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16 Mar 2004 : Column 260W—continued
Irish Fertilizer Industries
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will urgently raise through the normal channels of North/South contact the situation of the former employees of Irish Fertilizer Industries based in Northern Ireland (Richardson's), in respect of their expectations of receiving pension entitlement; and if he will make a statement. [159051]
Mr. Pearson: I have raised the pension entitlement issue with the Irish Fertilizer Industries shareholders on a number of occasions. The Trustees appointed to manage the fund following closure have now lodged a debt with the liquidator and this is being considered as part of the overall liquidation process. I will write to the shareholders to express my continued concerns.
Irish Republican Army
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland about arresting people for belonging to the IRA; and if he will make a statement. [159642]
Jane Kennedy: The Secretary of State meets the Chief Constable on a regular basis to discuss a range of security matters including those relating to membership of proscribed organisations.
Male Teenage Suicides
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action is being taken to address suicide among male teenagers; and if he will make a statement. [157382]
Angela Smith: The promoting Mental Health Strategy and Action Plan launched last year includes a specific section on preventing suicide. A range of preventive measures are being taken under the strategy including promoting coping skills, suicide awareness and outreach work with young people in areas of need and especially young men. Action is also being taken under the drug and alcohol strategies to offer support and counselling to young men affected by addiction difficulties.
Manufacturing
Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many jobs have been (a) lost and (b) created in the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland during the last five years. [159744]
Mr. Pearson: Over the last five years, to 5 March 2004, there were 19,058 redundancies in the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland confirmed to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.
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Information on the number of jobs created is not available. However, figures from the Northern Ireland Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) can be used to estimate the net change in employee jobs during the last five years. Latest figures from the QES show that in September 2003 there were 91,830 employee jobs in manufacturing. This represents a decrease of 16,010 (-14.8 per cent.) from the September 1998 figure of 107,840. Over the same five year period there has been a net increase of 51,790 (8.4 per cent.) in the total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland, which at September 2003 was estimated to be 667,050, the highest September employee jobs figure on record.
Medical Negligence
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs to public funds resulted from medical negligence in each of the last 10 years. [157394]
Angela Smith: Information in relation to each of the last five years is as follows. The information relating to the previous five years is not readily available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 12,286 |
| 1999–2000 | 4,859 |
| 2000–01 | 9,409 |
| 2001–02 | 7,415 |
| 2002–03 | 13,550 |
Mental Health
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve child and adolescent psychiatry services before the report from the review of mental health. [157389]
Angela Smith: £4 million is being made available for a new purpose built 16–18 bedded unit for child and adolescent inpatient services. An outline business case is at present being considered by the Department. It is proposed that a further 10 child and adolescent beds are provided in the west of the province. Two Trusts have submitted business cases which are currently being considered.
Priorities for Action 2003–04 requires Boards and Trusts to develop child and adolescent community mental health services, especially those services that reduce demand for in-patient services. A Regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Development Group has been proposed to oversee the implementation of a regional commissioning statement in respect of all four tiers of services in Northern Ireland.
Midwives
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many midwifery vacancies there are in Northern Ireland. [157386]
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Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows in the table.
| Trust | Headcount | WTE(22) |
|---|---|---|
| Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust | 4 | 4.00 |
| Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Causeway HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Craigavon and Banbridge Comm. HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust | 3 | 3.00 |
| Down Lisburn HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Foyle Community HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Greenpark Healthcare HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Homefirst Community HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Newry and Moume HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| North and West Belfast HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust | 1 | 0.55 |
| South and East Belfast HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ulster Comm. and Hosp. Group HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| United Hospitals Group HSS Trust | 3 | 3.00 |
| Total | 11 | 10.55 |
(22) Whole Time Equivalent
| Trust | Headcount | WTE(23) |
|---|---|---|
| Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust | 2 | 2.00 |
| Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Causeway HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Craigavon and Banbridge Comm. HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust | 2 | 2.00 |
| Down Lisburn HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Foyle Community HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Greenpark Healthcare HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Homefirst Community HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Newry and Moume HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| North and West Belfast HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| South and East Belfast HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ulster Comm. and Hosp. Group HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| United Hospitals Group HSS Trust | 0 | 0.00 |
| Total | 4 | 4.00 |
(23) Whole Time Equivalent
Newpin
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will allocate the Newpin charitable organisation £30,000 to cover core services for the coming year; and if he will make a statement. [157335]
Angela Smith: Newpin in Northern Ireland is in the process of establishing as a new company. Until the position on the status of the organisation has been resolved, DHSSPS is not in a position to allocate any funding to cover core services for the coming year.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding was provided to the Newpin charitable organisation in each year since 1996. [157379]
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Angela Smith: The accounts for the Northern Ireland Newpin office are managed centrally by National Newpin in London and it has, therefore, not been possible to provide a breakdown of the separate sources of funding for the Northern Ireland Newpin office.
Details of the funding provided to Foyle Newpin and Rathcoole Newpin since 1996 are as follows.
| Source of funding | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| Foyle Newpin | |
| 1995–96 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 20,000 |
| 1996–97 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 20,000 |
| 1997–98 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 44,000 |
| Save the Children Fund | 15,000 |
| 1998–99 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 44,000 |
| Children in Need | 16,038 |
| EU Childhood Fund | 7,573 |
| Save the Children Fund | 18,000 |
| 1999–2000 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 66,000 |
| 2000–01 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 68,000 |
| 2001–02 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 70,000 |
| 2002–03 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 72,152 |
| Londonderry Regeneration Initiative | 14,800 |
| Community Fund NI | 22,763 |
| 2003–04 | |
| Western Health and Social Services Board | 75,000 |
| Rathcoole Newpin | |
| 1995–96 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 20,000 |
| 1996–97 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 20,000 |
| International Fund for Ireland | 19,200 |
| 1997–98 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 51,380 |
| International Fund for Ireland | 40,800 |
| 1998–99 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 62,332 |
| International Fund for Ireland | 40,000 |
| 1999–2000 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 70,000 |
| 2000–01 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 74,500 |
| 2001–02 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 78,798 |
| 2002–03 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 83,711 |
| 2003–04 | |
| Northern Health and Social Services Board | 85,700 |
16 Mar 2004 : Column 264W
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