Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Nov 1981

Vol. 331 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Bantry AnCO Training Centre.

Mr. Flor Crowley

I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. Question No. 2 on today's Order Paper read:

To ask the Minister for Labour if an AnCO training centre will be built in Bantry, County Cork, and the steps already taken in preparation for this development.

Unfortunately we got the bad news that no such centre was contemplated or being developed. Despite the Taoiseach's promises during the election he has left the people of Bantry high and dry. I find it difficult to give adequate expression to the anger, deep resentment and frustration of the people of Bantry at the blunt refusal of this Government to honour their pledge which was unequivocal, unambiguous and unconditional. It is shabby, shameless and indifferent to cold shoulder the needs and aspirations of the people of Bantry in this way.

This close and well-knit community have been dealt many a blow in the past, fracturing and demoralising it in some cases, but they have always come back Phoenix-like out of the ashes. It is no exaggeration to say that hopes and expectations were high in the town that a constituency which returned two Fine Gael Deputies would not be insensitively ignored by the leader of the Coalition. A local businessman said to me on the phone this evening that the present leader could not be so destructively city-orientated and biased against the country as to by-pass the problems of a small community like Bantry. That man now knows the truth. I told him I will spend the remainder of my life in this Parliament, whether it is a week, a month, six months or the full term, insistingly and vociferously showing the falseness, the shoddiness and mean-spiritedness of the hollow vote-catching promise of Garret FitzGerald to the people of Bantry and the community of west Cork. I suppose during elections we are all tempted to make promises but I do not think any of us has undertaken the promises like Garret FitzGerald.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy must refer to him as An Taoiseach.

Mr. Flor Crowley

Sorry. It was a cynical exercise for short-term political gain. It was a complete disregard for the truth and for the integrity we expect from a leader. If there was any doubt about that commitment, or if the Minister for Labour has any doubt, there is a tape recording available in Bantry on which the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Keeffe, speaking on behalf of the Taoiseach the Sunday night before the election, is saying the Taoiseach would honour his promise to build an AnCO training centre in Bantry. We then had what can only be described as a circus act for the following three days. Deputy Sheehan had loud speakers blaring this good news around the town of Bantry and the whole catchment area to, I must admit, a gullible public. He finished with the statement that "You can trust Garret FitzGerald". They know now that you cannot trust Garret FitzGerald and that he should never be believed because——

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair is reluctant to interrupt the Deputy but we should refer to the leader of the Government as An Taoiseach.

Mr. Flor Crowley

I am quoting the slogan and he was not the Taoiseach. The end of the slogan was "You can trust Garret FitzGerald". We all know that he cannot be trusted and that the people of Bantry were fools to believe him. He made that commitment without taking into account any social or economic considerations. He made a snap decision to build the centre and he gave that commitment. The then Taoiseach, Deputy Haughey, also met the Bantry action group but he refused to treat the electorate in this cavalier fashion. He promised that if Fianna Fáil were returned to Government a full investigation would be made of the feasibility of such a centre. Because of his honesty we now have two Fine Gael TDs for south-west Cork, and one of them is in this House tonight. We have in this House through alert and vigorous parliamentary action been able to put the brakes on several madcap Government schemes such as the economic consequences in the west of Ireland as a result of the closing of the Tuam factory and the decision of the Minister for Education to raise the school entry age.

Mr. Sheehan

What about the Fastnet Co-Op?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I must tell Deputy Sheehan that the Chair will not tolerate any interruption on this time-limit debate.

Mr. Killilea

The Deputy should go back to the microphones in west Cork.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The same goes for Deputy Killilea.

Mr. Flor Crowley

As Deputy Haughey remarked lately, we were vigilant in finding out that the Government did not have any intention of paying the Christmas bonus to old age pensioners or other recipients of social welfare benefits but we forced the monetarists to change their minds.

Mr. Donnellan

I should like to raise a point of order.

Mr. Sheehan

Deputy Crowley should tell us about the Fastnet Co-Op.

