(AQW 2811/01)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Rodgers): My Department’s financial contribution to the Taste of Ulster in the last 12 months amounted to £3,787, paid in September 2001, in respect of the Taste of Ulster’s participation at the Congress of European Agriculture, Waterfront Hall.

(AQW 2862/01)

Ms Rodgers: There are no requests from Taste of Ulster for my Department’s participation in any initiative Taste of Ulster may be planning.

My Department has no plans at present to participate in events in association with the Taste of Ulster.

However should an appropriate opportunity arise in the future the expertise and potential contributions of Taste of Ulster will be considered.

(AQW 2888/01)

Ms Rodgers: I have no plans to introduce a cull scheme for restricted dairy herds. Under current Tuberculosis legislation the Department can only pay compensation in respect of animals slaughtered by the Department because of the disease. The Government’s position in relation to any other losses is that there is no provision or precedent for any such payments.

(AQW 2889/01)

Ms Rodgers: The review team has just completed its draft report which is currently being considered by senior officials in the Department and elsewhere. I will then consider the final report before presenting it to the Assembly. I would hope to have this completed by the Summer but as you will appreciate some parts of the process are outside my control.

(AQW 2946/01)

Ms Rodgers: My Department’s interim arrangement for funding in respect of Taste of Ulster is on the basis of a pre-agreed fee for commissioned projects.

(AQW 2948/01)

Ms Rodgers: My Department does not intend to incur any expenditure in respect of this show.

(AQW 2949/01)

Ms Rodgers: There are no plans to facilitate representation of Northern Ireland at the Royal Show 2002; and promotional arrangements have been suspended for this event. I will keep the position of my Department’s involvement at the Royal Show in future years under review.

(AQW 2950/01)

Ms Rodgers: My Department is providing (a) a contribution of £3,000 to the inaugural IFEX Food Conference to be held on the occasion of IFEX 2002; and (b) an exhibit within IFEX 2002 at standard commercial rates and a contribution of a selection of local food produce to the IFEX Salon Culinaire at a cost not exceeding £250.

(AQW 2982/01)

** FYE Jan. to Dec. 2001

(AQW 3044/01)

Ms Rodgers: Under the terms of DARD’s Equality Scheme my Department is obliged to consult the full range of organisations representing those covered by Section 75. I appreciate that many of these groups may not be affected by many of my Department’s policy proposals and I have asked my officials to explore with the Equality Commission better targeted consultation in order to reduce the burden on consultees.

(AQW 2775/01)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McGimpsey): As I explained in my response to AQW 2776/01, the Sports Council affords a higher priority to applications for funding for projects which significantly increase participation for people with disabilities. It has been a condition of award for all Capital projects undertaken since 1995 (amounting to some £45m) that access for people with disabilities is included. In addition, in 2001/02, the Council provided support for disabled athletes who have not been accepted on to the Lottery Sports Fund’s Talented Athlete programme, as follows:

• Sports Development Grant to Disability Sport Northern Ireland of £30k to cover a Development Officer’s salary and associated programme costs;

• Equity Challenge Fund grants totalling £12,510 to individual organisations to enable them to develop their services to disabled participants;

• funding of £6,000 for Competition and Coaching to support

(a) the Northern Ireland Paraplegic Association team to go to the World Boxing Championships in Spain;

(b) the Irish Disabled Fly-fishing Association to go to the World disabled Fly-fishing championships in Wales;

(c) the Ulster Deaf Sports Council to go to the International Deaf Sports Association World Soccer Championships in Spain;

(d) training sessions for the Northern Ireland Blind Sports Association in bowling, cycling, sailing, sea angling, ten pin bowling, athletics, soccer and golf; and

(e) competitions for the Northern Ireland Blind Sports Association in bowling, athletics, sailing, sea angling and ten pin bowling.

• funding of £1,500 for improving core services, e.g.

(a) database development;

(b) a Disability Sports Information Factsheet;

(c) club promotional fliers for each DSNI member club;

(d) production of a DSNI newsletter

(e) development of a DSNI website;

(f) production of a calendar of events.

A further dimension of the Sports Council’s assistance to sportsmen and women with disabilities is through the work of mainstream sports which have integrated disability sections, e.g. wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis.

