graduates that are currently working as dentists in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 5934/08)

Sir Reg Empey:

There were 40 students gaining dentistry qualifications from the Queen’s University of Belfast in 2006/07.
Destination information for 2006/07 graduates will not be available until August 2008. However, as a proxy, the 2005/06 data show that of those students that qualified in dentistry at the Queen’s University of Belfast, 62% of those who returned destination information (approximately six months after graduation) to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) were employed as dentists in Northern Ireland.

Student Intake

Mr Butler asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail, for the 2008-09 academic year, (i) the student intake numbers for St Mary's University College; (ii) the student intake numbers for Stranmillis University College; and (iii) the funding arrangements for both colleges.

(AQW 6053/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Initial teacher education (ITE) intakes for St Mary’s and Stranmillis University Colleges are determined by the Department of Education on the basis of a range of data, including the Teacher Demand Model, which takes account of factors such as demography, and the existing supply of teachers. The Department for Employment and Learning is responsible for determining the overall student numbers which the University Colleges can recruit to their non – ITE courses. In the case of St Mary’s this is the BA Liberal Arts and for Stranmillis, the BA in Health and Leisure Studies and the BSc in Early Childhood Studies.

Based on the information supplied to my Department by the Department of Education, Initial Teacher Education intakes for each University College for academic year 2008/09 are as follows.

	St Mary’s University College	Stranmillis University College
B Ed (undergraduate) - Primary	70	70
B Ed (undergraduate) – Post – Primary	40	40
Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)	-	15
PGCE (Irish Medium)	15	-
Total	125	125

Source: the Department of Education.

Since 1999, the University Colleges have been permitted by my Department to diversify into non – ITE provision. Each College was allocated 200 places and these places were filled between 1999 and 2002. Since 2005, as ITE intakes have declined, my Department has considered annually whether a corresponding increase in diversified provision should be granted. In July 2007 my Department wrote to the University Colleges advising that the intake could be increased for academic year 2007/08. The letter also advised that this was the last year that approval would be given to increase diversified places. The total diversified places at each University College is therefore capped at approximately 260. Based on current enrolment data supplied by the University Colleges this results in intakes for academic year 2008/09 of 58 for Stranmillis and 33 for St Mary’s.

In relation to funding arrangements, I wrote to my Executive colleagues in August 2007 setting out the arrangements for funding of the University Colleges in the 2007/08 academic year and advising that my officials would be undertaking work to develop a revised funding methodology. The existing block grant arrangement is simply not fit for purpose: not only does it fail to reflect the outcomes delivered by the University Colleges in terms of student numbers, it also contains the anomaly that as student numbers fall, block grant increases. My officials have now developed a proposed revised methodology which is reactive to student numbers and have sought the views of the Colleges on this. The details of the proposed model are still to be finalised although it will be in place for the start of the 2008/09 academic year.

Flags and Emblems

Mr O'Dowd asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what steps he is taking to (a) promote good relations in the further education sector; and (b) ensure that further education colleges are neutral and free from displays of flags and emblems.

(AQO 3024/08)

Sir Reg Empey:

My Department has taken a number of steps to help Further Education colleges ensure that all their students are taught in a harmonious and welcoming environment. This has included financial support for pilot programmes in Cultural Diversity and Good Relations in three Colleges, followed by further funding amounting to some £300,000 to enable the lessons of these pilot programmes to be disseminated across the whole FE sector. This initiative has been very successful and, indeed, the former Armagh College achieved a national Beacon Award, in recognition of excellence in the sphere of ‘Community Relations’ and, more recently, the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher and further education, for their community relations course ‘Challenging Prejudice and Discrimination’.

Further Education Colleges determine their own policy in matters relating to flags and emblems but must comply with any legislation in respect of this matter.

Careers Advice

Mr Bresland asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the support provided to post-primary schools offering careers advice to enable school leavers to transfer into the labour market.

(AQO 2945/08)

Sir Reg Empey:

My Department’s Careers Service offers support to all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland through individual Service Level Agreements. Services include one-to-one interviews, group sessions, class talks, individual assessments and providing labour market information.

Up to date careers information and impartial advice and guidance is provided to pupils by professionally qualified Careers Advisers.

The work of the Careers Service supports the school Careers Education Programme which includes the development of employability skills and opportunities for work related learning.

Early Retirement

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to outline the incentives his department offers to lecturers wishing to take early retirement.

(AQO 2952/08)

Sir Reg Empey: My Department does not offer any incentives to (FE) lecturers wishing to take early retirement. College employers have access to the Teachers’ Premature Retirement Compensation Scheme to implement redundancies, where lecturers are aged 50 or over. The Scheme, which is undergoing change, is a management facility through which employers can introduce organisational changes, using the incentive of early retirements to give effect to those changes.

Apprenticeship Courses

Mr Simpson asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of people who have completed apprenticeship courses in each of the last three years.

(AQO 2990/08)

Sir Reg Empey:

The number of people awarded Modern Apprentice certificates in each of the last three years are:

2005/06 – 1,492
2006/07 – 1,594
2007/08 – 1,811

Lecturers Dispute

Mr Butler asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to provide details of the steps he is taking to (a) resolve the ongoing further education lecturers dispute; and (b) address the disruption this dispute is having in further education colleges.

(AQO 3025/08)

Sir Reg Empey: My Department sought to facilitate a resolution to the pay dispute by appointing Sir Joseph Pilling to broker an agreement on a pay deal between the College employers and unions. While this deal was accepted by the employers and unions, it was rejected in a ballot of the wider union membership.

There is no scope to improve the substance of this offer within the constraints of pay policy. It is now up to the college employers and unions to work together on the details of the package to reach an agreement which is acceptable to all concerned.

I understand that College employers are taking all possible steps to minimise any disruption to students’ education.

Seagate, Limavady

Mr Campbell asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to outline the steps that have been taken to offer training advice and assistance to the employees of Seagate, Limavady.

(AQO 2937/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Senior officials met in November and December 2007 with Seagate management and the Employee Forum to offer a range of services including on-site information, advice and guidance services. My Department engaged the North West Regional College to undertake a Training Needs Analysis in January 2008. Provision of services including pre-redundancy notice, during the period of notice and post-closure are being agreed with Seagate management and presented to the Employee Forum later this month.

Labour Relations Agency

Mr Cree asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if a new chair has been appointed to the Labour Relations Agency.

(AQO 2965/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Mr Jim McCusker was appointed Chairman of the Labour Relations Agency for a three year period with effect from 1 March 2008. This was announced by way of a press release on 4 March 2008.

Lecturers Dispute

Mrs M Bradley asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to provide an update on the ongoing Further Education lecturers 'dispute'.

(AQO 3009/08)

Sir Reg Empey: My Department sought to facilitate a resolution to the FE lecturers’ pay dispute by appointing Sir Joseph Pilling to broker an agreement on proposals for a pay deal between the College employers and unions. While this deal was accepted by the employers and unions, it was rejected in a ballot of the wider union membership.

Training for Success Programme

Mr Burns asked the Minister for Employment and Learning for an assessment of his department's performance in monitoring the management of contracts awarded to Carter and Carter in relation to the Training for Success programme and the timeframe in which serious concerns were identified by officials; and to confirm the amount paid or due to be paid to Carter and Carter in relation to contracts from September 2007 to February 2008.

(AQO 3029/08)

Sir Reg Empey: Following the award of the Training for Success contract my officials liaised on an ongoing basis with the management of Carter and Carter and as a result of a contract compliance monitoring visit in December 2007 the Department asked the Education and Training Inspectorate to undertake an assessment of the training undertaken for the period September 2007 to January 2008, the first quarter of the contract.. Although the Inspectorate reported strengths in the standards of training in certain areas, they also reported deficiencies in others. Collectively these deficiencies represented a breach of the Company’s contract with the Department. The Company was asked to remedy these deficiencies by 1 March. The Company informed the

Central Procurement Directorate on 28 February that it could not give the assurances and guarantees required to continue with the provision and as such the contract with the Company ended on 1 March. No payments have been made, or are due to be made, to Carter and Carter under the terms of the Training for Success contract.

Student Representation

Mr Neeson asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what plans he has to secure student representation on the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council.

(AQO 3000/08)

Sir Reg Empey: The future role, membership and function of the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council (NIHEC) is currently under review. Any decision on the appointment of a student representative to the Council will be subject to the outcome of that review.

Deloitte, the consultants appointed to undertake the review, has been advised to consult the National Union of Students/Union of Students in Ireland (NUS/USI) to ascertain its views as part of the review of the Council.

Titanic Quarter

Mrs Long asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what action he is taking to ensure that skills are matched with employment opportunities provided by the Titanic Quarter.

(AQO 3004/08)

Sir Reg Empey: My Department continues to be in discussion with Harcourt Construction, the Titanic Quarter developer, individual companies based in the Titanic Quarter and Invest NI regarding their current and future skills needs to ensure that we are in a position to assist employers recruit people with the specific skills they require.

The Department encourages those companies choosing to use our recruitment services to actively consider Employment Service clients who may be long-term unemployed and/or are deemed economically inactive.

In addition to this, the Department’s Bridge to Employment programme continues to work with employers to offer bespoke pre-employment training to enable unemployed people to avail of the employment opportunities offered by that company. For example, the Department funded the training of eight people who were subsequently offered employment with Citi, which is located in the Titanic Quarter. The recruitment for a second cohort of 30 people for Citi will commence in late April 2008.

It is anticipated that Belfast Metropolitan College, one of the largest education providers in the Belfast region, will move to the Titanic Quarter in 2010.

PhD Awards

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to confirm (i) if there has been agreement with Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Ulster on the distribution of PhD awards following the final Budget allocation; and (ii) what progress has been made in relation to participation in the All Ireland Science Foundation.

(AQO 3007/08)

Sir Reg Empey: (i) Each year the Department makes available funding to both universities for research and for certain approved courses of study leading to higher degrees (Masters and PhDs). Under existing arrangements the Department currently funds a total of 495 PhD places (3 X 165) per annum. However, through the Programme for Government, DEL is committed to increasing the number of PhD research students it funds by 300 by 2010. The Department is currently finalising the respective allocations, including the distribution of the first 100 additional places from Academic Year 2008/09, on the basis of the existing funding formula. The additional places must be targeted at areas of economic relevance. The universities will be advised of their allocations by the end of April 2008.

(ii) Officials from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department for Employment and Learning are in discussion with the Republic of Ireland’s Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and of Education and Science in order to agree the most appropriate mechanisms to allow Northern Ireland’s Higher Education Institutions to participate fully and productively in all-island collaborative research. Science Foundation Ireland programmes are being considered as part of those discussions.

Training of Interpreters

Mr McCallister asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if he has received any representations from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People in relation to the training of interpreters.

(AQO 2971/08)

Sir Reg Empey: I met recently with representatives of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) to discuss the provision of training for sign language interpreters. My officials also meet with representatives of the RNID on a regular basis.

I am pleased to inform you that my Department has secured funding through the Skills and Science Fund, enabling Belfast Metropolitan College to restart the NVQ Level 4 course, Introduction to Sign Language Interpreting, in partnership with the RNID. I am hopeful that this will begin to address the shortage of interpreters in Northern Ireland (NI).

Kircubbin Campus

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to give his assessment of the South Eastern Regional College's decision to close the Kircubbin campus.

(AQO 3028/08)

Sir Reg Empey: In the case of the Kircubbin outreach centre, I understand that a reduction in enrolments, coupled with the impact of the college mergers, meant that South Eastern Regional College could no longer sustain provision at this location. I have been informed that the College carried out a detailed analysis of its provision on the Ards Peninsula and, following feedback, it has been decided to base the provision in Portaferry and Glastry, in addition to the existing centre in Ballyboley. The college is currently in discussion with Exploris and Market House in Portaferry, and Glastry College to provide viable locations.

ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Departmental Land

Mr Newton asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the amount of land that is set aside (i) for inward investment; and (ii) to facilitate the expansion plans of indigenous companies, in the East Belfast constituency; and to confirm if he intends to provide land for this purpose.

(AQW 5588/08)

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Mr N Dodds): Invest NI holds 2,779 acres of land across Northern Ireland. Its policy is to intervene where there is evidence of market failure in the industrial property market. Invest NI has no land holding in the East Belfast parliamentary constituency area. However, there is a significant amount of land, which is zoned for industrial use, owned by the private sector.

Invest NI works closely with Planning Service in the Area Plan process to ensure that adequate land is zoned for the needs of its client companies. The East Belfast parliamentary constituency area is subject to the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) that has zoned 102 acres of new industrial land, a large proportion of which is at Titanic Quarter. This is in addition to the significant amount of land already zoned for industrial use in the constituency that includes 188 acres in the Harbour Estate between Titanic Quarter and Holywood Exchange.

All Invest NI sites are equally available to indigenous and external clients. The final decision as to where a company purchases a site rests solely with the investment decision makers within that organisation.

Regulation for Business

Mr Elliott asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the steps he has taken to minimise the burden of regulation for business.

(AQW 5624/08)

Mr N Dodds: My Department co-ordinates the Northern Ireland Better Regulation Strategy, which underpins the arrangements to ensure that regulatory burdens on Northern Ireland business are kept to a minimum.

In the second half of 2006, DETI carried out a review of the Strategy. Recent Better Regulation developments in the rest of the UK were examined. These included simplification plans, improved regulatory impact assessment arrangements, implementation of EU legislation without gold plating and improvements to the sanctioning system. In each case we examined the Northern Ireland position to ensure that all necessary steps could be taken to ensure we were not falling behind. Representatives of the main business organisations were consulted and ideas and concerns put forward by them were taken into account.

The review concluded that the existing Northern Ireland Strategy should continue, but that a number of steps should be taken to strengthen it. These included:

all Northern Ireland Departments to include an objective to encourage better regulation in their Corporate and or Operating Plans;
regular communication of better regulation developments to all stakeholders through Departmental websites and meetings with representative groups;
reviews by all Departments of legislation impacting on business, forms in use and enforcement arrangements; and
all Northern Ireland Departments to check the Northern Ireland position in relation to the simplification plans of their Whitehall equivalents.

It was also agreed that DETI would publish a Better Regulation Annual Report with input from all Departments and their NDPBs. The Report for 2006/07 has been placed in the Library and can be found online at http://www.detini.gov.uk/cgi-bin/downdoc?id=3545

Available Accommodation

Mr Brolly asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the action being taken to increase the number of hotels and other sources of accommodation in the East Derry/Londonderry constituency, particularly in light of the demolition of most of Portstewart's hotels.

(AQW 5650/08)

Mr N Dodds: Invest NI has a comprehensive range of support available to the tourism accommodation sector in Northern Ireland including advice and support for strategic and process improvement (capability) and financial support for product development (capital).

Invest NI can provide Capital Support including loans, preference shares and grants for tourist accommodation projects with a clearly defined strategy for growth. Capital assistance can be considered for new builds and expansions of accommodation developments that are in support of the NITB Signature projects or Winning Themes.

Since its inception in April 2002, Invest NI made thirteen offers for capital assistance of £1,341,068 against total project costs of £7,838,021 in the East Londonderry constituency.

Five of these projects have yet to proceed with their developments. Invest NI has actively encouraged these projects but the timing of any investment is a commercial decision for the promoter.

Invest NI would welcome further applications from the area and will consider the merits of any proposed accommodation project based on its ability to satisfy stated support policy.

Assistance offered by Invest NI for the development of the tourism accommodation sector in Northern Ireland is detailed on the invest NI website. This may be accessed through the following link: http://wwwinvestni.com/tourism-support-report.pd

Reconnect Grants

Mr B Wilson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to confirm if there were adequate funds to meet the demand for Reconnect grants up to 31 March 2008 and if not, will additional funds be made available to meet all applications received before the deadline.

(AQW 5684/08)

Mr N Dodds: There were adequate funds available to meet the demand for Reconnect grant claims up to 31 March 2008. DETI is considering options to increase its budgetary provision in 08/09 to maximise the number of applications supported, through reprioritisation of the Department’s capital budget.

Northern Ireland Electricity

Mr B Wilson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment if he will require Northern Ireland Electricity to become a carbon net zero company within the next two decades as part of a planned transition to a low-carbon economy.

(AQW 5685/08)

Mr N Dodds: The term “carbon net zero company” was coined recently by the Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and is understood to have the same meaning as the more commonly used term “carbon neutral”.Unlike the ESB, NIE is precluded from owning any power generation plant in Northern Ireland, and so no direct comparison can be made.

In line with Government policy to encourage the efficient use of all resources and particularly energy, DETI encourages all companies in Northern Ireland to reduce their carbon output.

NIE operates within legal and regulatory frameworks which recognise the importance of minimising carbon emissions, and the company has been focused on contributing to the process of meeting national targets through the introduction of various carbon reduction initiatives. These include a carbon reduction action plan for all manned NIE sites, a recycling and landfill reduction programme for NIE waste management, an array of electricity generating photovoltaic panels at NIE’s Ballymena offices, and the NIE Smart programme which funds a range of micro-generation and large scale renewable projects, thus helping to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Historical Tourism

Mr McCartney asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the contact he has had with his counterpart in the Republic of Ireland to enhance opportunities for historical tourism.

