Friday 12 January 2001
Written Answers to Questions

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Ulster Farmers’ Union

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to (a) confirm that she has had regular meetings with the Ulster Farmers’ Union and (b) detail what issues were discussed.

(AQW 1130/00)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Rodgers): I have met representatives of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) on a number of occasions since the restoration of devolution. I made a trip to union headquarters in October when I met with the commodity and central committee chairpersons. My most recent business meeting was in early November, although I also hosted the launch of the UFU food promotion initiative at the end of November.

During the course of my meetings with the UFU, we have discussed a wide range of issues reflecting the current concerns of the industry, such as the difficulties in the pigs sector, the case for the relaxation of the beef export restrictions, the new LFA support scheme, agrimoney compensation and the draft Programme for Government.

At an operational level, officials from throughout my Department are in contact with UFU officials and office bearers almost daily.

EDUCATION

Special Advisers

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Education to confirm that his special adviser has a criminal record resulting from terrorist-related convictions.

(AQW 980/00)

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): I do not consider it appropriate to answer requests for personal details about civil servants.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail how many telecommunications masts have been placed within the grounds of schools and if he will identify, by management type, those schools in which masts have been erected.

(AQW 990/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that there are currently six such masts, with one in each of the following schools -

There is no evidence to suggest that the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools is affected by telecommunications masts on school premises. The independent expert group on mobile phones, which reported on this matter last May, concluded that mobile phone base stations presented no general health and safety risks. However, in line with the recommendations in the group’s report, the Radiocommunications Agency will be carrying out an audit of telecommunications masts on school premises to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded and the masts comply with agreed specifications. I am aware of genuine concern about the issue, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

There are four masts on education and library board-owned premises but neither the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools nor the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education have entered into contracts with telecommunications suppliers for the siting of masts within their grounds. The erection of masts on school grounds is a matter for individual school authorities. I am satisfied that the resources allocated to them are sufficient to meet the funding needs of schools. My Department is not party to contracts between telecommunications providers and school authorities and has no plans to monitor any such contracts.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education if he will ensure that all telecommunications masts sited within school grounds meet with current safety legislation.

(AQW 991/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that there are currently six such masts, with one in each of the following schools -

There is no evidence to suggest that the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools is affected by telecommunications masts on school premises. The independent expert group on mobile phones, which reported on this matter last May, concluded that mobile phone base stations presented no general health and safety risks. However, in line with the recommendations in the group’s report, the Radiocommunications Agency will be carrying out an audit of telecommunications masts on school premises to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded and the masts comply with agreed specifications. I am aware of genuine concern about the issue and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

There are four masts on education and library board-owned premises but neither the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools nor the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education have entered into contracts with telecommunications suppliers for the siting of masts within their grounds. The erection of masts on school grounds is a matter for individual school authorities. I am satisfied that the resources allocated to them are sufficient to meet the funding needs of schools. My Department is not party to contracts between telecommunications providers and school authorities and has no plans to monitor any such contracts.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education if he will confirm that safeguards exist to protect the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools or colleges where telecommunications masts are currently sited.

(AQW 992/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that there are currently six such masts, with one in each of the following schools -

There is no evidence to suggest that the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools is affected by telecommunications masts on school premises. The independent expert group on mobile phones, which reported on this matter last May, concluded that mobile phone base stations presented no general health and safety risks. However, in line with the recommendations in the group’s report, the Radiocommunications Agency will be carrying out an audit of telecommunications masts on school premises to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded and the masts comply with agreed specifications. I am aware of genuine concern about this issue, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

There are four masts on education and library board-owned premises but neither the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools nor the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education have entered into contracts with telecommunications suppliers for the siting of masts within their grounds. The erection of masts on school grounds is a matter for individual school authorities. I am satisfied that the resources allocated to them are sufficient to meet the funding needs of schools. My Department is not party to contracts between telecommunications providers and school authorities and has no plans to monitor any such contracts.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education what steps he is taking to reduce the need for boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education or individual schools to seek alternative funding by entering into contracts with telecommunications suppliers that necessitate the siting of masts within their grounds and if he will make a statement.

