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Information Super-highway
6. Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress in constructing the information super-highway in Northern Ireland. [30927]
Sir John Wheeler: Significant progress has been made in developing an information super-highway in Northern Ireland. In early 1994, a major project was initiated by the business development service on behalf of Northern Ireland departments, their agencies and the wider public sector. In February 1996, the information society initiative was launched by my noble Friend Baroness Denton.
Mr. Jones: What plans does the Minister have to ensure that every citizen of Northern Ireland has access to the information super-highway? What help is he giving schools to ensure that they can plug in to the information super-highway? What steps is he taking to ensure that terrorists do not abuse the information super-highway for their own purposes?
Sir John Wheeler: The business development service, in conjunction with consultants, is carrying out a telecommunications strategy study to ensure that the very best communications infrastructure is available to Government Departments well into the 21st century. In Northern Ireland, Cable Tel is in the process of establishing a broad-band infrastructure, which it is hoped will meet the hon. Gentleman's needs. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State is considering the implications for the education sector. The use of these facilities by terrorists is a matter that has to be pursued on a case-by-case basis. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman understands the difficulty of constraint.
Mr. David Shaw: Will my right hon. Friend tell me how Sinn Fein-IRA is able to have a world wide web address? The cause of nationalism has been promoted using the world wide web. Can we ensure that the cause of peace is given an equal opportunity to be promoted on the world wide web? Will the Government ensure that the British Government's point of view, and that of the Unionists, are also put out on the world wide web?
Sir John Wheeler: I assure my hon. Friend that the Northern Ireland Office is making use of the facility to get across information across about the achievements of Northern Ireland. Political parties will have to judge their use of the facilities. I appreciate the points made by my hon. Friend.
Drinking Water
7. Mr. Clifford Forsythe: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the operation of the drinking water supply system in Northern Ireland. [30929]
Mr. Moss: The Department of the Environment's water service assesses the drinking water supply system on a continuous operational basis. A water resource strategy has recently been completed and reviewed in the light of experience of the 1995 drought.
Mr. Forsythe: As the vast majority of Northern Ireland's local councils oppose the fluoridation of drinking water in Northern Ireland, will the Minister assure the House that the will of the people and of elected representatives will prevail in this matter, rather than that of unelected and unrepresentative board members?
Mr. Moss: Boards must take into consideration district councils' views, but they must also consider their duty to improve the health and social well-being of their populations. Until I have considered the requests from health and social services boards in detail, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the consultation exercise, but it is vital for them to demonstrate appropriate and thorough consultation.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
8. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the incidence of BSE in the Northern Ireland herd for the most recent year for which figures are available. [30930]
Sir Patrick Mayhew: In 1995, there were 170 cases of BSE in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Prentice: Mercifully, Northern Ireland is largely free of BSE, but what steps have been taken in the framework document to ensure that herds in Northern Ireland can be certified BSE-free? While I am on my feet, may I ask the Minister to comment on the revelations in the science magazine Nature, published today, that Britain's exports of contaminated feed doubled after that contaminated feed had been banned in this country? Was that not criminally irresponsible?
Sir Patrick Mayhew: I do not believe in commenting on texts that I have not read. It is in the interests of Northern Ireland producers that we have an electronic system of tracing beasts back to the farm of their birth. We can identify the life history of every animal, including whether it has ever been associated with a herd infected with BSE. That is a great advantage, which I trust will serve the interests of Northern Ireland producers quickly in terms of having the ban lifted.
Mr. Beggs: Does the Secretary of State appreciate our dependence on beef exports in Northern Ireland, and that we cannot survive this blanket ban much longer, especially not until other regions of the UK catch up with our traceability records? What does the European Union expect from us in Northern Ireland? What is its criterion? What assurances does it need? Will he seek to enable Northern Ireland to meet those assurances as soon as possible?
Sir Patrick Mayhew: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and know how greatly he is concerned about these matters. Seventy per cent. of all Northern Ireland-produced beef is exported, not just over the water, but outside the UK. It is a matter of enormous importance to Northern Ireland. It has been accepted reluctantly that Northern Ireland must take its place with the whole of the UK in getting the ban lifted, but there are considerable advantages, which I have just alluded to, that Northern Ireland can pray in aid. The European Union has never given clear criteria to the lifting of the ban, but it is clear that it expects more extensive culling to take place. The Government believe--indeed, they know--that there is no scientific justification for the ban and they have presented their eradication plan to the Commission. I am confident that Northern Ireland will be well placed to meet any criteria that may eventually be defined. They should be defined straight away. All farmers throughout the UK receive the same compensation for 30-month and above stock that is compulsorily slaughtered.
Mr. Illsley: Is the Secretary of State aware that there is some optimism among Ulster Farmers Union members that the framework document for BSE's eradication will be accepted by the European Union? That will be of advantage to Northern Ireland farmers, because 90 per cent. of their herds are grass fed, there is a low incidence of BSE, and the tracing system is in place. If the framework document is accepted, and if herds in Northern Ireland meet the conditions in that document, will the Secretary of State support the lifting of the ban in Northern Ireland before other regions of the United Kingdom?
Sir Patrick Mayhew: If the framework document for eradication is met, it will be applicable to the whole of
the United Kingdom--although not every region may benefit at the same time. As I have said, it seems as though Northern Ireland will be able to benefit much sooner. I look forward to that occurring, as Northern Ireland is very well placed.Primary School Budgets
10. Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the state of primary school budgets. [30932]
Mr. Ancram: The total funding available for delegation to primary schools, including resources for the primary 1 initiative in 1996-97, is estimated at £275 million. That represents an increase of 4.55 per cent. from 1995-96.
Mr. Taylor: I have visited some 20 primary schools in Strangford in the past three months. Is the Minister aware that there is a decline in morale in primary schools, that many schools are operating on deficit budgets, that primary school teachers are being made redundant this year, that pupil-teacher ratios are worsening, that management committee members are considering resigning and that teachers face an increasing administration burden? Will the Minister, therefore, urgently reappraise the financing of primary school education in Northern Ireland? Will he redirect some of the existing funding within his Department and the education area boards to our primary schools?
Mr. Ancram: While I do not for a moment deny that schools in Northern Ireland suffer the same difficulties as schools elsewhere, I think that the right hon. Gentleman paints a very black picture. I remind him that, in the past four years, the capital per capita allocations to primary schools in Northern Ireland have risen by 14 per cent. That is demonstrated by an improving parent-teacher ratio in the primary sector from 23.2:1 in the late 1980s to 21.6:1 in 1993-94. The provisional figures for 1994-95 show a further improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio to 20.8:1. That proves that conditions in Northern Ireland primary schools are improving.
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