Before coming to the Order of Business I propose to deal with a number of notices of motion under Standing Order 31 from Deputies Sargent, Yates and Stagg. I propose to call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office. I now call Deputy Sargent.
Request to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
Under Standing Order 31, I wish the business of Dáil Éireann to be suspended to hear from the Minister for Public Enterprise why industrial relations in Iarnród Éireann are in chaos today, leaving commuters stranded in freezing temperatures and mainline passengers without a service, and to allow time for reforms and meaningful investment in public transport to be discussed and acted upon. Tá an scéal seo ag dul in olcas le fada agus níl tír sa Chomhaontas Eorpach níos measa as ó thaobh chóras taistil de.
The Deputy is going beyond what was contained in his notice. I call Deputy Yates.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the urgent matter of the effects of the train drivers' industrial action at Connolly Station with the consequent travel chaos for suburban and inter-city commuters and the steps the Minister for Public Enterprise is taking to seek independent arbitration and settlement of the dispute and an immediate resumption of transport services, as well as the contingency bus transport arrangements that are being put in place to alleviate hardship.
In accordance with the terms of Standing Order 31, I give notice of my intention to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the following specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent attention, namely, the major disruption caused to mainline and suburban rail services as a result of an industrial dis pute involving train drivers based at Connolly Station and the need for urgent steps to secure a settlement of this dispute in view of the level of inconvenience and the heavy demand for rail services in the run-up to Christmas. In view of the importance of the matter, I hope the Chair will agree to this request.
I consider the matters to be contemplated by the Standing Order and accordingly to be in order. As Deputy Sargent's motion was received first, I propose to take his motion. I must now ask the Deputies who support his request to rise.
Members rose.
It is a busy day for the Minister for Public Enterprise.
I support you.
I grant leave to take the motion. In accordance with Standing Order 31 it shall be taken at 7 p.m. or at such other time as the Dáil may appoint.
If it is taken at 7 p.m. there will be not be any Private Members' time.
Deputy Barrett should have listened to what I said. I indicated that the motion "shall be taken at 7 p.m. or at such other time as the Dáil may appoint." It is a matter for the Dáil to appoint such a time.
I propose that the motion be taken at 9 p.m.
The Dáil should discuss this matter promptly because people are suffering now. It will be too late if we discuss it at 9 p.m.
The Minister for Public Enterprise's willingness to rush on to the metaphorical plinth of the Dáil Chamber—
I was invited to do so.
—clearly indicates that she is prepared to respond to the motion. On previous occasions, the relevant Minister was understandably given time to prepare for the debate. However, since the Minister in question has indicated her readiness to respond we should have the debate now.
The difficulty with Deputy Quinn's suggestion is that the matter raised under Standing Order 31 involves a motion to adjourn. Once the debate is taken, the House will adjourn. There is a long standing precedent that such motions are taken as the last business of the day.
I am sure that on the final Order of Business of this century we might find it within our collective creative abilities to devise a Standing Order which would enable us to reconvene after the motion is taken.
I suggest that the debate be taken from 12 noon until 2.30 p.m., but instead of concluding it at that stage the question could be postponed to be taken at 10.30 p.m. or whenever the House is due to adjourn. If we could agree to report progress at 2.30 p.m., that would overcome the problem.
Under Standing Orders, only 90 minutes can be devoted to the debate.
Then the debate should commence at 1 p.m.
Is ceist an-phráinneach í seo agus aontaím le ceannaire Fhine Gael gur féidir í a thógaint ag meán-lae, that is 90 minutes to the break agus déanfaidh sé sin an gnó má tá an tAire sásta.
Does the Taoiseach agree with my suggestion?
Yes, if the Whips agree to it. Too often, when we are obliged to deal with long established Standing Orders, we change something on the floor of the House and thereby set a precedent.
This would only apply—
The Standing Order and the precedent are clear, when such a motion is taken the House adjourns immediately thereafter. Neither the Minister nor I, mind when the motion is taken but, if established practice holds, the House will be obliged to adjourn thereafter. If that practice is to change, the Whips can come to an arrangement. However, I do not propose to make such an arrangement on the floor of the House.
Standing Orders clearly state that the ordering of business is a matter for the House, not the Whips. The Taoiseach may not have heard my proposal which was that the debate should run for 90 minutes from 12 noon but instead of concluding at 1.30 p.m., the question would be postponed until the House was due to adjourn. In other words, the last speaker would report progress rather than conclude the debate. In that way we could have a conjunction of timing of the planned Adjournment of the Dáil and the final disposal of this motion. That is quite easy and something that could be done transparently in the House without necessitating a Whips meeting. Given that this issue has come up, the House should show, on the last day it meets in this mil lennium, that it can do its business itself without having to go off somewhere else—
I suggest, Deputy, that the Whips decide the matter because if the time is not decided, the motion will be taken at 7 p.m. in accordance with the Standing Order.
I am asking the Taoiseach not to decide.
I appreciate that you are trying to be helpful, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle but I want to convey to the Taoiseach and the Government Chief Whip, who have consulted each other as we have spoken, that the proposal made by Deputy Bruton and supported by other Members is reasonable. There should be an hour and a half debate before the lunchtime sos in order to demonstrate that we are concerned about this matter and can respond promptly. I know you are reading from the Standing Orders and the time available to you was Private Members' time or any such time, but 9 p.m. this evening does not demonstrate the sense of urgency that the House shares and which you, Sir, demonstrably shared by allowing this motion under Standing Orders in the first instance.
There are no railways in Monaghan.
I ask the Taoiseach to consider commencing the debate at 12 noon, conclude it at 1.30 p.m. and then adjourn it, following which we will proceed to the rest of the business.
Precedent does not arise very often on this matter. We should examine the situation in light of what is before us. Dúirt ceannaire Fhine Gael gur fearr dúinn tosú ar mheán-lae. Tá Páirtí an Lucht Oibre agus an Comhaontas Glas ag aontú leis sin agus táim ag iarraidh ort glacadh leis. Is féidir dul ar aghaidh le gnó eile an lae i ndiaidh sin.
Sin ceart.
I suggest that the Whips decide it, because if we were to change the Standing Order and create a new precedent, we should be very careful.
No wonder the Taoiseach cannot manage social partnership when he cannot agree to a reasonable proposal from the Opposition
The Whip tells me to change around. My Order of Business for today will change totally on this. I will not start changing it here; there will have to be a new Order of Business.
The Taoiseach changed the budget quick enough.
Not as quickly as the Deputy did.
I will not do it. There are rules. This is typical of the House. We want a debate and as soon as a debate is arranged it is not early enough.
Is the Taoiseach concerned about it?
I am not too sure that a debate can change it either.
The Taoiseach was not one of the commuters left standing this morning.
Nor was the Deputy.
It is an issue between management and unions. I have never seen a debate on an IR issue here change much, but there is an issue—
That is a great thing for a parliamentarian to say.
I said one will not change an IR issue despite what is said on the floor of this House.
(Interruptions).
It is a big inconvenience and a huge irritation.
The Deputy will not get it changed. If he realised what happened in IR which he does not, he would recognise that. A Leas Cheann-Comhairle, the Whips can agree. Otherwise, I am staying with the Order of Business.
That is tough, as the Taoiseach heads off to New York.
Bull Island will be good this week.