(AQW 5692/08)

Mr N Dodds: I have not met with my counterpart in the Republic of Ireland on the subject of enhancing opportunities for historical tourism.

Heritage – houses, castles, gardens and museums, historic landscapes and monuments, industrial and Christian heritage all form part of the rich historical mix that is of interest to visitors. The Walled City Signature Project is enhancing the tourism potential in and around the city walls to meet visitor expectations of Londonderry as a unique, inspirational destination within Northern Ireland. Phase one of this project which is complete and Phase two which is underway addressed historical themes through such projects as the refurbishment of the Tower Museum, the Armada Exhibition and the Museum of Free Derry. The Built Heritage programme includes a capital project renovation of the First Derry Presbyterian Church; St Columb’s Cathedral; Aras Colmcille; the Playhouse; Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall and the Guildhall. The Lighting Strategy will illuminate the Craigavon Bridge, city walls and key buildings.

The North West Gateway Initiative, set up by the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government, provides a focus on the development needs of the North West and encourages a more co-ordinated approach to its development on a cross border basis. Tourism initiatives include Destination North West (a cross border tourism project with a range of funders) and the North West Air Access Consortium which is also cross border and was established as access was identified as a major constraint to tourism growth. Derry City Council and Donegal Tourism are also working on an initiative to promote short break activity in the Great Britain market.

NITB’s website www.discovernorthernireland.com carries information about the city, its heritage trail and things to do as does the Tourism Ireland website. There are also links to other websites including that of the Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau which provides detailed information on the city.

Invest NI Schemes

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the monies allocated to Republic of Ireland-registered businesses under Invest Northern Ireland schemes in the past five years.

(AQW 5694/08)

Mr N Dodds: The table below provides an analysis, by financial year, of the value of investment planned by Irish Republic-registered businesses supported by Invest NI during the five year period 2002/03 to 2006/07. Also included is the number of offers and the amount of financial assistance offered to these projects by Invest NI.

In total over £27m was offered in support of Irish Republic-owned projects, which plan to invest almost £150m in the Northern Ireland economy. These clients will have been engaged in

business formation, expansion and innovation activities within Northern Ireland.

Invest NI Assistance Offered to Republic of Ireland-owned Businesses (2002/03 – 2006/07)

Year	Number of Offers	Total Assistance (£m)	Total Planned Investment (£m)
2002/03	7	5.1	22.1
2003/04	32	1.7	12.3
2004/05	38	6.4	27.5
2005/06	31	4.5	34.7
2006/07	32	9.6	51.3
Grand Total	140	27.2	147.8

Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

Business Meetings

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, pursuant to his answer to AQW 5022/08, to detail the geographical breakdown of business meetings, conferences and seminars funded by Invest NI, as follows; (i) continental European Union; (ii) non-EU European nations; (iii) British Isles nations; (iv) Northern America; (v) other American; (vi) Middle Eastern; (vii) other Asian; (viii) African; and (ix) Australasian.

(AQW 5695/08)

Mr N Dodds:

Geographical Area	International Investment	IRTD	Food	Engineering & Business	Life Sciences	Trade	TCT	Total
EU	16	1	1	1		9	1	29
Non EU Nations						1		1
GB & ROI	69					13		82
North American	126				2	9		137
Other American
Middle Eastern						4		4
Other Asian	2	1		1		5		9
African
Australasian
Number	213	2	1	2	2	41	1	262

Social Economy Sector

Mr Burns asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (i) the amount of money spent by Invest NI in supporting the social economy sector in each of the last 3 years; and (ii) the number of jobs that currently exist in that sector.

(AQW 5736/08)

Mr N Dodds: Government remains committed to developing the social economy and social economy/community enterprises in Northern Ireland and recognises the important role the social economy has to play in the context of the economic development of Northern Ireland as a whole.

The amount of money spent by Invest NI in supporting the social economy sector in each of the last three years was as follows:

2007/2008
£363,762

2006/2007
£270,000

2005/2006
£106,000

In July 2007 DETI published the findings from the first survey of Social Economy Enterprises (SEEs) in Northern Ireland with the main aim of collecting for the first time information on the size of a known group of SEEs in Northern Ireland. The research was designed to provide baseline data on an identified sub group of SEEs within the wider sector which would increase understanding of the profile of this type of enterprise and enable future monitoring of change. The survey identified that the total number of paid employees in this sub group was 6683. The survey database has been transferred to the Social Economy Network (NI) Ltd, the representative body of the sector, to help grow its membership and develop products and services for the sector

Departmental Support

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the support he is giving to Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in promoting their areas for small and medium enterprises and foreign direct investments.

(AQW 5788/08)

Mr N Dodds: Invest NI has only limited scope to influence the spatial distribution of projects. The assistance provided by Invest NI is largely demand-led by businesses which can demonstrate the potential for growth, primarily through the development of markets outside Northern Ireland.

However, Invest NI’s Southern Regional Office is active in both council areas promoting various initiatives and events to assist the development of all small and medium enterprises throughout the Southern Region.

Invest NI’s regional office network works closely with local stakeholders, including Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council, to encourage the development of regional propositions which can help ensure that the offering for their area is maximised to attract visits by potential investors. Working with existing overseas investors in each area is also a key function.

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail his plans to ensure that all departmental policies are rural-proofed.

(AQW 5800/08)

Mr N Dodds: The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment recognises rural proofing as an integral part of the policy development process and uses DARD’s rural proofing guide and checklist to ensure that any rural implications are taken fully into account.

Freehold Disposal Programme

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (i) Invest NI's policy on land disposal following the discontinuation of the Freehold Disposal Programme; (ii) the amount of land sold since this programme was ended; and (iii) the amount of money received from the sale of lands under its new policy.

(AQW 5807/08)

Mr N Dodds: (i) Invest NI’s policy in relation to freehold disposal was reviewed in April 2007. The policy now states that, subject to those freehold disposals agreed at that time, Invest NI will retain the freehold to its lands. Invest NI land sales are by way of a highly restrictive 999 year lease to its client companies only.

(ii) Under the new policy Invest NI has not agreed to any further freehold sales. However, in support of Invest NI client company projects, since April 2007, 132 acres has been sold by way of 999 year lease.

(iii) Invest NI’s policy is to retain its freehold land therefore, no money has been received from the sale, as distinct from lease, of lands under its new policy.

Freehold Disposal Programme

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (i) the amount of public land disposed of under the Industrial Development Board's Freehold Disposal Programme; and (ii) the amount of money received by his department through the sale of this land.

(AQW 5832/08)

Mr N Dodds: The Industrial Development Board ceased to exist on 31 March 2002. Its last freehold disposal took place in 1995. Under Public Record Office NI (PRONI) guidelines, public bodies are not required to retain records beyond 7 years in relation to financial matters. Invest NI does not hold this information.

Departmental Support

Mr O'Dowd asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the support his department is providing to (i) Banbridge District Council and (ii) Craigavon Borough Council, in promoting their areas for (a) small/medium enterprises; and (b) foreign direct investment.

(AQW 5838/08)

Area of Economic Disadvantage

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to define 'an area of economic disadvantage' as outlined in the targets in the Programme for Government, in relation to securing new foreign direct investment projects and land acquisition; and to detail all areas of economic disadvantage.

(AQW 5902/08)

Mr N Dodds: An ‘area of economic disadvantage’ refers to those areas identified on the disadvantaged area maps developed by DETI. Based on data from the income and employment domains of the 2005 Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure, the current DETI maps identify Strabane, Omagh, Cookstown, Newry and Mourne, Dungannon and Derry Council areas, together with pockets of Belfast, as the focus for Departmental policies and programmes which can contribute towards tackling disadvantage. The detailed maps are available on the DETI website at www.detini.gov.uk.

Economic Inactivity

Mr Ross asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail how Northern Ireland's economic inactivity rate compares with other regions of the United Kingdom.

(AQW 5989/08)

Mr N Dodds: The latest seasonally adjusted working age economic inactivity rate in NI is estimated at 26.9% for the period December 2007- February 2008 and is the highest of the UK regions. The latest rates for each of the UK regions are shown in the table below.

Seasonally Adjusted Economic Activity Rate, December 2007- February 2008

Region	Working Age ¹Economic Inactivity rate (%)
North East	24.4
North West	22.5
Yorkshire & the Humber	22.2
East Midlands	19.4
West Midlands	21.5
East	18.2
London	24.1
South East	17.2
South West	17.9
Wales	24.8
Scotland	19.4
N Ireland	26.9
United Kingdom	20.9

¹The term working age refers to females aged 16 to 59 and males aged 16 to 64.

Staff Stress

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail, for each of the last 5 years, the number of staff in his department that were absent due to stress for more than (i) 5 days; (ii) 10 days; (iii) 15 days; (iv) 20 days; (v) 25 days; (vi) 30 days; (vii) 35 days; and (viii) 40 days, broken down by grade.

(AQW 6014/08)

Mr N Dodds: DETI Staff absent from work due to work related stress for more than:-

Year	10 days	15 days	20 days	25 days	30 days	35 days	40 days
2003/04	1 EO2		1 AO *(1AO)
2004/05		1AO		1EO1
2005/06			1 EO2				1 AO
2006/07	1EO1	1 EO2					1 DP 1 EO2 1AO
2007/08					1 AO	1 AO *(1 EO1)

*(HSENI figure in brackets)

Disciplinary Procedures

Mr Savage asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the number of staff in his department who, since 8 May 2007, have (i) received official warnings; and (ii) faced disciplinary procedures.

(AQW 6041/08)

(i)Mr N Dodds: Since 8 May 2007, 28 members of staff in the Department (including 1 in the Health and Safety Executive NI) received an official warning for inefficiency and or conduct; and

(ii) of the 5 who received warnings for conduct, all 5 faced disciplinary procedures.

Rose Energy Consortium

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, pursuant to his answer to AQW 5499/08, to detail his department's proposals to consider committing funding for Rose Energy Consortium.

(AQW 6052/08)

Mr N Dodds: Pursuant to my answer to AQW 5499/08 I can report that Invest NI continues to have ongoing commercial dialogue with the Rose Energy Consortium regarding their proposal. The promoters continue to explore the operational model, funding structure and stakeholder involvement and these issues must be agreed ahead of funding being committed by my Department to the project

Maze Stadium

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the amount of money spent by his department to date on proposals to have a Multi Sports stadium built at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 6157/08)

Mr N Dodds: To date, my Department has spent no money on proposals to have a Multi Sports stadium built at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

Entrepreneurs

Mr Craig asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the steps Invest Northern Ireland is taking to assist (i) social; and (ii) rural entrepreneurs.

(AQO 2961/08)

Mr N Dodds: My Department acknowledges the distinctive economic development role played by social entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland, particularly in terms of their impact on local communities and areas of economic disadvantage.

Invest NI’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme offers a range of assistance to help both new and existing social enterprises to develop and grow into sustainable and viable businesses. Since its launch in September 2006, this programme has been used to assist 71 new social enterprises.

The Invest NI draft Corporate Plan 2008/11 also reiterates the commitment to assist in the growth of the Social Economy through a new Enterprise Strategy. That strategy will see a continuance of the Social Entrepreneurship Programme, with indicative budgets for the new Corporate Plan period reflecting annual allocations of around £400k.

The full range of Invest NI support is also available to those living in rural areas. In particular, the Start a Business Programme can provide helpful start up support.

In addition, Invest NI works closely with DARD on a variety of joint events to encourage higher levels of rural entrepreneurship. A brochure targeted at this group, with the title ‘ A look at opening your business to new prospects,’ provides some very useful practical guidance and signposts potential rural entrepreneurs to various sources of professional advice.

Regional Investment

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail what action he is taking to ensure that balanced regional investment is implemented in North Belfast.

(AQO 3050/08)

Mr N Dodds: The work of my Department and its agencies is underpinned by the principles of equality of opportunity and social inclusion. The Executive is fully committed to the development of a balanced regional economy as set out within the Programme for Government targets and DETI's policies and programmes will, of course, make a major contribution to the achievement of this objective.

In particular, Invest NI will continue to play an important role in supporting businesses in the North Belfast parliamentary constituency area, where it has a strong track-record.

Between 2002 and 2007, Invest NI made 396 offers of assistance, valued at £21m, to companies in the constituency. This leveraged total investment of £110m. In addition, 414 offers have been made to people wishing to start their own business. Under the Renewing Communities Programme, a range of initiatives were also recently successfully piloted aimed at encouraging more people in North Belfast to explore pathways to enterprise.

It is important to emphasise that Invest NI assistance is largely demand-led and that it has only limited scope to influence the spatial distribution of projects.

Recent inward-investment projects in Belfast, by companies such as Mformation Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Firstsource Solutions and Citi, although largely city centre-based, are in close proximity to North Belfast and clearly offer employment opportunities to those living in all parts of the city and beyond.

International Trading

Mr P Ramsey asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the competencies identified by his department as being necessary for the future export and international trading-related industry in each of the main development hubs.

(AQO 3068/08)

Mr N Dodds: A successful business is dynamic and ambitious, has a strong focus on pursuing business growth in export markets, and strives, through innovation, to increase productivity and become internationally competitive.

Invest NI's 2008 - 2011 Corporate Plan focuses on there key areas: realising client potential through helping them become better at growing profitability; shifting the sectoral focus towards higher value added activities primarily through attracting FDI in target sectors such as financial services and ICT, and; concentrating on the development of frontier technologies at the leading edge of R & D.

Invest NI works with any manufacturing and tradeable service business in Northern Ireland with the potential to improve productivity and become more internationally competitive. In the next three years the short-term priority in respect of productivity improvement will be to realise the potential of existing businesses across all sectors.

Invest NI assists companies to develop these characteristics through a portfolio of programmes such as Passport to Export, Design and Development and Start a Business. Additionally, a broad range of Business Improvement interventions are available to help companies address the development of management and workforce capability.

Economic Investment Conference

Ms Lo asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the actions his Department and Invest NI are taking to publicise the upcoming Economic Investment Conference in May.

(AQO 3061/08)

Mr N Dodds: There has been extensive and ongoing work to publicise the Conference.

I myself have taken an active and personal involvement in the promotion of the event. I have hosted visits to Northern Ireland by Ambassadors Foley and Dobriansky and have made several trips to the US where I have met with senior business leaders and government officials to promote and encourage their attendance.

The First Minister and deputy First Minister have also been heavily involved in efforts to attract CEOs and senior Executives of US companies to the Conference. They have made four trips to the United States within the past three months and met a number of CEOs to encourage them to attend. They also took the message to President Bush when they met him on 7 th December and the deputy First Minister reiterated this message when he met him on St Patrick’s Day.

Most recently, the First Minister visited the East Coast of the USA during the week commencing 7 th April to further promote and encourage participation.

As a result of these efforts, I am pleased to announce that over 80 delegates, representing 50 high-profile corporations have indicated that they plan to attend. This significantly surpasses the target of 30 to 40 CEOs and senior Executives which I announced earlier this year.

Coach Tourism

Mr Ross asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the steps he has taken to promote coach tourism.

(AQO 2956/08)

Mr N Dodds: Tourism Ireland works closely with coach operators in all relevant major markets to promote travel to Northern Ireland. A ctivities include placing features in coach tourism publications and producing coach tourism supplements; p romoting to the coach tourism sector at key trade fairs and events e.g. the British Travel Trade Fair; direct marketing to key coach tourism contacts; and familiarisation visits to Northern Ireland for key influencers in the coach tourism business.

In addition, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has been working with the coach industry in Northern Ireland to help develop the sector. NITB has met the Confederation of Passenger Transport in Northern Ireland to discuss visitor servicing issues and the development of the coach industry.

The Confederation and Translink, also participated in the 2007 Northern Ireland Visitor Servicing Conference.

Energy Market

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the steps he is taking to ensure the sustainability of the energy market.

(AQO 2962/08)

Mr N Dodds: The Department works with its counterparts in Great Britain and also with the Irish Republic within the All-island Energy Market Framework to ensure a sustainable energy market for Northern Ireland consumers.

Natural gas flowing via Great Britain is the principal, low carbon, fuel for power stations in Northern Ireland with diversity of supply provided by AES Kilroot’s coal powered station. A joint North South natural gas storage and Liquefied Natural Gas study has just been completed, which assesses our supply and demand needs in the short to longer term. This will help inform policy on future measures to sustain the gas supply.

In view of Northern Ireland’s dependency on imported gas and the need to improve the sustainability of the market from economies and efficiencies of scale and security of supply, the two Regulatory Authorities in Northern Ireland and The Irish Republic are considering the potential benefits that might be secured from harmonised arrangements for gas transmission and competition on an all-island basis.

The Department is also keen to enhance the use of local sources of renewable energy to improve security and sustainability of electricity supply. The recent joint all-island Electricity Grid Study points to how a significantly increased use of renewable energy may be harnessed for power generation. Looking further into the future, the Department is working with the Scottish Executive and the Irish Republic to explore the potential for an off shore electricity grid network to exploit marine energy, primarily wind, wave and tidal.

