House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 July 2006 (pt 0003)

17 July 2006 : Column 12W—continued

Dessie O'Hare

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland has any outstanding warrants for the arrest of Dessie O’Hare. [71690]

Paul Goggins: PSNI confirms that there are no formal investigations ongoing in relation to this individual although he remains the subject of attention by the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team (HET) and their ongoing process.

Elections (Public Expenditure)

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public expenditure was incurred in organising the 2005 (a) local government and (b) general elections. [19545]

Mr. Hanson: £3.6 million public expenditure was incurred in organising the 2005 local government and general election in Northern Ireland. £1.8 million was spent by district councils and £1.8 million by the Electoral Office.

Electronic Listening Devices

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has authorised the use of electronic listening devices in each of the last five years. [65355]

Paul Goggins: The hon. Member should be aware that it is not Government policy to comment on specific national security and intelligence matters.

Environment and Heritage Service

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost was of bringing court cases by the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years; and how much was recouped in fines. [84509]

The Solicitor-General: I have been asked to reply.

The Public Prosecution Service prosecutes cases submitted to it by the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland. No figures are available for the total cost of bringing such cases.

In those cases prosecuted by the PPS over the last three years, the total of fines imposed were:

	£
2003	23,125
2004	32,525
2005	29,625

Festivals

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money has been allocated to the (a) West Belfast Festival and (b) Gasyard Feile in Londonderry in each of the last two years. [82877]

Maria Eagle: Details of the public monies allocated to the (a) West Belfast Festival and (b) Gasyard Feile in Londonderry in each of the last two years is given in the following table:

Financial year	West Belfast Festival (£)	Gasyard Feile
2004-05	360,037.95	0
2005-06	273,768.01	0

Historical Enquiry Team

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the cases reviewed by the Historical Enquiry Team in Northern Ireland have resulted in prosecutions. [84936]

Paul Goggins: I am advised by the Historical Enquiry Team, which only became operational in January 2006, that to date there have been no prosecutions resulting from the review of unresolved deaths undertaken since then and that due to the reinvestigation process, where relevant, it is too early to tell if any prosecutions are likely.

It has always been acknowledged that given the time that has passed for a number of cases, the number of prosecutions expected from the review of unresolved deaths is likely to be small. However the aim of the Historical Enquiry Team is to work with the families of victims to answer their questions and provide resolution, where possible, whether it is through judicial or non-judicial means.

Independent Treatment Centres

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many operations, by type, were carried out in independent sector treatment centres in Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available. [64980]

17 July 2006 : Column 13W

Mr. Woodward: The information requested is not held centrally and will take some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member with the relevant information as soon as it becomes available and place a copy in the Library.

Substantive answer from Shaun Woodward to Lady Hermon:

The number of operations, by type, which were carried out in independent sector treatment centres in Northern Ireland is not available. However, the number of operations, by specialty, carried out in independent sector treatment centres in Northern Ireland during the financial year 2005-06, is shown in the table as follows.

Specialty	Number of patients
Dermatology	<5
ENT	14
General Surgery	141
Gynaecology	<5
Neurosurgery	40
Ophthalmology	321
Paediatric Surgery	46
Plastic Surgery	653
Trauma and Orthopaedics	212
Urology	172
NI total	1,603
Notes: Figures are for the financial year 2005-06. Includes patient transferred for both in-patient and day case. Figures include Board Transfers, Group 2 Transfer and Special measures (NTPOC). Please note that cell sizes that have a value of less than five have been masked in order to help protect confidentiality. Source: Health and Social Services Boards

Landfill Sites

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions during 2005 landfill sites in Northern Ireland were found to contain hazardous or toxic materials for which they were not approved. [84753]

David Cairns: In 2005, there were 74 licensed landfill sites in Northern Ireland. No sites were allowed to accept hazardous waste, although there are 58 hazardous waste facilities where such material can be processed for off-site shipping, but not landfilled. In 2005, none of the 74 licensed landfill sites in NI were licensed to bury hazardous waste.

Of the 32 licensed landfill sites inspected by officials from the Environment and Heritage Service, none were found to have accepted hazardous or toxic waste.

Medical Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) GP practices, (b) dental practices, (c) ophthalmic practices and (d) pharmacies there were in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [83939]

Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table.

