Friday 29 September 2000
Written Answers to Questions

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to detail the cost of the visit to the United States of America, during week commencing 11 September 2000, in respect of (a) travel and (b) accommodation.

(AQW 116/00)

Reply: The total travel and accommodation costs of our visit to the United States were as follows:

(a) Travel: £38,122

(b) Accommodation: £3,812.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to detail the number of civil servants and advisers who accompanied them to the United States of America, during week commencing 11 September 2000, to stipulate the offices they hold and to detail the costs those officials incurred in respect of (a) travel and (b) accommodation.

(AQW 117/00)

Reply: Eight officials accompanied the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister on their visit to the United States. The offices held by these officials are as follows:

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service

Office Manager to the Head of the Civil Service

Principal Private Secretary to the First Minister

Principal Private Secretary to the Deputy First Minister

Special Adviser and Chief of Staff to the First Minister

Special Adviser to the Deputy First Minister

Principal Information Officer to the First Minister

Principal Information Officer to the Deputy First Minister.

The costs incurred by these civil servants and special advisers in respect of travel and accommodation were as follows:

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to provide a list of meetings attended on the visit to the United States of America during the week commencing 11 September 2000.

(AQW 118/00)

Reply: Meetings with the following took place:

President Clinton and National Security Council advisers

Senator George Mitchell

Frank Holleman, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education

Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the US

Edward Montgomery, Deputy Secretary, Department of Labor

Sean O hUiginn, Ambassador of Ireland to the US

Strobe Talbott, Deputy Secretary of State at the Department of State

A reception for political and civic figures, arranged by the Northern Ireland Bureau, was attended.

In addition to the joint programme, the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister held a number of meetings separately during the remainder of their visit. Their meetings were with a variety of senior political leaders and media and business figures.

The Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service also held a number of meetings separately on 14 September to explore the best approach to Northern Ireland representation in the US, which is currently under consideration.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she is aware of the allegations of a cartel and price-fixing arrangement operated by meat plants in Northern Ireland and if she has access to any evidence to support these allegations.

(AQW 54/00)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Rodgers): I am aware that interests in Northern Ireland have made allegations to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) regarding a cartel in the beef sector and that these are being considered by the OFT.

Competition policy is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of OFT to pursue.

My Department will, of course, co-operate with the OFT in their consideration of these allegations and will make available any information that it considers might be helpful in its inquiries.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development when the report and findings of the Vision Group will be published.

(AQW 55/00)

Ms Rodgers: I expect to receive the report of the Steering Group set up to establish a vision for the future of the Northern Ireland agri-food sector at the end of February 2001.

A number of themes have already emerged from the deliberations of the group. I have sent a paper on these to the Executive Committee and will be sending it to the Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Rural Develop- ment within the next few days.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what amount of compensation will be made available to sheep farmers in the Silent Valley area, who have been compelled by the Water Service to move their stock off traditional grazing land, and for what period this compensation will be paid.

(AQW 56/00)

Ms Rodgers: My Department has already acted positively and sympathetically within the rules governing force majeure provisions to protect the premium position this year for farmers affected by the grazing ban. An urgent assessment of the full implications for the farmers affected is ongoing in an effort to establish the scope for action to ease their difficulties. I will write to you again when this assessment is completed and I can give a definite response.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she will list the names of those who sit on the Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority and advise (a) when they were appointed, (b) whom they represent, (c) what interests they have declared, (d) what organisation nominated them and (e) what organisation they represent in their official capacity.

(AQW 65/00)

Ms Rodgers: Details concerning those who sit on the Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority are as follows:

• Mr Robert Ferris – Chairperson
• Miss Anne Marie Cunningham – Deputy Chairperson
• Ms Margaret Andrews – Member
• Mr Richard Coulter – Member
• Mrs Deidre Harding – Member
• Mr Walter G Smyth – Member
• Mr Joseph Mawhinney – Member.

Mr Ferris and Miss Cunningham were appointed by the Department of Agriculture. The remainder were appointed in response to a public advertisement under procedures laid down by the Commission for Public Appointments.

No members of the authority have declared any interests which would conflict with their duties as members of the board of the authority.

None of the board members were nominated by any organisation.

