(AQW 2781/01)

Reply: The establishment of a Non-Executive Bill Unit is a matter for the Assembly Commission and we have not discussed this with them.

(AQW 2991/01)

Reply: To support the actions contained in "Reshape, Rebuild, Achieve" a £3 million Strategy Implementation Fund has been created with funding coming jointly from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Office. This £3 million fund is for use by Departments and Agencies to fund projects and services of direct benefit to victims and will not be allocated directly to victims’ groups. The administrative costs of allocating and distributing this fund will be met by the Victims Unit of our department. It is anticipated that administrative costs associated with any project funded will be kept to a minimum.

(AQW 3078/01)

Reply: The criteria used to determine who is consulted is contained in the Equality Commission’s guidance on the implementation of the statutory duties which was approved by a former Secretary of State. The Equality Commission guidance states, "Consultation must be carried out with relevant interest groups as well as the Equality Commission, other public bodies, voluntary, community, trade union and other groups with a legitimate interest in the matter."

Our department’s Equality Scheme gives officials discretion to consult relevant organisations drawn from the Scheme’s consultation list. We are committed to ensuring that consultation is effective, inclusive and as meaningful as possible. . We recognise that the consultation process has given rise to some difficulties both for those consulting and those consulted and are looking at ways to improve our methods of consultation.

(AQW 3290/01)

Reply: The level of expenditure spent by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on consultancy firms/consultants in each of the last three years is as follows:

(AQW 3420/01)

Reply: Our department has responsibility for four non-departmental public bodies, these are: -

• The Northern Ireland Economic Council;

• The Statute Law Committee for Northern Ireland;

• The Planning Appeals Commission; and

• The Water Appeals Commission.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is an Executive non-departmental public body of the Northern Ireland Office, however our department has responsibility for allocating its budget.

The Cabinet Office Publication " Public Bodies 2001" contains information on Non-Departmental Public Bodies including their location, the number of staff employed and their expenditure. Copies of this publication are held in the Assembly Library and are also available on the Cabinet office website www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/quangos.

(AQW 3291/01)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Rodgers): My Department does not retain information on the number of people employed as fishermen on fishing vessels registered in Northern Ireland. However, the information available on the number of people employed in the fishing catching sector is as follows:

(AQW 3393/01)

(a) Under EC beef labelling rules non-compulsory labelling claims for beef, including beef imported from Third Countries, are required to be approved by my Department and are subject to verification by a Government recognised beef labelling verification body. Verification audits are carried out annually or at more regular intervals at the discretion of the verification body.

(b) Where beef, including beef imported from third countries is mixed with other meat the beef labelling rules apply only if the beef constitutes 50% or more of the meat. The rules do not apply to beef sold in the form of processed beef products such as sausages, ready made meals or canned beef. All meat and meat products including meat imported from other member states or third countries are required to be processed in licensed premises under the control of either the Department’s Veterinary Service or Environmental Health Officers of the local District Councils as appropriate.

(AQW 3422/01)

Ms Rodgers: Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), an Agency of the Department of the Environment, wrote to DARD on 12 April 2001 to advise that they were proposing to declare Deer Park as an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI). In accordance with longstanding procedures between EHS and DARD in relation to ASSI designations, a map and associated documentation were enclosed with the EHS letter. DARD formally responded to EHS on 10 May 2001 to apprise them that Forest Service, an Agency within DARD, had lands within the area proposed for ASSI declaration.

EHS wrote to Forest Service on 28 March 2002 to advise that they had on that date declared Deer Park an ASSI and providing an opportunity to make any representations or objections before confirmation of the designation. On 9 May 2002 Forest Service responded to inform EHS of its plans for future timber harvesting operations.

I understand that while the main intention of the Deer Park ASSI designation is to protect glacial deposits and underground features from damage, normal agricultural activities or forestry operations are unlikely to be affected. It is expected that communication between EHS and DARD will continue in coming weeks.

(AQW 3455/01)

Ms Rodgers: Imports of animals from other Member States and Third Countries into NI must comply with the animal health conditions laid down in the respective Commission Decision or Council Directive, and be accompanied by a health certificate which conforms to the model laid down in the respective Decision or Directive, and which must be signed by an official veterinarian of the veterinary authority in the country of origin.