(AQW 2777/01)

Mr McGimpsey: Talented athletes with disabilities are required to compete, on an equal basis, with the able bodied for funding under the Sports Lottery Talented Athlete Programmes, which exist to assist Northern Ireland’s leading sports people to compete successfully at international level. Details of awards to talented athletes with disabilities over the past five years are as follows:

The Sports Council encourages all talented athletes, including those with disabilities, to apply for funding under the Talented Athlete programmes.

I would emphasise, however, that funding under these programmes is for performance at the highest level, and is only one of the sources of funding available from the Sports Council to disabled athletes. Details of additional funding opportunities for people with disabilities who do not come under the remit of the talented athlete programmes are included in my response to AQW 2775.

(AQW 2804/01)

(a) A public library provides access to knowledge, information and works of the imagination through a range of resources and services and is equally available to all members of the community regardless of race, nationality, age, gender, language, disability, economic and employment status and educational attainment. Electronic libraries will extend the range of services on offer and will combat the digital divide between information-rich and information-poor and extend lifelong learning opportunities to disadvantaged sectors society. It will also enable other traditional library services such as enquiries and inter-library loans to be developed electronically.

(b) The Electronic Libraries Project for Northern Ireland aims to create within Northern Ireland a modernised public library service that will deliver cost-effective services to the community to meet present and future needs. It will link all public libraries to the National Grid for Learning (NGFL) and through that to Learn Direct. The contract between the service provider and the five education and library boards was signed in January 2002. Implementation of the new services is expected to start next month with all libraries and mobile libraries live by July 2003.

The project will provide personal computers for public use in all branch libraries; a computerised library management system to operate in all libraries including mobile libraries; an electronic libraries portal or gateway to a wide range of quality-assured information sources; modern IT systems for use by the staff in libraries; and a range of associated services, e.g. fax services.

Library users will have access to the same range of library services in every public library in Northern Ireland, regardless of size or location, including the ability to request books held by any branch and have them delivered to their local library. They will have access to the world wide web and information on CD ROMs and have the use of office software such as word processing.

(AQW 2896/01)

Mr McGimpsey: New TSN was initially developed under Direct Rule, reflecting Government priorities at that time. Following Devolution, the Northern Ireland Executive adopted New Targeting Social Need as its main policy for addressing social deprivation and it has been integrated into the Programme for Government. New TSN is a long-term approach to addressing problems of people in greatest social need. Its emphasis is on tackling unemployment and increasing employability, tackling inequalities in areas such as health, education and housing and the problems of disadvantaged areas and promoting social inclusion. The policy commits each Department to develop New TSN Action Plans. I attach a copy of a recent publication which sets out this Department’s Action Plan for the period 2001 – 2003 as well as those actions achieved prior to March 2001.

New TSN is not a policy with its own budget, rather it is a theme which applies across all relevant spending programmes and seeks to maximise the impact of existing spending programmes in support of those who are in greatest social need. A research report on the public expenditure implications commissioned by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister entitled "Public Expenditure and New Targeting Social Need" was published in November 2001. This can be accessed on the internet at www.research.ofmdfmni.gov.uk. The main references to this Department are contained in pages 13 and 14 and I have attached copies of these for ease of reference.

Many of the Department’s business areas contribute to TSN objectives, particularly in relation to providing access to facilities and services by disadvantaged groups, increasing job opportunities in disadvantaged areas and promoting social inclusion.

The Public Library Service contributes to New TSN objectives through ensuring access to disadvantaged people to education and learning facilities with a view to improving employability and increasing social and economic participation. The Department estimates that about 5% (£970k) of public library resources have been "skewed" to areas of social disadvantage. Each of the education and library board areas has opened a centre of excellence providing adaptive technology for the disabled and visually impaired people to enable access to the internet and world wide web.

Also in the area of education the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, as part of its outreach and learning strategy, is opening up contact with schools in areas of social disadvantage. The Department is also researching the demand for Irish and Ulster-Scots child care and pre-school education and minority ethnic language issues.

Investment in the performing and creative arts also contributes to New TSN objectives, although the precise allocation of resources is difficult to quantify. The Arts Council has estimated that it spent in the region of £900k (13% of grant-in-aid) in 2000-01 on TSN objectives and this figure rose to £1.3m (or 16% of grant-in-aid) in 2001-02. In addition to this some 32% of spend on the Awards for All scheme administered by the Community Fund in the period April 2001 – December 2001 was directed at the most disadvantaged local authority areas. The nature of the benefits derived from these programmes include increased levels of participation in the arts by communities in areas of social and economic deprivation, the development of arts skills in these communities and increased involvement of young people. Many of the projects are still ongoing but those completed include:

• Elmgrove Primary School, Beersbridge Road, Belfast

• NIHE – Art and Housing Research

• The Wedding Community Play project

• Compantas Amharcclianne Aisling Gear, Falls Road, Belfast.