All members, when discharging their roles as board members of the authority, do not represent the interests of any organisation other than the authority.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if overproduction of pork in the United States of America will have a negative effect upon the Northern Ireland market.

(AQW 73/00)

Ms Rodgers: The United States, like the European Union (including Northern Ireland), is a net exporter of pig meat. In recent years US exports have increased significantly, but this is not unusual for a country with vast supplies of low-priced feed grain and the freedom to export non-subsidised production.

Historically, any increase in supplies of pig meat on the world market has had a knock-on effect on all exporting countries, which, as a result, face stiffer competition in the market place. It is not possible to quantify the impact of this on any market, including the Northern Ireland market. However, as you may already be aware, the main market for our pig meat is within the UK, which is only about 70 % self-sufficient.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she would consider reintroducing the fox bounty.

(AQW 74/00)

Ms Rodgers: No. The fox bounty was paid previously in circumstances which suggested that the culling of the standing fox population was necessary to reduce the levels of predation by foxes of livestock, particularly poultry and lambs. However, the measure proved to be ineffective in reducing the standing population, as evidenced by Dr James Fairley’s report in 1968, which looked at the influence of hunting and, in particular, the impact of bounty schemes. The conclusion drawn from this study was that fox mortality attributable to man’s hunting activities, including this bounty scheme, failed the basic test for the control of any wild animal population, in that these activities did not exceed natural mortality and thus were not having any impact on the standing population. The recommendation of the report was that the bounty scheme be withdrawn.

In considering reintroduction, I have taken into account whether such a measure is needed again and its probable level of effectiveness. I have also considered the level of payment which would be needed to encourage participation and the cost of resources which would be needed to ensure proper monitoring.

Having regard to these factors, and particularly the costs which would, of course, compete against other funding needs faced by my Department, I conclude that I would not be justified in reintroducing such a scheme.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide figures illustrating the numbers of livestock and poultry losses attributed to foxes in each of the past five years.

(AQW 75/00)

Ms Rodgers: My Department does not collect any statistics on mortalities due to wildlife predation.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline the full impact recent diesel price rises will have on the viability of many fishing businesses and whether any plans have been made to address this problem.

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Ms Rodgers: The impact of diesel price rises on the viability of fishing businesses will depend on many factors for example, the usage of diesel and the value of fish landed. There is nevertheless no doubt that businesses are being detrimentally affected. Whilst I do not have any direct influence on international oil prices or the level of taxation, this serves to emphasise the need to seek to increase the income of fishermen by addressing the related problems of the poor state of fish stocks and over-capacity. For the latter purpose I am actively considering the possibility of introducing a decommissioning scheme for fishing vessels later in the year.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she plans to take any measures to control the spread of vermin in the form of Grey-back crows or foxes.

(AQW 77/00)

Ms Rodgers: The Department publishes leaflets which are available through local countryside Management Division offices — namely, ‘Control of Pests on the Farm (Animals)’ and ‘Control of Animals on the Farm (Wild Birds)’. Copies of the leaflets are enclosed for your information. However, at this time it is not proposed to introduce any measures to control the spread of vermin in the form of grey-back crows or foxes.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what support and advice is available to newly formed farmer co-operatives.

(AQW 105/00)

Ms Rodgers: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development provides support for the setting up of co-operatives and for the salaries of key staff. Under the Marketing Development Scheme 50% grant is paid on eligible costs where these form part of a marketing initiative.

It is also planned that in the new phase of the Rural Development Programme, which will run until 2006, the Department will provide some capital funding for local projects and programmes developed by farmers’ groups and other collective groups in rural areas. These groups will be able to apply for money to carry out a project which they believe will improve economic, environmental or social conditions in their areas.

The Department’s Agri-food Development Service can provide assistance to the members of co-operatives through its lifelong learning programmes. Farmers wishing to avail of these programmes in the South Antrim area should contact the senior rural enterprise adviser, who is based at Kilpatrick House, 38󈞢 High Street, Ballymena (Telephone 028 2566 2834).

