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2 Nov 2005 : Column 1231W—continued
Sustainable Development
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment is made (a) of the environmental impact and (b) against sustainable development criteria of bids made for contracts awarded by his Department; who makes such assessments; and whether these assessments are published. [17727]
Mr. Hain: Since the framework for sustainable development was launched in 2002, the Department has not embarked on any construction or development work which would warrant an environmental impact or sustainable development assessment.
This answer only applies to the Northern Ireland Office and not to the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible create the minimum of environmental damage; [17734]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the sustainability and environmental impacts of its private finance initiative projects and the effectiveness of the PFI process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects; [17735]
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(3) what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to make the Private Finance Initiative process more accountable and transparent in terms of efforts to achieve environmental sustainability. [17736]
Mr. Hain: The NIO is not engaged currently in any PFI projects nor has it any immediate plans for any construction or development work which would warrant assessments of the kind you envisage.
This answer only applies to the Northern Ireland Office and not to the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Teacher Assaults
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many parents were prosecuted for attacks on teachers in the Province in each of the last 10 years. [22660]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Waste Disposal
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals (a) have been prosecuted and (b) have prosecutions pending for illegal cross-border dumping of waste in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [21933]
Angela E. Smith:
The Environment and Heritage Service assumed the ability to take prosecution cases for waste offences at the end of 2002. Charges relate to the illegal deposit of waste, not its origin. The agency has
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estimated the number of individuals prosecuted and prosecutions pending where it has observed waste originating from ROI. In 2003 one individual was prosecuted; there were no such prosecutions in 2004;
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and, in 2005, five individuals were prosecuted. Currently prosecutions are pending against 30 individuals for incidents that took place between 2002 and 25 October 2005.