Mr. Flor Crowley

Deputy Donnellan is showing a complete disregard for the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, I should like to know if it is in order for a Member to read a speech?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Not exactly. I am sure the Deputy has seen several Members having recourse to notes while making their contributions in the House.

Mr. Donnellan

May I have a copy of what Deputy Crowley is reading?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy is not entitled to a copy. The Deputy is being disorderly and he is aware of that. Deputy Crowley should be allowed to proceed without interruption.

Mr. Flor Crowley

I advise Deputy Donnellan to sober up and if he cannot do that he should get out of the House.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Crowley should leave Deputy Donnellan to the Chair.

Mr. Donnellan

I do not have the same complaint as the Deputy.

Mr. Flor Crowley

Surely Deputy Donnellan does not think he can put me off. I have taken on better men than he and beaten them.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Crowley should leave the order of the House to the Chair.

Mr. Donnellan

That must have been at pocket billiards or something like that.

Mr. Flor Crowley

I hope the Chair has noted the last statement by Deputy Donnellan.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I will protect the speaker. Deputy Crowley should speak through the Chair and not to Deputy Donnellan.

Mr. Flor Crowley

I hope the Chair is paying attention to the last statement by Deputy Donnellan.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Yes, the Deputy should proceed.

Mr. Flor Crowley

It is a disgrace that we have somebody like Deputy Donnellan let loose in the House on such a serious subject as what is happening in Bantry. I know he does not give a damn about Bantry.

Mr. Killilea

He did not care much about Tuam.

Mr. Flor Crowley

If he did not give a damn about Tuam which is in his own area why should he give a damn about Bantry, but we on this side of the House do give a damn.

Mr. Sheehan

The Deputy's party sold the Fastnet Co-Op down the drain. They sold Bantry down the drain also.

Mr. Flor Crowley

We did not make any false promises and Deputy Sheehan is well aware that he would not be in this House but for the fact that he was shouting through microphones in Bantry telling the people that they could trust Deputy Garret FitzGerald to build the AnCO centre for them.

Mr. Donnellan

The Deputy is in here by false pretences.

Mr. Sheehan

Give us time and we will do that. We cannot build it overnight.

Mr. Flor Crowley

We know very well what that promise meant.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair would like to remind Deputy Sheehan and other Members that if they do not conduct themselves in an orderly fashion the Chair will, reluctantly, have to act. The Chair will not give a second warning. Deputy Crowley has until 8.50 p.m. and Deputies interrupting him are being grossly disorderly.

Mr. Sheehan

On a point of order, Deputy Crowley should keep to the terms of the question on the Adjournment.

Mr. Flor Crowley

Deputy Sheehan did not consider it worth his while putting down a question about the issue until my question appeared on the Order Paper.

Mr. Sheehan

The Deputy is like Lannah Machree's dog.

Mr. Flor Crowley

The Deputy did not raise the matter until I put down a question on the Order Paper.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Would Deputy Sheehan kindly leave the House?

Mr. Sheehan

I will obey the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. Killilea

The Deputy will be leaving it officially on the next occasion.

Deputy Sheehan withdrew from the Chamber.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, I believe it is necessary that a motion such as this should be discussed with 20 Members present. As 20 Members are not present I ask the Chair to call a House.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy is entirely out of order. On an Adjournment debate that is not a requirement and if Deputy Donnellan insists on interrupting he too will be asked to leave the House.

Mr. Donnellan

I do not have any intention of leaving the House whether the Chair requests me or not.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair is dealing with that statement as being not typical of Deputy Donnellan, and is asking Deputy Crowley to proceed.

Mr. Donnellan

I have told the Chair that I have no intention of leaving the House one way or another.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy was not asked to do so. The Deputy would not make such a statement if he were as Deputy Donnellan normally is.

Mr. Donnellan

The Chair asked me to leave the House but I was elected to it and that is it.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair did not. Deputy Crowley should proceed.

