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9 Oct 2006 : Column 312W—continued
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost to Translink of the closure of the Dublin-Belfast railway line in August. [91395]
David Cairns: Translink has advised that the cost of closures on the Belfast-Dublin railway line caused by security alerts in August 2006 is estimated to be approximately £100,000.
Breast Cancer
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the rates of breast cancer per 1,000 women over the age of 50 years were in each district council area in Northern Ireland in the last period for which figures are available. [80748]
Paul Goggins: The following table details the age standardised incidence rate of breast cancer (ICD-10 C50) in females aged 50 and over in Northern Ireland by district council area between 1999 and 2003.
| Table 1: Breast cancer in females aged 50 and over in Northern Ireland, 1999-2003 | |||
| Number of new cases | Crude incidence rate (per 1,000 females) | Age standardised incidence rate (per 1,000 females) | |
| Notes: 1. The Northern Ireland total includes 29 cases with missing or incomplete postcodes that are not assigned to a district council. 2. The age standardised rate is a rate used to permit comparisons between regions and over time. The rate adjusts for differences in regional and temporal population age structures by adopting the 2003 Northern Ireland population. It is reported as a rate per 1,000 persons. 3. Figures in brackets represent the 95 per cent. confidence interval which is the range of values within which there is a 95 per cent. probability of finding the true value for the incidence rate. | |||
This information has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and is the most up to date currently available.
Child Support Agency
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the extent of bad debts facing the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland; and what action is being taken to recover such debts. [89760]
Mr. Hanson:
The total amount of debt facing the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency is £58.6 million of which £26.3 million is collectable debt and £32.3 million is probably uncollectable for a variety of
reasons namely, a lack of contact with, or the personal circumstances of, the Non-Resident Parent.
As part of the Northern Ireland Improvement Plan we are considering and pursuing several options for the recovery of debt, this includes improved use of enforcement powers and the outsourcing of debt collection via the Department to debt collection experts. In addition, a dedicated team has been set up to deal with non-compliance and the early results of this work indicate an increase in the number of agreements to pay.
Children and Young People's Advisory Forum
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in the work of the Children and Young People’s Advisory Forum announced by Lord Rooker on 10 August 2005. [91319]
Maria Eagle: The Government remain committed to ensuring that children and young people are involved in decisions that affect their lives. Our aim is to embed a culture of engaging with children and young people. Since the announcement by Lord Rooker we have been consulting with a range of organisations with expertise in children’s participation on how best to deliver on that aim. We have had a series of meetings with children and young people, including those who traditionally have been harder-to-reach. I hope to be able to make a fuller statement on these matters in the next few weeks.
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to extend the provisions of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 to Northern Ireland. [89763]
David Cairns: Draft legislation, namely the draft Waste (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, is currently the subject of a full consultation exercise by the Department of the Environment. The provisions in the draft Order deal with illegal waste disposal and are based on provisions in Part 5 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. The Department is currently working to produce draft legislation for Northern Ireland corresponding to the remaining provisions in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 which deal with a wide range of local environmental quality issues.
Community Festival Fund
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was given to each festival in 2006-07 out of the Community Festival Fund. [90022]
Maria Eagle: Amounts awarded to each festival in 2006-07 out of the Community Festival Fund are shown in the following tables:
| Tranche 1 | |
| Festival | Awarded (£) |
| Tranche 2 | |
| Festival | Awarded (£) |
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