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NORTHERN IRELAND
Volunteers
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will mark next year's International Year of Volunteers by spending a day working as a volunteer. [137434]
Mr. Mandelson: The Government fully support the aims of the International Year of Volunteers and in April of this year I volunteered for a day at Hartlepool hospice.
Mr. Sam Marshall
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received concerning the death of Mr. Sam Marshall in Lurgan; and when he expects an inquest to be held into his death. [134882]
Mr. Ingram: This matter was raised by the Irish Government through the British Irish Secretariat. The listing of any inquest is a matter for the Coroner. In respect of the death of Mr. Marshall I understand that consideration is presently being given to the arrangements for a pre-inquest hearing.
Prisoner Releases
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners released following the Good Friday Agreement are no longer resident at a permanent address which is known to the authorities. [138189]
Mr. Ingram: The only licence conditions imposed on a prisoner given early release is that they do not become a supporter of a specified organisation, do not become concerned in the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland; and, in the case of a life sentence prisoner, do not
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become a danger to the public. There is no requirement to provide the authorities with a permanent address. Irrespective of residence, arrangements are in place to ensure that the Secretary of State is notified when an individual breaches the terms of his licence.
Sentence Review Applications
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fugitives from justice who have previously been convicted of terrorist-related offences have made an application to the Sentences Review Commission; and if he will list their names. [138101]
Mr. Ingram: To date, no fugitives from justice who have previously been convicted of terrorist-related offences have made an application to the Sentence Review Commissioners.
Dalai Lama (Belfast Visit)
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) uniformed and (b) plain clothes RUC officers were present during the visit of the Dalai Lama to the Springfield road, Belfast. [136036]
Mr. Ingram: During the visit of the Dalai Lama to the Springfield road, Belfast, on Thursday 19 October 2000, 119 uniformed police officers and 12 plain clothes officers were present.
Bomb Scares
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many bomb scares have there been in town centres in each police division in Northern Ireland in each week since 1 April; and, of these, how many were (a) Republican-inspired and (b) Loyalist-inspired. [136040]
Mr. Ingram: The table shows the number of hoax bombing incidents recorded in Northern Ireland during the period 1 April to 27 October 2000. These are incidents where an Army Technical Officer (ATO) was in attendance. It is not possible to define a town centre and so the table gives the location of each recorded incident. It is also not possible to give attributions for hoax bombings.
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Police Force
Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what assessment he has made of trends in Catholic applications to the police force in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement; [137328]
- (2) what (a) proportion and (b) number of applicants to the RUC/Northern Ireland police force were (i) Catholic, (ii) Protestant and (iii) from other communities from 1995 to date; and if he will make a statement. [137503]
Mr. Ingram: The following table provides the information requested, by recruitment competition from 1995. Under the terms of section 31 of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 (now Article 55 of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998) this matter is continuously under review and requires the Royal Ulster Constabulary to identify under-representation and establish appropriate affirmative action to address any imbalances. The Royal Ulster Constabulary fully recognises the benefits and the need to be more representative of the communities it serves and its goal is to reflect the composition of those communities. The Government are committed to taking all appropriate steps as are necessary, in line with the recommendations contained in the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, to bring about an increase in full cross-community representation within the police service.
Note:
CB1--Perceived to be Protestant
CB2--Perceived to be Roman Catholic
CB3--Non-determined
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ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Payroll Administration
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the costs of payroll administration in his Department and associated agencies and non-departmental bodies in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [135993]
Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 1 November 2000]: The estimated payroll administration costs for DETR and its agencies for 2000-01 is £2.2 million.
Payroll administration of non-departmental public bodies is decentralised so the above information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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