Of the £450k budget for the Creativity Seed Fund in 2001-02, around £70k was directed to pilot projects that are designed to impact on marginalised young people – Northern Visions £30k, Synergy E Media £25k and Children’s Express £15k.

Of the £412k grant-in-aid to the Northern Ireland Film Commission for 2001-02, £110k was directed to organisations (the Nerve Centre £80k and Northern Visions £30k) with a track record in working with people from disadvantaged groups/areas.

The Department has an ongoing commitment to invest at least 60% of its water recreation budget in disadvantaged areas. This investment is in public facilities designed to promote the recreational potential of inland waterways. Five projects were funded in disadvantaged areas in 2000/2001 and eight in 2001/2002. Furthermore the Department has recently been allocated £5m under the Water-Based Tourism Measure of Peace II for an Angling Development programme and a Water Recreation programme. The Department is committed to allocating at least 60% of the funding from these programmes to areas of social need. These programmes should help to attract tourists and stimulate economic investment in waterway corridors.

The Department has no data on the number of beneficiaries or the numbers of people employed as a result of these programmes. Research work has been carried out to establish baseline data for future TSN monitoring purposes.

(AQW 2900/01)

Mr McGimpsey: My Department made available £100k as a contribution towards the implementation of a programme of safety improvements in accordance with the recommendations made within the Road Race Task Force Report of December 2000.

To date my Department has paid £98.5K to the Motor Cycle Union and the other partners involved in the improvement programme i.e. Department of Regional Development, British Telecom and Northern Ireland Electricity. In addition the Sports Council for Northern Ireland have also made a contribution to enhancing road race safety, through the Sports Lottery Fund, of £13,250 for medical equipment and £10,250 for protective safety equipment.

(AQW 2389/01)

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): [supplementary answer]: In my answer to the above Assembly Question on 15th March 2002, I supplied you with information, provided by Education and Library Boards, on the net expenditure per pupil, by Board area, for controlled and maintained primary and secondary schools for each of the past five years.

A detailed check of the information against that contained in the corresponding tables contained in Section 8 of the recent report published by the Northern Ireland Audit Office "Indicators of Education Performance and Provision" has revealed a number of discrepancies in the two sets of figures for the 1998-99 financial year. These differences arose from different interpretations by Boards of exactly what was required and also from slight variations in accounting practices. My officials have liased closely with the Audit Office and the Education and Library Boards to resolve these issues and I attach tables containing revised information for AQW2389/01 and AQW2390/01, which can be fully reconciled with the revised figures in the Audit Office report.

I would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this late change to the figures. However I am sure that you will agree that it is essential that the two sets of figures are fully reconciled and have been compiled by the Boards on a completely consistent basis. The revised figures have also been adjusted for inflation, on a consistent basis with the NIAO figures to make comparison between different years easier.

The figures below have been provided by the Education and Library Boards and set out the net expenditure per primary school pupil over the past five years at 2000-01 prices.

The figures below have been provided by the Education and Library Boards and set out the net expenditure per secondary school pupil over the past five years at 2000-01 prices.

(AQW 2390/01)

Mr M McGuinness: [supplementary answer]: In my answer to the above Assembly Question on 15th March 2002, I supplied you with information, provided by Education and Library Boards, on the net expenditure per pupil, by Board area, for controlled and maintained primary and secondary schools for each of the past five years.

A detailed check of the information against that contained in the corresponding tables contained in Section 8 of the recent report published by the Northern Ireland Audit Office "Indicators of Education Performance and Provision" has revealed a number of discrepancies in the two sets of figures for the 1998-99 financial year. These differences arose from different interpretations by Boards of exactly what was required and also from slight variations in accounting practices. My officials have liased closely with the Audit Office and the Education and Library Boards to resolve these issues and I attach tables containing revised information for AQW2389/01 and AQW2390/01, which can be fully reconciled with the revised figures in the Audit Office report.

I would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this late change to the figures. However I am sure that you will agree that it is essential that the two sets of figures are fully reconciled and have been compiled by the Boards on a completely consistent basis. The revised figures have also been adjusted for inflation, on a consistent basis with the NIAO figures to make comparison between different years easier.

