Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Joe McHugh — if the relevant Minister will outline the Government's commitment to decentralisation throughout rural Ireland; what is the Minister's commitment to retaining existing State jobs in peripheral locations; and furthermore, his commitment to providing additional jobs in these locations; (2) Deputy Martin Ferris — the loss of 50 jobs at factory (details supplied) in Tralee; (3) Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey — the reason funding has been suspended for a new school in Ballyea, County Clare; (4) Deputy John Perry — whether the Minister for Health and Children will now take up the issue of cross-Border co-operation in the provision of the full range of cancer care services covering all the midland and Border counties and, in particular, fully explore the provision of specialist cancer care services from Sligo Hospital to patients from Fermanagh; (5) Deputy Ciarán Lynch — when the Minister for Education and Science intends to appoint a design team for the construction of a new national school in Cork (details supplied), an area of rapid population growth and will she indicate a completion date; is she aware that nine families from the parish could not be offered junior infant places for 2008; that junior infant places are greatly over subscribed for 2009 and 2010; is she also aware that a suitable site has been donated which has been adjudged by the planning and building unit of the Department as suitable for a new 12-classroom school and will she make a statement on the matter; (6) Deputies Paul Connaughton, Jimmy Deenihan and James Bannon — the consequences of the EU decision to withdraw the refund of excise duty on fuel used in passenger transport services; (7) Deputy Jimmy Deenihan — the withdrawal of the fuel rebate relating to school transport by private operators from 31 December 2007 and its implications for the school transport service in the 2008-9 school year; (8) Deputy James Bannon — the relevant Minister to outline what plans he has to alleviate the hardship caused by the sudden removal of the refund of excise duty on fuel used in passenger transport services, which will seriously impact on the private transport industry leading to increased fares and the closure of many businesses; (9) Deputy Seymour Crawford — the urgent need to discuss the proposed interconnection 400KV cables and pylons going through counties Meath, Cavan and Monaghan to county Tyrone and its possible effects on people, property and the future of the region. Is it possible that it would go underground and what is the Government agreement on the issue?; (10) Deputy Dan Neville — the construction of a new national school at Kilfinane, County Limerick; (11) Deputy Michael Kennedy — Bulgarian orphanages and Ireland's role in European intervention; (12) Deputy Joe Costello — support for the EU directive on temporary agency work; and (13) Deputy Joe Carey — to ensure that funding is provided to a national school(details supplied) in County Clare to develop the temporary class rooms on the adjacent lands of (details supplied), County Clare in order to facilitate the demolition works required to build a new primary school and that this new school project would be able to proceed without further delays.

The matters raised by Deputies Paul Connaughton, Jimmy Deenihan and James Bannon, Michael Kennedy, and Pat Breen and Joe Carey have been selected for discussion.