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the source of the additional £7·7m allocated to the Rural Development Plan and announced on 15 September 2000; and if it was (a) additional money from the European Union or (b) modulation money already available to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

(AQW 139/00)

Ms Rodgers: The additional £7·7m which I allocated to the LFA element of the Rural Development Plan was secured by me from the Treasury. It is not EU money, nor is it modulation money, nor has it been taken from other Northern Ireland programmes.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what proportion of the £254m allocated to the Rural Development Plan on the 15 September 2000 comes from the modulation funding already available to the Department

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Ms Rodgers: Approximately 15% of the £254m allocated to the Rural Development Plan will come from modulation funding. However, it must be remembered that an equivalent sum of match funding—that is, additional money—was made available at the time modulation was introduced. Most of this remains unallocated because, unlike money raised from modulation, it may be used across all of the measures in the Rural Development Regulation (EC 1257/1999) and it seemed sensible to allow as much time as possible for consideration of how this money might be used. In the context of the Rural Development Plan, I have been able to make available an additional £7·7m for aid to the less-favoured areas.

Mr ONeill asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development when she became aware of the Department of Regional Development’s plan to ban sheep grazing in the Silent Valley and to report on whether she was consulted by the Minister for Regional Development on the likely impact of his decision on the farming community.

(AQW 161/00)

Ms Rodgers: My Department first became of aware on 14 December 1999—through the Environment and Heritage Service—of the Water Service’s proposal to ban sheep from the Silent Valley. At a meeting with the Water Service on 28 January 2000 the need was stressed for the Water Service to keep the graziers of the sheep informed. Discussions ensued between officials on the duration and impact of the ban, which was initially imposed for the period to the end of May 2000 and subsequently extended for the rest of the summer grazing season to the end of October 2000.

I was not consulted by the Department for Regional Development prior to the announcement of the decision to further extend the ban until the new water treatment works is completed in 2003. My officials are now considering with the Department for Regional Development the implications of the extended ban.

Mr McHugh asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to confirm if the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has been issuing fish farming licences beyond its territorial jurisdiction in the areas of Carlingford and Warrenpoint; and if she will make a statement.

(AQW 176/00)

Ms Rodgers: I can confirm that the Department has not issued any fish farming licences in the Carlingford and Warrenpoint areas beyond the boundary of the area on the northern side of the dredged channel, which was notified to the Irish Government as the area within which the Department could grant fish farming licences.

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what funding was made available to (a) soccer, (b) rugby, (c) hockey (d) Gaelic games and (e) other sports in each of the last five years.

(AQW 70/00)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McGimpsey): Funding for sport in Northern Ireland is made available through the Sports Council for Northern Ireland. The figures are as follows:

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he intends to lobby the Gaelic Athletic Association for the repeal of its Rule 21 in line with recommendation 114 of the report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland.

(AQW 78/00)

Mr McGimpsey: My views on Rule 21 are widely known, and as recently as 3 July 2000, in response to a Question asked by Derek Hussey in the Assembly, I emphasised my view:

I am aware that the GAA has been reviewing its position in regard to Rule 21, and as recently as 19 January 2000, in a press statement issued by the association, Mr Joe McDonagh, President of the GAA, reiterated the body’s intention to remove Rule 21 from its rule book

However, the constitutional position of the GAA is a matter for them, and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene. However, I can assure you that I will be taking every available opportunity to emphasise my position in regard to this matter.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what representation he will make to local media to ensure that soccer receives the same amount of positive coverage as other sports.

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Mr McGimpsey: It is a matter for the media to decide how much coverage should be given to soccer— indeed, any sport. However, I have regularly been in touch with the media about soccer in Northern Ireland and have issued six press releases on the subject in the past three months. I have visited a number of Irish League soccer grounds, given several interviews on the subject to television and radio and written an article for a newspaper on the subject.

I intend to continue to be active in this area, but responsibility remains with soccer to promote itself through the media.

Mr Dallat asked the Minister of Education to detail the numbers of teachers qualifying in Northern Ireland in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and to indicate how many of these teachers are still seeking full-time, permanent posts in (a) the primary and secondary sector or (b) the further and higher education sector.

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The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): Intakes to initial teacher education courses and matters relating to teacher employment generally are the responsibility of my Department.

The numbers of teachers qualifying from full-time initial teacher education courses on Northern Ireland was 644 in 1997-98 and 649 in 1998-99. Information on the number of teachers qualifying in 1999-2000 is not yet available.