The figures below have been provided by the Education and Library Boards and set out the net expenditure per primary school pupil over the past five years at 2000-01 prices.

The figures below have been provided by the Education and Library Boards and set out the net expenditure per secondary school pupil over the past 5 years at 2000-01 prices.

(AQW 2805/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The number of nursery schools in each Board is as follows:

The data requested is only available for the period since the statutory open enrolment arrangements in nursery schools were introduced in the 1999-2000 school year. As the information requested is extensive, I will arrange to have it placed in the Assembly Library. I enclose a copy for your personal use.

The figures include multiple applications from parents applying to more than one nursery school and therefore do not correlate directly to the number of children seeking a nursery school place.

(AQW 2840/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The North-Eastern Education and Library Board is taking forward the planning of the three controlled schools with a view to work starting at Loanends Primary School in March 2003, Crumlin High School in July 2002, and Hillcroft Special School in September 2003. The planning of Millquarter Primary School is being taken forward by the school trustees with a view to work starting in March 2003.

(AQW 2890/01)

Mr M McGuinness: It is not possible from the data available to identify pupils’ primary disability but the number of primary school-age children who have a statement of special educational needs relating to speech or language difficulties is as follows:

(AQW 2892/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department in its current form came into being in December 1999, and the Executive adopted New TSN in June 2000, so I am answering this question in respect of New TSN and the years 2000-01 and 2001-02.

(a)-(b) New TSN is not a policy with its own budget, but a theme which runs through spending programmes. Table 3 of the report Public Expenditure and New Targeting Social Need (OFMDFM), January 2002) gives a breakdown of the DE 2001-02 budget, which indicates that most of this budget is relevant to New TSN to a greater or lesser degree. (This was also the position in 2000/01.) Table 14 of that report provides an analysis of skewing actions under New TSN.

(c) My Department in January 2001 set up an Equality Rights and Social Inclusion Unit to take a more focussed approach at a strategic level to the promotion of Equality and NTSN. There are currently 8 staff within this Unit. However, NTSN Objectives are distributed throughout the Department’s core business areas and as such all staff in the Department have an impact on progressing NTSN.

(d) It is not possible to identify all the direct beneficiaries of highly-New-TSN-relevant expenditure or skewing, and even where it is there would be double-counting between programmes.

(e)-(f) I am satisfied that the skewing of resources under New TSN has contributed to an improvement in educational standards. The New TSN Annual Report 2001 (OFMDFM) highlights specific examples of progress with actions taken during the period January 2000- March 2001. In addition, an initial evaluation of New TSN is to be conducted later this year, and will include an assessment of the resultant benefits.

(AQW 2893/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The number of 4 year olds with a statement of special educational needs relating to speech or language difficulties is as follows:

(AQW 2897/01)

Mr M McGuinness: Since the closure of the Jaffe Centre as a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (it is now known as the Loughshore Educational Resource Centre), the Belfast Education and Library Board has based there some 20 teachers who operate its Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) provision. This aims to meet the needs of these, and other, children with behavioural and other difficulties in a more meaningful and flexible manner.

From the Centre approximately 190 children are supported under EOTAS, 20-25 of whom are under the DISC (Dolphin Initiative for Secondary Children) scheme and 12-18 of whom are under the STEP project.

Six children are currently educated in the Centre on full-time EOTAS provision, with a further two groups of 6 receiving education in specific subject areas such as Science, Home Economics and IT.

The remaining children are educated in small local groups, in libraries, youth centres etc.

(AQW 2898/01)

Mr M McGuinness: All resources to support alternative education provision are allocated to the Education and Library Boards who determine how these resources will be used to meet the needs of young people in their areas. This can include the purchase of places in community based alternative education projects on an agreed basis. An additional 100 places have been funded since September 2001 with resources allocated from the Executive Programme Children’s Fund.

(AQW 2899/01)

Mr M McGuinness: Additional resources have been allocated to schools in North and West Belfast as part of the North Belfast Support Package last December. The education element of this Package has made some £2.9m available for improved physical security at schools, counselling for staff and pupils and additional youth provision, and this includes an additional £250,000 to the Belfast Education and Library Board’s Behaviour Support team to provide an additional three teachers for the remainder of this academic year and two further academic years to address the needs in North Belfast.