(AQW 993/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that there are currently six such masts, with one in each of the following schools -

There is no evidence to suggest that the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools is affected by telecommunications masts on school premises. The independent expert group on mobile phones, which reported on this matter last May, concluded that mobile phone base stations presented no general health and safety risks. However, in line with the recommendations in the group’s report, the Radiocommunications Agency will be carrying out an audit of telecommunications masts on school premises to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded and the masts comply with agreed specifications. I am aware of genuine concern about this issue, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

There are four masts on education and library board-owned premises but neither the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools nor the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education have entered into contracts with telecommunications suppliers for the siting of masts within their grounds. The erection of masts on school grounds is a matter for individual school authorities. I am satisfied that the resources allocated to them are sufficient to meet the funding needs of schools. My Department is not party to contracts between telecommunications providers and school authorities and has no plans to monitor any such contracts.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to ensure that he will closely monitor contracts entered into by telecommunications providers and education and library boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education or individuals.

(AQW 994/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that there are currently six such masts, with one in each of the following schools -

There is no evidence to suggest that the health and safety of staff and pupils in schools is affected by telecommunications masts on school premises. The independent expert group on mobile phones, which reported on this matter last May, concluded that mobile phone base stations presented no general health and safety risks but in line with the recommendations in the group’s report, the Radiocommunications Agency will be carrying out an audit of telecommunications masts on school premises to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded and the masts comply with agreed specifications. I am aware of genuine concern about this issue, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.

There are four masts on education and library board-owned premises but neither the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools nor the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education have entered into contracts with telecommunications suppliers for the siting of masts within their grounds. The erection of masts on school grounds is a matter for individual school authorities. I am satisfied that the resources allocated to them are sufficient to meet the funding needs of schools. My Department is not party to contracts between telecommunications providers and school authorities and has no plans to monitor any such contracts.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Education to state the definition of (a) urban, and (b) rural used within his Department.

(AQW 1005/00)

Mr M McGuinness: In general terms, urban applies to cities and towns and rural to all other areas.

For the purposes of the new viability criteria for Irish-medium and integrated primary schools, the Department is applying the definition of urban to Belfast and Derry and rural to all other areas.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment of the impact of anti-smoking programmes in schools in the last ten years.

(AQW 1046/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I am very aware of the importance of getting across the anti-smoking message in schools. This is an aspect of health education that is a compulsory element of the school curriculum. My Department, in conjunction with other bodies, has issued guidance to schools on smoking as part of an overall package on the misuse of drugs. However, it must be recognised that this is only part of the picture; a school can only ensure that it gets across the message about the harmful effects of smoking. Outside school there are unfortunately very strong messages that promote and encourage young people to smoke.

While no assessments have been carried out in the past ten years on the impact of schools on anti-smoking, the Health Promotion Agency has carried out a number of campaigns over the past number of years. Although these were not targeted specifically at schools, they have aimed to reduce the incidence of smoking among young people. Evaluations of these campaigns showed that they had had positive results.

Mr P Doherty asked the Minister of Education to (a) detail all buildings and amenities within his responsibility in the constituency of West Tyrone (b) outline the percentage of his budget that has been allocated to the West Tyrone constituency and (c) explain how this compares with the previous budget.

(AQW 1090/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Responsibility for buildings and amenities rests with the owners. Within the education sector in West Tyrone, the owners are the Western Education and Library Board and individual voluntary bodies. Budget information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Investment: East Antrim

Mr Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment if the IDB has any plans to attract investment to the East Antrim area.

(AQW 1028/00)

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Sir Reg Empey): The IDB seeks to encourage new employment from existing companies and new investors. In the past couple of years in particular, this investment has been mostly from the knowledge-based sectors such as telecommunications, software development and call centre operations. The recent world-class investments by Nortel Networks in Monkstown and by C-MAC and Solectron mean that East Antrim is now very well placed as an attractive location for further inward investment. Land for investments is available at Carrickfergus and Larne.