Mr. Flor Crowley

As there is no sympathy from the Fine Gael benches for this project I should like to appeal to a Minister who is a member of the Labour Party, a group which claims to protect the less privileged and less well-off members of our community. Surely in a place like Bantry the greatest economic injection would be the establishment of a factory there. Is the Minister aware that a great incentive to any potential industrialist would be to have an AnCO training centre on his doorstep so that he can recruit highly-trained staff from that centre. From time to time he would have the expert personnel to give refresher courses to his employees. Surely the Minister for Labour must see the value of that type of centre in a place like Bantry. He must remember that Bantry is 60 miles from Cork and 90 miles from Tralee. When Deputy O'Leary was Minister for Labour he stated that an area should not be more than 30 miles from an AnCO training centre. Surely that justifies the establishment in Bantry of such a centre.

We have available at least 1,000 children from the Bantry catchment area leaving school annually with either Intermediate certificate or leaving certificate and they could avail themselves of such a training centre. I cannot calculate how many of those children cannot avail of the opportunities that are presented to them because of the cost of going to Cork, Limerick or Dublin. In my view the figure represents a high percentage of those leaving school. They cannot afford to go to those centres to get better training and a guarantee of a better future for themselves.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, will the Chair explain to me under what rule a quorum cannot be called during an Adjournment debate?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy may not question the Chair but he is assured that it is not necessary under Standing Orders to have a quorum for an Adjournment Debate. Standing Order No. 19 is the relevant rule. The Deputy should sit down and allow Deputy Crowley to proceed.

Mr. Donnellan

Will the Chair quote the rule to me, please? The Chair is getting the information from the gentleman in front of him, but I am anxious that he quote the rule.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair is not going to delay the House any further. Deputy Crowley has two minutes left.

Mr. Donnellan

I insist on the Chair quoting the rule to me. The Chair should quote the rule which states that it is not necessary to have a quorum for a debate on the Adjournment.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair has informed Deputy Donnellan that Standing Order 19 is the appropriate Standing Order covering what the Chair has stated. Deputy Donnellan is insisting on being disorderly and he is encouraging the Chair to take advantage of him in his untypical mood but the Chair is not going to do that. Deputy Crowley to proceed.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, I want the Chair to quote the relevant rule to me.

Mr. Flor Crowley

The Deputy will regret this in the morning when he reads about himself.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, I want the Chair to quote the rule which states that it is not necessary to have 20 Members present for an Adjournment Debate. If it is Rule 19, the Chair should read it out.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy is being grossly disorderly and knows it. It is not a point of order on which he has risen. The Chair has given the Deputy the information sought. I would ask him again to behave in the fashion in which the people who sent him here would expect of him and allow the business of this House to proceed in accordance with the Standing Orders. Deputy Crowley to continue.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I cannot accept what you are saying at all. Would Deputies opposite please refrain from interrupting me on a point of order. I want you to quote to me, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the reason whereby fewer than 20 Deputies need to be present.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Coughlan on a point of order.

Mr. Coughlan

I should like to know why such leniency has been offered to Deputy Donnellan in comparison with other Deputies for gross interruption and disorderly behaviour.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair would say to Deputy Coughlan, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio". The Chair would have expected that Deputy Coughlan would have known the reason why the Chair is being lenient in a fashion it would not be to the House in full sobriety. Deputy Crowley to continue.

Mr. Donnellan

On a point of order——

Mr. Crowley

I hope, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle that as a result of this deliberate filibuster I will be given extra time.

Mr. Donnellan

I object to the insinuation by the Chair. I demand an apology from him and, until such time as I receive an apology, I will continue interrupting.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair is not going to give Deputy Donnellan the form of exit he would wish. Deputy Crowley to proceed.

Mr. Donnellan

I want you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle to quote to me the reason under which it is necessary to have——

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Dáil is adjourned until 10.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The Dáil adjourned at 8.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 26 November 1981.