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Cormorants

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the number of cormorants in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [28850]

Angela E. Smith: A 10-year average of 2,773 cormorants are present in Northern Ireland during the winter months (November to February), when numbers are highest. Data for the past 10 years is as follows:

Winter population of Cormorants for Northern Ireland 1995–2005

	Population
2004–05	2,507
2003–04	3,613
2002–03	3,606
2001–02	1,706
2000–01	2,508
1999–2000	3,116
1998–99	3,725
1997–98	2,447
1996–97	1,978
1995–96	2,522
Average	2,773

There are around 600 breeding pairs in summer.

Crosshill Quarry, Crumlin

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date the railway carriages in Crosshill Quarry, Crumlin, were cut up and repositioned. [28640]

Angela E. Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the response I gave on Thursday 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1369W.

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what conditions the deposit of the railway carriages in Crosshill Quarry, Crumlin, laid down by the planning appeal tribunal in 1983 were set aside. [28641]

 
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Angela E. Smith: I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the response I gave on 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1368W.

Disabled Access

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Government buildings in Northern Ireland remain to be adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities; and when the necessary adaptations are expected to be completed in each case. [24983]

Angela E. Smith: Details of Government buildings which remain to be adapted to meet DDA requirements have been placed in the Library.

Electronic Human Resources

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether an Equality Impact Assessment was carried out in respect of the proposal to
 
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outsource the Civil Service Electronic Human Resources work; and what assessment was made of the equality issues involved. [26823]

Angela E. Smith: The proposal to outsource Human Resource work, which would be carried out in a Shared Service Centre, is being considered as part of the Equality Impact Assessment of the eHR policy. Ministers have been briefed on the equality issues.

Emergency Drills

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what dates since October 2001, local authorities and emergency services in Northern Ireland have carried out emergency drills for terrorist attacks; where such drills took place; and which agencies were involved. [22764]

Mr. Woodward: Exercises carried out by Government, local authorities and the emergency services in response to the terrorist threat since October 2001 are detailed in the table:

Date of exercise	Exercise organised by	Nature of Exercise/Scenario	Location	Agencies involved
20 June 2002	Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS)	Terrorist Chemical Attack on Windsor Park.	Table top Exercise	NIAS, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast City Hospital
26 February 2003	Ballymena Borough Council	Chemical attack exercise	Table top Exercise Ballymena Showgrounds	NIAS, NIFRS, PSNI, Ballymena Council
25 May 2003	Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)	Cross border civilian plane crash	Live Exercise in Fermanagh	Multi Agency, local authorities, PSNI and An Garda Siochana
23 July 2003	Emergency Medical Assistance and Rescue Team (EMART)	Test of call out procedures for delivery of PODS containing equipment for dealing with a CBRN incident	Transported from storage in Belfast/Omagh areas to Tyrone County Hospital and Downe Hospital	EMART Project Manager, NIAS and NIFRS
5–6 March 2004	EMART	Chemical attack exercise	Tabletop and exercise at Stormont Hotel and NT Civil Sports Pavilion	EMART Project Manager and EMART Volunteers, PSNI, NIFRS, NIAS
8 April 2004	OFMDFM / NIO	Exercise Counterbalance—a National Programme of seminars, presentations and table top exercises to raise awareness of CBRN	Park Avenue Hotel	DHSSPS, NIFRS, NIAS, MoD, HQNL NIO, PSNL Metropolitan Police, Home Office, London Resilience Team, Emergency Planning College, Maritime and Coastguard Agency
26 May 2004	PSNI / N1O	Terrorist release of gas at die Odyssey Arena	New Salesman Exercise, Marine Court, Bangor	PSNI, NIO, Home Office, HQNI, MoD, NIFRS, NIAS, and various technical experts from GB
4 September 2004	EMART	Coping with a disaster where there is a lack of infrastructure	Test of EMART communications, mobilisation of 50 bed ward and staffing a casualty clearing station	University of Ulster Professional Development Unit with the Territorial Army
24 October 2004	Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS)	Explosion on board a ferry. Unknown chemical involved and possibility of terrorist attack	Warrenpoint Harbour	NIFRS NIAS
17 December 2004	OFMDFM	Tabletop Exercise to test senior officials from NI Departments and NIO	Stormont	NI Departments, NIO
9 February 2005	Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH)	Nerve gas attack	Tabletop exercise carried out at RVH	RVH Personnel NIAS
13 April 2005	PSNI	NIFRS Decontamination Capability	Steeple Barracks, Antrim	NIFRS
18 May 2005	NIO	Crisis Management Workshop—A series of presentations and tabletop exercises for NIO emergency responders	Stormont	NIO, PSNI, MoD
10 June 2005	NIO	Command Post Exercise to test the Government's response to a terrorist attack on NI infrastructure	Stormont	NIO, NI Departments, PSNI, NIFRS, HSE, HQNI, Home Office, Cabinet Office
7/8 July 2005	PSNI	CBRN Exercise in relation to visit to Belfast of the EU Employment Ministers	Belfast	PSNI, NIFRS, NIAS
10 September 2005	Regional Virus Laboratory	To test courier arrangements for transportation of potential smallpox clinical specimen for specialist analysis	Regional Viral Laboratories to Health Protection Agency Specialist Laboratory in GB	Laboratory personnel and courier service provider

Notes:
1. Many hospital trusts have not carried out specific exercises dealing with a terrorist attack hut continue to test and review major incident plans, designed to enable Trusts to respond to any major emergency, where a large number of casualties result, including plans to deal with chemical and radioactive contamination.
2. There are no centrally held figures on specific local government exercises. Information would need to be sought from individual councils.





 
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Grammar Schools

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with parents about the grammar school system of education in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [29550]

Angela E. Smith: During the last two months, I have had meetings with key interests to discuss new admissions arrangements for post-primary schools. This has included a meeting with two groups representing parents—the Concerned Parents for Education and the Parental Alliance for Choice in Education.

It is important to hear the full range of views on this issue before making decisions on the way forward. I want to put in place a better system that provides choice, better opportunities and flexibility to all young people to enable them to reach their full potential.

I will be publishing a summary report on the responses to the consultation on new admissions arrangements and making an announcement on the way forward shortly.

Marine Bill

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress he has made in developing proposals for a Marine Bill for Northern Ireland; and what resources have been set aside to implement the legislation. [28191]

Angela E. Smith: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has lead responsibility for taking forward work associated with the introduction of a Marine Bill. DEFRA officials have held discussions with the devolved administrations about the scope for their inclusion in the Bill.

In light of these discussions officials in the Department of the Environment are currently considering possible options taking account of the policy development work and resources which would be necessary to enable Northern Ireland to participate in the Bill in line with the DEFRA timetable.

No final decisions have yet been taken.

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