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14 Oct 2004 : Column 384W—continued

Meat/Poultry Products

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which countries have a ban on imports of meat or poultry products from the province; and what representations he has made to have each ban lifted. [190919]

Mr. Pearson: Currently some 86 countries have a ban on beef imports from the United Kingdom and the position in relation to another 27 countries has still to be confirmed. In addition, I understand that India also has a worldwide ban on imports of poultry meat. Controls for trade with countries outside the United Kingdom is a reserved matter under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. However, officials in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development are in regular contact with the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which has responsibility on this matter for the United Kingdom. These contacts follow liaison with exporters with the mutual aim of maximising exports of meat and poultry products from Northern Ireland.

MOT Tests

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed in carrying out MOT tests in Northern Ireland. [188914]

Angela Smith: The Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency currently has 194 full-time equivalent staff directly involved in carrying out vehicle inspections.

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time for an MOT test in Northern Ireland is from the time of application to the test being carried out. [188915]

Angela Smith: The average waiting time for vehicl tests in Northern Ireland, including MOT appointments, is currently 63 calendar days.

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money is allocated to running each MOT centre in Northern Ireland in the current year. [188916]

Angela Smith: The Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency manages the test centre budget centrally, so specific allocations have not been made to each centre in the current year. However, the direct running costs for 2003–04 are as follows:

Test centre	£
Armagh	626,393
Ballymena	1,070,215
Belfast (including Dill Road)	1,520,176
Coleraine	960,337
Cookstown	880,503
Craigavon	1,033,785
Downpatrick	708,080
Enniskillen	640,603
Larne	708,086
Lisburn	867,089
Londonderry (including Waterside House)	891,877
Mallusk	1,012,186
Newry	883,780
Newtownards	1,241,256
Omagh	655,387

 
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National Sports Stadium

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make an announcement regarding the construction of a new national sports stadium for Northern Ireland. [188733]

Angela Smith: Following the completion of a business planning exercise commissioned by the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) into the viability of a multi-sports stadium for Northern Ireland. The SIB was asked last May to investigate site and funding options. I expect to have a report on the outcome of this exercise within a few weeks and, once this has been formally considered, an announcement on the next stage in the process will be made.

National Insurance Numbers

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) target and (b) average processing time is from receipt of application to delivery of notification for persons applying for a national insurance number where the applicant holds a passport that is (i) British, (ii) Irish, (iii) other EU and (iv) non-EU; and how many complaints about delays he has received in the past 12 months. [190181]

Mr. Spellar: There is currently no target for the processing of national insurance number applications in Northern Ireland. (GB has a processing target of 86 per cent. within 24 days.)

There are three application centres located at Shaftesbury Square, Lisnagelvin and Portadown Jobs and Benefits Offices which feed into one allocation centre, located at Portadown Jobs and Benefits Office. Processing times from receipt of application to delivery of notification are as follows:

Shaftesbury Square 29 days;

Lisnagelvin 39 days;

Portadown 55 days.

These cannot be broken down into different passport holder types.

Three formal complaints are recorded as having been received in Northern Ireland Offices in the past 12 months.

Overseas Nurses

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is given to overseas nurses seeking accommodation in the Province while working there, with particular reference to those from outside the European Union. [188673]

Angela Smith: The issue of assistance in seeking accommodation for overseas nurses is a matter for individual Trusts. There are a variety of arrangements in place ranging from the provision of Trust accommodation to the identification of suitable private or Housing Executive accommodation.

Planning Permission

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for how many new residential dwellings planning permission was given in (a) Moira, (b) Aghalee,
 
14 Oct 2004 : Column 386W
 
(c) Magheralin, (d) Dollingstown, (e) Donaghacloney, (f) Waringston, (g) Maghaberry and (h) Aghagallon in each of the last 15 years. [187955]

Angela Smith: I regret that this information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

PWS Ireland

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much grant aid has been awarded to the company PWS Ireland in each year for the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [190133]

Mr. Gardiner: Over the past 10 years, PWS Ireland Ltd has received the following support from Invest NI (these figures include support offered by Local Enterprise Development Unit one of Invest NI's predecessor agencies).

		£000
	Amount offered	Amount paid
1995	20,650	16,685
1996	3,000	1,693
1997	2,350	2,350
1998	(8)81,450	69,701
1999	5,852	5,835
2000	301	301
2002	14,307	14,307
2004	24,644	5,964
Total	152,554	116,836

⁽⁸⁾ Offer includes 20,000 of preference shares.

Scientific Officers (Promotion)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what independent assessment has been made of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's promotion boards for scientific officers. [190381]

Mr. Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's promotion boards for scientific officers are operated under the general arrangements that apply to the conduct of internal promotion boards across the Northern Ireland Civil Service. By agreement with Trade Union Side, these promotion boards are conducted on the basis of three separate scientific disciplines: biology, chemistry and microbiology; and candidates, subject to their qualifications and experience, can self-nominate to be considered for promotion in one or more of these disciplines.

The outcome and recommendations of promotion boards generally are not subject to separate independent scrutiny. In its general administration of the promotion process, however, the Department's Personnel Division carries out a review of all promotion board documentation to ensure compliance with the requirements of the process and mathematical accuracy of the scoring applied. These aspects are also subject to periodic checks through the internal audit process.

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what relative weighting is given by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's promotion boards for scientific officer positions to applicants who have previous scientific experience. [190383]

 
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Mr. Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 13 October 2004, Official Report, column 314W, for details of the last promotion board for scientific officer positions.

The key selection criteria against which candidates were assessed for promotion by the board, the weightings and pass marks as determined by the panel members were as follows:

Key criteria	Weighting	Pass mark
Services	20	—
Resources	20	—
People	30	15
Information/Communication	30	15
Professional/Specialist/Technical Knowledge and Skills	50	30

Any candidate failing to reach the minimum standard of 30 marks at interview for the Professional/Specialist/Technical Knowledge and Skills criterion was deemed unsuitable for promotion regardless of how well they performed against the remaining criteria.

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