This is in addition to the resources which have been allocated to the Belfast Board (and the other Boards) under the Behaviour Strategy, the Children Order or the EPF Children’s Fund to address poor behaviour, non attendance and pupils’ counselling support; in general, it is for the Boards to determine how these specific resources should be targeted.

In addition some 11 schools in the area also receive extra funding and professional support through the Schools Support Programme.

(AQW 2953/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department currently has two corporate credit cards in operation. Several NPDBs/ sponsored bodies are also presently using corporate credit cards. Details of the number of cards used and expenditure incurred in the financial year ended 31 March 2002 are set out below.

In addition, my Department has put into effect, from 15 April 2002, use of the Government Procurement Card for the purchases of stationery supplies. To date, no costs have been incurred.

(AQW 2954/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The 8% figure refers to the proportion of children enrolled at grammar schools who are entitled to free school meals. The source of the figure is the 2000-01 school census.

(AQW 2968/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The average salaries (excluding employers’ costs) that were paid to teachers in the sectors requested during September 2001 were as follows:

As Voluntary Grammar Schools are responsible for their own payrolls, only Controlled Grammar Schools are included in row (d). The higher average salary costs in the nursery school sector result from the fact that these schools generally have small numbers of teaching staff and are headed by a principal.

These average salary figures are based on the September 2001 payroll and do not take account of arrears of salary increases resulting from the threshold assessment process which were paid to the relevant teachers in the period between October 2001 to 31 March 2002, as these would artificially increase the figures.

(AQW 2996/01)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department’s estate does not extend beyond the General Office Estate which is the responsibility of the Department of Finance and Personnel.

(AQW 3015/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I am planning to make a number of improvements for the assessment and provision for services for children with Special Educational Needs. My plans include:

• legislation which will give children with special educational needs provision which is at least equal to that contained in the Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001, which places a greater emphasis on inclusive education in a mainstream setting;

• with the Department of Education and Science in Dublin, the creation of an all-Ireland Centre of Excellence for the education of children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD);

• the development of CD-Roms for teachers, and videos for parents, of children with ASD and dyslexia;

• the imminent publication of Task Groups Reports on Autism and Dyslexia, the recommendations of which I believe will set the agenda for our work in these fields for the foreseeable future;

• the installation of state-of-the-art communications technology for children with severely limited motor control (Camera Mouse);

• through the Regional Strategy Group (RSG) , the development of consistent assessment and diagnostic criteria for the identification of children with special educational needs, particularly ASD and dyslexia, which will ensure that all children with similar needs have access to similar levels of provision;

• also through RSG, guidance on the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream education;

• guidance to schools, agreed by teachers’ unions, on helping children who have particular medical needs.

(AQW 3043/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I am engaged in a series of meetings with key partners to listen to their views and to help to stimulate and inform a constructive debate on the issues. Nine meetings have already taken place with the following:

• Vice-Chancellors of the local universities

• Principals of Further Education Colleges

• Progressive Unionist Party

• Chief Executives of the Education and Library Boards

• Belfast Partnerships

• Council for Catholic Maintained Schools

• Five main Teacher Unions

• Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action

• Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education

Further meetings have been arranged with the Governing Bodies Association, the Catholic Heads Association, the Secondary Heads Association, the Minister for Employment and Learning, the Transferor Churches, primary school principals, the Association of Head-teachers in Secondary Schools and the National Association of Educational Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants.

I also intend to meet with Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

I have also written to all the political parties to arrange meetings over the coming weeks.

(AQO 1157/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I am content that the present arrangements for the capital funding of special schools have due regard to the needs of children in this sector. My Department tries to include at least one special school in its capital programme each year and, since 1990, eighteen special schools - representing over 37% of special schools - have benefited under these arrangements. This is a much higher proportion than for any other school sector and reflects the educational need. Five new special schools were included in the capital programmes I announced over the last three years – Donard in 2000, Strabane and Clifton in 2001, and Hillcroft and Tor Bank this year.

I will of course continue to press for additional capital resources at every opportunity.

(AQO 1195/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I am aware that the Human Rights Commission has expressed concerns about:

• the 11-plus test and its effect on the primary curriculum and a child’s right to an effective education;

• the problems in ensuring equality of opportunity in the primary and post-primary system;

• admissions policies to post-primary schools which may discriminate on certain grounds

and that it will be addressing these issues in its response to the current consultative process on the Burns Report. My own view is that the current arrangements are unfair, particularly for disadvantaged families and new arrangements must address this.

