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Classroom Assistants
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many classroom assistants in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in Northern Ireland are (i) male and (ii) female; [39121]
(2) how many classroom assistants in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in Northern Ireland are employed on (i) permanent contracts and (ii) temporary contracts. [39122]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is not readily available in my Department. Classroom Assistants working in the controlled and in the maintained sectors are employed by the Education and Library Boards (ELBs) and those working in the Voluntary Grammar School (VGS) and in the Grant Maintained Integrated (GMI) sectors are employed by the individual school Board of Governors. My Department has written to the respective employers seeking the information required and will write to the hon. Gentleman when the information is available.
Colin Worton
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent representations he has received regarding the case of Colin Worton; what representations he has received on extending the right tocompensation for wrongful imprisonment to includepeople held on remand; and if he will make a statement. [37714]
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Mr. Hanson: I have received a number of representations about compensation arrangements and about the case of Colin Worton, including a recent letter from the hon. Gentleman. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has recently written to Mr. Worton, and to those who have made representations on his behalf, advising him of the decision in his case. Those who have spent time on remand in custody as a result of a wrongful charge or conviction may be entitled to compensation under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or under existing ex-gratia arrangements.
Common Fisheries Policy
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what penalties were imposed on fishermen from Northern Ireland for infringement of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004; what infringements were involved according to the codes used by the European Commission; how many cases were discovered, broken down by type of infringement; what the average fine was, broken down by type of infringement; how many seizures there were, broken down by type of infringement and how much was paid by the fishery industry in Northern Ireland as a consequence of serious infringements. [39610]
Angela E. Smith: Infringements by the Northern Ireland fishing fleet within British Fishery Limits of the Irish Sea are detected by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, The Scottish Fishery Protection Agency, and the Royal Navy operating under contract to the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Penalties are not administered by Departments, but are imposed by court after conviction. A number of cases from the period are unresolved at this stage; infringements by Northern Ireland vessels which have been prosecuted and have had penalties imposed are included below:
Commonwealth Games
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what support and preparation is being offered by the Government to athletes from Northern Ireland for the Commonwealth games. [38953]
Mr. Hanson:
The Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI) is responsible for the development of sport in Northern Ireland including the distribution of public funding to individual sports. SCNI is presently operating a Lottery-based Athlete Support Programme,
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through which it has already made available a total of £477,580 to assist athletes wishing to participate in the next Commonwealth games.
Community Restorative Justice (Sex Abuse)
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many allegations of sex abuse were received by the police from community restorative justice (CRJ) organisations in 2000; and how many involved members of CRJ organisations. [38977]
Mr. Woodward: The Chief Constable has advised me that the PSNI does not keep specific records on the category of person reporting a crime.
To obtain the information requested would require a manual trawl of all police records and could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many allegations of sex abuse were passed by community restorative justice (CRJ) organisations to social services in 2000; how many involved members of CRJ organisations; and how many in each case were referred to the police. [38978]
Mr. Woodward: The information is not available in the form requested. Recordable data on abuse cases identifies individuals making allegations to social services, but not necessarily any organisation with which they may be associated.
Coolkeeragh Power Station
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) total running hours against anticipated hours and (b) earnings in system value arrangements were over the last six months for Coolkeeragh power station. [36544]
Angela E. Smith: Coolkeeragh power station ran for approximately 3,900 hours against an anticipated 4,200 hours over the six month period June to November 2005.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is precluded, by virtue of Article 63(1) of the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (No. 419, N.I. 6), from disclosing information in relation to the system value agreement between Coolkeeragh ESB Ltd. (the owner of Coolkeeragh power station) and SONI Ltd. (the transmission system operator in Northern Ireland) without the consent of both parties. It has not been possible to secure this.
Craigavon Area Hospital
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information is collected on the (a) number of patients waiting and (b) duration of waiting times in the Accident and Emergency Department at Craigavon Area Hospital. [38608]
Mr. Woodward:
Information is collected locally by Craigavon Area Hospital on patients who present at the Accident and Emergency Department, using the Northern Ireland Regional Accident and Emergency System. The table given shows the total number of patients who were waiting in the Accident and
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Emergency Department of Craigavon Area Hospital during the month of November 2005 by waiting time band (time waiting from arrival at A and E to departure).
Source:
Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust
Denis Donaldson
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland what relationship there was between Denis Donaldson and (a) the Security and Intelligence Services in Northern Ireland and (b) the RUC/Police Service Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [39598]
Mr. Woodward: It is longstanding Government policy not to comment on intelligence matters.
Dentistry
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to tackle dental decay in children in Northern Ireland. [38747]
Mr. Woodward: The Oral Health Strategy published by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in September 2004 sets out a range of targets and recommendations for improving the levels of dental decay experienced by our child population. The strategy aims to:
Within this strategy it is emphasised that much of the dental disease burden is related to lifestyle and socio-economic factors and shares common risk factors with other diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
More specifically, in the past year all community trusts have introduced an evidence-based caries reduction programme in pre-school children. This has been complemented by additional funding of £100,000 per year for evidence-based caries reduction programmes for under 6-year-old children in the 20 per cent. most deprived wards in Northern Ireland. In addition, a targeted preventive fissure sealant scheme was introduced into the General Dental Services in April 2005.
More generally, all boards and trusts have in place a range of healthy eating schemes which aim to reduce the amount of sugary foods and drinks consumed by children. Many of these schemes involve intersectoral working with the education sector with school-based diet programmes such as Fresh Fruit in Schools", Safe Snack Award" and Boost Better Breaks".
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