The IDB has also been working with local councils, including those in East Antrim, to support the councils’ own efforts and to ensure co-operation with the IDB in the attraction of these kinds of projects. The work has included participation in the CORE group of councils’ strategy conference in May 2000. The IDB has also recently held a seminar for all council economic development officers in order to share experiences in marketing Northern Ireland as an investment location and encourage joint working in the future.

Mr Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the steps he is taking to encourage the use of recycled products in industry.

(AQW 1029/00)

Sir Reg Empey: Since 1993, my Department, through the Industrial Research & Technology Unit (IRTU), has managed a range of programmes to encourage industry to improve its environmental performance and competitiveness. Over that time the emphasis has shifted from recycling towards waste minimisation and reuse as the preferred options in the waste hierarchy.

Market-led demand for recycled products is essential to the economic viability of waste recycling. The environmental newsletter produced by IRTU, ‘POINT’, has featured articles promoting the use and purchase of recycled products. It has also highlighted the NI 2000 buy recycled campaign, which aims to close the recycling loop by increasing the demand for recycled products.

My Department, with the Department of the Environment, is supporting an international conference, exhibition and design competition aimed at promoting the development of markets for recycled products. The event ‘Blue Skies - Green Horizons’, to be held in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast from 5 February to 7 February, will highlight how new sustainable business opportunities can be created by developing products that use recycled materials.

Since 1994, IRTU’s waste exchange bureau has supported the development of a network of local recycling companies by facilitating the exchange of waste materials between producers and potential users. The recently launched Internet-based waste exchange, NIWEB, has improved the sourcing of recyclable wastes, helping local companies respond to demands for recycled products and materials.

IRTU provides financial support to promote environmental auditing and the development of accredited environmental management systems within businesses. Participating companies are encouraged to adopt green purchasing policies to reduce their environmental impacts and improve resource efficiency.

The supply chain challenge, which encourages business champions to influence the greening of their supplier base, has been actively supported and promoted by IRTU.

Mr Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (a) the number of IDB and LEDU potential investors who visited Northern Ireland in each of the past five years and (b) the areas visited by constituency.

(AQW 1031/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The IDB records details of potential inward investor visits by district council area and has not maintained a separate record of visits by parliamentary constituency.

The attached table provides details of visits, by potential inward investors to district council areas, arranged by the IDB between April 1995 and March 2000. The IDB deals with all inward visits, irrespective of the size of the potential new project; this is why there are no separate figures for LEDU.

However, LEDU works closely with the IDB and the various councils in those visits that have relevance to their client companies. In November 1999, for example, LEDU, in conjunction with Into the West, a consortium of the five local district councils in Tyrone and Fermanagh including LEDU, hosted a conference in Omagh when 15 companies from Australia, Canada and New Zealand visited the region to seek out opportunities for joint venture investments with small companies there. The investors visited companies in the constituencies of West Tyrone, Mid Ulster, and Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline his plans to review the number and location of IDB offices in the United States of America and whether he proposes to establish an office in Washington D.C. to work in co-operation with the Northern Ireland Bureau.

(AQW 1038/00)

Sir Reg Empey: IDB’s resources, including the number and location of its offices, are constantly reviewed and aligned to the inward investment opportunity in the territorial and sectoral markets across the USA.

The inward investment business opportunity from Washington D.C. has been adequately serviced to date from the IDB’s office in Boston, in co-operation with the Northern Ireland Bureau. However, I will be looking at the wider opportunities over the coming months in view of the recent announcement about the future of the Department’s agencies.

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the total cost incurred in each of the last two financial years by each of the four IDB offices in the United States of America and the amount proposed under the draft Budget for 2001/2002.

(AQW 1039/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The cost incurred for the past two years is tabled below. The Chicago (head office) costs include all centralised administration billing, IT and management costs common to all the USA offices. It is not possible to meaningfully allocate the PR activity costs by location due to the cross-sectoral and geographical nature of the activities.

Mr Beggs asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail which of the IDB offices in the United States of America is responsible for interaction with the political and business communities in Washington D.C.

