It is proposed to take business in the following order: Nos. 1 and 5 (resumed). Private Members' Business will be item No. 22.
Order of Business.
I want to ask the Taoiseach if he is concerned at the continued imprisonment of the workers in North Dublin city——
The Deputy is being disorderly.
I hope I would never be disorderly but this matter is of grave concern to many people.
This matter is not in order on the Order of Business and if the Deputy wants to raise it, he will have to find another means of doing so.
The situation is continuing to worsen——
It does not become the Deputy to be disorderly and I ask him to desist.
I do not wish to be disorderly and I always obey your ruling.
I am asking the Deputy to please resume his seat. The Deputy raised this matter on the adjournment and got a hearing——
Without success.
The Deputy knows he is being disorderly.
I bow to your ruling and I apologise for having to raise this issue——
The Deputy should be seated when the Chair is standing.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the continued imprisonment in Mountjoy Jail of 14 workers.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy De Rossa.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the question of school transport and children being intimidated by school inspectors trying to collect extra taxation for the Minister for Education.
The Chair will communicate with the Deputy.
I also want to say——
The Deputy is new and I do not want to cut him short. He has given notice that he wishes to raise a matter on the Adjournment but the Deputy may not enter into the merits or demerits or elaborate on the item which he is seeking to raise. The Chair will communicate with Deputy O'Keeffe.
I want to raise on the Adjournment the anomaly of children who must, by law, go to school and from tomorrow will not be able to do so because of prohibitive charges.
The Chair will communicate with the Deputy.
On the Order of Business and resulting from the announcement made by the Taoiseach to which I cannot refer in detail, I would like to ask the Taoiseach when he proposes to bring two Bills which were proposed by the previous Government, dealing with radio and the control of illegal broadcasting, before the Oireachtas? Will this be the total responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Nealon? I would also like to know whether Deputy Nealon will be located in Government Buildings or the GPO?
That is a matter to be discussed between the Whips. With regard to the state of advancement of that legislation, I am not in a position to confirm the Deputy's suggestion. The handling of the Bills will be undertaken by Deputy Nealon as Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.
Arising from the Taoiseach's statement, does he realise the urgency of this matter? Have the Government already discussed it or is it in the Joint Programme of Government between the Labour Party and Fine Gael? Where will the Minister, Deputy Nealon be located — in the GPO or the Taoiseach's office?
That is not relevant to the Order of Business.
Surely the Taoiseach should answer a Member of this House when he asks a question?
The Chair understood the Taoiseach to say that it was a matter for discussion between the Whips, which seems a satisfactory reply.
The Bill is not a matter for the Whips, it is a matter for the Government. The Whips do not decide the composition of or the urgency for a Bill and they do not decide where a Minister is to be located. I appreciate that you are the Ceann Comhairle but I do not appreciate that you allow a situation where the Taoiseach will not respond to a question from a Member of this House.
The Chair allowed the Deputy to raise the matter on the Order of Business but he has no control over what reply is given.
I asked a similar question here last week in relation to a Social Welfare Bill and the Taoiseach said this was a matter for discussion between the Whips. Surely this is grossly inadequate because it shows a total lack of understanding of what stage this Bill is at——
Has Deputy Woods a question?
The Taoiseach has avoided saying what progress has been made in the Bill. I know that, ultimately, it is a question for the Whips as to when exactly the Bill will be taken but the Taoiseach should at least know if the Bill is in preparation and when it will be available——
The Deputy may not make a speech.
I am asking the Chair if the Taoiseach should not call his Ministers to reply to such questions in that event because it is most unsatisfactory at present.
That is not a matter for the Chair.
I think the House would appreciate it if the Chair would direct that matter to the Taoiseach. He is avoiding basic functions of the House by various devices.
The Chair is moving to item No. 1 on the Order Paper.