All these measures will help ensure the long term sustainability of energy for Northern Ireland.

Regional Tourism Partnerships

Mr Brolly asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the support that the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is giving to the regional tourism partnerships.

(AQO 3041/08)

Mr N Dodds: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has discussed core service level agreements with all four of the Regional Tourism Partnerships. These will cover services required by NITB and funding for 2008 to 2009. Arrangements for subsequent years will be the subject of further discussion.

In addition, £2 million per annum is being set aside to support the key product areas proposed in NITB’s draft Corporate Plan covering the period 2008 to 2011. RTPs will be able to bid for additional funds from this source.

RTPs also have the opportunity to apply for selective financial assistance under NITB’s Tourism Development Scheme.

2012 Olympic Games

Mr B McCrea asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the strategies he has in place to ensure that the tourist industry in Northern Ireland benefits from the 2012 Olympic Games.

(AQO 2978/08)

Mr N Dodds: The 2012 Olympic Games offer an opportunity to market Northern Ireland as a tourist destination to a global audience. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board will seek to use this opportunity to increase visitor numbers and revenue, pre and post games, and to generate positive press coverage for Northern Ireland.

NITB is represented on the Northern Ireland Regional Committee for the Olympics. Alongside Tourism Ireland and VisitBritain, NITB will work to use the games as a hook to attract visitors to Northern Ireland. Key activities will include:

working with industry partners to develop a range of innovative packages and products aimed at maximising visitor potential in the run up to, during and after the games, including the development of a Cultural Olympiad of themed/branded events;
increasing PR activity to promote Northern Ireland as a destination of choice within easy access from London;
increasing the Northern Ireland content at key Visit Britain and Visit London Tourist Information Centres, and online to maximise the Gateway potential of London to international visitors;
continuing to develop the skills and capabilities of Northern Ireland tourism industry to ensure world class service and delivery for visitors. There will also be potential to develop specific Olympic related content closer to 2012; and
working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that the Titanic experience will be an integral part of Northern Ireland’s tourism product by the centenary in 2012.

Invest NI

Dr Farry asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to give his assessment of the work of Invest NI.

(AQO 3054/08)

Mr N Dodds: Invest NI’s recently published Performance Information Framework Report 2002/03 to 2006/07, which can be found in the Publications section of its website, demonstrates a highly creditable range of achievements.

In its first five years, Invest NI has delivered investment commitments of over £2 billion, secured in excess of 23,000 jobs, and promoted the creation of over 10,000 new start-up businesses. There have been notable inward investment successes such as that from Citi, the world's largest financial services company, which is acting as the catalyst for the development of a vibrant financial services sector in Northern Ireland; investment in 18 Centres of Excellence promoting increased commercialisation of research and development; and the development and implementation of the Accelerating Entrepreneurship Strategy which has resulted in a positive cultural shift in entrepreneurial attitudes.

This has all been achieved against a backdrop of challenging efficiency targets and a requirement to maintan high standards of corporate governance, transparancy and accountability. The agency has reduced its headcount since 2002 by over 21%, significantly lowered its non-staff overheads, disposed of surplus assets, and reduced levels of staff absenteeism to well below the public sector average.

Health and Safety Executive

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the liaison undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive with local councils to enhance the work of the agency.

(AQO 2951/08)

Mr N Dodds: While HSENI is the lead body responsible for policy development, standard setting and the promotion and enforcement of health and safety at work standards in Northern Ireland, it shares its enforcement role with the District Councils. In order to ensure effective liaison, the Health & Safety Executive Local Authority Enforcement Committee for Northern Ireland, HELANI, which has membership drawn from both organisations, provides strategic oversight and leadership. This is supported by HSENI’s Local Authority Unit which deals with day to day operational issues. During 2008/09, HSENI plans to take forward, in conjunction with DETI, planning for the establishment of a Fuel Oils Liaison Unit to liaise with District Councils and other enforcement agencies in relation to petroleum licensing.

Electricity

Mr Cree asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (i) the sales of electricity to the Republic of Ireland over the last five years; (ii) the estimated benefits of the new interconnector in terms of increased capacity and sales to the Republic of Ireland; and (iii) the anticipated increase in demand for electricity in Northern Ireland over the next three years.

(AQO 2984/08)

Mr N Dodds: Net exports of electricity to the Republic of Ireland over the North South interconnector were: -

Year	Gigawatt hours (GWhr)
2003	4,630
2004	6,260
2005	8,244
2006	7,028
2007	5,257 *

* (1 January to 31 October 2007 figure only available due to new trading arrangements for Single Electricity Market from 1 November 2007).

The proposed second interconnector is designed to double transfer capacity in both directions by 2012 and improve competitive opportunities in the Single Electricity Market by approximately 1000 MW (Megawatts), subject to network reinforcements. Based on information from the System Operator NI (SONI) it is expected that generation of energy in Northern Ireland will grow by 1.6% per annum from 9368 GWhrs in 2008 to 9831 GWhrs in 2011 in response to anticipated demand.

Renewable Energy

Mr Gallagher asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the steps he will take, along with his colleague in the Republic of Ireland, to set up a subvention programme which would allow for cross-border trade in renewable energy.

(AQO 3063/08)

Mr N Dodds: Under the Single Electricity Market, SEM, wholesale electricity is already traded on an all-island basis through a mandatory pool which includes measures to facilitate electricity generated from renewable sources. In addition, the legislation supporting the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation has been amended to ensure its continued effective operation under the SEM.

Harmonisation of the renewable electricity support systems of the two different member states presents very real practical difficulties and there are no plans at present to adopt a single approach to encouraging renewables development across the island.

Natural Gas

Mr Savage asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the implications of opening the natural gas market to competition outside the greater Belfast area.

(AQO 2986/08)

Mr N Dodds: Under their licence conditions, Firmus Energy, the company responsible for taking gas to the towns along the route of the North West and South North gas transmission pipelines, has been granted a timelimited period of exclusivity to develop the gas market in these areas. Phoenix Natural Gas had a similar exclusivity period when it was first developing the market in its licenced area. It is considered inappropriate to open the market to competition outside the greater Belfast area at this time, but the matter will be kept under review by the Department and the Utility Regulator.

Economic Investment Conference

Mrs Long asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the number of invitations sent to, and accepted by, companies for the Economic Investment Conference in May.

(AQO 3060/08)

Mr N Dodds: Almost 600 invitations have been issued to CEOs, senior executives, VIPs and advocates with over 80 acceptances received to date.

Many of those who have registered to attend have asked that their attendance remain confidential at this point but I am able to confirm that Mayor Bloomberg of New York, the CEOs and senior Executives of the New York Stock Exchange, Independent News and Media, Allstate, Nortel, and Caterpillar have accepted invitations.

ENVIRONMENT

Tree Preservation Order

Mr B Wilson asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the powers planning officers have to gain access to a site to enforce a Tree Preservation Order.

(AQW 5447/08)

The Minister of the Environment (Mrs A Foster): Powers permitting rights of entry to land to Planning Officers are set out in primary legislation in Article 121 of the Planning ( Northern Ireland) Order 1991. Rights of entry for enforcement are also set out in Articles 84A – 84C of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 which were introduced by Article 13 of the Planning (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.

By virtue of this legislation, Planning Officers have the power to enter a site for the purposes of serving an enforcement notice. Where trees have been removed in contravention of a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), Planning Officers also have the power to enter a site for the purposes of surveying it to assist with potential prosecution.

Contravention of a TPO is an offence punishable by the Courts.

Mary's Style at Shrigley

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to detail her plans to fund the erection of a plinth for Mary's Style at Shrigley, Killyleagh, similar to that erected for the Cist Stones at Mountstewart.

(AQW 5616/08)

Mrs A Foster: It is important to note that this monument is not in the care of the State, through DOE/EHS, however, the main Church ruin, boundary wall and St Mary’s Style is a listed building. I understand that Down District Council may be the owner.

The Department’s Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) can provide funding through its Historic Buildings Grant-aid Scheme for the repair and maintenance of the historic fabric of listed buildings. However, it cannot provide funding for new structures, such as the proposed plinth. In any event, from a recent EHS visit, it appears that the current masonry plinth is in reasonable condition, although the sign that it supported has been vandalised, and is now illegible. Nevertheless, the EHS Archaeologists can provide guidance and information on interpretive material, on the archaeological context of the Church and its surroundings and will be happy to work with the owners in doing so.

With regard to assistance for the ‘plinth’ for the Cist Stones at Mountstewart, the Department is prepared to provide up to £500 contribution in that case for the production of an information panel. Part of this contribution may be ‘in kind’ using the services of our graphics expertise, so that the graphic design cost of such interpretation may be reduced. It is important to note that the Department did not undertake to actually erect a sign at Mountstewart.

Planning Policy

Mr McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to confirm if any changes to the 'Test of Abandonment' will be applied through all rural policy areas, including (i) countryside policy and (ii) green belt policy, in the new planning policy for single dwellings in the countryside.

(AQW 5623/08)

Mrs A Foster: The work of the Executive Subcommittee, as set out in the paper on the findings emerging from the review of draft PPS 14, has included consideration of a more relaxed test for the replacement of single dwellings which would allow some dwellings currently regarded as “abandoned”, and therefore not currently eligible for replacement, to be replaced. The Subcommittee has not yet completed its task. We have to finalise our views and make recommendations to the full Executive Committee, who will make the final decision about this policy.

Single Houses in the Countryside

Mr McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to detail, per district council area, the number of outline and full applications for single houses in the countryside that were applied for after 16 March 2006; and the number approved in (a) 17 March 2006 to 17 March 2007; and (b) 18 March 2007 to 18 March 2008.

(AQW 5638/08)

Mrs A Foster: The number of planning applications received and approved from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 for single rural dwellings are:-

Applications received in 2006/07 – 2338
Applications approved in 2006/07 – 5138

These are broken down by district council area as follows:-

	Received	Approved
Londonderry	51	71
Limavady	57	107
Coleraine	72	213
Ballymoney	48	141
Moyle	36	69
Larne	33	20
Ballymena	92	202
Magherafelt	155	248
Cookstown	64	274
Strabane	118	215
Omagh	108	606
Fermanagh	163	955
Dungannon	97	636
Craigavon	87	90
Armagh	168	264
Newry and Mourne	402	285
Banbridge	123	181
Down	140	185
Lisburn	126	121
Antrim	58	137
Newtownabbey	11	11
Carrickfergus	7	7
North Down	10	15
Ards	84	62
Castlereagh	23	20
Belfast	5	3
	2338	5138

The figures relate to full and outline applications for new builds or replacement single dwellings outside settlement limits. The figures for applications received and approved are not directly comparable as the approvals include applications received before 1 April 2006.

Data outside the 2006/07 period is not available at present due to the new statistical reporting system outlined in my letter to Members in December 2007. It is anticipated that this data will be available in October 2008.

Ards and Down Area Plan

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to give a timescale within which the Planning Appeals Commission decision on the Ards and Down Area Plan will be fed into the present planning process in Downpatrick.

(AQW 5663/08)

Mrs A Foster: I can confirm that the Department has now received the PAC report on the Ards and Down Area Plan Public Inquiry. Planning Service is currently considering the implications of the report in consultation with key consultees and will shortly provide guidance on a possible date for adoption. This depends on the nature of the PAC recommendations on each objection. We cannot provide a firm indication on timescales at this stage but our intention is to complete the adoption stage as quickly as possible.

The PAC report can only be made available by the Department when it completes the adoption process and publishes the adopted plan, with or without modifications and its content is confidential until that time.

In conjunction with progress toward the adoption of the Plan, the Department is also considering the implications of the report for individual applications on a case by case basis.

Ards and Down Area Plan

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the steps being taken to ensure that the Planning Appeals Commission completion of the Ards and Down Area Plan is considered for current planning decisions at Downpatrick.

(AQW 5664/08)

In conjunction with progress toward the adoption of the Plan, the Department is also considering the implications of the report for individual applications on a case by case basis.

Tree Preservation Orders

Mr Butler asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the provision that exists for out-of-hours service for the Planning Service to deal with those who have felled trees subject to Tree Preservation Orders.

(AQW 5714/08)

Mrs A Foster: The Department does not currently operate a formal out-of-hours service, mainly for resource reasons, although in practice local staff have visited sites straightaway if contacted.

Officials from my Department will monitor the situation regarding protected trees being felled outside of office hours and will continue to react as swiftly as possible. The key to this issue is prevention before the event rather than reaction after destruction is underway. The public are therefore encouraged to contact my Department at an early stage.

Septic Tanks

Mr McKay asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the impact of septic tanks on the environment.

(AQW 5718/08)

Mrs A Foster: The rural population of Northern Ireland is highly dispersed and relies mainly on septic tanks for wastewater treatment. It is difficult to quantify the impact of these systems on water quality and their contribution to nutrient loadings.

Limited research indicates that many tanks may be inadequately maintained or poorly sited.

The Department acknowledges that there are issues with septic tanks and the Environment and Heritage Service has initiated research to consider aspects of septic tanks. The research will determine the impact of Northern Ireland’s dispersed population on water quality. The recommendations and scientific evidence produced will be used to support a review of the consenting and regulatory polices, in line with current best practice and will provide support to government policy on rural development and the associated impacts on water quality. It is likely that this work will take up to two years to complete.

Phosphate Pollution

Mr McKay asked the Minister of the Environment to confirm, given that 12% of the phosphate pollution entering Lough Erne comes from septic tanks, if she will introduce legislation covering sewage treatment systems to deal with the impact of new dwellings on rural waterways.

(AQW 5719/08)

Mrs A Foster: Eutrophication is considered to be the most widespread threat to water quality in Northern Ireland. All effluent discharges from domestic (and non-domestic) premises, which are not connected to the public sewer, require the consent of the Department of the Environment, where discharge to waterway or underground stratum is proposed.

Discharge consent will include conditions relating to the quality and quantity of the effluent discharge.

My Department considers that the current legislation adequately regulates discharges to waterways or underground strata. However, this will be kept under continual review.

The Department however acknowledges that there are environmental issues associated with septic tank discharges and Environment and Heritage Service has initiated research to examine these. (AQW 5718 - 08 refers).

The research will determine the impact of Northern Ireland’s dispersed population on water quality and will provide support to government policy on rural development and the associated impacts on water quality.

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Minister of the Environment to detail her plans to ensure that all departmental policies are rural-proofed.

(AQW 5796/08)

Mrs A Foster: Officials throughout my Department continue to consider rural proofing as an integral part of the policy making process and are advised to use the Rural Development Council checklist contained within the Rural Proofing Annual Reports published by DARD.

My Department will continue to be represented at a senior level on the Inter-Departmental Rural Proofing Steering Group, chaired by DARD and continue to contribute to DARD’s Rural Proofing Annual Report listing policies which have been rural proofed and those which have been identified for rural proofing each year.

Planning Applications

Mr McFarland asked the Minister of the Environment to detail, for each of the last 5 years, the number of planning applications that have been granted for (i) new; and (ii) replacement dwellings in the Crawfordsburn and Helen's Bay areas.

(AQW 5871/08)

Mrs A Foster: In the Crawfordsburn area in 2006/07:

10 applications were approved for new dwellings
2 applications were approved for replacement dwellings

In the Helen’s Bay area in 2006/07:

5 applications were approved for new dwellings
2 applications were approved for replacement dwellings.

Data outside the 2006/07 period is not available at present due to the new statistical reporting system outlined in my letter to Members in December 2007.

Planning Policy

Mr McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to confirm if the implementation of Draft Planning Policy Statement 14, in its interpretation of planning policy, has been stopped; and if so, to detail the date this occurred.

(AQW 5883/08)

Mrs A Foster: Draft PPS 14 was implemented on 17 March 2006, reissued on 25 October 2007, continues to apply and has not been stopped.

Driving Test Examinations

Mr T Clarke asked the Minister of the Environment to detail, for each of the last 3 years, (i) the number of; and (ii) results from, driving test examinations at each driving test centre, broken down by gender.

(AQW 5921/08)

Mrs A Foster: The figures at Annex 1 represent the volume of all driving tests conducted in Northern Ireland, by DVA, for each of the last three years broken down by result, test centre and gender. Annex 2 represents the same information for category B (car) tests for the same period.

Climate Impact Assessment

Mr Gallagher asked the Minister of the Environment to identify the Government departments that subject their departmental policies to a Climate Impact Assessment.

(AQW 5927/08)

Mrs A Foster: There is no stand alone climate impact assessment tool that is applicable to government policy.

Under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2004 (Statutory Rule 2004 No. 280), plans and programmes of public bodies including government Departments, are subject to a strategic environmental assessment. Strategic environmental assessments include consideration of climate change impacts.

There is currently no central database of strategic environmental assessments undertaken by government Departments.

Planning Service

Mr Burns asked the Minister of the Environment to detail (i) the number of planning applications for (a) housing; and (b) commercial developments, currently awaiting a decision from the Ballymena division of the Planning Service; and (ii) the average length of time taken for a decision to be made.

(AQW 5931/08)

Mrs A Foster: (i)Applications received which have not been decided in the Ballymena Division as at 31/03/08.