Furthermore, animals originating in Third countries must enter the Community via a Border Inspection Post (BIP), but since there is no approved BIP for live animals in NI, such animals may only be imported into NI via a BIP in GB or another Member State.

Although normal trade in imported animals from GB has not resumed, at the commencement of trade such animals will be required to be imported in line with EU requirements.

In most cases, provided animals meet the import conditions as laid down in the relevant Directive/ Decision, the Directives do not require the need for post import physical checks. However, all imported animals are subject to documentary and identifications checks.

The tests or treatments currently carried out for disease on live animal imports are:

The treatment with an approved warble fly preparation of bovine animals, not for immediate slaughter, imported from a region not free from warble fly;

Cattle from Canada from non Canadian Health Accredited Herds (CHAH) must be isolated for 6 months after import and tested for Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (EBL) after 2 months and again 4 months later with negative results.

Based on veterinary risk analysis, the Department may decide on occasion to conduct particular post import (physical) check eg Maedi Visna in sheep, Equine Viral Arteritis and Equine Infectious Anaemia in horses.

(AQW 3487/01)

Ms Rodgers: The Northland Stream drainage improvement scheme in Carrickfergus undertaken by my Department’s Rivers Agency, was completed by the Agency’s contractor on 27 February 2002. However, it was necessary to defer reinstatement of the grassed verge owned by NIHE until the growing season. I am pleased to confirm that the reinstatement works were substantially completed on 29 April 2002.

(AQW 3567/01)

Ms Rodgers: Rivers Agency, as the Drainage Authority, has a consultative role in liaison with DOE Planning Service on drainage and flood risk aspects of Areas Plans and Planning Applications referred to it. In pursuance of that role Rivers Agency is prepared to facilitate requests from Planning Service for attendance at planning site meetings to support/explain advice given by it to Planning Service. I would stress that Rivers Agency has no statutory function in determining Planning Applications and it would be inappropriate for the Agency to attend all planning liaison meetings organised by District Councils, where there may be no drainage or flood risk implications. The Rivers Agency Chief Executive has written to your District Council clarifying its position on attendance.

(AQW 2952/01)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McGimpsey) [supplementary answer]: I wish to advise that it has since been brought to my attention that there was an omission from the information supplied to you in response and I therefore include amended information as follows.

My Department currently has two credit cards in use. Two other cards previously held by the Ulster-Scots Agency had been cancelled during the early part of the financial year ending 31 March 2002. The two cards still in use are held by the Permanent Secretary, and my Private Secretary.

During the financial year ended 31 March 2002, the total amount spent on each card was as follows:

There are no other public body credit cards used by my Department, including executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, cross-border bodies, and other funded bodies.

(AQW 3293/01)

Mr McGimpsey [supplementary answer]: The figures on the attached table include actual expenditure by my core Department, Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) for each of the last three years, and a breakdown of where the consultants and consultancy firms used are located.

(AQW 3579/01)

Mr McGimpsey: The Cultural Forum, a group established by my Department and representative of district councils and the cultural agencies, has initiated work on a cultural facilities audit, which includes an audit of sport and leisure facilities in Northern Ireland. Work is at a very early stage, and it will be some time before it is completed.

(AQW 3408/01)

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): (a)

(c) funding of £28,560 was allocated to Irish-medium units in the 2000/2001 financial year and £59,223 in the 2001/2002 financial year; capital grant of £21,138 was provided in respect of one Irish- medium unit.

(d) the Department of Education does not directly allocate funding for any examination syllabuses or teaching materials, but does so through the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), who have responsibility for funding the costs of translating A level examination papers and pupil materials in the medium of Irish. The Department has augmented CCEA’s budget by £30k for each financial year from 1999/00 to 2001/02, for the development of Irish medium A level syllabuses.

(AQW 3425/01)

Mr M McGuinness: A total of £2,425,964.86 was approved by the Department of Education and its Intermediary Funding Bodies under the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of Ireland 1995-1999 (PEACE 1) for projects with an Irish Medium dimension.

