QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
ON TUESDAY 08 JULY 2008
Questions to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Questions to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Questions to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Questions to the Minister of Education
Questions to the Minister for Employment and Learning
Questions to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Questions to the Minister of the Environment
Questions to the Minister of Finance and Personnel
Questions to the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Questions to the Minister for Regional Development
Questions to the Minister for Social Development
Questions to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
1. Dr Farry (North Down):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what is its understanding of the concept of 'cohesion' within the context of the forthcoming programme for cohesion, sharing and integration.
(AQW 8531/08)
2. Dr Farry (North Down):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what is its understanding of the concept of 'sharing' within the context of the forthcoming programme for cohesion, sharing and integration.
(AQW 8532/08)
3. Dr Farry (North Down):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what is its understanding of the concept of 'integration' within the context of the forthcoming programme for cohesion, sharing and integration.
(AQW 8533/08)
4. Dr Farry (North Down):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what factors have contributed to the delay in publishing a draft report of the programme for cohesion, sharing and integration.
(AQW 8534/08)
5. Mrs Long (East Belfast):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline all its expenditure on the redevelopment of the Maze/Long Kesh site.
(AQW 8527/08)
6. Mrs Long (East Belfast):
To ask the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the level and nature of representation of Northern Ireland within the various structures of the European Union, in addition to the 3 MEPs; and the level of engagement of Ministers of the Executive with the European Union in the last 6 months.
(AQW 8530/08)
Questions to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
1. Mr Boylan (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what action it is taking to develop rationalised and integrated marine legislation through the Assembly to deliver the overarching policies of the UK Marine Bill and to involve the fisheries sector in the development of marine plans.
(AQW 8573/08)
Questions to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure
1. Mr Armstrong (Mid Ulster):
To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what assessment has been made of the suitability of the site of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society at Balmoral as a potential site for a National Stadium; and what discussions have taken place with interested parties in relation to this subject.
(AQW 8540/08)
2. Mr Armstrong (Mid Ulster):
To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what assessment has been made of the Maze site as a new home for the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society; and what discussions have taken place with interested parties in relation to this subject.
(AQW 8541/08)
3. Mr Beggs (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure the percentage uptake of the Bookstart Scheme to date; what plans his Department has to improve the uptake of the scheme; and how the scheme can play a role in raising literacy standards.
(AQW 8557/08)
4. Mrs Long (East Belfast):
To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to outline all his Department's expenditure on the redevelopment of the Maze/Long Kesh site.
(AQW 8529/08)
5. Mr Shannon (Strangford):
To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what funding has been allocated to the Ulster Historical Foundation in each of the last 5 years.
(AQW 8566/08)
Questions to the Minister of Education
1. Mr Beggs (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister of Education how much money has been offered to each school under Extended Schools Funding for 2008-09, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and how this compares to funding allocated to each school for 2007-08.
(AQW 8559/08)
2. Mr D Bradley (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Education how many schools in each Education and Library Board area use biometric systems in the administration of (a) school meals (b) school libraries.
(AQW 8515/08)
3. Mr D Bradley (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Education how many schools in each Education and Library Board area still use paper lunch tickets/passes in the administration of school meals.
(AQW 8516/08)
4. Mr D Bradley (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Education how the Department ensures the security of biometric information on pupils stored in schools.
(AQW 8517/08)
5. Mr D Bradley (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Education how and when schools dispose of biometric information on pupils.
(AQW 8518/08)
6. Mr D Bradley (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Education for her assessment of whether the cafeteria system in schools leads pupils on free school meals to overspend on the daily allowance.
(AQW 8519/08)
7. Mr Shannon (Strangford):
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to her answer to AQW 6298/08, what specific action she will take to address the figures which show that young male protestants are not meeting educational achievement targets and are well below the average in both rural and urban areas.
(AQW 8563/08)
8. Mr Shannon (Strangford):
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to her answer to AQW 6256/08, to detail the number of occasions and percentage of time spent in using the Irish language during meetings and visits since devolution; and whether the proposed post of Staff Officer - Irish language is justified by the amount of work involved.
(AQW 8564/08)
Questions to the Minister for Employment and Learning
1. Mr Easton (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning what plans he has to match fund (i) community groups; and (ii) the women's sector, for Peace III applications.
(AQW 8550/08)
Questions to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
1. Mr Boylan (Newry and Armagh):
To ask the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what involvement her Department will have in the development of the UK Marine Planning Policy Statement under the UK Marine Bill; what implications this will have on the drawing up of objectives that will influence the positioning of renewables at sea; and the discussions that she has had to date with the UK Government on this matter.
(AQW 8576/08)
2. Dr Farry (North Down):
To ask the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, further to AQW 7339/08, what plans she has to mirror the exercise conducted by the National Competitiveness Council in the Republic of Ireland to benchmark its economy against 16 other economies and the OECD and European Union averages.
(AQW 8575/08)
3. Ms Ní Chuilín (North Belfast):
To ask the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what support her Department has given to the Women's Tec in North Belfast; and what action her Department is taking to promote women in enterprise, trade and investment.
