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Prisoner Releases
Mr. MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the perceived paramilitary affiliation of those prisoners awaiting release under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 whose applications have been successful. [112963]
Mr. Ingram:
To date, a total of 109 prisoners whose applications for early release have been successful are awaiting early release under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998. Information is held in relation to the perceived paramilitary affiliation of prisoners, where applicable, for management purposes. It should be noted, however, that with the exception of HMP Maze where links are more clearly defined, this information is based on a combination of factors including the offence, sympathies and associates. The table provides the breakdown by perceived affiliation and is taken from statistics which are current at 21 March 2000.
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| Total (16) | |
|---|---|
| UDA | 13 |
| No trace | 1 |
| UFF | 5 |
| PIRA | 51 |
| UVF | 14 |
| Loyalist | 1 |
| RHC | 1 |
| LVF | 9 |
| INLA | 14 |
| Grand total | 109 |
(16) As at 21 March 2000
Mrs. Rosemary Nelson
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what factors account for the delay between the Committee on the Administration of Justice informing him of the threats made to Mrs. Rosemary Nelson and the police seeking originals of those threats; and if he will make a statement. [113473]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 10 March 2000]: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 10 February 2000, Official Report, column 239W.
Correspondence
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will respond to the correspondence received from Mrs. Laura Hamill; and if he will place a copy of that correspondence in the Library. [114646]
Mr. Mandelson: The Northern Ireland Office has no record of any correspondence sent to me by Mrs. Laura Hamill. I received one letter written on behalf of Mrs. Hamill from Mr. Mark Thompson, Co-ordinator of the Relatives for Justice, on 22 February 2000. I will place a copy of my reply to Mr. Thompson in the Library.
Justices of the Peace
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the members of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee responsible for making appointments of justices of the peace in the County Armagh area. [115407]
Mr. Lock: I have been asked to reply.
The Lord Chancellor's directions for Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace in Northern Ireland states that while membership may be confidential it is open to each Advisory Committee to determine whether or not it wishes to disclose its membership to current justices or to bona fide enquirers. The Chairman and the Advisory Committees for the Divisions of Craigavon, Armagh and South Down, which cover the Armagh area, have elected that the membership of these Committees remain confidential.
Portadown (Civil Disturbance)
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what support was offered by British
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Army and Royal Irish Regiment units to the Royal Ulster Constabulary to assist in respect of the civil disturbance in Portadown town centre on 27 April 1997. [115279]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 21 March 2000]: There was no military involvement.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the most recent year for which records are available, how many cases of sexual assault were reported to the Royal Ulster Constabulary; in how many of these cases the identity of the alleged perpetrator was known to the police; how many cases were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions; how many prosecutions were brought; and how many convictions were secured. [115278]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 21 March 2000]: A total of 1,605 sexual offences 1 were recorded by the Royal Ulster Constabulary for the year 1998-99. Of these, 1,221 offences were cleared, representing an overall clearance rate of 76.1 per cent.
During the same period, 104 persons 2 were proceeded against in the Crown courts. Eighty-one were found guilty and 23 not guilty. Comparable figures for the magistrates courts are not yet available.
Mr. John D. Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what applications there are for the provision of pre-school education at Kircubbin, County Down; what funding is available for pre-school education; and if such funding would be available if pre-school provision in Kircubbin were under the control of the (a) South-Eastern Education and Libraries Board and (b) Council for Catholic Maintained Schools [115397]
Mr. George Howarth:
An application for the provision of a free-standing community nursery school in Kircubbin has been offered capital funding of £225,000 under the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation by the Department of Education.
Following discussions with representatives of the South-Eastern Education and Library Board and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the community group promoting the nursery school in Kircubbin decided that it should be managed as a Catholic maintained nursery school but with a cross-community Board of Governors. The funding would equally have been available had the community group chosen to follow the management model for a controlled school.
As the deadline for expenditure of these EU funds is 31 December 2000, the funding could not be transferred to an alternative project in the Kircubbin area at this stage.
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Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the risks attached to the exchange between plant and animal viruses in relation to GM crops; and if he will make a statement. [115034]
Ms Quin:
We are not aware of any representations on this issue.
In 1994 this Department commissioned a report to assess the risks to the agricultural environment associated with the development of virus-tolerant GM plants. This report identified the creation of new viruses as an area which should be investigated and we have funded a number of research projects in this area, at a total cost of £755,000. These projects have not found any evidence of the creation of novel viruses. Details of all completed projects are available from the MAFF library.
Mr. Randall:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the (a) total number of carcases and (b) total amount of revenue claimed from the European Union in compensation for cattle disposed of under the over-thirty-months scheme for each month since the scheme began. [114825]
Ms Quin:
Full entitlement of EU reimbursement in respect of eligible over-thirty-months scheme (OTMS) animals is payable when the carcase is incinerated. In respect of animals which are rendered, reimbursement of full entitlement is payable once the equivalent amount of meat and bone-meal and tallow have been incinerated, although an 80 per cent. advance of the entitlement can be claimed once the animals have been rendered.
1 Relates to all Class 2 offences as recorded under revised Home Office counting rules introduced from 1 April 1998.
2 Relates to primary offences only, all of which were referred to the DPP. It is not possible to determine the number of persons proceeded against in the Crown courts with a sexual offence being a secondary offence.
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Mr. Breed: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the location of each site currently burning meat and bone-meal produced under the over-thirty-months scheme, and the names of the companies operating each site. [115111]
Ms Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall) on 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 10W.
Mr. Breed: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the precautionary principle has been adopted in the decision to (a) allow storage of meat and bonemeal from over-thirty-months scheme cattle prior to incineration, (b) allow the storage of meat and bonemeal from over-thirty-months scheme cattle over a long period of time, (c) allow the incineration of meat and bonemeal from over-thirty-months scheme cattle that has been stored over a long period of time, (d) choose contracts offering rendering of over-thirty-months scheme cattle prior to incineration rather than those offering direct incineration and (e) allow tallow from over-thirty-months scheme cattle to be used as fuel. [115113]
Ms Quin: The Environment Agency commissioned a number of assessments on the risk to human health from BSE via environmental pathways, which included the storage and processing of over-thirty-months scheme (OTMS) material. (Cattle showing clinical signs suggestive of BSE cannot enter the OTMS). The risk assessments were produced in consultation with SEAC, and were based on the precautionary principle. These showed the risks to the most exposed individual to be negligible, endorsing SEAC's advice in 1996. Copies of the risk assessments, which were published in June 1997, were placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Breed:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the total costs for transporting meat and bone meal produced under the Over-30-Months scheme from storage locations to incinerators. [115112]
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Ms Quin:
Transport costs range from £9.50 and £13.50 per tonne of Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) depending on the location of the storage site and the distance to the incinerator.
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