In June 2000 a total of 46 teachers in the primary sector under 25 years of age were registered with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment as seeking teaching posts, five of whom had been unemployed for more than six months. The equivalent figures for the secondary sector were 28 and three respectively. Data for the further and higher education sectors are not available.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education for a breakdown of (a) the provision of pre-school places for each constituency in Northern Ireland, (b) the locations where they are provided and (c) the organisations providing them.

(AQW 84/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The numbers and types of pre-school places in each constituency, taken from the census return of October 1999, are set out in the table below. I will arrange for a copy of tables showing the locations of these places and the organisations providing them to be placed in the Assembly Library.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education what steps he intends to take to address the problem of newly qualified teachers who are unable to find full-time employment in teaching.

(AQW 85/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The number and types of vacancies for which newly qualified teachers may be eligible to apply in any one year are influenced by a wide range of factors, but principally the decisions of schools on both the desired size of their teaching complements and the designation of teaching posts as full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary. Evidence suggests that many temporary posts filled by newly qualified teachers are made permanent, and the majority of such teachers therefore obtain permanent posts within the first few years of appointment.

It is, however, important that schools be aware of the implications of designating a post as temporary or permanent, and to that end the employing authorities are in the process of preparing advice to schools on the use of temporary and permanent employment contracts, taking account of a range of school circumstances and employment legislation. The Department will also continue, through the application of its statistical teacher demand model, to correlate as closely as possible the likely projected vacancies in schools with the intake numbers it sets annually for each of the teacher training institutions.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education when he intends to have the headed notepaper in his Department incorporate Ulster-Scots in order that all sections of the community might be treated equally, as required under the Belfast Agreement.

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Mr M McGuinness: I am perfectly happy to have the title and address of my Department in Ulster-Scots on my letter-headed paper. However, given that the Executive Committee has commissioned work to develop a corporate image for the Administration, and in the interests of economy, I do not propose to make any changes until that work is completed.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education if he has considered how newly qualified and, as yet, unemployed teachers might be used to tackle under-achievement in literacy and numeracy in areas of social need.

(AQW 87/00)

Mr M McGuinness: There are no literacy and numeracy projects specifically aimed at using newly qualified, but unemployed, teachers. Summer literacy and numeracy schemes and out-of-school-hours learning activities, however, offer the potential for such teachers to help to address underachievement in literacy and numeracy. Decisions on the staffing of such programmes are a matter for the employing authorities.

Mrs Carson asked the Minister of Education what steps will be taken to give children with dyslexia or dyspraxia an equal opportunity when sitting keystage 1 and keystage 2 assessments.

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Mr M McGuinness: The statutory assessment arrangements at key stages 1 and 2 afford equal opportunities to all pupils. There are no external tests involved for pupils in these key stages. As part of their day-to-day teaching, all teachers assess pupils’ work in a variety of ways and make a judgement about the level at which each pupil is working in a subject. In years 4 and 7, teachers also use two assessment units in English and mathematics. These are not tests but informal tasks supplied by the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment and are used as part of the normal classroom work to help confirm a teacher’s judgement. The teacher then selects the level description which best fits the pupil’s work over a period, based on performance as a whole.

Mr O’Connor asked the Minister of Education if he will review the current school transport policy to assist parents in sending their children to what they consider to be the most appropriate school.

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Mr M McGuinness: The arrangements approved by my Department support parental preference and enable education and library boards to provide transport assistance where a pupil is unable to gain a place in a suitable school within statutory walking distance of his or her home. The definition of "suitable school" has regard to the well-established categories of controlled, catholic maintained, integrated and Irish-medium and, in the grammar sector, denominational and non-denominational schools.

To extend the policy would divert resources away from the classroom when our aim should be to concentrate the maximum possible level of resources on teaching and learning.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Education what action has been taken to help schools to promote higher standards of behaviour.

