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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 3 Dec 1985

Vol. 362 No. 5

Order of Business

It is proposed to take business in the following order: Nos. 19, 20, 21, 7 and 8. By agreement, the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. today and not later than 12 midnight and business shall be interrupted at 11.30 p.m. Also by agreement, items Nos. 7 and 8 will be taken not later than 8.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. respectively and the proceedings on these items shall be brought to a conclusion not later than 10 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. respectively. Private Members' Business shall be No. 103.

Are the arrangements for today's late sitting agreed? Agreed. Are the arrangements for taking items Nos. 7 and 8 agreed? Agreed.

I am not a difficult Deputy for the Chair to deal with but every week I seem to be in conflict with the Ceann Comhairle regarding Private Notice Questions. The interpretation of the Chair and my interpretation are always at variance and the Chair is always right. Next Thursday there will be a national strike and over one million school children will not be at school. I tabled a question to the Minister for the Public Service asking him if he will now reappoint the public service arbitrator. Since that was ruled out, I ask the Tánaiste to give a clear answer on the matter. Is it the intention of the Government to reappoint the public service arbitrator or do they wish that another national strike should take place?

I cannot allow that question.

They are Labour Deputies and surely they must be concerned.

Deputy Ahern is generally reasonable, notwithstanding what he has just said. Usually, he is an example and it would be of benefit to the House if that example were followed by others.

Not being an exemplary Deputy——

We will not make any comment on that observation.

May I ask very deferentially about an event that will take place on Thursday? It has been stated that a certain course of action by the Government would avoid that event taking place. Is the Chair ruling that it is not a matter of urgency?

I am ruling that the question is not in order for private notice and I have conveyed my reasons to Deputy Ahern.

With a strike imminent on Thursday, would the Ceann Comhairle agree the matter is urgent?

The Chair regrets that he cannot submit himself to cross-examination.

Far be it from me even to dream of cross-examining such a wily old——

I am against preambles. Not so much of the "old".

I was using the term affectionately. We want to ask about a course of action which would avoid the strike on Thursday.

I cannot allow the question to be raised in this way.

I find myself in the same position as Deputy Ahern and I wish to express my regret and disappointment that you are not in a position to allow my question about what happened in my constituency last night when a family were tied up during the night and held captive.

You cannot ask the question now.

I appreciate that, but I thought the question should have been allowed. Therefore, I ask permission to raise it on the Adjournment.

I will communicate with the Deputy. Might I say for the benefit of Deputies that the Chair has no axe to grind as to whether questions should be allowed. My concern is to carry out Standing Orders.

Puzzlement has visited me, too, about a private notice question and the ruling that it was not urgent. I had intended to ask the Minister for Communications what he intends to do about the redundancy payments for 25 Irish Shipping ratings, payments awarded by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. I want to know if they can get the money before Christmas. There is a note of urgency in their plea in the public prints today and I was hoping that the Minister might be able to clarify the position for me. Above all, I did not think it would be turned down on the grounds that it was not urgent.

I had a private notice question about a levy being imposed on the sugar beet industry. I was very disturbed that you considered it not to be of an urgent nature. Things have been bad in farming this year. It seems that the Government's desire to be good Europeans is being taken advantage of.

The Deputy is out of order.

I should like to ask the Minister for Communications if he will restore to the people of Mitchelstown, County Cork, the multi-channel TV equipment that has been confiscated, and if he is aware of the considerable expense incurred on the erection of equipment on their chimneys? I should like to raise it on the Adjournment.

I wish to raise on the Adjournment the abnormally high number of stillbirths in the Dundalk area shown in the results of a survey released recently.

I will communicate with the Deputies.

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