(AQW 1040/00)

Sir Reg Empey: IDB’s office in Boston is responsible for targeting the business community in Washington DC, and establishes links with the Northern Ireland Bureau on political influencers in that area.

Mr Fee asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the average wage for (a) an adult male in Northern Ireland for each of the last five years and (b) an adult female in Northern Ireland for each of the last five years.

(AQW 1062/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The average gross weekly earnings of full–time adult employees whose pay was unaffected by absence for each of the last five years by gender are as follows:

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to (a) give his assessment of the aggregate tax on quarrying and (b) outline the steps he is taking to counter its introduction into Northern Ireland.

(AQW 1074/00)

Sir Reg Empey: On 29 November 2000, Mark Durkan and officials from relevant Departments including the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment met representatives of the Quarry Products Association (QPA) to hear their assessment of the impact of the proposed aggregates levy on the Northern Ireland quarrying sector.

Mark Durkan made a subsequent statement in response to the Assembly motion on 12 December 2000, setting out the position and the steps that he and ministerial colleagues were taking to fully assess the impact of the levy on the quarrying industry and the local economy as the basis for deciding whether a sustainable case can be made to the Treasury. Of course, I am concerned about the particular impact of the levy on the competitiveness of Northern Ireland quarrying products companies, and Ministerial colleagues and I, are giving the matter the fullest consideration. We are also having regard to the objectives on sustainable development that the Executive have signed up to in the draft Programme for Government.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to (a) list the designated Targeting Social Need areas in each constituency (b) detail any recent review of those areas and (c) give his assessment of Targeting Social Need in the Strangford constituency.

(AQW 1075/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s New TSN action plan, together with all other departmental action plans, will be published shortly by the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister and will contain, a) details of the areas designated, and b) the basis on which areas were reviewed to consider and identify disadvantage.

As regards the Strangford constituency, my reply to AQW 886/00 explained that the councils within the constituency do not exhibit overall high levels of disadvantage compared to other areas, and have therefore not been designated for New TSN purposes by the Department.

The Department will, however, react to significant employment changes in an area, whether designated under New TSN or not. The establishment of the Ards task force within the Strangford constituency is an example of this approach.

Mr Paisley Jnr asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (a) the number of official Christmas cards he has sent (b) the cost of their design, publication and postage and (c) the list of people on the Minister’s official Christmas card list.

(AQW 1111/00)

(a) The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment has sent approximately 410 official Christmas cards.

(b) The Minister’s official Christmas card was ordered from a charity catalogue at a cost of £810. Postage cost £87.

(c) Christmas cards are typically sent to individuals and members of organisations with which the Department regularly corresponds or which have a significant interest in the Department’s activities and responsibilities.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail his contingency plans to protect the international competitiveness of energy-intensive companies should the European Commission refuse the package of measures associated with the introduction of the climate change levy.

(AQW 1140/00)

Sir Reg Empey: Policy on the climate change levy is a reserved taxation matter and remains the responsibility of Parliament. I therefore relay the following answer provided in response to the same question, raised as an oral Parliamentary Question in the House of Lords on 23 November 2000:

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the number of visitors to the top ten visitor centres in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

(AQW 1141/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) collates figures for a range of facilities included in the itineraries of visitors to Northern Ireland. "Tourist visitors" may comprise only a small proportion of total visitors to the facilities over the year. Performance figures are presented in NITB’s annual Visitor Attraction Survey report. A copy of the report is available in the Assembly Library.

FINANCE AND PERSONNEL

Rural Shops and Post Offices: Rates Relief

Mrs Carson asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what steps he is taking to implement the provisions of Schedule 1 of the Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and if he will indicate when rural shops and post offices in Northern Ireland can expect to benefit from the same level of rates relief as that already enjoyed by their counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales.

(AQW 1064/00)

The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr Durkan): I refer you to the answer (AQW 621/00), which I gave on 24 November to the Member for East Antrim, Sean Neeson, in the Official Report for that date — the Written Answers to Questions booklet that was issued to all Members.

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