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Mr M McGuinness: The School Improvement Programme, launched in 1998, includes a discipline strategy aimed at promoting and sustaining good behaviour. The key features of this strategy, which are in the process of being implemented, include:

• the creation of multi-disciplinary behaviour support teams in each education and library board to work with teachers and pupils on behaviour management;
• the creation of pupil referral units providing up to 200 additional short-stay withdrawal places for pupils whose behavioural problems cannot be satisfactorily managed within school;
• pilots in each education and library board area of permanent alternative provision for the most disruptive 14-16 year-olds for whom mainstream education is not suitable;
• the preparation of best practice guidelines for schools on a range of discipline policies;
• new legislation to strengthen the position of schools in matters of discipline, such as detention and suspension.

In the current financial year some £6·1m will be spent on implementing these measures and on tackling related issues, such as truancy. It will inevitably take a little time for the full effect of these recent initiatives to become apparent, but I believe they will make a significant contribution towards promoting good behaviour in schools.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Education to detail his plans to reduce the number of pupils who demonstrate low attainment in numeracy and literacy.

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Mr M McGuinness: The strategy for the promotion of literacy and numeracy in primary and secondary schools includes a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving literacy and numeracy standards for all pupils.

The main features of the strategy are:

• all schools are required to have a literacy and numeracy policy, regularly revised and shared with parents, and a teacher designated as a co-ordinator for each;
• inter-board steering groups have been established to secure full and effective co-ordination of literacy and numeracy promotion across all boards;
• a team of six literacy/numeracy development officers is in place in each board area;
• a major three year in-service programme of literacy and numeracy training for all schools is under way, offering up to six days’ whole-staff training per school;
• a programme for training "Reading Recovery" teachers (a support programme for children in year 2 (5/6-year-olds) who are experiencing difficulties with reading);
• literacy and numeracy targets have been set for pupils at ages 8, 11 and 14; all schools are required to set their own targets for attainment;
• the provision by the Department of benchmarking data to enable schools to judge their own performance against schools in similar circumstances;
• the development and dissemination of guidance and good practice materials;
• the establishment of summer literacy and numeracy schemes which will be enhanced by resources made available by the New Opportunities Fund as part of its out-of-school-hours learning activities; and
• the National Year of Reading and Maths 2000, aimed at engaging the whole community in the effort to raise standards.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Education if he will detail his plans for reducing primary school class sizes and what progress has been made over the last three years.

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Mr M McGuinness: The class sizes in primary schools policy has been applied progressively and now covers all pupils in key stage 1. It began with P1 classes in September 1998 and was extended to P2 classes in September 1999 and to P3 and P4 classes in September 2000.

The policy has been a great success: there are currently no P1 and P2 classes over 30 pupils, apart from a few schools where exceptions were granted under the policy, nor is there any evidence of larger classes in key stage 2.

Ms E Bell asked the Minister of Education when he expects to announce the findings of the Gallagher Report on the transfer procedure.

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Mr M McGuinness: I plan to publish the Gallagher Report on 28 September 2000.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Education if his announcement on 5 July 2000 about term-time staff was premature.

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Mr M McGuinness: My announcement of 5 July recognised that further negotiations would take place.

I am pleased that negotiations are to continue, as this is the only way a solution can be reached.

Ms Lewsley asked the Minister of Education if he has any plans to introduce transport for pre-school children attending nursery schools.

(AQO 54/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The arrangements approved by my Department for the provision of home-to-school transport restrict provision to pupils who have reached the lower limit of compulsory school age. I have no plans at present to extend provision to pupils attending nursery schools.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education if he is satisfied that the recent offer from the management side of the Joint Negotiation Council to the term time staff in schools, in the matter of a retainer fee, is a fair and equitable response.

(AQO 50/00)

Mr M McGuinness: It would be inappropriate for me to comment given that negotiations are ongoing. The elements of the offer are for the employing authorities to judge, taking account of pay relativities with other groups of staff. I do know that it is a genuine attempt to address the concerns of staff, particularly in relation to payment over the summer months.

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Education what is the current pay offer from the joint negotiating committee to term-time-only workers and if he recommends acceptance of this offer.

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Mr M McGuinness: The recent offer by the employing authorities includes a one-off payment of £200 for all term-time staff and a move to a 12-monthly pay cycle. The employers will also bring forward the commencement of the job evaluation exercise which will examine what pay rates should apply in future.

It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the offer in circumstances where negotiations are ongoing. I am sympathetic to the situation of these staff, and I am pleased that negotiations will continue as this is the only way a solution can be reached.

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