(AQO 1178/01)

Mr M McGuinness: Consultation is ongoing and will last until 28 June. My Department is using a variety of methods to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to this debate. A detailed response booklet will issue at the end of this month to schools, further education colleges, community groups and training organisations to facilitate consideration of the key issues and to help structure responses. In late May my Department will be issuing a Household Response Form to every household giving information about the review and seeking the views of the public on the key issues. A household survey is planned to gather more in-depth views from the public and we are also considering how best to get the views of young people.

A summary analysis of the responses received will be published around the end of September.

I am currently engaged in a series of meetings involving the key players in our education system. I am keen to listen to suggestions, build consensus and stimulate discussion of the issues during the consultation period. I must emphasise that no decisions on future arrangements have been taken. I want to hear views on the Burns proposals, modifications to those proposals or alternative arrangements.

(AQO 1194/01)

Mr M McGuinness: 316 primary schools will be equipped with local infrastructure and connected to the Internet under the Classroom 2000 Scheme by the end of April 2002. The target for completion of all primary schools is December 2002.

(AQO 1193/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The Communities in Schools (CIS) Pilot Project, which involves six post-primary schools in Belfast, is seeking to implement and evaluate the benefits of CIS in these schools. The evaluation of the pilot is expected to be completed in Summer 2003; some initial evaluation findings are expected in Summer 2002. I would wish to consider the evaluation findings before making any decisions on the way forward.

(AQO 1179/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I met the Chairman and representatives of both sides of the Teachers’ Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee (Schools) on Thursday 18 April to discuss their agreed terms of reference and how an inquiry might be taken forward.

I am meeting the chairman of the Education Committee tomorrow and I expect to make an announcement very soon after that.

(AQO 1172/01)

Mr M McGuinness: The need for new legislation and the timescale for implementing it cannot be determined until decisions are taken on the review of post-primary education. No decisions will be made until I have considered the responses to the consultation process.

(AQO 1175/01)

Mr M McGuinness: I refer to the answer given in response to AQW 1650/01 on the same subject. The number of educational psychologists employed in each Education and Library Board area in January 2002 was as follows:

(AQW 2901/01)

The Minister for Employment and Learning (Ms Hanna): New Targeting Social Need is the Executive’s main policy for addressing social deprivation and has been integrated into the Programme for Government. The New TSN policy is a theme which applies to all relevant programmes and services provided by all Departments, and operates by using more of our existing resources to benefit people in greatest objective social need.

TSN is not a discrete policy with its own budget. Rather it is a theme that runs through all relevant spending programmes across all Northern Ireland departments. It was for this reason that, in Spring 1999, as a necessary part of the development of New TSN, PriceWaterhouseCoopers were commissioned to survey all programmes, services and schemes across all NI Departments to locate each on a "spectrum of applicability", i.e. to state in broad terms the degree of relevance of New TSN to each.

Further research commissioned by OFMDFM in 2001, which measured and assessed the relevance of all resources across Public Expenditure in Northern Ireland towards New TSN, found that less than 1% of the DEL’s budget had no relevance to TSN.

The New TSN policy commits each NI Department and the NIO to develop Action Plans setting out their proposals for implementing New TSN over the three-year period beginning on 1 January 2000. This Department has been working hard to implement our New TSN Action Plan and a number of significant achievements have been made particularly in relation to reducing unemployment and increasing employability.

Given the long-term aspects of the New TSN policy, the Executive ensured that evaluation was built into the policy. This commitment is made explicit in the Programme for Government and the initial evaluation is currently in train and first outcomes planned for the end of 2002. The aim of this interim evaluation is to assess the way in which New TSN is being implemented and to examine its impact with a view to informing future thinking on the policy.

My Department will contribute to the evaluation which will draw on external experts to ensure objectivity. Ministers will consider the outcomes of this first comprehensive evaluation of the policy to help inform future thinking on New TSN. In addition, all final reports from the evaluation of New TSN will be made publicly accessible.

(AQW 2932/01)

Ms Hanna: Shadow Trust applied for European Social Fund assistance from the Programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity. There was extreme competition for the substantial but finite £18.3m available for the next two years with the Department receiving 139 applications seeking £33m for the same period. A total of 57 projects were successful. My Department is unable to provide funding to offset the loss of European Funding.

