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15 Sept 2004 : Column 1638W—continued
Hospital-acquired Infections
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on infection control procedures at hospitals in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [187442]
Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) MRSA and (b) total staphylococcus aureus cases have been reported in the Province in each of the past five years. [187808]
Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
| 2000 | 130 |
| 2001 | 190 |
| 2002 | 184 |
| 2003 | 252 |
| 2004 | 153 |
| Total | 909 |
| 2000 | 352 |
| 2001 | 426 |
| 2002 | 492 |
| 2003 | 595 |
| 2004 | 362 |
| Total | 2,227 |
These figures are based on voluntary reports made by Trust laboratories.
Medical School
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the need for a second medical school in the Province. [188542]
Angela Smith: I am aware that the University of Ulster intends to investigate the feasibility of a new medical school, based at its North West campus. Subsequently it will be necessary to consider how any proposal from the university might meet the tests of viability and sustainability, as well as how such a proposal would be funded and developed within the wider context of tertiary education within Northern Ireland.
Prosthetic Limbs
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on (a) funding for and (b) development of services for those with prosthetic limbs. [187784]
15 Sept 2004 : Column 1639W
Angela Smith: Funding for the prosthetic service is provided from the Physical and Sensory Disability Programme of Care. In 2003–04 expenditure on the prosthetics service totalled just over £l million.
Representatives of the Prosthetic Users Forum met officials in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the Autumn of 2003 to discuss the prosthetics service and in March 2004, Green Park Healthcare Trust submitted to the Department a copy of the report 'Needs Assessment for Northern Ireland Regional Prosthetic Service'. This included a service development plan for 2004–05 costing £360,000.
The Department has included as an action in its Priorities for Action 2004–05:
'Boards and Trust should collaborate with Green Park Trust to develop the range of prosthetics available. In particular, this should include wider provision of an improved range of prosthetics for some 125 users by 31 March 2005. Boards should submit final figures for 2004–05 in their September progress reports'.
An additional £250,000 was allocated by the Department for this purpose.
A further meeting between representatives of the Prosthetics Users Forum and Departmental officials is being arranged and this will assist in developing future plans to further develop the prosthetics service.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on services in the Province for those with prosthetic limbs. [187785]
Angela Smith: A regional prosthetics service is provided by Green Park Healthcare Trust, on the Musgrave Park Hospital site, which serves just under 1,800 prosthetic users across a spectrum of ages and disabilities. The service benchmarks its performance against other prosthetic centres throughout the UK.
It is endeavouring to rise to the challenges of increased user expectation and new technology. Consideration is being given to further development. The service won the Prosthetics and Orthotics Services Innovation Award 2004, run by the Limbless Association in the UK.
Public Employees (Religion)
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the religious breakdown is of the employees of the Child Support Agency for Northern Ireland. [188737]
Mr. Spellar: The following table details permanent and casual non-industrial NICS staff in the Child Support Agency as at 1 January 2004.
| Community Background | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 798 | 45.1 |
| Catholic | 943 | 53.3 |
| Not determined | 29 | 1.6 |
| Total | 1,770 | — |
15 Sept 2004 : Column 1640W
Public Transport
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many passengers travelled on (a) Ulsterbus, (b) Citybus and (c) Northern Ireland Railways in each of the last five years. [188732]
Mr. Spellar: The following table shows the number of passengers who travelled on Ulsterbus, Citybus and on Northern Ireland Railways over the last five years. The figures are in millions.
| Ulsterbus | Citybus | Northern Ireland Railways | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 48.2 | 21.3 | 5.9 |
| 2000–01 | 46.8 | 20.3 | 5.9 |
| 2001–02 | 44.8 | 20.2 | 6.2 |
| 2002–03 | 46.0 | 19.9 | 6.3 |
| 2003–04 | 45.9 | 19.5 | 6.9 |
Racism
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was allocated to combating racism in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [187414]
Mr. Paul Murphy: You asked about the level of funding provided to combat racism in Northern Ireland since 1997.
As I and my ministerial colleagues have repeatedly stated publicly the nature and evidence of racist-inspired violence and harassment of minority ethnic communities in Northern Ireland is both abhorrent and unacceptable to all right-minded people.
In response, action continues to be taken across Government and in partnership with our colleagues in the statutory, voluntary, community and business sectors aimed at combating it and redressing the distress of those suffering it.
It is also the intention of the various funding initiatives to help build the capacity of the communities concerned and the good relations with regard to the other communities here.
In the years since 1997, the following funding has been allocated to support minority ethnic communities as well as addressing racism within Northern Ireland:
| Sum awarded (£) | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 883,944.41 |
| 1999–2000 | 794,547.09 |
| 2000–01 | 284,194.42 |
| 2001–02 | 701,857.46 |
| 2002–03 | 1,401,293.33 |
| Total | 4,065,836.60 |
The table details the total funding made available from the following range of sources for the period 1 April 1998 to 31 March 2003 inclusive:
European programmes managed by Government Departments;
Equality Commission NI;
Community Relations Council; and
Government Departments and non-departmental bodies.
The funding has been provided to meet core funding central management and administrative costs, and enable organisations to develop and provide services.
Details of funding provided since March 2003 is currently being collected and will be advised by supplementary answer at the earliest opportunity.
Warm Homes Scheme
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the take-up has been of the Warm Homes scheme in each Northern Ireland constituency for 2003, broken down by (a) numbers of installations and (b) total cost of work involved. [188735]
Mr. Spellar: The information is as follows:
| Constituency | Cost | Number of homes (£) |
|---|---|---|
| South Down | 858,206.81 | 837 |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 642,868.21 | 473 |
| Newry and Armagh | 605,482.16 | 570 |
| Belfast North | 401,833.58 | 461 |
| West Tyrone | 535,021.67 | 452 |
| Upper Bann | 512,632.66 | 566 |
| Mid-Ulster | 481,125.69 | 426 |
| Strangford | 329,061.64 | 305 |
| Lagan Valley | 372,350.89 | 346 |
| Belfast West | 309,711.43 | 412 |
| Foyle | 327,759.35 | 381 |
| Belfast East | 248,275.24 | 282 |
| East Antrim | 246,630.49 | 277 |
| Belfast South | 212,373.11 | 241 |
| East Londonderry | 290,392.94 | 312 |
| North Antrim | 301,131.06 | 324 |
| South Antrim | 217,508.13 | 277 |
| North Down | 224,916.53 | 204 |
| Total | 7,117,281.59 | 7,146 |
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