(a) Residential - 1455
(b) Commercial - 150

Caveat

These figures have been extracted from a live dataset which is continuously updated and validated. They should therefore be regarded as indicative only at this point in time and should not be compared with any previous figures published by the Agency.

(ii) Decisions are categorised into major, intermediate and minor types of planning applications, based on the development and type of land use. In 2006/07 Ballymena Division issued decisions or applications were withdrawn for major planning applications within 27 weeks, intermediate planning applications within 31.8 weeks and minor planning applications within 12.2 weeks, on average. Planning applications refer to full or outline applications only and exclude reserved matters, various consents including consent to display and certificates of lawfulness.

Special Responsibility Allowances

Mr Butler asked the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to her answer to AQW 664/07, to detail the reasons why there is no statutory requirement for local councils to adhere to her department's directive on Special Responsibility Allowances.

(AQW 5941/08)

Mrs A Foster: Following consideration of the recommendations contained in the report of the Councillors’ Remuneration Working Group (June 2006), subordinate legislation was made to implement some of the changes. The outstanding recommendations relating to the distribution of Special Responsibility Allowance are for an independent remuneration panel to consider further and may require primary legislation.

My Department has not issued a directive on Special Responsibility Allowance. However, guidance issued last year encouraged councils to consider voluntarily adopting good practice in the interim.

Tree Removal

Mr Wells asked the Minister of the Environment to confirm if her department intends to prosecute the individuals responsible for the removal of trees at Myrtle Lodge, Bryansford Road, Newcastle, between 26 March and 28 March 2008.

(AQW 5978/08)

Mrs A Foster: It would be inappropriate to make detailed comment on the case until such times as the matter has either been before the court or the Department has determined that no case can be taken.

Water Treatment Works

Mr W Clarke asked the Minister of the Environment if there are health risks associated with swimming within a one mile radius of Newcastle water treatment works located at Dundrum Bay.

(AQW 6004/08)

Mrs A Foster: Monitoring by the Environment and Heritage Service has shown that the Newcastle bathing water has failed, in 2 of the last 3 years, to meet the minimum standards set out in the EC Bathing Waters Directive.

World Health Organisation studies have shown that bathing waters that fail to meet these standards can be linked to an increased risk of gastrointestinal illness.

There are plans however to improve standards at the Newcastle Waste Water Treatment Works and in the sewerage infrastructure in the area. These improvements must be in place by 2013.

Illegal Dumping

Mr W Clarke asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of cases of illegal dumping of construction waste in coastal areas being dealt with by the Environment and Heritage Service.

(AQW 6007/08)

Mrs A Foster: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) is currently dealing with 283 cases involving construction waste. EHS logs incidents involving the illegal deposit of construction waste by date and area, but no distinction is made as to whether or not the area may be regarded as coastal.

Boundaries Commission

Ms J McCann asked the Minister of the Environment when the Boundaries Commission will provide final recommendations on the new boundaries for the 11 councils.

(AQW 6019/08)

Mrs A Foster: My intention is that the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner will be appointed by 1 July 2008. The appointment will be for a fixed term and the Commissioner is expected to report, with final recommendations, by 30 June 2009.

Road Tax

Mr Spratt asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of people fined for non-payment of road tax, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 6023/08)

Mrs A Foster: Details of the number of people fined in Northern Ireland for non-payment of road tax in the last 3 years are set out in the table below. The table also shows the number of people who paid penalties to avoid prosecution in court. Records of convictions or penalties paid are not kept by parliamentary constituency or by any other geographical division.

Year	Number of Convictions	Value of Fines Awarded	Number of Penalties Paid	Value of Penalties Paid
2005/06	2,029	£451,775	8,811	£882,513
2006/07	2,218	£505,349	10,128	£1,036,272
2007/08	2,109	£461,190	11,255	£1,105,692

Malone Conservation Area

Mr Spratt asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the action her department is taking to protect the character of the Malone Conservation area in South Belfast.

(AQW 6024/08)

Mrs A Foster: All planning applications for development, within the Malone Conservation Area are assessed against published policy guidance which in this case is principally provided by Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage. Policy BH12 specifically deals with new development in a Conservation Area and policy BH14 covers the issue of demolition in a Conservation Area. In addition, Policy QD1 of Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7): ‘Quality Residential Environments’ seeks to ensure that housing proposals maintain or enhance the distinctive character and appearance of Conservation Areas.

Planning Service will also have regard to the Malone Conservation Area draft Character Appraisal that was published on 15 October 2004, and afforded substantial weight by the Interim Statement of 18 August 2006.

In addition to the published policy guidance Planning Service are required in dealing with development proposals within the Malone Conservation Area to consider all the relevant material considerations, including representations received from third parties. Consultation with adjacent neighbours and advertisement in the local press form an integral part of the planning application process.

Illegal Dumping

Mr W Clarke asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the action Environment and Heritage Service enforcement has undertaken against illegal dumping of building waste adjacent to Newcastle harbour, County Down.

(AQW 6030/08)

Mrs A Foster: The Environment and Heritage Service is in the process of investigating a report of the illegal deposit of a substantial amount of construction waste in the Newcastle harbour area. I am unable to provide more detail at this stage. However I will write to you when the results of the investigation are available.

Planning Officers

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the average age of planning officers (i) within the planning department; and (ii) in Rathkellter House, Downpatrick.

(AQW 6034/08)

Mrs A Foster: The average age of Planning Officers within the planning department is –

Technical staff 35.9

The Average age of Planning Officers in Rathkeltair House is –

Technical staff 35.4

FINANCE AND PERSONNEL

Energy Performance Certificates

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the steps he is taking to ensure that there are enough qualified assessors in place to prevent delays in issuing Energy Performance Certificates.

(AQW 5749/08)

The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr P Robinson): The Department cannot control the number of qualified assessors available to produce Energy Performance Certificates as this will be driven by market forces. The Department’s role is to raise awareness by ensuring that sufficient information is made available to the industry and all interested parties. To this end, it has embarked on an information campaign to publicise the requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2008. This includes a series of information seminars, meetings with the main stakeholders, a dedicated website and a press campaign. The seminars organised by the Department include an exhibition at which accredited training and software providers are given the opportunity to promote their services and products.

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail how the budget of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency is determined.

(AQW 5888/08)

Mr P Robinson:The budget for the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is reviewed and set through the annual Northern Ireland Budget processes and refined in the course of the in-year monitoring rounds. NISRA’s budget allocation in the current period has been set in order to enable it to deliver a number of priority and statutory services. A proportion of NISRA’s costs are recouped through charges for services provided to the public, other Departments and organisations in line with Government fees and charges policies.

Senior Civil Servants

Mr Moutray asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the total number of senior civil servants in post in each of the last ten years.

(AQW 5961/08)

Mr P Robinson: The number of senior civil servants in the eleven Departments and their Agencies, from 1999 to 2008 are set out in the table below.

Year	NI Depts
1999	207
2000	209
2001	217
2002	227
2003	218
2004	225
2005	237
2006	226
2007	227
2008	209

Resource Underspend

Mr Irwin asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to estimate the level of resource underspend for 2007-2008.

(AQW 6028/08)

Mr P Robinson: Actual provisional outturn figures for 2007-08 are currently being compiled by departments. However, most recent departmental forecasts suggest that the level of resource underspend by departments will be in the region of £130 million or 1.5% of allocations. I anticipate that actual provisional outturn figures from departments will be available in June 2008.

Maze Stadium

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the amount of money spent by his department to date on proposals to have a Multi Sports stadium built at the Maze/Long Kesh site.

(AQW 6156/08)

Mr P Robinson: While the Department of Finance and Personnel has, in the normal course of business, had a role in considering the proposals for a multi-sports stadium built at the Maze / Long Kesh site, it has not incurred any additional expenditure in order to do so.

Public Spending

Ms Anderson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail, for each of the last 3 years, the (i) total; and (ii) per capita, level of public spending, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 6258/08)

Mr P Robinson:Public Expenditure is not recorded at the sub-regional level for Northern Ireland. Therefore the information requested is not currently available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, sub-regional data is available for some specific spending programmes. For example, the Strategic Resources Framework, published by DHSSPS, sets out Health and Social Care Expenditure Plans by locality.

Rates Collection Agency

Ms Anderson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the arrangements that are in place to facilitate the payment of rates bills in cash to the Rates Collection Agency.

(AQW 6259/08)

Mr P Robinson:From 1 st April 2007 Land and Property Services (LPS) is responsible for the billing and collection of rates.

Ratepayers can pay their rate bills in cash in a number of different ways:-

At a Post Office, using either a rate payment card or the giro slip attached to the rate bill,
At a bank or building society, or
At local shops or garages displaying the Payzone network logo. The ratepayer will require a rate payment card to pay at Payzone.

Public Sector Jobs

Ms Anderson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail (i) the current location of public sector jobs, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and (ii) the consideration his department is giving to the decentralisation of public sector jobs.

(AQW 6260/08)

Mr P Robinson: (i) The number of employee jobs in the public sector at September 2005 by Parliamentary Constituency Area is given in the attached table.

(ii) An independent review on the policy on the location of public sector jobs was established in December 2007. The Review and the terms of reference were approved by the Executive and include a requirement to put forward a set of practical recommendations for the longer term approach to location in Northern Ireland, including civil service jobs, and to propose an agenda for action. The terms of reference and membership of the review team can be accessed at http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/review_of_policy_on_the_location_of_public_sector_jobs_in_ni.pdf

You will know that Professor Sir George Bain who is chairing the Review recently visited Londonderry as part of his public research. The forum in Londonderry was one of a series of events across Northern Ireland at which public opinion is being gathered. I understand that Professor Bain has also invited party leaders to meet on the issues. At this stage it is, therefore, too early to speculate on the outcome.

My department is awaiting the findings of the Review. I believe that it is an opportune time to consider the distribution of public sector jobs generally in light of the Executive’s clearly stated priority of growing the economy.

The review is due to report in the summer 2008 when the Executive will consider the findings and recommendations.

The number of employee jobs in the public sector at September 2005 by Parliamentary Constituency Area

Parliamentary Constituency Area	Number of public sector jobs	Number of full-time equivalent public sector jobs
Belfast East	13,386	11,784.5
Belfast North	15,609	13,496
Belfast South	32,183	28,383.5
Belfast West	16,629	13,589
East Antrim	5,171	4,033
East Londonderry	9,488	7,755.5
Fermanagh & South Tyrone	9,647	7,693.5
Foyle	14,721	12,419
Lagan Valley	10,707	8,637.5
Mid Ulster	6,174	4,610.5
Newry and Armagh	14,431	11,187.5
North Antrim	10,814	8,543
North Down	6,490	5,255.5
South Antrim	12,972	10,055.5
South Down	7,856	6,259
Strangford	10,715	8,699
Upper Bann	12,649	9,979
West Tyrone	9,761	8,051.5

Northern Ireland	219,403	180,432

Source: Northern Ireland Census of Employment

HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Foreign Nationals

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (i) to outline the policy and guidelines issued to Health and Social Care staff for dealing with foreign nationals whose home country is not yet a member of the European Union; and (ii) to advise whether he has received any commitment from the Northern Ireland Office for additional financial resources to meet the increased cost of treating such foreign nationals.

(AQW 5491/08)

The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr M McGimpsey): Access to health services in Northern Ireland for overseas visitors is governed by the Provision of Health Services to Persons not Ordinarily Resident Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2005. The last guidance issued to Health and Social Care staff on the matter was contained in Departmental Circular HSS(PCD) 10/2000 – this guidance is currently being reviewed.

All funding for health social services and public safety in NI is provided by the NI Executive based on the overall funding allocated to the NI Block by Treasury through the operation of the Barnett formula. No additional funding has been received from NIO to meet the additional costs of treating foreign nationals.

Underage Drinking

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to conduct an audit of local schemes used by (i) District Councils; and (ii) the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to combat underage drinking, to ensure best practice is implemented across Northern Ireland.

(AQW 5503/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (NSD), which was launched in 2006, identified addressing underage drinking, with its associated physical and mental health implications and potential for anti-social or risk taking behaviour, as a key priority.

Underage drinking was therefore a substantial agenda item at the NSD Steering Group meeting I attended in December 2007. At the meeting it was agreed that there was a clear need for a cross-sectoral, integrated Action Plan to address this issue, and that this would have to focus on restricting access, improving education and training for both young people and their parents, and having effective treatment and support services in place for those who require additional help.

We are now beginning to develop this Action Plan, and as part of the development process my officials and I will engage and consult with a range of key stakeholders, including the local councils, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the local Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams (DACTs), relevant professionals, other relevant Government Departments, and community and voluntary organisations who work in this area. This will allow us to learn from the local initiatives that are currently operating, including those that have been put in place by the local councils and the PSNI, to identify best practice and to ensure a co-ordinated and evidenced based approach can be taken across Northern Ireland.

Bamford Report

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the actions (i) he has taken; and (ii) he is planning to take, to progress the implementation of the inclusion agenda, as outlined in the Bamford Report.

(AQW 5522/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Progressing the inclusion agenda outlined by the Bamford Review involves a range of Departments, not just my own. Some of the recommendations will take time to address. I have established an inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Mental Health and Learning Disability to oversee and drive forward the strategic changes required across Departments and ensure that issues that require inter-Departmental co-operation are taken forward in a co-ordinated manner.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the reasons why the Agenda for Change process for speech and language therapists in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust area has not been completed.

(AQW 5530/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The process for implementing Agenda for Change for all staff groups including Speech and Language Therapists has been agreed with Health Service Trade Unions. This process is being implemented in partnership by Health and Social Care employers and local staff side representatives. Speech and Language Therapists in a number of the Health and Social Care organisations have received their new rates of pay. I have instructed Health and Social Care employers to have all staff on Agenda for Change rates of pay by the end of June 2008 and I expect them to meet this target.

Lurgan Hospital Dermatology Unit

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the progress in the relocation of the Lurgan hospital Dermatology Unit to Craigavon Area hospital.

(AQW 5535/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The dermatology unit will begin its move to the site of the current psychiatric unit at Craigavon Area Hospital in June 2008, with the last transfer of functions expected to take place by March 2009. The move is necessary as the existing Lurgan site is not at a level required to deliver a modern service.

The Southern Health and Social Care Trust has prepared a business case for the relocation, which has been the subject of a public and patient consultation exercise including a workshop that was held on 31st March 2008. As a result of the workshop, a user forum has been established to meet quarterly during 2008/09 to enable current and former patients to shape and influence the implementation of the new service.

Trust Board approval will be sought for the review proposals at the April 29th Trust Board meeting.

Townland Names

Mr McCarthy asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the action his department is taking to use townland names, where applicable, in view of the resolution passed by the first Assembly on 1 October 2001.

(AQW 5545/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Civil Servants in my Department are encouraged to reply to written communications using the address supplied to them by correspondents.

Vioxx Drug

Mr Buchanan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of patients still suffering from the side effects of the drug Vioxx.

(AQW 5594/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The information regarding the number of patient numbers who are still suffering from the side effects of Vioxx is not held, however, it is estimated that approximately 400,000 people have been prescribed Vioxx in the UK, 500 of whom are reported to be continuing to seek compensation for the health effects of the drug on themselves or a family member.

Accident and Emergency Units

Mr McGlone asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to give an assurance that there will be no further 'no warning' shutdowns of the Accident and Emergency Unit at the Mid-Ulster Hospital.

(AQW 5628/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The early closure of A&E at the Mid-Ulster Hospital on the 4 th, 5 th and 6 th April was necessary because of the absence of appropriately skilled medical staff.

It is anticipated that recent action taken by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust to recruit staff grade doctors for the A&E Department at the Mid-Ulster will provide the medical cover required to maintain its normal level of service.

Ambulance Call Outs

Mr McGlone asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail (i) the number of ambulance call outs in the Mid-Ulster Hospital catchment area on the weekend of 4 April to 7 April 2008; and (ii) the ambulance response times for those call outs.

(AQW 5629/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) responded to 42 emergency ambulance calls in the Mid Ulster Hospital catchment area (defined as the Magherafelt and Cookstown local government districts) from 12.00 am on 4 April to 12.00 pm on 7 April 2008. Nine of these calls were diverted as a result of the closure of the Mid Ulster Hospital and of those nine calls only 2 were in category A i.e. requiring an ambulance service response within 8 minutes.

Details of the response times of the 42 calls are presented below:

Time taken to respond	Number of calls
Within 8 minutes	22
8 to 15 minutes	8
15 to 25 minutes	12

Pre-Senile Dementia

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the services available for the diagnosis and management of pre-senile dementia (i.e. dementia occurring in patients under 65 years of age) in the current Health and Social Care Trusts.

