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Action for Community Employment

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures will be taken by other Government Departments to make good the shortfall in the ACE budget. [21876]

Mr. Ancram: No specific measures are being taken by other Government Departments at present. However, a transitional package of £2 million to be provided by the Training and Employment Agency for ACE schemes has already been announced which recognises the immediate problems faced by organisations dealing with many of the needy in Northern Ireland and will enable them to make an orderly contraction of their operations.

Prisoners (Transfers)

Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the arrangements by which residents of Northern Ireland, and foreign nationals convicted of criminal offences in Northern Ireland, may apply for transfer to their home countries outside the United Kingdom to complete their sentences; and how many such transfers have been made in each of the last five years. [24390]

Sir John Wheeler: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. Alan Shannon. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from B. R. D. White to Mr. Robin Corbett, dated 2 April 1996:

In the absence of the Chief Executive, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your parliamentary question regarding government policy in respect of the repatriation of prisoners to and from Northern Ireland.
The repatriation of prisoners to and from the United Kingdom is governed by the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984. Repatriation may be considered where the country to which application is being made is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons or to the Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders or has a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom.
To be eligible for repatriation a prisoner must have received his final sentence for an offence which is a criminal offence under the law of the receiving country, be a national of that country or have close family ties there and as a general rule have at least six months of his sentence to serve at the time of application. Repatriation requires the consent of both jurisdictions and the prisoner concerned. In considering whether to accept a request for repatriation to another jurisdiction it has been the policy of Her Majesty's Government not to agree to a transfer where such a move would result in a substantial reduction in time left to serve.
In the past five years no prisoner convicted of an offence committed in Northern Ireland has requested to be repatriated to another jurisdiction. No applications for repatriation to Northern Ireland have been received in the same period.

Breast Cancer

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which of the recommendations of the third report of the Health Committee of Session 1994-95, HC 324, on breast cancer services he has implemented; and what sums he has allocated for further implementation of the recommendations. [23782]

Mr. Moss: Many of the recommendations are being taken forward at national level. Specific recommendations in relation to services have been considered by the cancer

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working group, which was established to review the current provision of cancer services in Northern Ireland and to make recommendations as to how the services can be improved for all cancer patients. I hope to be in a position to make a statement on this in the near future.

Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the figures for breast cancer among women in each range for which figures are collated; and if he will make a statement on the incidence of breast cancer in Northern Ireland relative to other parts of the United Kingdom. [23784]

Mr. Moss: Information on deaths from breast cancer is detailed in the tables. This shows that the death rate is lower in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Annual average deaths from breast cancer by age in Northern Ireland 1989-93

Age	Average deaths
25-30	0.4
30-35	3.4
35-40	6.6
40-45	18.0
45-50	21.0
50-55	25.8
55-60	35.4
60-65	37.4
65-70	37.4
70-75	34.4
75-80	35.0
80-85	28.2
85+	32.2
Total	315.2

Deaths from breast cancer (per 100,000 women aged 20 or over)

	1991	1992	1993
England	69.4	68.1	64.8
Wales	64.9	69.1	70.8
Scotland	63.8	62.2	63.6
Northern Ireland	65.6	59.1	56.6

Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will commission research into the incidence of breast cancer among women who have their first child after age 30 years; if he will arrange for publicity about the incidence; and what proposals he has for preventive monitoring schemes. [23785]

Mr. Moss: There are no plans at present to commission such research. Information about incidence is included in publicity for both the breast screening programme and general health promotion programmes of health and social services boards and trusts. The breast screening programme is continuously monitored in order to maintain and improve its effectiveness.

General Practitioners

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the whole-time equivalent number of NHS general medical practitioners working in each health and social services board area in Northern Ireland at the latest date for which figures are available. [24385]

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Mr. Moss: The information requested is given in the table.

Number (whole-time equivalent) of unrestricted principal general medical practitioners in contract with health and social services boards at 1 March 1996

Health and social services boards	Unrestricted principals (WTE)
Eastern	389.25
Northern	221.25
Southern	181.5
Western	167.75
Northern Ireland total	959.75

Government Purchasing Agency

Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing the Government purchasing service of the Department of Finance and Personnel as a next steps agency. [24593]

Sir John Wheeler: The Government purchasing service of the Department of Finance and Personnel was established as an executive agency on 1 April 1996. It will be known as the Government Purchasing Agency.

I have set a number of key performance targets for the agency to achieve in its first year. These are as follows:

to achieve total quality through having 100 per cent. of contracts covered by service level agreements established between the agency and its customers meet the standards set out in the White Paper "Setting New Standards--A Strategy for Government Procurement", Cmnd 2840;
to achieve through cost reduction and cost avoidance methods at least 3 per cent. value for money improvements in procurement spend;
to achieve a 75 per cent. qualified procurement staff;
to respond to 85 per cent. of requests for advice on procurement policy within one working day and the remainder within three working days;

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to achieve 100 per cent. of regulated contracts conforming to purchasing regulations as monitored by University of Ulster surveys;
to complete preparation for trading fund status by end of March 1997; and
to establish a supplier forum with representatives of small and medium-sized businesses by September 1996, that will ensure initial business participation of at least 30 per cent.

Copies of the framework document, which sets out the terms within which the agency will operate, have been placed in the Library, along with its first corporate and business plan.

Ballycastle-Campbeltown Ferry

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the ferry service between Ballycastle and Campbeltown will commence operation; and if he will make a statement. [23817]

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I have been asked to reply. The target date for the commencement of the proposed new ferry service, set by the sponsors of the project, Argyll and the Islands Enterprise and Moyle district council, is 1 May 1997, subject to the availability of the terminals at both Campbeltown and Ballycastle. The Government are considering the proposal made by the project sponsors that Caledonian MacBrayne should be allowed to operate the service and fully recognise the need for an early decision on this matter.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

EDS Computer System

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Attorney-General what savings to date have been made by his Department as a result of out-sourcing arrangements made with the EDS computer system; what assessment he has made of the equivalent costs for carrying out this work in-house; and if he will make a statement. [24231]

The Attorney-General: The departments for which I am responsible have not entered into any arrangements with Electronic Data Systems.

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