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2 Feb 2004 : Column 716W—continued

Disability Discrimination Act

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland. [142686]

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Mr. Spellar: Most provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) have been implemented in Northern Ireland. The final provisions of part III of the DDA concerning the rights of access to goods, facilities, services and premises will be implemented in October 2004 when service providers may have to make 'reasonable adjustments' in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

Part V of the DDA allows for accessibility standards to be set for public transport. Beginning in March/April 2004, the Department of the Environment expects to consult on proposals to implement the UK Government's commitment on making (public hire) taxis accessible to disabled people. Draft measures will have regard to taxi accessibility proposals announced for England and Wales in October 2003 and will form part of a wide range of measures to reform taxi regulation emerging from the on-going NI Review of Taxi Regulation.

Under section 37 of DDA, the Department of the Environment introduced regulations on 1 August 2001 imposing on licensed drivers of public hire taxis a duty to carry without charge a guide dog, hearing dog or other prescribed category of dog when it accompanies the hirer. The provision also provides that such a driver may be exempted from this obligation on medical grounds. It is the Department's intention to extend similar provisions under section 37A to licensed drivers of private hire vehicles in mid 2004.

The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2003 came into operation on 30 April 2003. The regulations are intended to ensure that disabled people can get on and off buses and coaches in safety and without unreasonable difficulty, and in the case of wheelchair users, can do so while remaining in their wheelchairs. They are also intended to ensure that disabled people are carried in these vehicles in safety and in reasonable comfort e.g., they provide for wheelchair spaces, boarding lifts and ramps, suitable entrances and exits, handrails and kneeling systems.

The Department for Regional Development made Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) on 2 July 2001. All new trains, including the 23 currently being built for Northern Ireland Railways, must comply with these regulations

Disabled Persons (Transport)

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to improve access to trains for disabled persons in Northern Ireland. [151180]

Mr. Spellar: The 23 new trains currently being built for Translink will comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2001. These trains will replace Translink's existing slam door Class 80 trains and will provide much easier access for wheelchair users. The remainder of Translink's fleet, its Castle Class and Enterprise trains, have automatic doors, which facilitate access by wheelchair users. Translink advise that all main stations provide access to trains by wheelchair users.

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Driving Disqualifications

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals were disqualified from driving in each of the last 10 years. [151223]

Jane Kennedy: The information is set out in the table. Information for subsequent years is not yet available.

	Number of disqualifications
1993	2,692
1994	2,649
1995	2,398
1996	1,988
1997	1,943
1998	2,247
1999	2,665
2000	2,583
2001	2,203

Estate Agents (Intimidation)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of estate agents who have been subject to violent threats to deter their provision of services and letting of properties to members of ethnic minority groups; and what steps have been taken by the police to (a) identify and (b) prosecute those responsible. [151140]

Jane Kennedy: In recent weeks the media reported that an estate agent in the Donegal Road area of Belfast had suffered intimidation from unknown persons who attempted to deter him from offering his services and letting property to members of ethnic minority groups, however no complaint has been made to the police in South Belfast by any estate agent.

As a result of these media reports, police officers contacted estate agents in the Donegal Road Area that let property about these allegations; however no estate agents subsequently reported any form of intimidation against them concerning their letting practices.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are awaiting (a) in-patient admission and (b) initial out-patient assessment for orthopaedic surgery. [152363]

Angela Smith: Waiting list statistics are submitted to the Department at specialty level. The information in this answer relates to people waiting in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty. The latest available waiting list figures show the position at 30 September 2003, when

(a) there were 6,253 patients awaiting admission to hospital in the trauma and orthopaedics surgery specialty.

(b) there were 19,619 patients awaiting a first out-patient appointment in the trauma and orthopaedics surgery specialty.

Mobile Classrooms

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in each Northern Ireland constituency make use of temporary mobile classroom accommodation; and what the forecast average time is for the replacement of this accommodation. [150676]

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Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education is currently working with the Education and Library Boards and other school authorities to update the information held on the number of temporary classrooms in the school estate. This information will be supplied to you when the results of the survey are available.

There is no average replacement time forecast for temporary accommodation. It is replaced based on the educational need and the resources available. Through the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative, £15 million was made available over the past two years specifically to remove temporary classrooms from 52 schools. Over the next two years, a further £16 million will be made available for this purpose. In addition, over the past four years major capital projects totalling some £650 million have been announced and this investment will also contribute to further reductions in temporary accommodation as these schemes come to fruition in the coming years.

Olympic Games

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of whether Windsor Park Football Ground would be suitable to host Olympic games fixtures in the event of London hosting the games in 2012; and if he will make a statement. [152360]

Angela Smith: The London 2012 Olympic bid team included Windsor Park as a proposed venue for preliminary rounds of the Olympic football tournament, should the London bid be successful. It is recognised that Windsor Park would require substantial upgrading if it is to host such fixtures but this can be assessed in detail when the outcome of the bid is known and in the context of the outcomes of a study now being commissioned to establish if a National Stadium in Northern Ireland is a viable option.

Parades Commission

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission. [151221]

Jane Kennedy: The Government have been considering the responses received so far as a result of the public consultation exercise in relation to the Quigley Report. The door remains open for any further responses. However, in the interim, the tenure of the serving Chairman and members of the Parades Commission has been extended to 31 December 2005.

Paramilitary Activities

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary attacks on individuals in Northern Ireland there have been in each of the last five years. [148842]

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is set out in the following table.

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Financial year	By Loyalist	By Republican	Total
	(a) Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults(52)
1998–99	112	60	172
1999–2000	70	33	103
2000–01	89	72	161
2001–02	76	36	112
2002–03	94	50	144
	(b) Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style shootings
1998–99	40	33	73
1999–2000	53	22	75
2000–01	99	63	162
2001–02	124	66	190
2002–03	110	55	165
	(c) Total number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaultsand shootings
1998–99	152	93	245
1999–2000	123	55	178
2000–01	188	135	323
2001–02	200	102	302
2002–03	204	105	309

⁽⁵²⁾ Beatings

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in prosecuting (a) loyalist and (b) republican paramilitaries who have carried out punishment beatings and shootings. [148982]

Jane Kennedy: It is not possible to provide details of the number of persons arrested or charged for such offences as the offences which they have been charged with are defined as assault occasioning actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm. Police statistics do not identify whether such crimes were the result of paramilitary attacks. Police investigations into these crimes are often hampered by the victims' reluctance to co-operate with them.

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