(AQW 5630/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Initial assessment of the possibility of early onset dementia is usually made by the person’s GP, who would refer the patient for a specialist assessment, either by a consultant psychiatrist or at a Memory Clinic. As there are only 400 people diagnosed with early onset dementia in Northern Ireland, it would not be feasible to sustain a dedicated service specifically for this client group. Prompt diagnosis is particularly important in this age group, and this will be assisted by increased awareness training for GPs and other healthcare professionals, in line with the Bamford recommendations

For those who already have or do develop early onset dementia, of whatever variety, I would expect to see care provision and support which is geared directly to the particular problems and circumstances of the individuals concerned, and which is sensitive to their age group and likely circumstances. There are a wide range of services in place, both statutory and independent, to help support people with dementia, and any support arrangements should only be made after close consultation with the individuals and their families.

Mental Health Services

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline his plans to respond to the gap in child and adolescent mental health services with respect to the provision of service, training and support to Accident and Emergency departments and to medical and surgical wards within acute hospitals.

(AQW 5632/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Health and Social Care Trusts are currently working to strengthen and expand their CAHMS liaison services to ensure that children or young people who have mental health problems, and who have been admitted for emergency, surgical or medical treatment, are quickly identified, assessed and provided with appropriate treatment and support from mental health services. It would not be feasible to attempt to sustain a dedicated CAMHS liaison team in every acute hospital, and Trusts have developed a range of approaches within their available resources. All acute hospital psychiatric liaison services, however, have access to CAMHS specialists. The general expansion and improvement of CAMHS services, now being driven forward as part of the Bamford programme, will see more CAHMS specialists trained or recruited, which will increase the capacity of Trusts in this area.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the action he has taken towards implementing his commitment to the statutory regulation and registration of psychotherapists and counsellors.

(AQW 5633/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Work on the statutory registration and regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors is being led by the Department of Health in London, on a United Kingdom-wide basis. My Department is involved in this, but the introduction of such regulatory measures is still some time away.

As an interim measure, my Department has produced and consulted on draft Standards of Good Practice for Counselling Services in Northern Ireland. Officials are working to finalise and issue these Standards to statutory and independent stakeholders and providers of counselling and psychotherapy.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail any communication he has had with the professional bodies for psychotherapy and counselling to progress its commitment to the statutory regulation and registration of psychotherapists and counsellors as outlined in the national 2006 consultation on standards.

(AQW 5634/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: In November 2006, my Department issued for consultation draft Standards of Good Practice for Counselling Services in Northern Ireland. Responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders, including a number of professional bodies involved in counselling and psychotherapy.

In finalising these Standards for issue, discussions will be held, if necessary, with relevant professional bodies.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to ensure public safety in the professional activities of counselling and psychotherapy.

(AQW 5635/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: My Department is involved in the ongoing United Kingdom–wide work, on which the Department of Health in London is leading, on the statutory registration and regulation of counselling and psychotherapy services. However, the introduction of such regulatory measures is still some time away.

As an interim measure, my Department has produced and consulted on draft Standards of Good Practice for Counselling Services in Northern Ireland. Their objective is to protect the public by ensuring that counsellors and psychotherapists provide a proficient, efficient and safe service.

Two of the Standards’ over-riding principles are commitments by counsellors and psychotherapists to avoid harm to their clients and to promote their well-being. Officials are working to finalise and issue these Standards to statutory and independent stakeholders and providers.

Clostridium Difficile

Mr Brolly asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the actions taken to reduce the incidents of Clostridium difficile in the Causeway hospital.

(AQW 5646/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Guidelines for the prescribing of antibiotics within Causeway Hospital and by GPs have been reviewed and disseminated with a view to reducing the use, as far as possible, of those antibiotics associated with a higher risk of causing Clostridium difficile. Monitoring of the implementation of these guidelines within Causeway Hospital is underway to ensure good compliance with them.

All staff have been updated on the importance of full adherence to infection control procedures. Information has been given to patients and visitors to the hospital about good infection control practices.

Enhanced cleaning procedures have been put in place at Causeway Hospital including the use of new cleaning agents, increased frequency of cleaning, a programme of intensive cleaning of ward areas and regular checking of cleaning by supervisors.

All new cases of Clostridium difficile identified are being reviewed to determine what factors can be identified that may have contributed to the infection developing in that individual. Action will then be taken to address any issues arising out of these reviews.

Drugs Awareness Projects

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the total expenditure on drugs awareness projects targeted at schools and young people in each of the last five years.

(AQW 5676/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Over the last five years my Department has allocated a total of £5,335,305 to projects targeted at young people which either exclusively, or in part, address drug awareness both within and outside the school environment.

The breakdown by financial year is as follows –

Year	2007/08	2006/07	2005/06	2004/05	2003/04
Amount	1,370,748	963,173	978,520	971,503	949,361

Autism

Mr McCartney asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the action he intends to take to provide the necessary facilities for people with autism and to address the current regional imbalance that exists within this sector.

(AQW 5689/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: I launched an independent review of autism health and social care services last September, the report is expected to become available shortly. The report will include advice on the levels of service needed across Health and Social Care Trusts, and will help inform decisions on the provision of consistent levels of service for all individuals and families affected by autism. The information provided in the report will inform the development of plans for improved health and social care services to those with autism.

Irish Travelling Community

Mr McCartney asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to enhance the ability of the Irish travelling community to access health services.

(AQW 5690/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The All Ireland Travellers’ Health Study was launched in June last year and is a joint Study between my Department and the Department of Health and Children. The Study will quantify the position on Travellers’ health, providing important baseline information for the future planning of health and social care services for Travellers.

Minor Injuries Unit

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people treated at the Minor Injuries Unit at Ards Hospital since its inception.

(AQW 5702/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The number of people treated at the Minor Injuries Unit at Ards Hospital since its inception on 1 st December 1997 is outlined in the table below.

Year	First Attendance	Follow up Attendance	Total Attendance
01/12/97 to 31/03/98	2,555	246	2,801
1998/99	7,345	883	8,228
1999/00	6,879	1,023	7,902
2000/01	6,742	1,159	7,901
2001/02	6,970	1,232	8,202
2002/03	7,203	1,259	8,462
2003/04	7,764	1,556	9,320
2004/05	7,983	1,361	9,344
2005/06	8,581	1,443	10,024
2006/07	8,971	1,231	10,202

Source: South Eastern HSC Trust and Departmental Return KH09 (Part2)

Data for the financial year 2007/08 are still being compiled.

Agenda for Change

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to explain why Health Trusts are applying the Agenda for Change in different ways, and can he confirm that banding is done on an individual basis as opposed to group banding of entire sections such as secretarial.

(AQW 5704/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Health and Social Care organisations are not applying Agenda for Change in different ways. There is an agreed implementation process which is being implemented in partnership by Health and Social Care employers and local staff side representatives. The Agenda for Change banding is dependant on the job description in operation at 1 October 2004. All staff working to the same job description within an organisation will be given the same Agenda for Change band.

Agenda for Change

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (i) to account for the discrepancy, under the Agenda for Change, in secretarial grades awarded between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom; and (ii) to detail the requirements to reach the grade 4 Medical Secretary Band.

(AQW 5705/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: (i) Agenda for Change grades are agreed by Health and Social Care employers in partnership with staff representatives and are awarded on the basis of the job description in operation at 1 October 2004 when these arrangements were introduced. Within the medical secretary roles in the HSC there is a mixture of Band 3 and Band 4 jobs; this is similar to other parts of the United Kingdom.

(ii) A Medical Secretary would require a minimum job evaluation score of 278 to achieve a Band 4 grading. To achieve this score the individual would be required to carry out non-routine work which requires an intermediate level of experience, to act independently and may be responsible for the day to day supervision of other support secretaries. These duties are in addition to providing secretarial support to a Medical Consultant which involves organising workloads and communicating with patients.

Off-Road Bike Accidents

Mr Butler asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the total number of people treated in hospitals following accidents involving off-road bikes (such as quads and scramblers) in the last five years.

(AQW 5712/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Information is not available on the number of people treated for accidents involving off-road bikes. However, the number of admissions to hospital for injuries due to accidents involving all-terrain or off-road motor vehicles is available.

The table below provides figures on the number of admissions to acute hospitals in Northern Ireland for people with a primary or secondary diagnosis of injuries due to accidents involving all-terrain or off-road motor vehicles, for each of the last five years for which data are available.

Year	Number of *Admissions
2006/07	95
2005/06	110
2004/05	100
2003/04	80
2002/03	91

Source:- Hospital Inpatient System

* Discharges and Deaths are used as an approximation for admissions. It is possible that any individual could be admitted to hospital more than once in any year and will thus be counted more than once as an admission.

Health and Care Centre at Creggan Burn Park

Ms Anderson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to provide a timescale within which the proposed Health and Care Centre at Creggan Burn Park, Derry/Londonderry, will progress; and to confirm if he will seek additional funds from the monitoring rounds to advance the project.

(AQW 5737/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: This project is included in the Primary & Community Care Infrastructure Programme (PCCI), having been identified by the Western Health and Social Services Board and the Western HSC Trust as one of a number of such schemes to be implemented as part of the PCCI Programme in the Western Trust area.

The c apital funding allocation for my Department in the present Budget period 2008 – 2011 has unfortunately placed constraints on the level and pace of investment for the PCCI programme. I will however continue to explore every opportunity to meet current budget shortfalls. All projects will however be subject to business case approval before funding can be confirmed.

I am therefore unable to confirm at this time when the Creggan Burn Park Health and Care Centre project specifically will commence, but I can assure you that t his particular development remains a high priority for the Western HSC Trust.

Departmental Funding

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail, for each of the last 3 years, (i) the number of (a) Anti-Drugs Groups; and (b) Family Support Groups, that have been funded by each of the Health and Social Care Trusts; and (ii) the funding provided to each group.

(AQW 5747/08)

(i) Mr M McGimpsey: The answer refers only to those organisations which primarily provide alcohol and drug education, prevention and family support services.

Northern Board	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
(a) No. of Anti-Drug Organisations	5	11	19
(b) No. of Family Support Groups	3	4	3

Southern Board	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
(a) No. of Anti-Drug Organisations	8	14	16
(b) No. of Family Support Groups	1	0	1

Eastern Board	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
(a) No. of Anti-Drug Organisations	6	17	25
(b) No. of Family Support Groups	0	1	1

Western Board	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
(a) No. of Anti-Drug Organisations	20	6	6
(b) No. of Family Support Groups	0	1	1

(ii) Many of the Anti-Drug Groups, set out above, also provide family support services. Therefore it is not possible to disaggregate the funding in the format requested in the question.

Departmental Funding

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the additional support, financial or otherwise, his department will provide to (i) Anti-Drugs Groups; and (ii) Family Support Groups, for families that have suffered through illegal drug use.

(AQW 5750/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (NSD), which was launched in 2006, seeks to reduce the harm related to alcohol and drug misuse in Northern Ireland. A total of £6.8 million was allocated to the implementation of the NSD in 07/08.

The allocation of funding to local alcohol and drug misuse projects, and local groups that support families affected by substance misuse issues, is the responsibility of the Health and Social Services Boards, through the four Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams (DACTs). The DACTs have therefore developed, and are implementing, local Action Plans.

The DACTs were allocated a total of £4.8 million in 07/08 to implement their Local Actions Plans. I understand that the majority of the projects which received funding from the DACTs in 2007/2008 will continue to be funded in 2008/2009. The DACTs will be reviewing their Action Plans during this year.

Drug Misuse

Mr Weir asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his departments plans to introduce new measures to address drug misuse.

(AQW 5751/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs 2006-2011 (NSD) was launched in 2006, with the aim of reducing the harm related to alcohol and drug misuse in Northern Ireland. A total of £6.8 million was allocated to the implementation of the NSD in 07/08. The implementation of the NSD will remain a key priority for my Department.

In support of the NSD’s outcomes and key priorities, the Department is currently in the process of developing Action Plans to address emerging issues around hidden harm (i.e. supporting the needs of children born to, or living with, substance misusing parents or carers), underage drinking, and cocaine misuse.

The Department bid for additonal resources to support the implementation of these Action Plans through the CSR process but we did not receive all the funding we bid for.

At the local level, the four Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Teams (DACTs) have developed, and are implementing, local Action Plans in response to local need and in support of the overarching outcomes in the NSD. The DACTs will be reviewing their Action Plans during this year.

Scanner Services

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to introduce a 24 scanner service in all hospitals for stroke victims.

(AQW 5761/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: On 29 November 2007 I issued Improving Stroke Services in Northern Ireland for full public consultation. The consultation ended on 28 March and my Department is now collating and analysing the responses received.

Until I have had the opportunity to consider the responses received it would be inappropriate for me to comment in relation to any of the specific recommendations. I would expect to be in a position to publish a final strategy document in the summer.

Blockbusting Drugs

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to introduce blockbusting drugs for strokes in all hospitals.

(AQW 5762/08)

Stroke Unit

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to create a stroke unit at Downpatrick Hospital.

(AQW 5763/08)

Stroke Unit

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his plans to create a stroke unit at Coleraine Hospital.

(AQW 5764/08)

Assaults on Staff

Mr Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail, for each of the last 3 years, the number of assaults on staff, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust area.

(AQW 5765/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Violent attacks against healthcare staff have been formally monitored by my Department since April 2004 and are recorded on a 6 monthly basis. The figures provided in the table below detail the recorded number of physical attacks on all healthcare staff since 2004 in each Health and Social Care Trust area.

Location : Health and Social Care Trust Area	Number of Physical Attacks reported on Healthcare Staff
	2004/2005	2005/2006	2006/2007	2007/2008¹
Belfast HSC Trust	1,419	1,304	1,295	774
Northern HSC Trust	675	655	810	474
Southern HSC Trust	384	401	406	172
Western HSC Trust	479	496	869	281
South Eastern HSC Trust	792	695	822	483
TOTAL	3,749	3,551	4,202	2,184

¹Figures only available for the first six month reporting period from 1 April 2007 to 30 September 2007

Clostridium Difficile

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to provide a detailed breakdown of the number of Clostridium difficile sufferers in each Health Trust area, and the strain of Clostridium difficile for each case.

(AQW 5784/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The number of cases of active cases Clostridium difficile in each Health Social Care Trust as at 16 April 2008 is as follows;

TRUST	No. of active cases at 16 April 2008
Belfast HSC Trust	10
Northern HSC Trust	36
Southern HSC Trust	10
South Eastern HSC Trust	3
Western HSC Trust.	3

Trusts do not routinely ribotype specimens unless there are clinical indications to do so. Specimens are randomly tested through a regional network. In regard to the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, the recent outbreak has resulted in ribotyping of active cases. Of the 36 active cases at 16 April 2008, 23 patients are awaiting ribotype. Of the remaining 13 patients, 7 are 027 ribotype, 4 are 001 ribotype, 1 is 020 ribotype and 1 is 106 ribotype.

Community Psychiatric Nurses

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of Community Psychiatric nurses currently working in North Belfast.

(AQW 5785/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Information is not available in the form requested. The North Belfast area is serviced by the Belfast Trust and partly by the Northern Trust. The Belfast Trust reports that there are 66 community psychiatric/mental health nurses (63.73 whole-time equivalent) working in the old North & West Belfast Trust area. The Northern Trust reports that there are 11 community psychiatric/mental health nurses (9.4 whole-time equivalent) working within their Whiteabbey teams.

Card Before you Leave System

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail any plans he has to introduce the 'card before you leave' system for people who leave Accident and Emergency Departments after intervention or mental health support.

(AQW 5786/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: There are currently no plans to impose a standard system for onward referral for those people who have attended Accident and Emergency Departments and who have been seen by the hospital’s psychiatric liaison service. Their condition will have been assessed by the psychiatric liaison service and they may have received some intervention or support from mental health specialists while in the A&E. They will also have been advised on or directed towards the services which would be available to them when they leave the A&E unit. Each Trust will have developed their own onward referral arrangements, which are tailored to the particular structure of mental health services operating within the Trust’s area.

Counselling Services

Mr Durkan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the counselling services for vulnerable young people available in Foyle parliamentary constituency, and to give his assessment of the adequacy of such services.

(AQW 5791/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The counselling services available to young people within the Foyle parliamentary constituency are set out below. Not all services are contracted by the Western Health and Social Care Trust, but do provide valuable services to meet specific needs.

Opportunity Youth provide advice and guidance for young people who are experiencing crisis.
Zest provides counselling services around young people who deliberately self-harm.
Divert is a partnership developed by the Western Drug and Alcohol Team to provide services for young people who abuse substances particularly marginalised groups.
DAYSE is the drug alcohol youth service and is a partnership arrangement between the Trust and Northlands Centre.
Threshold provide Tier 1, Tier 2 counselling in relation to children’s mental health in the Strabane area and some children from the Foyle constituency may benefit from this service.
NEXUS provide counselling to survivors of sexual abuse and rape.
Parents Advice Centre provide signposting services to families who require support with their children/young people.
CRUSE offer bereavement counselling to young people as determined appropriate.
Newpin also provide counselling services to young people.
DHSSPS are currently funding a pilot programme managed by NSPCC in the Foyle area which provides group work/counselling for families who live with domestic violence. If successful it may be rolled-out regionally.

All counselling, befriending and listening ear services should meet the standards as set out by the NI Counselling Review 2002.

In addition, staff within the Western Trust’s Social Services Teams and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Teams provide counselling to their clients, as required, and also signpost to relevant complementary services.

