Vol. 322 No. 8
I move:
That a sum not exceeding £5,174,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1980 for the salaries and expenses of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including certain grants-in-aid, and for certain expenses in connection with the European Assembly.
Has a contract been signed for the restoration work involved in the Members' bar and the Visitors' bar? We already have a Members' bar in Leinster House and I do not look for another one but we do not have the minimum courtesy of being able to extend to a visitor the possibility of buying him a cup of coffee let alone a drink. Has the contract been signed? What is the construction period? What is the cost and when will it be completed?
This is too big a matter to go into now. In relation to the problems in the staffing of Leinster House, I quite realise that we cannot ask the staff who have already got enough on their plate particularly a lot of security responsibilities, to do trivial jobs which were not originally envisaged. But there are some small services which could be provided here. For example, it should be possible to buy ordinary postage stamps in this House at any hour when the House is open. It is fantastic that these services should be available here only when the Dáil is sitting. There are no postal services here during the recess. There are no postal services even during sessions of the Dáil from the time the Dáil rises on Thursday until it sits again on the following Tuesday. I know about the free post but there are other functions besides this. Some Deputies, of whom I am one, occasionally buy a stamp for their own personal mail. That cannot be done in the House. There is no post office nearer than Clare Street on the one hand and Anne Street on the other. I know these are not very far away but it is a nuisance in the middle of a busy morning if you have to go out and waste a quarter of an hour fetching stamps. I do not suggest that anybody at present on the staff of the House, who would find it an unacceptable or difficult addition to his work, should be asked to do this trivial job but it is a facility that should be here. Perhaps there should be at least some skeleton post office service of a general sort here every day that the House is open.
(Cavan-Monaghan): I should like to refer to the damage caused by the fire in the Members' Bar and the delay in restoring that bar. From a totally different angle I agree with Deputy Quinn that there are adequate facilities for Members here at the moment but I would like to know the cause of the delay in having this work carried out. At what stage are the plans or preparations to make good the damage? I ask this because people in many parts of the country who want bridges built, for which perhaps the Board of Works, as we call it, are responsible, will say: “If this type of work takes so long in Leinster House what hope have we of having our requirements attended to in remote parts of the country?” I would like a brief explanation of the delay in repairing this part of the House and to know when we may expect that the work will be done.
Could the Minister also give an up-to-date report in relation to the movement east—if it is that direction—or north east into the adjoining premises at the back of the Library? Have plans been drawn up for the occupation? What sections of the Oireachtas will move into the premises currently occupied by the College of Art generally?
I do not have any information on the bar here but I can speak from memory. I think the Deputies should refer the questions to the Restaurant Committee because they are the people who are holding up the work. Officials of the Office of Public Works have had discussions with the Restaurant Committee and told them they could restore the bar as it was previously, the members' bar and the public bar. The Restaurant Committee did not want that. They wanted a grandiose type of bar and a coffee-dock type of restaurant. The Public Works officials and the Restaurant Committee had several discussions and only yesterday I asked my officials what the up-to-date position was. They are awaiting confirmation of a request sent to the Restaurant Committee two months ago. We have not got this back. The Board of Works are not holding up the matter. When we get co-operation and consent from the Restaurant Committee I can assure the House that the Board of Works will have the contract advertised as soon as possible and have the bar restored.
I hope Deputies realise that this bar will have to be restored during holiday time because it cannot be restored when the Dáil or Seanad are Sitting. The matter is now back with the Restaurant Committee.
Am I right in thinking that we will not have this facility soon because with builders' holidays and so on and the timetable, we cannot possibly have it until this time next year?
The Chair suggests that the House should refer these comments to the chairman of the Restaurant Committee.
This is very disturbing news. I am not on the Restaurant Committee but I accept fully what the Minister said. It is a disgraceful, nonsensical situation.
A few Members spoke to me about the bar and when I made inquiries I was informed by officials of my Department that we were waiting for confirmation from the Restaurant Committee for something that I am not prepared to mention in the House. It is the Restaurant Committee that is holding up the matter.
Perhaps I should reply to the point made by Deputy Kelly. From Deputy Kelly, it was rather interesting. He was concerned about actual timewasting in the civil service, people doing nothing, too many of them doing too little. He suggested that even when the House did not sit——
(Cavan-Monaghan): On a point of order——
But I am replying. Let us hear the point of order.
Sorry, I understood that the Minister of State was concluding.
(Cavan-Monaghan): We are dealing with Vote No. 2 and I have a clear recollection and I think the record will show that the Chair called on the Minister of State to conclude the debate.
Yes, I understood he was concluding.
Then we will not be able to reply to Deputy Kelly.
I know what the Minister was going to say.
