Before coming to the Order of Business proper I propose to deal with a number of notices of motion under Standing Order 30 from Deputies Dick Spring, Proinsias De Rossa and Michael J. Noonan (Limerick East). I observe that the notices relate to the same subject matter and I propose, therefore, to call the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office. I, therefore, call on Deputy Dick Spring to state the matter on which he has given notice to me.
Request to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 30.
Sir, I communicated with your office yesterday under Standing Order 30 that I wished to raise a matter at the commencement of public business today. The matter is as follows: that this House expresses its grave concern at the miscalculations revealed by the media in Exchequer returns published on 1 July and calls on the Government to arrange a full Dáil debate on the situation before the House rises for the summer recess and to spell out in the course of that debate the full range of corrective measures the Government propose to take.
In accordance with Standing Order 30 I wish to request leave to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the publication yesterday of the Exchequer returns for the first six months of the year which showed that the Government's budgetary targets were seriously off-course and that Exchequer borrowing was already more than £300 million over the target set for the full year, the need for Government to announce any corrective action they may plan before the Dáil recess so that the House may have an opportunity to fully debate and decide on any such measures, and the absolute necessity of avoiding any further cutbacks in essential public services which have already been pared to the bone, and the need to address the problem by increasing tax revenue from those sectors which are not currently bearing their fair share of the burden. In view of the extreme urgency of the matter I hope, Sir, you will agree to the request.
(Limerick East): I wish to move the Adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 30 to allow the Dáil to discuss the massive overrun in the Exchequer borrowing requirement as revealed in the figures published yesterday, also to discuss the upward pressure this puts on interest rates, to discuss also the obstinate refusal of the Minister for Finance to take any action over the last six months when it was quite clear that the figures would be very bad, to discuss also the fact that these figures will inevitably lead to an EBR of at least £1 billion in 1991, to discuss also the fact that the Government's mid-term target for borrowing for 1993 is now unachievable, and to ask the Government to state in this House what action they intend to take to remedy the situation.
Having considered the matters fully, I do not consider them to be contemplated by Standing Order 30. Therefore, I cannot grant leave to move the motion in any of the cases.
On a point of order, let me make the point that this House is due to rise next week. We are now talking about a situation where we have a massive overrun in relation to the Government's figures. The Minister for Finance has been on the radio saying he and the Government will make decisions after the House rises. I believe we should get an assurance from the Taoiseach today that these matters will be discussed in this House before the summer recess.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
The Estimates the Government are now putting before the House this week are effectively meaningless and there is no point debating them without the Minister for Finance giving us the corrective measures.
(Interruptions.)
In reply to Deputy Spring, in my opinion the matter to which the Deputies refer is not likely to develop significantly before the Dáil will in practice have an opportunity of discussing it. I assert that a Dáil debate on the Estimates is to commence next Friday and is due to continue all next week or the greater portion thereof. The Deputies will, therefore, have an ample opportunity to ventilate their views on this matter. I understand all the Estimates are to be debated together next week so there will be ample time for Deputies to express a view pro or con this matter.
We are discussing or proposing to discuss Estimates that are now quite out of order—
I am sorry, Deputy Spring——
——unless the Minister for Finance comes into this House——
I will hear Deputy John Bruton but I will not permit my ruling on this matter to be further discussed or——
There is no point discussing the Estimates until we know what situation——
On a point of order, let me submit to you, Sir, that the ruling you have just made that we can discuss this matter in the context of the Estimates is not valid in view of the fact that the Estimates themselves are no longer valid because the figures on which they are based have proved to be false.
Deputy Spring, I have nothing to add to the statement I have made. It is a categorical statement in accordance with precedent and is relevant to the whole situation.
Sir, I do not wish to challenge your ruling, but may I appeal to the Taoiseach that the Minister for Finance come into this House before we start debating the Estimates on Friday? Othewise it is a charade; it is pointless, and we are wasting time.