It is proposed to take business in the following order: Nos. 7 (resumed), 8 (resumed) and 9. Private Member's Business will be No. 14 (resumed).
Order of Business.
I would like to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of Question No. 712 of Tuesday, 3 May.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Ahern.
Could I ask the Taoiseach when it is hoped to take Item No. 1, especially in view of the fact that this committee have only met for a very short period over the past two years.
Discussions are in progress between the Whips on the establishment of committees. These discussions relate to the whole body of committees. We are hopeful that we will be able to bring forward proposals to the House, by agreement, in the immediate future. That would obviously be desirable. It is at the moment in the hands of the Opposition. We are very anxious to proceed and I believe it is in the interests of the House and the country that our committee system in this Dáil should be got under way and there should not be further delay. I am sure the Opposition agree with that and will want to co-operate with us on this.
As far as the Joint Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities is concerned, we are agreeable to set up that committee in half an hour. I do not think the question of the overall committees has to wait for any final agreement on the whole package. We could proceed with any of the established committees of the House. It would be wrong to give the impression that we must wait to get agreement on all the new committees that were mentioned in the last few months.
I am sure the Deputy will understand, if we are establishing a number of committees — some new, some established, some ad hoc and temporary and some permanent — that before Members of the House are allocated and given the opportunity to offer their names for participation in committees they would need to know what committees are involved. It has been my desire, which so far I have not been able to implement, that we would be able to agree on the package so that Members of the House would be allocated to them in relation to their interests in particular areas. If we proceed piecemeal we will have a piecemeal allocation of people who subsequently may be unhappy with the committee, they are allocated to and would prefer to be on another one. That is why we have tried to take them together. I urge the Opposition to co-operate in relation to this in the interests of Members of the House. There is no other interest in it except that, but there is an interest in Members of the House having the opportunity to serve on the committees of greatest interest to them. They cannot do that until they know what committees will be established.
There are a number of established committees in the House. The one Deputy Manning asked about is one of them and there is no reason why we cannot go ahead and establish those committees this afternoon. There are other committees which the Government, through the Leader of the House, have put forward that are being considered by the Opposition's front bench. In due course we will make our decision on those. It is giving a wrong impression to say that we cannot proceed with committees, especially one like the committee Deputy Manning spoke about. Only a special type of Deputy would be interested in European matters, and, he would be unlikely to be interested in some of the new ones or, if he is, he could be on two committees. We should proceed with establishing that committee. We have no objection to proceeding with establishing this committee this afternoon.
The matter is one for the Whips and the point I made remains valid. Deputy Manning, for all I know, may be interested in this committee. But if there is to be another committee on another subject which he is interested in he should have, like other Members of the House, the opportunity of offering for it. I am afraid that the procedure of taking them piecemeal does not make that possible. The committees we are now proposing to the House include committees which have been proposed for this House since the end of 1981 and we have been trying to get agreement on them. After nearly 18 months it surely must be possible for the Opposition to agree on committees being established in areas where there is common concern to get progress made. The work of this House could be so much more effective and seen to be more effective, where Deputies can work together on committees in their common interests whereas on the floor of the House, inevitably, more political and contentious issues tend to predominate and secure greater publicity.
I do not agree——
We are just having repetition.
May I make a correction?
The Deputy may make a correction.
The Taoiseach has said that the terms of reference of the committees that he is proposing have been before the House since the end of 1981.
Some of them.
Maybe some, but the terms of reference we have received and that we are discussing were received about six weeks ago. Formal discussions are now taking place on those and we will make a decision in due course. It is not fair to indicate that the Opposition are holding up entirely new committees which change a lot of the basic things of the House. It is not to say that we are for or against them.
The terms of reference to which I refer were put forward in early 1982 to the Opposition.
The Taoiseach is misleading the House.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment Question No. 607 on yesterday's Order Paper which indicated that there are 47,500 applicants awaiting telephones in the Dublin area and the chaos of the telephone system in Dublin.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Shatter.
With your permission, Sir, I would like to raise on the Adjournment the proposal to reduce by 90 the number of jobs at the ESB Great Island Generating Station.
The Chair will communicate with Deputy Hugh Byrne.