63
Bed Gol
Written Answers"
8 JUNE 1992
perfomance monitors for the United Kingdom's depender t territories rests with the Minister of Finance, or equivalent official, of each territory. Dependent territories wishing to recruit such advisers will do so on the basis of local legislation and regulations.
ECD Eco Newspaper Distribution RID
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the application of protocol 17 of the Maastricht treaty as it applies to freedom of distribution of United Kingdom newspapers.
Mr. Garel-Jones: The protocol to which the right hon. Member refers is, of course, not yet in force. On 2 May, European Community Foreign Ministers agreed a legal interpretation and solemn declaration stating that it was not their intention that the protocol should limit the freedom to travel and the right to information about services legally available in other member states, as I told my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on 13 May. I understand that the Government of the Irish Republic intend to hold a referendum later this year on an amendment to their constitution to confirm this.
MED
Iran
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy with regard to the export of military equipment to Iran.
Mr. Douglas-Hogg: The guidelines relating to all deliveries of defence equipment to Iran were set by the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 29 October 1985. They remain strictly enforced.
SAD
Tamil Refugees
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian Government concerning the enforced repatriation of Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd: None. The Indian Government temporarily suspended repatriation of Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka on 15 May.
HKD
Ceremonial Dress
Ps)
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 13 May, Official Report, column 110, if he will itemise the expenditure on ceremonial dress for 1991-92.
Mr. Goodlad: Ceremonial dress for HM representatives cost as follows:
Bangladesh Holy See
Kathmandu
£
2,735
3,193
615
Luxembourg
3,440
Stockholm
2,613
British Virgin Islands
2,725
Kuala Lumpur
756
Angus. For New for like
PSD
Written Answers
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what use is to be made of the ceremonial dress normally reserved for the Governor of Hong Kong.
Mr. Goodlad: As I said in reply to the hon. Member's question on 13 May, Mr. Patten does not propose to wear ceremonial dress. None has therefore been made for him.
HEALTH
Child Protection Units
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the staffing numbers for each local authority child protection unit in England and Wales; and what they were in 1979.
Mr. Yeo: This information is not held currently.
Organ Transplants
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward proposals to amend the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 further to provide for the circumstances in which an organ may be retrieved from a dead person for the purposes of transplant, to require the anonymity of the donor and the recipient, to define death for the purposes of that Act of 1989 as the total and irreversible loss of brain function and for connected
purposes.
Mr. Sackville: No. Conditions for the removal of human organs from dead people for transplantation are provided in the Human Tissue Act 1961. The anonymity of the donor and recipient is covered by the common law principle of patient confidentiality which applies to all medical information. The determination of death is a matter for the clinical judgment of doctors. Brain stem death criteria have been accepted by the medical profession as conclusive evidence of death and are already applied for the purposes of organ retrieval.
Dental Treatment
Ms. Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the availability of national health service dental care in Staffordshire of his Department's proposals to cut fees to national health service dental practitioners; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney: We have made fair and reasonable proposals on dentists' remuneration which are being considered by the dental rates study group. These proposals would lead to the average dentist receiving in 1992-93 not just the 8.5 per cent. increase in pay recommended by the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists' Remuneration--and accepted in full by the Government-but some £5,000 in the full year in addition. We see no reason why such an offer should adversely affect the availability of the national health service dental care in Staffordshire, or elsewhere.
Food Hygiene
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is Her Majesty's Government's policy with regard to the proposals in the EC draft directive on the hygiene of foodstuffs; and if she will make a statement:
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32 CW10/32 Job 9-8
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