While no service provision will ever be perfect, I am satisfied that young people in the Foyle area have access to a varied and robust counselling service.

Banbridge Community Health Village

Mr O'Dowd asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 2880/08, to confirm if the appraisal of the business case for Banbridge Community Health Village has been completed; and to provide a timescale within which the construction of the centre will begin.

(AQW 5837/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The Banbridge Community Health Village is an ongoing development on the former Banbridge Hospital site. The current proposals are for a new Health and Care Centre along with a new Learning Disability Day Centre within the Banbridge community health village.

The business case for this project, as part of the wider Primary and Community Care Infrastructure (PCCI) programme of investment is currently being appraised following recent clarification by the Southern HSC Trust on a number of points and the Department will continue to work with the Trust to further refine these proposals. A decision on approval cannot be taken until this appraisal process has been completed which is now estimated should be by August of this year. It is anticipated that procurement of the first phase of projects should begin during 2008/09 with the earliest start for construction work during 2009/10.

Health Service Dentists

Mr Gallagher asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail, for each of the Health Boards, the number of dentists who carried out Health Service work in each of the last four years.

(AQW 5954/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The information requested is shown in table 1 below:

Table 1 Number of dentists ¹who carried out health service work ² by Board

	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
EHSSB	335	355	368	373
NHSSB	198	204	204	206
SHSSB	145	159	165	174
WHSSB	121	130	137	130
Northern Ireland³	747	788	817	837

Source: Central Services Agency

Notes:
1. Figures include Principal dentists only - excludes assistants and Vocational Dental Practitioners.
2. Dentists who carried out Health Service work is defined as dentists who submitted claims for NHS work to the Central Services Agency during the financial year. It should be noted that the figures quoted do not show the number of dentists at a particular point in time, as they include all dentists who have submitted a claim during the year. They therefore include dentists who were not practicing for the full year, for example, those who have retired during the year or newly qualified dentists who started practicing during the year.
3. Dentists may work in more than one Health Board, therefore the total for all Health Boards may not equal the Northern Ireland figure.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will cease recouping perceived overpayments to Speech and Language Therapists until a full consultation has been carried out with all stakeholders to assess the impact of this action.

(AQW 5968/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The assimilation of staff to Agenda for Change has resulted in an increase of pay in the majority of cases. As part of the assimilation process to Agenda for Change the rate of pay was protected as at 1 April 2005. Subsequent increases above the agreed Agenda for Change rates must be recouped in order to avoid a loss to the taxpayer. This process of recouping excess payments is governed by the Government Accounting (NI) Rules. To suspend or cease the recoupment process would not only result in a loss to the taxpayer but it would also hold up the Agenda for Change implementation process.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to confirm that no financial payback will be sought from Speech and Language Therapists due to the length of time taken to implement the Agenda for Change and the financial implications of this delay for Speech and Language Therapists.

(AQW 5969/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: I would refer the member to my previous answer about the rules governing the recoupment of excess payments. I am not in a position to provide any form of compensation for the delay in the implementation of Agenda for Change rates of pay.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to confirm that the Northern Ireland Financial Act 1971 is being used to recoup perceived overpayments to Speech and Language Therapists despite the Agenda for Change process not being completed for them.

(AQW 5970/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: The Northern Ireland Finance Act is not being used to recoup overpayments. The recoupment of an excess payment from public funds is governed by the Government Accounting (NI) rules. The calculation of an excess payment is is done on an individual basis. In the case of Agenda for Change this calculation is a necessary part of the assimilation process and is carried out at the time when staff are actually moved on to the Agenda for Change rates of pay.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to undertake an immediate review as to why the Agenda for Change process has not been completed for Speech and Language Therapists.

(AQW 5971/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: I have set a target date of 30 June 2008 for Health and Social Care employers to have all staff on Agenda for Change rates of pay. Health and Social Care employers are working towards this deadline and I expect them to meet this target for all staff including Speech and Language Therapists.

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will stop the recouping of perceived overpayments to Speech and Language Therapists until the Agenda for Change process has been completed.

(AQW 5972/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: Excess payments must be recouped in order to avoid a loss to the public purse. To stop the recoupment process would not only result in a loss to the public purse but it would also hold up the Agenda for Change implementation process.

Shellfish from Dundrum Bay

Mr W Clarke asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if shellfish from Dundrum Bay is safe for human consumption.

(AQW 6002/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: I am currently not aware of any incidents of foodborne disease associated with eating shellfish from Dundrum Bay.

Out-of-Hours Doctors

Mr Irwin asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail (i) the number of out-of-hours doctors available for call out within the greater Armagh area; and (ii) the doctor/patient ratio for Armagh City and District.

(AQW 6250/08)

Mr M McGimpsey: (i) Southern Area Urgent Care Services, supplied by Southern Health and Social Care Trust, provides an urgent GP Out of Hours (OOH) service to the whole of the Southern Health and Social Services Board area. This service includes central telephone triage for all patients, as well as the opportunity for face-to-face consultation with a GP at the Out of Hours centres in Armagh, Craigavon, Dungannon, Kilkeel and Newry, and home visits should these be necessary.

There is one GP on call in the Armagh OOH Centre from 7pm – 11pm, Monday to Friday and 9am – 11pm on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays. Outside these times GP services can be provided from either of the Craigavon, Dungannon or Newry OOH Centres where there are two GPs on call, in each centre, up to 12 midnight every day and one GP, also in each centre, after 12 midnight every day.

(ii) As of 1st April 2008, within the Armagh Local Government District there are 9 GP practices, with 35 GPs and 52,898 registered patients (all of whom may not be resident in the area), which equates to 6.6 GPs per 10,000 registered patients. There are, however, 60,946 people resident in the area (all of whom may not be registered with a GP within the area), which would equate to 5.7 GPs per 10,000 resident patients.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Northern Ireland Water

Mr Bresland asked the Minister for Regional Development to confirm that (i) low pressure in the water system in the Donemana area will be addressed; and (ii) the second stage of the Bredagh sewerage works will commence, following the commitments made to customers by the Water Service before it became Northern Ireland Water.

(AQW 5497/08)

The Minister for Regional Development (Mr C Murphy): I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that it plans to upgrade approximately three kilometres of water main on Loughan Road and Rousky Road, Donemana by the end of the current 2008/09 financial year. This work aims to resolve low water pressure problems and to provide continuity of water supply for residents in the area.

Bready Wastewater Treatment Works was newly completed in 2004 and is currently complying with the effluent discharge standards laid down by the Environment and Heritage Service. There are no current plans to upgrade the Works. However, Northern Ireland Water is currently undertaking a comprehensive exercise to assess the treatment capability of its wastewater treatment works based on the most up to date demographic information and planning projections. This exercise, which will identify works that need upgraded to cater for future development, is scheduled for completion during 2008. The Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Water will write to you when the full assessment of Bready Wastewater Treatment Works is complete.

Traffic Congestion

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his department's plans to reduce traffic congestion at (i) the York Road; and (ii) the junctions of the (a) M3; (b) M2; and (c) Westlink.

(AQW 5509/08)

Mr C Murphy: The Westlink/York Street junction is a key link in the Strategic Road Network that presently connects the Westlink, M2 and M3 motorways through a complex arrangement of traffic signals. Officials from my Department’s Roads Service have advised that when the current improvement works on M1/Westlink are completed, in March 2009, this junction will be the only signal-controlled ‘at-grade’ junction remaining on the motorway network.

I am aware that the completion of the improvements to the M1/Westlink will deliver traffic to the Westlink/York Street junction more quickly. While the existing York Street junction is expected to be able to cope in the short to medium term, it is recognised that the junction will eventually come under increased pressure from traffic and in preparation for this Roads Service has developed preliminary proposals for a grade-separated junction at York Street that would provide direct links and greatly improve access between Westlink and the M2 motorway and from Westlink to the M3.

I can confirm that proposals to improve this junction are included in my Department’s recently published Investment Delivery Plan for Roads. This envisages the works being delivered between 2013/14 and 2017/18. However, construction of the new junction will be dependent upon the successful completion of the necessary statutory procedures, a detailed economic appraisal and the availability of funding through the normal budgetary process.

A3 Road Upgrade

Mrs D Kelly asked the Minister for Regional Development to provide an update on his plans to upgrade the A3 road from Portadown to Armagh.

(AQW 5534/08)

Mr C Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service published a consultation document listing proposals to expand the Strategic Road Improvement Programme in July 2006. The schemes included were selected based on the five key criteria set for considering transportation projects, namely environment, safety, economy, accessibility and integration. The proposed schemes included the construction of a dual carriageway on the most heavily trafficked section of the A3, from Portadown to Richhill.

The responses received to the consultation document have now been considered and I can confirm that m y Department's Investment Delivery Plan for Roads, published on the Department’s website at the start of April 2008, includes a proposal to dual the A3 between Portadown and Richhill. Roads Service will be appointing consultants this year to commence the work of assessing route options for this major road scheme.

Comber By-Pass

Miss McIlveen asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 4826/08, to confirm if the Planning Appeals Commission's Inspector's report into the final phase of the Comber by-pass has now been received; and to detail the recommendations contained in that report.

(AQW 5552/08)

Mr C Murphy: In my response to AQW 4826/08, I advised that the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) Inspector’s report into the draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015, was expected before the end of March 2008 and that Roads Service will consider any recommendations the inspector makes in relation to Phase 3 of the Comber By-Pass.

Officials in my Department’s Roads Service have recently been advised that the Department for the Environment’s Planning Service has now received the PAC Report. Planning Service is currently considering the implications of the report and will shortly commence consultation with key consultees, including Roads Service, about its content. Planning Service will also provide guidance on a possible date for adoption. However, this will depend on the nature of the PAC recommendations on each objection. Therefore, Planning Service cannot provide a firm indication on timescales, at this stage, but hope to complete the adoption stage as quickly as possible.

The PAC Report can only be made available by the Department for the Environment when it completes the adoption process and publishes the adopted plan, with or without modifications. The content of the PAC Report is confidential until that time.

Sewerage Systems

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the improvements that have been made to the sewerage systems and waste water treatment works in (i) Newtownabbey; (ii) Carrickfergus; and (iii) Larne, in each of the past five years.

(AQW 5585/08)

Mr C Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that during the past five years it has invested over £53 million in improvements to sewerage systems and wastewater treatment works in Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Larne. The details are as follows:

YEAR	AREA	PROJECT	INVESTMENT £000’s
2003	Newtownabbey	Doagh Road Foul sewer	10
2004	Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Larne	Ballyclare Wastewater Treatment Works (including Ballyrobert, Doagh, Kilbride, Straid and Ballynure) Corrs Corner Foul & Storm Sewer extensions Victoria Road , Ballyclare Foul Sewer Glenshesk Road Flood Alleviation Larne Wastewater Treatment Works (including Glynn, Drains Bay, and Ballygally)	11,372 65 36 43 15,883
2005	Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Carrickfergus	Whitehouse Wastewater Treatment Works Ballyclare Drainage Area Plan Flood Alleviation Carrickfergus Wastewater Treatment Works	13,869 1,428 8,886
2006	Newtownabbey Carrickfergus Carrickfergus	Ballyeaston Storm Sewer Woodburn Road , Carrickfergus Storm Sewer Carrickfergus Drainage Area Plan Flood Alleviation	65 244 551
2007	Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Newtownabbey Larne	Doagh Road , Newtownabbey Foul Sewer Hightown Road , Glengormley Storm Sewer Roughfort Sewerage Scheme Coast Guard Road , Larne Sewers and Wastewater Pumping Station	52 127 337 281

YEAR

AREA

PROJECT

INVESTMENT
£000’s

2003

Newtownabbey

Doagh Road Foul sewer

2004

Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey

Larne

Ballyclare Wastewater Treatment Works (including Ballyrobert, Doagh, Kilbride, Straid and Ballynure)

Corrs Corner Foul & Storm Sewer extensions

Victoria Road , Ballyclare Foul Sewer

Glenshesk Road Flood Alleviation

Larne Wastewater Treatment Works (including Glynn, Drains Bay, and Ballygally)

11,372

15,883

2005

Newtownabbey

Carrickfergus

Whitehouse Wastewater Treatment Works

Ballyclare Drainage Area Plan Flood Alleviation

Carrickfergus Wastewater Treatment Works

13,869

1,428

8,886

2006

Newtownabbey

Carrickfergus

Ballyeaston Storm Sewer

Woodburn Road , Carrickfergus Storm Sewer

Carrickfergus Drainage Area Plan Flood Alleviation

244

551

2007

Newtownabbey

Larne

Doagh Road , Newtownabbey Foul Sewer

Hightown Road , Glengormley Storm Sewer

Roughfort Sewerage Scheme

Coast Guard Road , Larne Sewers and Wastewater Pumping Station

127

337

281

M2 Widening Scheme

Mr Ford asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail what part the widening of the M2 from Sandyknowes to Greencastle will play in his department's policy of encouraging commuting by public transport.

(AQW 5597/08)

Mr C Murphy: I should firstly explain that my Department’s transport strategy is set out in the Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS) for Northern Ireland 2002-2012, which was endorsed by the Assembly on 3 July 2002. The RTS is a balanced strategy that provides a range of both strategic highway and public transport initiatives across the North. Implementation of the RTS is through 3 Transport Plans.

The RTS recognises the need to remove structural deficiencies (bottlenecks), where lack of capacity causes undue congestion on the strategic road network, while the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan 2015 (BMTP) includes several measures to encourage commuting by public transport.

The M2 Improvement scheme is primarily designed to remove a bottleneck on a key section of the strategic road network. The increased carriageway capacity will, however, improve journey times for all road users, including those travelling by bus and coach from Ballyhenry Road Park-and-Ride site and other destinations. The widening scheme will also improve access to the proposed Park-and-Ride site at Fortwilliam.

Roadside Memorials

Mr Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 5064/08, to detail his department's policy on dealing with complaints about roadside memorials that have been erected illegally.

(AQW 5601/08)

Mr C Murphy: I would refer the Member to my 28 January 2008 reply to his AQO 1650/08 question.

Roadside Memorials

Mr Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 5064/08, to detail the advice his department has given to Roads Service in relation to dealing with complaints about roadside memorials that have been erected illegally.

(AQW 5603/08)

Mr C Murphy: I would point out that Roads Service is an Agency within my Department. As such, Roads Service is responsible for developing its own operational policies. As explained in my reply to AQO 1650/08, Roads Service currently tolerates such memorials where they are not obstructing the road and do not constitute a danger to road users.

Roadside Memorials

Mr Moutray asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the criteria by which roadside memorials are classified by his department as 'troubles related'.

(AQW 5604/08)

Mr C Murphy: Roads Service does not have any specific criteria by which to classify different types of illegal roadside memorials. In trying to determine why any illegal memorial has been placed at a particular location, Roads Service officials can only assess whatever information is available on the memorial.

Northern Ireland Water

Mr T Clarke asked the Minister for Regional Development to provide a timescale within which Northern Ireland Water will upgrade the waste water system in Neillsbrook estate, Randalstown, to increase its capacity.

(AQW 5605/08)

Mr C Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that a recent Drainage Area Study which examined the capacity and structural condition of the sewerage system in Randalstown, identified no sewer deficiencies relating to the Neillsbrook Estate. Northern Ireland Water is therefore satisfied that the sewers in the area have adequate capacity to operate effectively under normal conditions.

Northern Ireland Water proposes to upgrade Neillsbrook Wastewater Pumping Station, which serves a section of the sewerage system in the area, to maintain its operational performance and efficiency. However, due to competing priorities this work will be subject to the availability of funding and it is not therefore possible, at this time, to confirm when the upgrade will commence. In the interim, the performance of the pumping station will be monitored closely and any necessary remedial work will be undertaken to minimise the risk of any problems occurring.

Roads Adopted

Mr Burns asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 4821/08, to outline which of the roads are scheduled to be adopted within the next six months.

(AQW 5612/08)

Mr C Murphy: Developers are responsible for bringing their development roads up to the required standard for adoption by my Department. The rate of progress from development to roads adoption is related to many factors that are outside the control of my Department. However, based on progress to date, Roads Service expects the following roads to progress to adoption within the next 6 months:

Glebecoole Park , Carnmoney;
Sally Gardens , Ballyclare Road;
Ashford Lodge, Ballyclare Road;
The Beeches, Mallusk;
Huntingdale, Ballyclare;
Village Green, Ballyclare;
Greenvale Belmont Road Antrim (in part);
The Mews, Cidercourt Road, Crumlin; and
Ballytromery Avenue , Ballytromery Road, Crumlin.

Main Street , Glenavy

Mr Burns asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 4821/08, to outline the circumstances which resulted in the developer defaulting on the bond for Main Street, Glenavy.

(AQW 5613/08)

Mr C Murphy: Following completion of the dwellings, Roads Service continued to liaise with the developer on a number of road defects that had to be addressed to enable the site to progress towards adoption. Despite repeated requests, the developer failed to satisfactorily complete all outstanding matters. In the absence of a response, Roads Service initiated enforcement action against the developer under The Private Streets (NI) Order 1980.

