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8 Mar 2004 : Column 1305W—continued

Assembly Deputy Speakers

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) role and (b) cost of the deputy speakers of the Northern Ireland Assembly has been since suspension. [156668]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The status of the Deputy Speakers, under Section 39 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, has not been affected by suspension but, since they have not been required to exercise any statutory functions, they have not received any payment as Deputy Speakers.

Assets Recovery Agency

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been recovered by the Assets Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland from people associated with (a) Loyalist paramilitaries and (b) Republican paramilitaries since its creation. [156609]

Jane Kennedy: Currently 24 cases are under active investigation by the Assets Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland with a total asset value of over £8 million. The agency has frozen assets in a total of four cases and adopted a further two cases for taxation. These cases involve around £2.7 million of assets. The cases cover the whole range of organised crime among all groupings and areas across Northern Ireland.

Belfast City Airport

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will report the outcome of the review into the current planning agreement affecting Belfast City airport; and if he will make a statement. [159274]

Angela Smith: While Belfast City airport has formally requested a review of the current planning agreement, Planning Service has not yet been advised of what changes to the agreement they are proposing. However, to move this issue forward a meeting with representatives of the City airport has been scheduled for 10 March 2004.

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I am, therefore, not yet in a position to advise when the outcome of such a review will be known.

Disability Discrimination

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to extend provisions against discrimination against people on grounds of disability. [152593]

Mr. Spellar: We are committed to the elimination of discrimination against disabled people in Northern Ireland and are continuing to build on the significant impact made by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). We intend to extend the DDA to provide further protection for people with disabilities.

New Regulations, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, will extend and improve protection for disabled people in the field of employment and vocational training from 1 October 2004.

A number of measures in relation to transport will extend protection for disabled people in Northern Ireland. The Department of the Environment intends to begin consultation in April 2004 on proposals to implement the Government's commitment on making (public hire) taxis accessible to disabled people.

The Department of the Environment also intends to extend provisions relating to the carrying of guide dogs, hearing dogs and other prescribed categories of dogs to licensed drivers of private hire vehicles in mid 2004.

The Northern Ireland Executive agreed in principle to proceed to removal of the transport exemption in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to issue a Northern Ireland consultation document on the removal of the exemption based on the consultation by the Department for Transport in Great Britain by May 2004.

In education, Special Educational Needs and Disability legislation, which will effectively extend the provisions of the DDA to education in Northern Ireland, is in preparation and is expected to be made later this year.

Finally, the single Equality Bill which will harmonise (extending and updating where appropriate) existing anti-discrimination legislation in Northern Ireland, including that relating to disability, will be the subject of a Green Paper public consultation in the spring.

By extending the legislation in these ways we will strengthen and improve civil rights for disabled people.

Government Records

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which documents are held by his office written by (a) P. H. Pearse, (b) Thomas J. Clarke, (c) Thomas Macdonagh, (d) Edward Daly, (e) William Pearse, (f) Michael O'Hanrahan, (g) Joseph Mary Plunkett, (h) John MacBride, (i) Sean Heuston, (j) Michael Mallin, (k) Eamonn Ceannt, (l) Con Colbert, (m) Thomas Kent, (n) Sean MacDiarmada, (o) James Connolly and (p) Sir Roger Casement. [156302]

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Mr. Paul Murphy: It is not possible to identify documents, which may have been written by the names listed, without detailed research covering a large number of documents. A full answer could therefore be provided only to the hon. Member at disproportionate cost. Government records are normally transferred to the National Archives after 30 years and information on these records can be accessed through its website at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Electronic Voting

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to bring forward proposals to amend legislation to enable the piloting of electronic counting of votes in (a) local council, (b) Assembly and (c) Westminster elections in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [158281]

Mr. Spellar: As I indicated in my reply of 15 December to the hon. Lady, Official Report, column 737W, the Government is interested in hearing views from interest parties on ensuring that election counts are as efficient and effective as possible. I am aware that the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is looking at the issue of electronic counting.

Fisheries

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in introducing transitional aid for Northern Ireland fishermen affected by this year's sea closures; and if he will make a statement on the timescale for aid. [158637]

Mr. Pearson: A transitional aid scheme has been drawn up in consultation with the local industry and is currently under consideration by the European Commission. My officials are pressing the Commission for their views, but I am not able to judge when I shall be in a position to announce the launch of the scheme.

GM Crops

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's policy is on the growing of genetically modified crops in Northern Ireland. [158871]

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment is the competent authority within the UK regulatory system for the control of the deliberate release and marketing of genetically modified crops in Northern Ireland. The Department deals with applications to grow GM crops on a case-by-case basis and decisions are taken following advice received from the UK's statutory advisory body, the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment. There are currently no applications for GM trials or commercial growing in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Ministers are working closely with their counterparts in the rest of the UK, in considering the overall policy for genetic modification, based on the available evidence following the results of the farmscale trials and the outcome of the recent GM dialogue, and intend to set out their conclusions shortly.

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Killyleagh Development

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of Environment intends to make a statement on the proposed Gocean development in Killyleagh. [158531]

Angela Smith: I have now received a detailed report on this proposal and intend to make a decision very soon.

MRSA

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance is available to (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) other healthcare personnel on preventing the spread of MRSA in hospitals in Northern Ireland. [158872]

Angela Smith: The Chief Medical Officer issued guidance to the Northern Ireland health service on MRSA and the management and control of hospital infection, and on resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents, in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Leaflets and pamphlets on MRSA are also available from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for patients and their relatives, and in the form of guidelines for residential and nursing home staff for the management of residents with MRSA. The Department issued an Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan in 2002 and is taking forward many of its recommendations. Professional journals such as that of the Hospital Infection Society are also a valuable resource for healthcare personnel in their efforts to prevent the spread of MRSA and similar nosocomial infections.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have died from MRSA in each hospital in Northern Ireland since 2000; what steps he is taking to reduce such deaths; and if he will make a statement. [158876]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

Surveillance, which is an important tool in the fight against infection, is quantified in Northern Ireland by the reports of MRSA blood cultures published by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. Its second annual report, for 2002–03, indicated that the overall rate of patient episodes of MRSA bacteraemias in acute hospital trusts showed a slight reduction, from 218 to 228 over the previous year while 39.1 per cent. of staphylococcus aureus patient episodes were MRSA compared to 39 per cent. These figures compare favourably with England and Scotland.

Considerable resources have been devoted to addressing nosocomial infections, including MRSA, in the last three years. Hand hygiene has been particularly encouraged in hospitals. Figures indicate that there are currently 15 per cent. fewer prescriptions being written for antibiotic drugs than there were in 1998.

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