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Arson

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set up a task force to deal with ritualised arson attacks on Protestant churches and Orange halls. [35320]

Sir John Wheeler: The attacks on Protestant and Orange halls are serious criminal offences and as such the responsibility for investigation rests with the RUC. I understand, however, that it is not intended, at this time, to form a special task force for this purpose, but I can assure the hon. and learned Gentleman that the RUC is fully committed to prevent such attacks and a detailed thorough investigation will always be carried out.

10 Jul 1996 : Column: 243

Heart Surgery

Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is the current average waiting time for heart surgery for children (a) in Northern Ireland and (b) in each of the four area health and social services boards; [35497]

Mr. Moss: Information is not collected centrally on the number of children in Northern Ireland waiting for heart surgery. The information held in the Department relating to the waiting list shows only the total number of patients and the lengths of time which they have been waiting. For this reason, it is not possible to provide a "current" average waiting time for children presently on the list. However, in regard to those children--aged 14 and under--who had cardiac surgery during the period 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996 the average waiting time was as follows:

Board of residenceDays
Eastern Board121
Northern Board91
Southern Board131
Western Board269
Total for NI(20) 151

(20) The information in regard to 1995-96 is still provisional.

Information is not collected centrally on expenditure on cardiac catheterisations.

Railways Privatisation

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to privatise Northern Ireland Railways. [36357]

Mr. Moss: There are no plans at present to privatise Northern Ireland Railways.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Cattle Culling

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the need for national legislation to provide for the implementation of a policy of culling cattle. [25867]

Mrs. Browning: The Department's on-going consideration of options for the selective slaughter of cattle in relation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy cover all the relevant aspects of the options including the need for a proper legislative basis.

10 Jul 1996 : Column: 244

Beef

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consumer research he has commissioned into consumer preference for beef marked as of British origin in fast food outlets. [35709]

Mrs. Browning: The Government do not undertake consumer research of that nature. However, I understand that the Meat and Livestock Commission, with which we are in close contact, does carry out consumer research into consumers' preferences about the origin of beef products.

Hong Kong (Quarantine)

Sir David Steel: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the Governor of Hong Kong on reform of the present quarantine system. [35764]

Mrs. Browning: I am of course aware of the views of the Governor of Hong Kong on this issue, as these have been well reported in the media. I can confirm, however, that he has made no direct representations on this to me, my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or, to the best of my knowledge, anyone in my Ministry.

Rabies

Sir David Steel: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that veterinary surgeons have unrestricted access to the inactivated rabies vaccines approved by his Department for use on animals under their care. [35762]

Mrs. Browning: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 29 February to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith), column 710.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mrs. Gorman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the percentage of the European Union budget that goes to the common agricultural policy. [35777]

Mr. Baldry: Currently about half the European Union budget is spent on the common agricultural policy. This compares to about two thirds in 1988.

Agricultural Subsidies

Mrs. Gorman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the European Union budget goes to providing agricultural subsidies to the 1 per cent. of landholders. [35778]

Mr. Baldry: The information requested is not available.

New Zealand Lamb

Mr. Dover: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact on the quotas for the importation of New Zealand lamb of the worldwide ban on the export of British beef imposed by the European Commission. [31065]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 4 June 1996]: We do not consider the EU ban on exports of British beef to have any significant effect on the New Zealand lamb quota.

10 Jul 1996 : Column: 245

Furthermore, at a recent meeting of the World Trade Organisation International Meat Council, the New Zealand delegate took a similar view.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the number of confirmed BSE cases in England for each of the last 36 months. [33306]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 18 June 1996]: The number of confirmed BSE cases by date of confirmation in England for each of the last 36 months is:

Month/YearCases
May 19932,384
June 19932,815
July 19931,876
August 19932,322
September 19932,210
October 19932,228
November 19932,762
December 19932,013
January 19941,678
February 19942,655
March 19942,754
April 19942,141
May 19941,634
June 19942,140
July 19941,223
August 19941,338
September 19941,612
October 19941,757
November 19941,642
January 19951,441
February 19951,746
March 19951,434
April 1995967
May 19951,220
June 19951,098
July 19951,080
August 1995894
September 1995827
October 1995920
November 1995945
December 1995655
January 1996785
February 19961,000
March 1996736
April 1996545
May 1996515
June 1996939
Total58,023

10 Jul 1996 : Column: 246

There is a delay of around several weeks while diagnostic tests are completed, between the slaughter of BSE suspect animals and the confirmation of the case as being BSE. Procedural changes within the veterinary investigation service significantly reduced processing capacity from March to May, and the subsequent increase in June represents clearance of the backlog. A similar backlog resulting from public holidays and Christmas was cleared in February.

Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest date on which a BSE confirmed bovine was born. [33034]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 18 June 1996]: As at 9 July, the latest date on which a confirmed BSE bovine was born was 17 June 1993.

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Steen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many statutory instruments his Department introduced in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) between 1 January 1996 and 1 May 1996, which had the effect of repealing one or more previous statutory instruments without replacing them with a new regulation. [35034]

Mr. Boswell [holding answer 2 July 1996]: In 1995, the following statutory instruments repealed one or more previous statutory instruments without replacing them with a new regulation:


The Ministry has not found any such instruments in respect of 1994 or 1996, up to 1 May.