(AQW 3426/01)

Mr M McGuinness: (a) The number of teachers who received pay for temporary service during each of the last ten academic years, by Education and Library Board area, is as shown in column (a) and in column (b), this number is expressed as a percentage of the total number of teachers on temporary and permanent contracts who were paid in August of each year.

(AQW 3444/01)

Mr M McGuinness: All nursery places, both full- and part-time, are open to all children whether their parents are working or not. The admissions criteria set by the Department give priority to children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, who tend to experience more difficulty at school than other children, and on the 4-year olds with July and August birthdays who, if they failed to gain a pre-school place, would not have any educational experience until after their fifth birthday.

The total number of full-time nursery places is as follows:

(AQW 3461/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The figures below set out grammar and secondary school per capita allocations for each Education and Library Board based on their formula allocations. Figures are also included for Voluntary Grammar and Grant Maintained Integrated schools, although these are not directly comparable to those of controlled and maintained schools because of differences in funding responsibilities between the different types of school.

Notes

The figures include amounts made available under LMS Formulae in 2001/02. (2002/03 information is not yet available) Information on preparatory departments has been excluded.

Figures obtained from the LMS Budget Statements published by the Boards in respect of controlled and maintained schools and by the Department in the case of Voluntary Grammar and Grant Maintained Integrated schools.

The figures also exclude centrally retained funds provided in-year to schools for certain items of expenditure, such as substitution costs and allocations for earmarked initiatives and other centrally held resources, such as Home to School Transport, CASS, School Meals and Central Administration, as these are not costed to individual schools.

(AQW 3468/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The report on the Literacy Strategy review is currently being finalised and the report on the Numeracy Strategy review is to be submitted to the Department by the end of June.

Members of the Assembly Education Committee will receive a copy of the reports once the Minister has had the opportunity to consider the recommendations made.

(AQW 3474/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was signed by the UK Government on 2 March 2000 and subsequently ratified on 27 March 2001. The provisions of the Charter came into effect on 1 July 2001 and the obligations placed on the Department of Education are as follows:

• in respect of Irish, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2 and Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Charter the following provisions apply for the purposes of Part III of the Charter –

• in respect of Ulster-Scots, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Charter Ulster-Scots is recognised as meeting the definition of a regional or minority language for the purposes of Part II of the Charter in relation to Articles 2 and 3. No specific obligations arise as a consequence.

The obligations in respect of Irish are met through support for the provision of Irish-medium education and the inclusion of Irish as a named language in the 11-16 curriculum. In addition, the Department facilitates the use of written Irish and of Irish place names and family names by correspondents, and in subsequent responses. The Department would endeavour to facilitate the use of spoken Irish if requested to do so. As for Ulster-Scots, there has been no demand for the provision of teaching through this medium, nor has there been any demand to facilitate the use of Ulster-Scots in written or oral communications with the Department.

The Department has facilitated a meeting between the Ulster-Scots Agency and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment to discuss the possibility of appointing a member of staff to oversee Ulster-Scots educational methods. The issue of funding such a post has still to be resolved, and will depend upon the outcome of discussions between DE and CCEA officials in the context of other funding pressures.

(AQW 3475/01)

Mr M McGuinness: CCEA officers have met with the Ulster-Scots Agency to discuss the possibility of appointing a member of staff to oversee Ulster-Scots educational methods. The issue of funding such a post has still to be resolved, and will depend upon the outcome of discussions between DE and CCEA officials in the context of other funding pressures.

(AQW 3490/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The Department of Education does not hold such information. Provided requirements as to age and health are satisfied, the Department requires a professional teaching qualification, normally a Bachelor of Education degree or a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, for a person to be eligible to teach in any grant-aided school. It is then a matter for employing authorities, including the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, to set any specific criteria for particular posts, such as, where appropriate, the possession of the Catholic Religious Education Certificate;

As this qualification is not required for the purposes of being eligible to teach, the Department does not have any information as to the requirements for entry to the course or its content. This information is available from the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools whose address is: -

160 High Street
Holywood
Co Down
BT18 9AZ

The Department of Education does not hold any information on teachers who have this qualification as it is not required for the purposes of eligibility to teach;

(d) & (e) The Department does not hold information on the religious denominations of teachers.