(AQW 8548/08)
4. Mr Shannon (Strangford):
To ask the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what assistance she can provide to the Citizens Advice Bureau or other advice centres for a debt officer in the Ards and Strangford area in April 2009.
(AQW 8577/08)
Questions to the Minister of the Environment
1. Mr Beggs (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister of the Environment when the draft version of Planning Policy Statement 5 was published; the date on which consultation ended; and when Planning Policy Statement 5 will be published.
(AQW 8560/08)
2. Mr Easton (North Down):
To ask the Minister of the Environment in which areas of North Down his Department is planning to increase the tree population, as outlined by his predecessor.
(AQW 8549/08)
3. Mr Ford (South Antrim):
To ask the Minister of the Environment what areas of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation are affected by the A4, A5 and A6 roads.
(AQW 8561/08)
4. Mr McKay (North Antrim):
To ask the Minister of the Environment whether every applicant for a site receives notification that the application has been approved or rejected.
(AQW 8514/08)
5. Mr Ross (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister of the Environment how many taxi drivers are registered.
(AQW 8543/08)
6. Mr Ross (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister of the Environment what plans he has to ensure that the Driver and Vehicle Agency is automatically informed where a taxi driver has been convicted of a criminal offence.
(AQW 8565/08)
Questions to the Minister of Finance and Personnel
1. Mrs Long (East Belfast):
To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel to outline all his Department's expenditure on the redevelopment of the Maze/Long Kesh site.
(AQW 8528/08)
Questions to the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
1. Mr Durkan (Foyle):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety the number of Home Help staff in the WHSCT area (i) who are still to receive a back payment under the Agenda for Change HPSS pay system for work undertaken between (a) 1 October 2004 and April 2005; (b) April 2005 and March 2006; and (c) April 2006 and April 2007; and, (ii) who have received this payment already for the same three years?
(AQW 8542/08)
2. Mr Easton (North Down):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to address the imbalances in, and the location of, jobs in the Food Safety Promotion Board.
(AQW 8552/08)
3. Mr Easton (North Down):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for his assessment of the efficiency savings that can be made in the Food Safety Promotion Board.
(AQW 8553/08)
4. Mrs Hanna (South Belfast):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many appointments are available each week at the Genito-urinary Medicine (GUM) drop-in service at the Royal Victoria Hospital; and the average number of people that are turned away each week.
(AQW 8571/08)
5. Mr McElduff (West Tyrone):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (i) how many people who suffered a stroke have been left with the inability to speak or understand language in each of the last 3 years; and (ii) what services are available to these people, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.
(AQW 8574/08)
6. Mr Weir (North Down):
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to introduce legislation to take account of the recent House of Lords ruling on adoption in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 8535/08)
Questions to the Minister for Regional Development
1. Mr Beggs (East Antrim):
To ask the Minister for Regional Development to detail the value of contracts that have been issued for surface dressing of roads during the summer months, broken down by divisional roads area.
(AQW 8558/08)
Questions to the Minister for Social Development
1. Ms Anderson (Foyle):
To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on the 2007 lighting strategy for the city of Derry/Londonderry.
(AQW 8525/08)
2. Ms Anderson (Foyle):
To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on her plans for the development site at Foyle Street in Derry/Londonderry, and what plans her Department has to utilize the new procurement guidelines as part of its redevelopment of this site.
(AQW 8526/08)
3. Mr Easton (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to match fund community groups for Peace III applications.
(AQW 8551/08)
4. Mrs Hanna (South Belfast):
To ask the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to introduce a fuel allowance for people with disabilities.
(AQW 8570/08)
5. Ms Ní Chuilín (North Belfast):
To ask the Minister for Social Development the outcome of the Equality Impact Assessment carried out in relation to the introduction of grading of posts as part of Neighbourhood Renewal.
(AQW 8544/08)
6. Ms Ní Chuilín (North Belfast):
To ask the Minister for Social Development how many social housing units her Department expects to provide in or around Belfast city centre.
(AQW 8545/08)
7. Ms Ní Chuilín (North Belfast):
To ask the Minister for Social Development how the additional budget allocation for social housing has been spent, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and whether any of the money allocated for the building of social housing has been used for other programmes.
(AQW 8546/08)
8. Ms Ní Chuilín (North Belfast):
To ask the Minister for Social Development to explain why she has not met the Upper Long Streets Residents' Committee, which is a Constituted Housing Group, to discuss the proposed Urban Renewal Area Plan for that area.
(AQW 8547/08)
9. Mr Weir (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to complete the sale or transfer of public land in Hibernia Street, Holywood.
(AQW 8536/08)
10. Mr Weir (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Social Development what action she is taking to tie down legal arrangements for the car park in Hibernia Street, Holywood.
(AQW 8537/08)
11. Mr Weir (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Social Development what progress the Department has made in the last year to resolving legal difficulties surrounding Hibernia Street in Holywood.
(AQW 8538/08)
12. Mr Weir (North Down):
To ask the Minister for Social Development when the Department expects to have resolved all the difficulties surrounding the development at Hibernia Street, Holywood.
(AQW 8539/08)