(AQW 2807/01)

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Sir Reg Empey): No future funding arrangements have yet been put in place. The Board of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) will only be able to consider further financial support to Taste of Ulster when the overall funding of Taste of Ulster is more evident.

The Board of NITB has made a payment of £10,000 in January 2002 to assist Taste of Ulster to continue their activities until end March 2002.

(AQW 2808/01)

Sir Reg Empey: The Taste of Ulster guide will be produced by June 2002 with 60,000 copies to be produced. Funding for the production of the guide in future years has not been agreed.

I understand from Taste of Ulster that the latest guide will be available on the same basis as before, including free distribution at entry points.

(AQW 2809/01)

Sir Reg Empey: Inspections to allow the compilation and issue of the new guide (June 2002) have now been completed.

The capability of Taste of Ulster to continue to fulfil its current role will depend on appropriate funding being available. Discussions are ongoing with Taste of Ulster regarding possible future funding.

(AQW 2810/01)

Sir Reg Empey: Taste of Ulster is planning to be involved in the European Food Fair in Brussels in late April/May. NITB is not aware of any plans to participate in any other events over the next 12 months as this would be dependent on future funding.

(AQW 2843/01)

Sir Reg Empey: It is not yet clear if a competent developer will come forward to acquire a lease to develop a windfarm on the Tunes Plateau site. Firm assessments of the benefits and impacts which the proposed project may present can only be undertaken once a detailed project plan is agreed with a developer. The proposed project represents a potential £200m investment in marine and electrical engineering and it is envisaged that the majority of steel structural, and foundational works for the project could be carried out in Northern Ireland. The site characteristics will require any future developer to operate at the upper limit of current technical capability and this experience would demonstrate the capability of Northern Ireland in a major offshore development. Northern Ireland is required to contribute to the UK target on renewable energy which was set to meet EU commitments. This proposed project will offer a major boost to any efforts to contribute as much as is practicable to those targets in a manner which meets the requirements of EU Directive 2001/77/EC.

Experience in other parts of Europe has already shown that an engineering project of this nature often attracts significant positive interest from visitors to the area surrounding the windfarm. It will not be possible to fully assess the potential impact of this project on tourism until a detailed project plan has been submitted by a developer, although clearly it will be important to address any negative aspects as they become known.

(AQW 2844/01)

Sir Reg Empey: If this proposed project does eventually proceed any developer will be required to complete a full assessment of the impact which the windfarm will potentially have on the environment (as required by the Food & Environmental Protection Act). This process will specifically address concerns over the marine ecology and ensure that any negative impact identified is responsibly dealt with. The onshore elements of the project will be covered by planning legislation and will be subjected to the same rigorous analysis and public scrutiny as any other development plan of this size and importance. It is my intention to ensure that the local community at all levels is kept fully informed of plans as they become clear. Officials in my Department and any developer will agree a consultation plan covering key stages of the project as soon as a developer declares an interest in the lease of the site. There is no information on how any project of this kind would impact on house prices.

(AQW 2845/01)

Sir Reg Empey: My Department’s Trading Standards Service, (TSS), is active in enforcing the provisions of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. TSS activities are concentrated on high street retailers where consumers would not expect to find counterfeit goods for sale. In the past six months TSS officers have carried out seizures of counterfeit goods (some 2100 articles) at 22 premises. As a result, several files are being prepared for submission to the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions with a recommendation to institute legal proceedings against the alleged offenders.

As TSS is not the only organisation involved in combating trade in counterfeit goods, on 3 April 2002, it organised and hosted an event where several leading trade mark proprietors demonstrated methods for identifying counterfeit goods to a number of Northern Ireland’s enforcement agencies. TSS will continue to be proactive in this area of work.

Senior officials from my Department participate in an inter-departmental group set up under the Organised Crime Task Force with the aim of co-ordinating the work being done in departments on tackling fraud. My officials will have a particular focus on combating trade in counterfeit goods.

(AQW 2853/01)

Sir Reg Empey: Northern Ireland is totally dependent upon imported fuels for the generation of electricity. The major benefits of renewable and sustainable energy rest in the development and use of a natural, environmentally friendly, indigenous resource which strengthens the future resilience of the energy system in Northern Ireland and offers greater choice to the consumer. The implementation timetable included in the agreement for lease issued by Crown Estates during the tender process requires a developer to install 50 megawatts (approximately 15 turbines) in each of three summer seasons commencing 2005.