17 July 2006 : Column 14W

General practices, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical practices in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years
Number
	General practices	Dental surgeries	Ophthalmic practices	Pharmacies
2001	⁽¹⁾359	n/a	n/a	⁽¹⁾509
2002	⁽¹⁾367	n/a	⁽²⁾23 1	⁽¹⁾508
2003	⁽³⁾364	n/a	⁽²⁾235	⁽¹⁾509
2004	⁽¹⁾366	⁽³⁾362	⁽²⁾231	⁽¹⁾511
2005	⁽¹⁾364	⁽¹⁾363	⁽²⁾236	⁽¹⁾510
n/a = Not available. ⁽¹⁾ October. ⁽²⁾ March. ⁽³⁾ November. Source: Central Services Agency.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) GPs, (b) dentists, (c) optometrists and (d) pharmacies there were per 100,000 resident population in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by health board. [83940]

Paul Goggins: The information requested for parts (i): (a), (b) and (c) is detailed in Table 1. The information for (i): (d) is not available as the Central Services Agency does not hold information on the number of pharmacists in Northern Ireland. The information requested for (ii): (a) and (b) is available for a restricted number of years and is detailed in Tables 2 and 3 respectively. The information for (ii): (c) and (d) is not available.

Table 1: Total number of GPs, dentists and optometrists per 100,000 population in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years
	General practitioners	Dentists	Optometrists
2001	⁽¹⁾62.81	⁽²⁾239.84	⁽¹⁾24.03
2002	⁽¹⁾63.42	⁽²⁾40.61	⁽¹⁾26.23
2003	⁽³⁾63.20	⁽²⁾40.88	⁽¹⁾26.14
2004	⁽¹⁾63.03	⁽¹⁾42. 80	⁽¹⁾27.30
2005	⁽¹⁾63.38	⁽¹⁾44.61	⁽¹⁾29.35
^{(1 )}October. ⁽²⁾ April. ⁽³⁾ November. Notes: 1. NISRA population mid-year estimates have been used to calculate total number per 100,000 population. 2. Population mid-year estimate for 2004 was used for 2004 and 2005 calculation. Source: Central Services Agency.

Table 2: GPs per 100,000 population in Northern Ireland by health board area in each of the last three years
Number
	Eastern board	Northern board	Southern board	Western board
November 2003	64.62	58.68	63.63	66.24
October 2004	64.60	59.18	62.54	65.76
October 2005	65.21	59.64	63.16	65.07
Notes: 1. The number of GPs by board area is not available for 2001 and 2002. 2. NISRA population mid-year estimates have been used to calculate total number per 100,000 population. 3. Population mid-year estimate for 2004 was used for 2004 and 2005 calculation. Source: Central Services Agency.

17 July 2006 : Column 15W

Table 3: Dentists per 100,000 population in Northern Ireland by health board area in each of the last two years
Number
	Eastern board	Northern board	Southern board	Western board
October
2004	48.8	44.0	44.5	40.5
2005	50.6	44.7	48.2	41.9
Notes: 1. The number of dentists by board area is not available for 2001, 2002 and 2003. Dentists can work in more than one board area, so may be counted more than once. 2. NISRA population mid-year estimates have been used to calculate total number per 100,000 population. 3. Population mid-year estimate for 2004 was used for 2004 and 2005 calculation. Source: Central Services Agency.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of (a) GPs, (b) dentists, (c) optometrists and (d) pharmacists were (i) male and (ii) female in each of the last five years. [83943]

Paul Goggins: The information requested for general practitioners, dentists and optometrists is detailed in the following table. The information requested is not available for pharmacists.

Gender split of GPs, dentists and optometrists in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years
Percentage
	GP		Dentists		Optometrists
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
2001	68	32	n/a	n/a	46	54
2002	66	34	n/a	n/a	46	54
2003	⁽¹⁾66	⁽¹⁾34	n/a	n/a	⁽²⁾49	⁽²⁾51
2004	65	35	⁽¹⁾58	⁽¹⁾42	49	51
2005	64	36	56	44	49	51
n/a = Not available. ⁽¹⁾ November. ⁽²⁾ July. Notes: 1. The Central Services Agency does not hold this information on the number of pharmacists in Northern Ireland. 2. All figures are as at October unless otherwise indicated. Source: Central Services Agency.

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