The initial enforcement notice issued in August 2007. As the developer did not respond satisfactorily to the notice within the specified 28 day period, Roads Service proceeded to appoint a contractor to carry out the work, funded by the developer’s road bond. The work is presently on-going and should be completed by the end of April 2008. On completion of the works, the roads and footways will be formally adopted.

I would remind the Member that any further information he requires for a particular development can be obtained directly from my officials in Roads Service.

Public Transport

Mr Ford asked the Minister for Regional Development how he intends to encourage car commuters from South Antrim to Belfast to switch to public transport.

(AQW 5639/08)

The BMTP proposes several park and ride sites for each of the six main transport corridors into Belfast. In total my Department is planning to provide over 6000 park and ride spaces for the greater Belfast area by 2015. People travelling into Belfast from south Antrim will benefit from these proposals, which will include a total of approximately 2100 spaces on the M2/M5 transport corridors, at 11 locations served by train or bus services to central Belfast.

A new rail halt, together with 650 Park-and-Ride spaces, is proposed at Ballymartin outside Templepatrick, to attract longer distance motorists from the M2 motorway. Another 750 space site at Fortwilliam will serve downstream motorists approaching Belfast on the M2 and M5 motorways. In addition, a 90 space site is proposed at Ballyhenry Road, Sandyknowes, served by existing bus services. Other smaller facilities will be provided at existing rail halts.

Traffic travelling from the Larne direction with a Belfast destination will be able to divert to the A57 at Ballynure and transfer to train at Ballymartin, therefore avoiding the delays and congestion associated with the A8(M) approaches to Sandyknowes.

Park-and-Ride and Park-and-Share facilities, aimed at encouraging drivers to use public transport, have also been provided at Drumderg Roundabout at the end of the A6 Toome By-pass, Dunsilly Roundabout at the junction of the M22 and A6, Paradise Walk Roundabout at Templepatrick at the junction of the A6 and A57, on the Ballymena to Belfast rail line at Antrim and Mossley West, and on the Belfast to Larne line at Yorkgate, Whiteabbey, Greenisland and Carrickfergus.

The introduction of new trains on the Ballymena to Belfast service has resulted in a significant increase in railway passenger numbers. Year on year comparisons have shown an 11% increase in rail passenger journeys in both 2006/07 and 2007/08. Translink have started the process to purchase a further 20 new trains, which will be introduced to service from 2011. These will replace the old trains currently in service on the Belfast to Larne line and permit increased frequencies between Belfast and Ballymena.

My Department has also provided substantial funding to improve bus services across the region. In all, 937 new buses, costing some £126m, will have been purchased and introduced to passenger service over the period from 2003 to 2009.

It is hoped that with more modern and reliable buses and trains and enhanced facilities, more car users will be encouraged to use public transport.

The BMTP also includes proposals to encourage a modal shift from private cars to public transport, walking and cycling, which my Department is progressing through its Travelwise initiative. Over time these initiatives are expected to contribute to a reduction in private car travel for journeys to the city centre at peak times.

Customer Choice

Mr Craig asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his plans to provide customers with the opportunity to choose their water and sewerage service providers in the domestic market, similar to proposals for gas and electricity service providers.

(AQW 5644/08)

Mr C Murphy: I am currently in consultation with my Executive colleagues about the recommendations in the Independent Water Review Panel second report (published in January 2008) on the governance and future business models of water and sewerage services. In particular, the Panel recommended that Northern Ireland Water (NIW) should continue as a Government-Owned Company for the next 5 years.

The Regulator has the lead role in facilitating competition and is currently monitoring the progress and benefits delivered to customers from the introduction of competition in the Scottish Water Industry and in England and Wales.

Carrickfergus Spine Road

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development to give a timescale for the completion of the Carrickfergus Spine Road (i) along its entire route; and (ii) in sections along the route.

(AQW 5655/08)

Mr C Murphy: Under the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan and the emerging Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 (BMAP), the Carrickfergus Spine Road is one of a number of Non-Strategic Highway Network Schemes, which developers of the adjacent land that this road will serve, are expected to fund in full or in very substantial part.

The road is also identified in the Carrickfergus Area Plan 2001 as being one of a number of roads required to facilitate development within the Borough.

With the exception of a short section of road east of Broadlands, which is currently under construction, the Spine Road has been completed between the eastern development limit at Craiglands and North Road.

The section from North Road to Woodburn Road is a Key Site Requirement attached to zoning for housing.

The portion between Woodburn Road and Sloefield Road is not associated with any particular zoning. However, an indicative alignment is protected in BMAP Amendment No. 1, to ensure that any future development does not prejudice the delivery of this section of Spine Road.

As provision of the remaining sections of the road is directly linked to the future development of lands, the timescale for delivery rests with the relevant developer(s) and is outside the control of my Department.

Traffic Calming Schemes

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail all traffic calming schemes in the Ards Borough Council area assessed by the Roads Service and to state where each ranks in terms of priority.

(AQW 5658/08)

Mr C Murphy: All proposals for Traffic Calming schemes which might be undertaken by my Department’s Roads Service are assessed, scored and prioritised within each Council area. Roads Service then draws up a two-year rolling programme, which is published each year in the Autumn Roads Service Report presented to Councils.

The committed schemes for the Ards Borough Council area in the 2008/09 year in priority order are:

Abbey Road/Moss Road , Millisle;
Ballywalter;
Strangford Heights , Newtownards; and
Ballyblack Road , Loughries.

The proposed schemes for the Ards Borough Council area in the 2009/10 year in priority order are:

West Street , Newtownards;
East Street , Newtownards;
Whiteways/Mountain Road , Newtownards;
Victoria Avenue , Newtownards; and
Rubane Road .

This proposed list may be subject to change, depending on the assessed priority of new requests for traffic calming.

Road Bridge Constructions

Mr McCallister asked the Minister for Regional Development, further to his answer to AQW 5053/08, to list all other road bridge constructions in which his department participated without having carried out either a traffic survey or cost benefit analysis.

(AQW 5669/08)

Mr C Murphy: Any new road bridge construction, which is funded and carried out by my Department’s Roads Service, has incorporated traffic survey and cost benefit analysis work. However, the reinstatement of the Annaghroe and Knockaginny bridges, to which I referred to in my composite reply to AQW 5053/08 and AQW 5054/08, is being funded by the Southern Authorities and therefore no traffic survey or cost benefit analysis has been carried out by Roads Service.

I should explain that Roads Service is obliged to maintain its existing road bridge stock to meet current standards. To achieve this there is a programme of bridge strengthening work which requires bridges to be repaired or replaced in order to meet the required standards. The work is prioritised and carried out on the basis of risk assessment using a method recognised throughout the United Kingdom. One of the factors considered as part of a risk assessment, is the number of HGVs using the road, and a traffic survey is needed to ascertain this.

All major road works schemes have a cost benefit analysis carried out. In addition, any new bridges which are part of a minor works new road scheme, would also have a cost benefit analysis carried out. It should also be noted that Roads Service’s policy on new bridges, or bridge strengthening schemes over £5 million, is that a full economic appraisal should be completed.

Road Bridges

Mr McCallister asked the Minister for Regional Development, further to his answer to AQW 5053/08, to explain how he, environmentalists or planners could justify having four road bridges within 3.5 kms (2.17 miles) and an estimated average of 21 vehicles per hour using these bridges.

(AQW 5670/08)

Mr C Murphy: I have already explained in previous answers that in the past a number of cross-border roads were closed for security reasons. Due to the current enabling environment, and in recognition of the importance of cross-border road links, the then British Secretary of State in the North and the Taoiseach agreed that there was no longer a security justification for roads remaining closed.

While I appreciate you may have concerns over the expense involved in reinstating the Annaghroe and Knockaginny bridges, it is the case that all the bridge reinstatements costs will be paid by the Irish Government. The work is being taken forward jointly by Monaghan County Council and my Department’s Roads Service. Preliminary meetings and preparation work started in April 2007 and the proposal is still at an early stage.

Both the British and Irish Governments are committed to ensuring that all border roads are reopened. The reinstatement of these bridges will re-establish the access levels which local communities enjoyed previously. The B45 Annaghroe Road represents the shortest route between Caledon and Glaslough. The re-opening of this route will reduce local journey times between the two villages, with subsequent reductions in greenhouse gases.

I also understand that Caledon Regeneration Partnership & Glaslough Development Association previously contacted Roads Service to point out that the absence of the Annaghroe Bridge is a major weakness in their tourism development plans for the Caledon, Glaslough, Tynan, Killylea and surrounding areas.

Information Evenings

Mr McCallister asked the Minister for Regional Development, further to his answer to AQW 5053/08, to confirm that information evenings in Caloden on 11 March and Glaslough on 13 March had no element of consultation and, if not, whether public views expressed on these occasions will be taken into consideration and those expressing views responded to by his department.

(AQW 5671/08)

Mr C Murphy: Two information evenings were held in Caledon and Glaslough to inform the local communities of the proposals to reinstate the Annaghroe and Knockaginny bridges and to explain the process for doing so.

The information evenings were consultation events in that comments in favour of, and against, the reinstatement of the bridges, and also on the type of bridge, were fully discussed at the time and then recorded. Eighty-eight comments were recorded and it is not proposed to reply individually at this time.

A further opportunity for public consultation will arise when the bridge design proposals are submitted for planning approval.

Cootehill Road in Crawfordsburn

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the steps he has taken or intends to take to improve road safety on the Cootehill Road in Crawfordsburn.

(AQW 5678/08)

Mr C Murphy: Officials from my Department’s Roads Service take many factors into account when considering the most appropriate traffic calming measures to try to influence driver behaviour and the speed of vehicles.

In rural situations, as in the case of Crawfordsburn village, traffic calming measures would normally take the form of village gateways. These include entrance features with signs to a village or town, along with the appropriate speed limit and local Council Logo. Coloured road surfacing may also be used, to highlight a change in environment to drivers. These measures have already been provided on all roads leading into Crawfordsburn village, one of which is Cootehall Road. There are no plans to provide any further measures.

Septic Tanks

Mr McNarry asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail (i) the number of operational septic tanks; (ii) the average cost of emptying a domestic septic tank; (iii) the cost of emptying all septic tanks; (iv) any plans to introduce charges for emptying septic tanks; and (v) the number of operational septic tanks in the Strangford constituency.

(AQW 5679/08)

Mr C Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that while it offers a desludging service for septic tanks, its records relate only to around 70,000 customers who have requested the service in the past and not to all operational septic tanks. As its records are not broken down by Parliamentary constituency it is unable to provide details of septic tanks in the Strangford constituency. However, in 2006, the Valuation and Lands Agency advised Water Service that 113,980 properties were registered as using septic tanks, of which 6,883 were in the Down District Council Area .

During the 2007/08 financial year, Northern Ireland Water desludged approximately 28,000 septic tanks at a cost of £64.96 for each standard tank and a total cost of approximately £2 million. This cost includes payment to the contractor, administration costs and other overheads.

Northern Ireland Water plans to introduce charges for emptying septic tanks when domestic charging is introduced in April 2009.

Level Crossing Gates

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail why the level crossing gates on the Larne line at Jordanstown station are closed to road traffic for such a long period prior to the arrival of a train, thereby causing road traffic to back up.

(AQW 5686/08)

Mr C Murphy: The primary factor affecting the length of time for which the level crossing gates are closed is safety. The Jordanstown crossing has been assessed as one with a high risk of user violation. It is therefore subject to an increased level of protection. However, delays are kept to the minimum necessary to ensure safety standards are met.

Flooding Problems

Mr Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development, further to AQW 4282/08, would he consider changing the present criteria for gully cleaning for all roads with continuing flooding problems in the Ards and Strangford area.

(AQW 5707/08)

Mr C Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that it has no plans, at present, to change the criteria for gully cleaning on roads with continuing flooding problems, including those in the Ards and Strangford area.

As I advised in my previous response to the Member (AQW 4282/08), Roads Service undertakes additional inspections and, if necessary, cleaning of gullies at locations that experience ongoing problems with blockages and recurrent flooding.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Mr McCallister asked the Minister for Regional Development to confirm (i) the completion date for the study to be commissioned by his department in relation to tackling greenhouse gas emissions; and (ii) if this study will be made available to Members.

(AQW 5727/08)

Mr C Murphy:The Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER) is currently carrying out a study into the measurement of greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions in the north. That study is approaching completion and, when available, will be used by my Department to determine the next steps to be taken. That consideration will form part of the current review of the Regional Transportation Strategy.

Translink Budget

Mr Burns asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail, for each of the last 5 years (i) the total budget allocation given to Translink by his department; and (ii) the underspend that has occurred.

(AQW 5733/08)

Mr C Murphy: I enclose details below of the total budget allocations given to Translink by my Department over the last 5 years. The outturn for 2007/08 has not yet been finalised so the budget only has been included for that year. The under spends mostly relate to late slippages in capital projects which were then carried forward and included in budget figures for subsequent years.

Financial Year	Budget 0.0m	Outturn 0.0m	Under/Over Spend 0.0m
2003/04	67.4	60.8	6.6 underspend
2004/05	89.3	89.7	0.4 overspend
2005/06	95.5	92.9	2.6 underspend
2006/07	71.4	67.2	4.2 underspend
2007/08	85.6	N/A	N/A

Rural Proofing

Mr McKay asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his plans to ensure that all departmental policies are rural-proofed.

(AQW 5798/08)

Mr C Murphy: Rural proofing is an integral part of the policy development process within the Department for Regional Development. I am committed to working with DARD to ensure that the Department continues to follow best practice in its assessment of the rural impacts of all new and reviewed policy proposals.

Translink Complaints

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail, for each of the last 3 years, the number of complaints received by Translink in relation to the service it provides, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 5847/08)

Mr C Murphy:Translink have informed me that the information requested is not held by parliamentary constituency. To process the information into that format could only be done at disproportionate cost.

The following table shows the total number of complaints received by Translink over the last three years.

	2005	2006	2007
Number of complaints	4,359	5,297	6,856

Translink Punctuality

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail, for each of the last 3 years, (i) the punctuality of Metro buses operational in South Belfast; and (ii) how this compares with Translink target times.

(AQW 5850/08)

Mr C Murphy: Metro punctuality is not held for South Belfast. To process the information into that format could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Over the last 3 years Metro bus services in total have performed as follows against the punctuality target set in the Passenger’s Charter:

Percentage of Metro buses arriving no more than 7 minutes late

	2005	2006	2007
Metro punctuality	93.5%	90%	93.5%
Target	95%	95%	95%

Tourist Signage

Mr Ross asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the action his department has taken to promote small village areas to tourists, particularly Ballycarry in the East Antrim constituency, by ensuring appropriate signage is erected.

(AQW 5856/08)

Mr C Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that tourist signage (white on brown signs) constitute one part of the overall family of direction signs that have the purpose of reducing sign clutter and guiding visitors to their desired destination, by the most appropriate route, at the latter stages of their journey. All direction signage, including tourist signs, are designed as an aid to safe and efficient navigation and are considered useful in complementing, but not necessarily replacing, the pre-planning of a journey.

In April 2004 Roads Service, with the agreement of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), developed policy to cover the processes and procedures to be followed to introduce tourist related signage. This policy, entitled 'The Signing of Tourist Attractions and Facilities', sets a framework whereby local councils develop an inventory of tourist attractions/facilities for their area, that tourists would wish to see, including premises that provide a service primarily for tourists. NITB assesses their eligibility and Roads Service decides entitlement for signage provision. This enables a consistent application of the policy across all areas, including villages such as Ballycarry.

Signing entitlement does not extend to tourist utilities which are places or services that tend to be more commercial in nature and which may be of use to tourists, but do not in themselves constitute an attraction.

The local Councils act as the primary point of contact with Roads Service, regarding the provision and funding of tourist signing. Roads Service determines all aspects of the practical implementation, including the type and extent of signing, and the integration of new signage within overall traffic management needs of an area. In general terms, where entitlement is agreed, signing will be provided only from the nearest A or B class road junction.

An example of this policy working in practice in the Ballycarry area is the signing of a scenic drive around Islandmagee and rationalisation of local signage, to indicate tourist attractions and facilities on that route.

Roads Service will continue to cooperate with local councils and NITB on the provision of local tourist signing, where eligible attractions and facilities are identified.

Northern Ireland Railways

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the projected investment in Northern Ireland Railways throughout the 2008-11 budget period.

(AQW 5903/08)

Mr C Murphy: The Programme for Government announced in January 2008 that planned capital investment in the Railways for the years 2008-11 would be as follows.

2008/09 - £36.7m
2009/10 - £36.1m
2010/11 - £64.3m

Further details on capital spending for these years can be found in the “DRD Investment Delivery Plan for Public Transport”, copies of which are available on the Department’s website: www.drdni.gov.uk/publications (search Investment Delivery Plans).

Passing Loop Rail

Mr G Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail how far advanced plans are for the passing loop planned between Coleraine and Derry/Londonderry to increase the frequency of service on this rail link.

