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5 Jun 2006 : Column 432W—continued
Human Rights Commission
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 699W, on the Human Rights Commission, what nationality criteria are applied when appointing the Chief Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission. [73072]
Mr. Hanson: No nationality criteria are applied to the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission.
Incorrect Labelling
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many companies in Northern Ireland have been fined in the last five years in Northern Ireland for incorrect information contained on their products. [74230]
Maria Eagle: In the five-year period between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2006 four companies were prosecuted under the Weights and Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 and fined for displaying the wrong weight on their products. In addition, in the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2005 for which we have statistics, there were six prosecutions under food labelling legislation.
Independent Monitoring Commission
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department’s contribution is to the expenses of the Independent Monitoring Commission; what the cost of the Commission has been in each year since its formation; and how much of the cost is accounted for by (a) administrative costs including staff, (b) members’ allowances and emoluments and (c) members’ expenses. [44893]
Mr. Woodward: The Independent Monitoring Commission is jointly funded by the Northern Ireland Office and the Department of Justice, each contributing 50 per cent. of the overall expenses of the Commission.
The costs of the Commission to the Northern Ireland Office are set out in the following table:
| £ | ||
| January 2004-March 2005 | April 2005-March 2006 | |
Influenza Pandemic
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what containment measures have been drawn up in Northern Ireland should an influenza pandemic break out in the Province. [74232]
Paul Goggins: The Government are taking the issue of pandemic flu very seriously.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the United Kingdom to be one of the best prepared countries in the world for dealing with a pandemic influenza.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) has been working on pandemic influenza plans for two years. These dovetail with the UK National Plan and are based on the framework recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for national pandemic plans.
Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts within Northern Ireland have also developed contingency plans based on the DHSSPS plan.
Antivirals will provide the first form of defence against a pandemic flu. In line with the rest of the UK we have ordered sufficient doses of antivirals to treat the predicted number of people who will become ill. The full supply is on target to be received here by September 2006.
Vaccination will offer the best form of protection against pandemic flu but a vaccine cannot be manufactured until the exact flu strain is known. It will take around 4-6 months for Northern Ireland Office stocks to become available. Once the vaccine is available, Government plan to vaccinate the whole population.
As a further precautionary measure, Government have ordered 3.5 million doses (and Northern Ireland will get its share) of the H5N1 vaccine as part of the work to prepare for and reduce the impact of a possible flu pandemic. The vaccine will be used to carry out further research and may also be used to vaccinate front line health care workers before a specific pandemic vaccine is developed.
Integral to Government’s preparedness on pandemic flu is surveillance. For the past four years Northern Ireland has had an enhanced surveillance scheme for human influenza operated by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSDC NI) through a network of GP spotter practices. This enhanced surveillance will provide early warning of new viruses circulating here in NI and CDSC and will also link to the Health Protection Agency (UK) to provide timely information for the production of UK surveillance data in the event of a pandemic.
DHSSPS recently carried out a large-scale tabletop exercise to test its contingency plan. The report of the lessons learned will be available shortly.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many professionals are employed in the Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety dealing with the potential threat of a full pandemic. [74316]
Paul Goggins: There are currently the equivalent of 1.5 members of medical staff and 0.5 principal officer dedicated solely to pandemic flu preparedness. Within the Department other members of staff also provide advice and support on this matter from time to time as required. These include medical, nursing, pharmacy, social services and senior administrative staff.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is working in partnership with the wider health and personal social services, and other Government Departments and agencies to plan for the consequences of a flu pandemic.
Informants
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many arrests were made due to information provided by informants in Northern Ireland in each of the last 20 years. [67073]
Paul Goggins: It is Government policy never to comment on specific national security and intelligence matters.
Information Technology
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT (a) expertise and (b) qualifications they possess. [71771]
Paul Goggins: The following table covers the NIO core department, agencies, the legal offices (Director of Public Prosecutions and Crown Solicitors Office). It does not cover the Northern Ireland Departments, the police or other independent bodies.
| ICT Expenditure | |
| £ | |
The person responsible for ICT expenditure and related projects is the assistant director, information systems, who sets policy and advises the Permanent Secretary on these matters.
Any person project-managing a medium to large project within information systems would be trained to the industry standard project management level, for example, Prince 2.
All technical members of ISD have a minimum of HND/HNC in computing or a minimum of five years technical experience.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) originally estimated, (b) most recently estimated and (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years. [71772]
Paul Goggins: The following table covers the NIO Core Department, agencies, the legal offices (Director of Public Prosecutions and Crown Solicitors Office) and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry (BSI). It does not cover the Northern Ireland Departments, the police or other independent bodies.
Insulin Products
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the availability of synthetic and animal-derived insulin products in the Province over the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [74662]
Paul Goggins: During the past three years the availability of insulin has been affected by a number of issues. Some manufacturers have rationalised the range of insulin products they produce. Six synthetic insulin products have been discontinued but three new synthetic products have been introduced. As a result some patients have had to agree new insulin regimes with their prescriber.
However, the full range of animal-derived and synthetic insulin products continues to be available in Northern Ireland from pharmaceutical wholesalers.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prescription items were issued of (a) animal and (b) synthetic insulin in the Province in each of the last five years. [74663]
Paul Goggins: Information on the number of prescription items dispensed for (a) animal and (b) synthetic insulin in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
| Animal insulin | Synthetic insulin | |
| Notes: 1. Insulins are those defined in the British National Formulary (BNF) sections, 6.1.1.0, 6.1.1.1 and 6.1.1.2. 2. The count of items does not relate to individual people, as a person will be prescribed multiple items in the course of a year. Source: Central Services Agency. | ||
Intelligence Gathering
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether (a) the Police Service of Northern Ireland and (b) MI5 has primacy in intelligence gathering for paramilitary and subversive activity by the (i) UVF, (ii) UDA, (iii) LVF, (iv) Provisional IRA, (v) Continuity IRA and (vi) Real IRA. [72926]
Paul Goggins: Lead responsibility for intelligence work to counter the threat from terrorism in Northern Ireland posed by all the groups listed, currently lies with the PSNI. In line with the Government's Written Statement to Parliament of 24 February 2005, lead responsibility for that work will transfer to the Security Service during 2007 and provide consistency with the rest of the United Kingdom.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he discusses paramilitary activity with the same sources as the Independent Monitoring Commission. [73080]
Paul Goggins: I discuss paramilitary activity with my security advisers. The IMC is an independent international organisation and I therefore cannot comment on the sources it speaks to.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Independent Monitoring Commission accesses security sources that are unavailable to him. [73081]
Paul Goggins: The Independent Monitoring Commission is an independent international organisation and all meetings it has are confidential. I am therefore not aware of the bodies that the IMC consults as part of its work.
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