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 John O'Mahony — the removal of the rural co-ordinator from a primary school cluster in County Mayo; (2) Deputy Joe McHugh — the outbreak of a massive number of burglaries in that part of Derry city's hinterland which is in the Republic of Ireland, and the fact that An Garda Síochána resources in Inishowen do not reflect the fact that much of Inishowen circulates Derry, which is the fourth largest metropolis in the country; (3) Deputy Martin Ferris — to discuss the recent staff reductions in the acute psychiatric ward at Kerry General Hospital, the failure of management to consult, as required by a Labour Court ruling, with the staff and unions in the hospital, and the need to conduct a full health and safety audit prior to any reductions in staffing levels being implemented; (4) Deputy Frank Feighan — further to parliamentary question 480/09 on behalf of person (details supplied), this person while recovering from kidney and pancreas transplant, unfortunately fell and broke both hips and is in severe pain; the family needs an extension of transport to enable her to travel to Dublin until her condition improves; due to her present condition she cannot travel in an ordinary car; transport is only required as a temporary measure; and I ask the Minister to accede to this urgent request; (5) Deputy John Perry — to ask the Minister for Education and Science and the Minister for Health and Children to reverse the cuts proposed in nursing education programmes; in particular, it is proposed that at St. Angela's College, Sligo, the number of general nursing places will be reduced by 25% and intellectual disability nursing places will suffer a 40% reduction; at this time of massive job losses, cutting nursing training places is unwise, both economically and socially; (6) Deputy Kathleen Lynch — to discuss the current situation regarding the renewal of the bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam for the purpose of inter-country adoptions; (7) Deputy Cyprian Brady — the matter of the present status of the bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam, which is dealt with by the Department of Health and Children; (8) Deputy Willie Penrose — to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he knew of the fact that the farm waste management grant payments are not going to be paid in a lump sum as anticipated in 2009, but will be paid over three years; if his Department will, in the course of issuing the letter of guarantee to banks on behalf of the 17,000 farmers who will not be paid in full, undertake to pay the interest outstanding on the amounts that will be due to the credit institutions in respect of the capital loans negotiated to pay for the farm improvements and which would not be arising if the full grants were being paid as promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter; (9) Deputy Pat Breen — the deterioration in the HSE's budget for 2009 and the recent revelations that a number of hospitals, including Ennis General Hospital, face closure as part of a cost saving proposal; and the need for the Minister for Health and Children to make an immediate statement on the future of the hospital; (10) Deputy Joe Costello — the need for the Government to ensure that adequate funding is made available through the financial institutions so that small and medium-sized businesses have a regular cash flow; (11) Deputy Joe Carey — the impact on Shannon Airport and the mid-west area generally of the imposition of the €10 travel tax; (12) Deputy Thomas P. Broughan — the need to avert the disruption to bus services next week; (13) Deputy Tom Sheahan — the contraction of health services in County Kerry.

The matters raised by Deputies Joe Carey, Tom Sheahan, Thomas P. Broughan and John O'Mahony have been selected for discussion.