(AQW 6054/08)

Mr C Murphy: As cited in my previous response to AQO 2738/08, following a meeting with Ministry of Defence officials last year, Translink have registered a formal interest in purchasing a strip of land at Ballykelly. Translink is currently undertaking a timetable modelling exercise to identify the requirement and best location for passing facilities on the Coleraine to Derry line. The exercise is expected to be complete in two to three months and the result will inform decisions on next steps.

Parking Schemes

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the estimated number of residents who will be affected by the proposed parking schemes in (i) Sandy Row; (ii) Donegall Pass; and (iii) the Markets (West) area.

(AQW 6097/08)

Mr C Murphy: Officials in my Department’s Roads Service have advised that on Friday 18 April 2008, parking consultation documents were sent to all residential and businesses properties in Sandy Row, Donegall Pass and the Markets (West) area.

The total number of documents sent to each area was as follows:

Sandy Row	935
Donegall Pass	781
Markets (West)	157

Unfortunately, Roads Service does not have details of the total number of residents living in these areas.

Parking Schemes

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the cost of rolling out the proposed residents parking schemes in (i) Sandy Row; (ii) Donegall Pass; and (iii) the Markets (West) area.

(AQW 6098/08)

Mr C Murphy: Roads Service officials have advised that the Business Case that was carried out for Residents’ Parking indicated that the annual cost of a permit should be set at £80. This cost was based on a high-level assessment of the anticipated costs of introducing a number of schemes at various locations throughout the North. Details of the specific costs associated with the 3 named schemes have not yet been compiled.

Parking Schemes

Mr Spratt asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the areas being considered for residents parking schemes in South Belfast in the next 12 months.

(AQW 6099/08)

Mr C Murphy: Roads Service has plans for residents’ parking schemes in areas of South Belfast which are at different stages, as set out below:

The design and community consultation process has started in the following areas:

Sandy Row.
Donegall Pass.
The Markets (West).

The initial parking surveys and design process has started in the following areas:

The Markets (East).
Lower Ormeau Road.
Holylands / University.
Lower Lisburn Road.
Donegall Road .

Roads Service also plan to commence the initial parking surveys in the following areas:

Lisburn Road .
Lower Malone Road
Stranmillis.

Upgrade Work

Mr Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the nature and completion dates of the proposed upgrade work to be carried out at Ballymena, Cullybackey, Ballymoney, Dhu Varren, Portrush, Castlerock and Derry/Londonderry stations and halts under Phase Two to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

(AQW 6128/08)

Mr C Murphy:The completion dates for the stations and halts to be upgraded under phase 2 in compliance with DDA are listed below:

Ballymena – Mid June 2008
Cullybackey – End of August 2008
Ballymoney – End of May 2008
Dhu Varren – Mid June 2008
Portrush – Mid June 2008
Castlerock – End of July 2008
Derry– End of July 2008

The nature of the work being carried out at these locations was detailed in my response to AQW 5219/08 dated 14 April 2008.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Community Organisations

Ms Anderson asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of community organisations her department has provided with match funding, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 5738/08)

The Minister for Social Development (Ms M Ritchie): The number of community organisations my Department has provided match funding in the 2007/08 financial year is 334. Details of this expenditure by parliamentary constituency are not recorded routinely and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

New Homes

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail how many of the 5,200 new homes, referred to in her statement to the Assembly on 26 February, will be built in the North Down constituency.

(AQW 5748/08)

Ms M Ritchie: The programme currently makes provision for 310 homes. As this programme is rolled forward each year to take account of changing circumstances, the total is subject to change.

Dungannon Housing Plan

Lord Morrow asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's expenditure for single improvement schemes for the Dungannon Housing Plan 2008/2009 programme.

(AQW 5806/08)

Ms M Ritchie: The current 2008/09Northern Ireland Housing Executive programme for Dungannon is as follows:

Work Category	Scheme	Estimated cost £	Projected start date
IMPROVEMENT
Single Element Improvement scheme	Eastvale/ Charlemont Street Dungannon	787,528	Nov 08

PLANNED MAINTENANCE
External Cyclical Maintenance	Coalisland/ Gortgonis	242,290	June 08
Kitchen Replacement	Cranebrook Crescent / Mullaghtinny	154,000	Sept 08
Kitchen Replacement	Springfield Crescent / Bernagh	313,500	Jan 09

Co-Ownership Scheme

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to detail (i) how the Co-Ownership Scheme is currently supporting people; and (ii) the number of people that are currently part of the Co-Ownership Scheme, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 5882/08)

Ms M Ritchie: The Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association is starting the current financial year with a grant of £15m. The Association will use this grant and external finance to achieve the Programme for Government target of helping 500 people this year.

The final column in the table below details the number of properties that are part of the Co-ownership scheme, broken down by District Council area, as at 31 March 2008. It is not possible to give a break down by parliamentary constituency.

Council Area	Homes currently owned through co-ownership
01 DERRY	239
02 LIMAVADY	44
03 COLERAINE	195
04 BALLYMONEY	53
05 MOYLE	12
06 LARNE	74
07 BALLYMENA	104
08 MAGHERAFELT	47
09 COOKSTOWN	52
10 STRABANE	39
11 OMAGH	44
12 FERMANAGH	41
13 DUNGANNON	29
14 CRAIGAVON	233
15 ARMAGH	31
16 NEWRY/MOURNE	89
17 BANBRIDGE	81
18 DOWN	121
19 LISBURN	307
20 ANTRIM	104
21 NEWTOWNABBEY	323
22 CARRICKFERGUS	173
23 NORTH DOWN	458
24 ARDS	285
25 CASTLEREAGH	135
26 BELFAST	530
	3,843

Benefits Up-Take

Dr McDonnell asked the Minister for Social Development for her department's assessment of the trend in the take-up rate of (i) pension credit; (ii) housing benefit; (iii) disability living allowance; (iv) attendance allowance; (v) income support; and (vi) job seekers allowance, when establishing the spending allocation for her department in (a) 2008-09; (b) 2009-10; and (c) 2010-11.

(AQW 5886/08)

Ms M Ritchie: The trend in benefit take-up rates was considered when preparing bids in the recent Budget process. Housing Benefit is primarily administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and no significant changes in workloads are forecast over the planning period. Statistics supplied to the Social Security Agency by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency indicated no significant changes across the planning period in terms of the Agency’s overall funding requirement.

However as a result of the Efficiency Review, the Agency is required to find 5% efficiencies each year of the Budget period. The Agency submitted a bid to re-instate this cut, but was unsuccessful and is therefore faced with a significant challenge in continuing to deliver the same volume of high quality services to its customers with less frontline resources.

Housing Association

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of properties owned by housing associations in (i) Groomsport; (ii) Rathgill; (iii) Willowbank/Balloo; (iv) Breezemount/Conlig; (v) Whitehill; (vi) Kilcooley; (vii) Bloomfield; (viii) Crawfordsburn; (ix) Helen's Bay; (x) Holywood; (xi) Donaghadee; (xii) Millisle; and (xiii) any other area in the North Down constituency.

(AQW 5917/08)

Ms M Ritchie: This information is detailed in the undernoted table.

AREA	NUMBER
Groomsport	4
Rathgill	92
Willowbank/Balloo	0
Breezemount/Conlig	54
Whitehill	16
Kilcooley	7
Bloomfield	102
Crawfordsburn	0
Helen’s Bay	5
Holywood	143
Donaghadee	137
Millisle	30
Other ( Bangor Central Area)	388
Total	978

Housing Executive

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of properties owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in (i) Groomsport; (ii) Rathgill; (iii) Willowbank/Balloo; (iv) Breezemount/Conlig; (v) Whitehill; (vi) Kilcooley; (vii) Bloomfield; (viii) Crawfordsburn; (ix) Helen's Bay; (x) Holywood; (xi) Donaghadee; (xii) Millisle; and (xiii) any other area in the North Down constituency.

(AQW 5918/08)

Ms M Ritchie: At March 2008, t he Northern Ireland Housing Executive owned the following properties in these areas:

Area	Total
Groomsport	61
Bloomfield/Rathgill/ Willowbrook	691
Conlig/Breezemount	193
Whitehill	277
Kilcooley	759
Crawfordsburn	22
Helens Bay	31
Holywood Loughview Redburn Spencer Street Strand/Kinnegar Woodlands Donaghadee Millisle	299 64 67 69 16 417 144
Other Churchill Clandeboye Road Clanmorris Lisnabreen	31 56 36 84
Total stock	3,317

Housing Executive

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people currently on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive waiting lists in (i) Groomsport; (ii) Rathgill; (iii) Willowbank/Balloo; (iv) Breezemount/Conlig; (v) Whitehill; (vi) Kilcooley; (vii) Bloomfield; (viii) Crawfordsburn; (ix) Helen's Bay; (x) Holywood; (xi) Donaghadee; (xii) Millisle; and (xiii) any other area in the North Down constituency.

(AQW 5919/08)

Ms M Ritchie: This information is not available in the format requested. The table below shows the waiting lists for the general allocation areas in the indicated areas at December 2007. The waiting list is a common waiting list covering both the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Housing Associations.

Settlement	Waiting List
Bangor Central	492
Holywood Central	142
Holywood Outer	201
Rural North Down	51
Millisle	48
Totals	934

New Build Schemes

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister for Social Development, in light of the identification of potential sites to accommodate new build schemes at Monkstown and New Mossley, to detail the stages of the process to develop these schemes that have been reached; and to confirm if a housing association has been involved in assessing these schemes for inclusion in its programme.

(AQW 5947/08)

Ms M Ritchie: In order to establish and ensure the principle of development and allow for some certainty in the programme, t he Housing Executive will be lodging an application for outline planning permission for the sites in Monkstown.

No specific site has yet been identified in New Mossley but the Housing Executive anticipates that a potential site or sites will be identified in the coming year. Following community consultation a planning application will be lodged by the Housing Executive. Due to its likelihood of being existing open space the PPS8 protocol will be applied to argue for an exception for social housing.

If development is permitted in Monkstown and/or New Mossley a Housing Association will be nominated to take each project forward.

Youth Workers

Ms Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development to detail (i) the number of youth workers based in North Belfast who are funded by her department; and (ii) the organisations in which these youth workers are based.

(AQW 5963/08)

Ms M Ritchie: My Department currently supports 27 youth worker posts based in the North Belfast Parliamentary Constituency. The posts are funded under the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, administered by the Belfast Regeneration Office and through the Community Capacity Building Programme which is administered by the North Belfast Community Action Unit. Although DSD has operational responsibility for the Unit, funding is provided by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.:

ORGANISATION	POSTS FUNDED
New Life Counselling	1 Youth Counsellor
Marrowbone Community Association	1 Youth Development Worker
123 House	1 Youth Work Co-ordinator and 2 Youth work Assistants
Manor Street – Confident Cliftonville Community	2 Youth Workers
Star Neighbourhood Centre	1 Youth & Community Development Worker and 2 Youth Development Workers
Corner House Cross Community Family Centre	1 Youth Work Co-ordinator
Tar Isteach	1 Youth Worker
Carrick Hill Residents Association	1 P/T Youth Worker
Rathcoole Community Empowerment Partnership (CEP)	1 Youth Development Officer
Cliftonville Antrim Road CEP	1 Youth Development Officer 2 p/t Youth Outreach Workers
Upper North Belfast CEP	1 Youth Development
Ardoyne & Marrowbone CEP	1 Youth Development Officer 2 p/t Youth Outreach Workers 2 Youth Club Workers (funded from 1/4/08 – 30/6/08)
Greater Greencastle CEP	2 p/t Youth Development Workers
Greater New Lodge CEP	1 Youth Development Worker
Citizen Youth CEP	1 Youth Worker (funded 1/4/08 – 30/9/08).
Greater Ballysillan CEP	1 Youth Development Officer (post vacant)
Upper Ardoyne CEP	1 Youth Development Officer (post vacant)

Incapacity Benefit

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people who have lost entitlement to incapacity benefit (i) over the last 6 month; and (ii) between 6 and 12 months ago.

(AQW 5996/08)

Ms M Ritchie: This information is normally obtained by the Department for Work and Pensions from scans of the Incapacity Benefit records held on computer. However due to the temporary suspension on the transfer of data between the Department for Social Development and the Department for Work and Pensions the most recent information held is for the period to 31 August 2007. As a result it is not possible to provide the details requested for the last 6 months but the information is available for the 6 months from 1 March 2007 to 31 August 2007 and this is set out in the table below.

Cases Where Entitlement to Incapacity Benefit Has Ended: By Reason for Termination

Reason	Total
	01/03/07 - 31/08/07
Closed certificate	3,668
Death of claimant	595
Award of Retirement Pension	1,149
At request of claimant	176
Failure to attend medical	481
Failure to provide information	266
Not Incapable: Own Occupation Test	11
Not Incapable: Personal Capability Assessment	3,037
Other	222
Return to work	157
Total	9,762

Job Seekers Allowance

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the current number of people claiming job seekers allowance, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

(AQW 6055/08)

Ms M Ritchie: The information requested is set out in the table below. The numbers shown reflect the number of claims for Jobseekers Allowance where an amount of Jobseekers Allowance was in payment at 14 March 2008.

Belfast East	861
Belfast North	2,145
Belfast South	1,212
Belfast West	2,958
East Antrim	950
East Londonderry	1,535
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	1,093
Foyle	2,892
Lagan Valley	855
Mid Ulster	791
Newry and Armagh	1,380
North Antrim	1,332
North Down	860
South Antrim	926
South Down	1,247
Strangford	923
Upper Bann	1,295
West Tyrone	1,729
Unallocated Postcode*	247
Total Claimants	25,231

Departmental Land

Mr Weir asked the Minister for Social Development to detail any land sold by her department in the North Down constituency since 2002.

(AQW 6121/08)

Ms M Ritchie: My Department has not sold any land in the North Down constituency since 2002.

ASSEMBLY COMMISSION

Reid Report

Mr Attwood asked the Assembly Commission to confirm with whom Mr. John Hunter has been meeting in advance of the proposed assessment of the implementation of the Reid Report by George Reid in April 2008.

(AQW 5465/08)

The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr R Coulter): Mr Hunter has held meetings with the Interim Clerk/Director General and members of the Implementation Team. In addition the Interim Clerk/Director General wrote to all Party Leaders, Deputy Party Leaders and Whips, and to the Chair of CLG, inviting them to meet John Hunter. To date, I understand that Mr Hunter has met with DUP and SDLP representatives. I understand that meetings are scheduled with the UUP and Alliance party representatives, the Chair of CLG and with officials from NIPSA.

Parliament Buildings Events

Mr Weir asked the Assembly Commission to detail the number of events that have been held in Parliament Buildings, Stormont in each of the last five months.

(AQW 5677/08)

The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr R Coulter): The attached table details the number of tours, functions and education events held at Parliament Buildings for each calendar year since January 1999 when records began.

AQW 5677/08 - NUMBER OF EVENTS AT PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS SINCE JAN 1999

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Total to Dec 07
Functions Only	342	307	323	319	159	192	162	196	357	2357
Functions with Tours	171	92	91	62	31	58	75	103	60	743
Tours Only	848	1007	573	564	255	377	302	365	559	4850
Tours with Hospitality	36	275	512	479	200	258	182	205	264	2411
Ed. Programme	0	0	0	0	95	134	177	257	374	1037
TOTALS	1,397	1,681	1,499	1,424	740	1,019	898	1,126	1,614	11398

Bottled Water

Mr McFarland asked the Assembly Commission, pursuant to the answer to AQW 4751/08, to detail the prices of large bottles of still and sparkling water provided for evening engagements at Parliament Buildings.

(AQW 5872/08)

The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr R Coulter): There is currently one size of bottled water (still or sparkling) provided for evening engagements at Parliament Buildings. The size of the bottle is a standard 250ml, and the cost per bottle is £0.94 inclusive of VAT.

CORRIGENDA

Written Answer Booklet of 11 April 2008
(Volume 29, No WA2)

In page WA137, col 1, replace the answer to question (AQW 5209/08) with;

It is not accurate to say that medical secretaries throughout the rest of Northern Ireland and England and Wales have been graded at grade 4. There is a mixture of grade 3 and grade 4 jobs within the medical secretary roles in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the UK. The 129 medical secretaries in the Ulster Hospital have been awarded their Agenda for Change grade 3 based on their job description and using the same process that has been used for grading all jobs in the Health and Social Care. I understand that the management and staff representatives in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have agreed to carry out a review of the grading assigned to the medical secretaries. This review will be carried out during week commencing 21 April 2008.

Written Answer Booklet of 11 April 2008
(Volume 29, No WA2)

In page WA149, col 1, replace the answer to question (AQW 5197/08) with;

My Department’s Roads Service has advised that while the roadways within Sanctuary Cove have been largely completed, it would not be appropriate to undertake final surfacing until the sewerage system within the development has been brought up to an acceptable standard for adoption by Northern Ireland Water (NIW). Both the roadways and the sewerage system within the development have not yet been adopted and remain the responsibility of the developer.

NIW has advised me that it has consulted extensively with the developer about the requirements to bring the sewerage system up to an adoptable standard, but has been awaiting information from the developer for some time to enable the process for formal adoption to proceed.