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14 Dec 2005 : Column 2097W—continued
Engagements
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many councils in Northern Ireland he has met since his appointment. [29885]
Mr. Hain: Between my appointment as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in May and 30 November 2005 I met with Lisburn city council, Ballymena borough council and North Down borough council.
My ministerial colleagues have also met during this period with Carrickfergus borough council, Down district council, Ards borough council, Omagh district council and Belfast city council.
EU Initiatives
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of whether the four main European Union initiatives associated with Northern Ireland are going to meet their N+2 targets for 2005. [35307]
Angela E. Smith: Both the INTERREG IIIA Ireland/Northern Ireland cross border programme and the LEADER+programme have already incurred sufficient expenditure to meet their 2005 N+2 targets. Forecast expenditure for the EQUAL and URBAN II programmes indicate that these too should be able to meet their 2005 N+2 targets, but with very narrow margins.
General Practitioners
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general practitioners in Northern Ireland are aged over 65 years. [36381]
Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 225W.
Housing Executive Homes
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new Housing Executive homes were built in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Upper Bann in each of the last 10 years. [36516]
Mr. Hanson: Housing associations assumed responsibility for the delivery of social housing from the Housing Executive in 1998. This answer therefore includes both housing association and Housing Executive completions.
The figures include new build and houses purchased from the open market either in good condition or for rehabilitation, prior to letting. All are additions to social housing stock.
The number of completions in Northern Ireland is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 2,805 |
| 1996–97 | 2,037 |
| 1997–98 | 2,117 |
| 1998–99 | 1,739 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,557 |
| 2000–01 | 1,342 |
| 2001–02 | 1,763 |
| 2002–03 | 1,295 |
| 2003–04 | 854 |
| 2004–05 | 1,073 |
14 Dec 2005 : Column 2098W
The Housing Executive does not maintain its records by constituency and a full response by constituency is therefore not possible. However, a composite response can be given in respect of the Banbridge and Craigavon council areas, which straddle the Upper Bann constituency, but only for the last seven years. Further information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The number of completions in respect of the two council areas is as follows:
| Banbridge | Craigavon | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 37 | 71 |
| 1999–2000 | 0 | 53 |
| 2000–01 | 10 | 58 |
| 2001–02 | 32 | 13 |
| 2002–03 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 0 | 18 |
| 2004–05 | 0 | 7 |
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many Housing Executive homes have been condemned as unsafe in each of the last 10 years; [36517]
(2) how many Housing Executive homes in Upper Bann have been condemned as unsafe in each of the last 10 years. [36527]
Mr. Hanson: The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Housing Executive homes in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Upper Bann are vacant. [36528]
Mr. Hanson: There are a total of 4,288 void Housing Executive properties in Northern Ireland and 338 in the Upper Ban constituency.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Housing Executive dwellings are scheduled to be built in each council area in Northern Ireland over the next 10 years. [36541]
Mr. Hanson: Housing Associations assumed responsibility for the delivery of social housing from the Housing Executive in 1998. This answer therefore refers to Housing Association planned starts. The social housing development programme operates on a five-year time frame and is rolled forward each year to take account of changing needs and priorities. A 10-year projection is therefore not available.
The current target is to provide 1,500 new social houses per annum over the next five years. The following table shows the gross programme proposed in each year.
14 Dec 2005 : Column 2099W
Infection Control
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the level of use of hand gels by (a) members of hospital staff and (b) visitors to hospitals in Northern Ireland for the purposes of infection control. [36382]
Mr. Woodward: The Department has not made any assessment on the use of hand gels by members of hospital staff or visitors to hospitals for the purpose of infection control.
Interpreting Services
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the response of 13 October 2005, Official Report, column 598W, on interpreting services, what the plans are for the provision and monitoring of interpreting services within the local health service. [36355]
Mr. Woodward: The Department plans to publish a consultation document during the first quarter of 2006, to invite views on possible arrangements for the future of interpreting services for HPSS service users and those who deliver the services. In the interim the Department has written to the Eastern Health and Social Services Board offering continuation funding for the existing Regional Interpreting Service.
Irish Language Policy
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of implementing an Irish language policy has been to each Government Department in the Province since the policy was introduced. [36353]
14 Dec 2005 : Column 2100W
Mr. Hanson: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. MacEntee
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1630W, if he has provided Mr. MacEntee with all the information he has requested. [32256]
Mr. Hain: Mr. MacEntee made a general request for information held by the British Government which is relevant to his terms of reference. The British Government have given Mr. MacEntee all the information that they have identified as being relevant to his terms of reference. We have also provided him with further additional information which he has requested and are currently engaged in correspondence with him with a view to providing further assistance to his Commission of Investigation.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1630W, on the Barron Inquiry, whether the further information provided to Mr. MacEntee included information on (a) a white van with a UK registration plate and (b) the location of British Services personnel at the time of the bombings. [33929]
Mr. Hain: The British Government have given Mr. MacEntee all the information that they have identified as being relevant to his terms of reference. His terms of reference include:
i. information that a white van, with an English registration plate, was parked outside the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in Portland Row and was later seen parked in the deep sea area of the B & I ferry port in Dublin, and the subsequent contact made with a British Army officer on a ferry boat leaving that port;
ii. information relating to a man who stayed in the Four Courts Hotel between 15 and 17 May, 1974 and his contacts with the UVF;
iii. information concerning a British Army corporal allegedly sighted in Dublin at the time of the bombings."
Any information relating to these points which was uncovered by the Government's trawl of their files would have been passed to Mr. MacEntee.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1630W, on the Barron inquiry, to what the further information provided to Mr. MacEntee relates. [32329]
Mr. Hain: The Commission of Investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings of 1974 under Patrick MacEntee is required, in general, to be carried out in private. The material which the British Government provided to Mr. MacEntee was given to him in confidence.
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