It is proposed to take No. 19. Private Members' Business shall be No. 44.
Order of Business.
I am glad to note that the Minister for Finance has come into the House because he may be able to help us in the matter I am inquiring about. Will the Taoiseach arrange by some means today for either himself or the Minister for Finance to make a statement in the House about the dramatic developments taking place in regard to our currency on the exchanges and also the dramatic increase in bank interest rates? These are matters of great urgency. The national interest is very much at stake. I am not making any political point in regard to these matters but I am asking that some statement be made in the House about the situation, if for no other purpose than to reassure the many people who are very concerned about these developments.
I will allow that part of the Deputy's question that asks whether a statement will be made.
As the question has come from the Leader of the Opposition I will consider it. The matters involved are very complex and I will discuss with the Minister for Finance the question of whether he might usefully make a statement in the House in the next couple of days.
Can you, Sir, explain why you did not allow the Private Notice Question in the names of Deputy Doherty and myself? This was to ask the Minister for Health to withdraw the proposal to close St. Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital at Castlerea, County Roscommon. I am asking the Taoiseach as Leader of the Government——
Deputy, please.
Could you advise me how to raise this in the House?
Will the Deputy give way to the Chair? I have a number of questions arising out of a portion of the speech made by the Minister for Health on the budget on Thursday last. I have ruled those questions out of order as they do not qualify for Private Notice under the relevant Standing Order. I want to make it perfectly clear that I ruled them out of order under that Standing Order only, as that was all the submission made to me. They are not in order and I had no alternative but to rule them out of order. For the benefit of the House and in order to answer part of the query put to me by Deputy Leyden, although I would not normally do this, a contribution on this matter will be in order on the budget debate in view of the speech made by the Minister for Health. The budget debate is before the House today and I understand that it is before the House all day tomorrow.
Would you regard the future of 250 patients as being a matter of urgency? I certainly do.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the question of the closure of St. Patrick's Hospital, Castlerea.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
(Interruptions.)
My Private Notice Question regarding St. Dympna's Hospital, Carlow, was disallowed on the grounds that it lacked urgency. What can be more urgent than a decision to close a hospital and put 350 people on the side of the road?
I have explained to the House that I ruled the question out of order under the relevant Standing Order. I have stated that it is in order on the budget debate.
Since I cannot get a satisfactory reply, I would ask permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
You ruled out of order a Private Notice Question which I put down. While I accept your ruling that it is in order to raise this matter during the budget debate, I do not think it is in order for a Minister to come in here and arbitrarily decide to close a hospital which has 350 patients.
The Deputy may not make a speech.
He made a statement that he had private consultations with members of the board. The Minister had no consultations with anyone.
Will Deputy Nolan please resume his seat?
It is not in order for a Minister to make that kind of statement.
I would ask Deputy Nolan to co-operate with the Chair.
Are the Government not aware of the anxiety that has been caused to patients and their relatives?
The Deputy may make that contribution during the budget debate.
It is for that reason that I put down a Private Notice Question today, so that we would get an answer to alleviate the anxiety of relatives and patients. I would like to know what way this can be raised to ensure that we will get a speedy answer from the Government to the effect that they will withdraw that decision.
You are in the bunker, Barry.
I would ask the House to co-operate with the Chair on this topic. I have explained the position three times and I will do it once more. These questions were submitted to me under the relevant Standing Order. I considered them under the Standing Order in question and ruled them out of order for Private Notice, and for that purpose only. I have stated here today that they are in order on the budget debate in view of the fact of the Minister's speech. I have got a number of requests for an Adjournment Debate on them and I will consider them. I am not making any decision on that but I will consider it.
We will raise it on the Adjournment then.
I will consider that.
Will the Taoiseach make a statement on the Government decision to close Carysfort College of Education?
It is not in order.
It is a very important matter.
It is not in order to raise it in this way.
I will seek your permission to raise it on the Adjournment in view of the urgency of the matter.
I will consider the Deputy's application.
I have a very important point of order in relation to a Private Notice Question concerning the Minister's decision to close Killarney Isolation Hospital. My point is that it is completely illegal for the Minister to make such an announcement because legislation would have to be passed to implement that decision.
I do not think the Deputy's point is so important now that I have explained the position four times. The explanation I gave in the other cases also applies to Deputy O'Leary.
What is worrying me, and I am sure it is worrying you, is whether there is a danger they would close down this place — as an economy measure, of course.
(Interruptions.)
Is it in order for the Minister to announce a decision in anticipation of legislation which is unlikely to be passed by this House?
The Minister for Justice has announced that he intends to exclude women who are assaulted and raped from compensation for their pain and suffering under the Criminal Injuries (Compensation) Act. I sought to raise this matter by way of Private Notice Question. You have said that this is not an urgent matter.
I did not say any such thing.
I was told that because the decision was announced on 29 January and is effective from 1 April——
I have explained to the Deputy through my secretary that this question is not in order. It is not in order for the Deputy to raise it here.
Would you explain why?
I will not explain.
The explanation I was given was that——
I am not prepared to argue this matter here.
May I seek to raise this matter on the Adjournment?
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I also had a question disallowed today and I wish to raise the matter on the Adjournment. I want to ask the Minister if he was aware that the intervention grain element in the feed voucher scheme has dropped by 50 per cent during the past week.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I wish to seek your permission to raise on the Adjournment the failure of the Minister for Health to provide extra funding for a structure at the Cork Regional Hospital to house the new radio therapy unit.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
Would the Taoiseach made a statement to alleviate concern amongst staff and students at Carysfort?
I have ruled that out of order already. The Deputy will find another way of bringing it before the House.
Before the country itself is closed down.
I propose to raise on the Adjournment the proposed reduction in services at St. Joseph's Hospital, Stranorlar, County Donegal. I just wanted to ask the Taoiseach——
A question is not in order. I will communicate with the Deputy.
A Cheann Comhairle, with your permission——
A Cheann Comhairle, the people who are most orderly here experience the greatest difficulty in raising matters. This is of interest to the Border counties and to the country as a whole. The Border is being sealed off at 8.30 p.m. each evening. We cannot export our goods——
I will communicate with the Deputy on the other matter.
What other matter?
On the matter that he raised.
The Government are out of touch with what is happening. I am trying to help the Taoiseach and telling him that the British authorities are sealing off the Border every evening at 8.30 p.m.
The Deputy can tell the Taoiseach that if he is allowed.
If that is not of importance I do not know what is.
I am calling Deputy Enright.
I wish to raise the subject matter of Question No. 407 of 22 January and the reply thereto regarding a school in County Offaly.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I should like to ask the Minister for Health to make a statement to the House to alleviate the fears of old people with the advent of the increase in interest rates.
That is not in order.
On the Order of Business, might I ask the Taoiseach when it is proposed to bring forward legislation, as promised by the Minister for Health, to abolish the health boards?
(Interruptions.)
They cannot dodge that one.
No legislation is promised.
A Cheann Comhairle, do you propose to make a statement to the House regarding the termination of a live Radio 1 broadcast of the Budget Day statements on Wednesday last, 29 January, at approximately 8 p.m. which was in direct conflict with an order of this House made on Tuesday, 28 January 1986, Item No. 4?
Deputy Leyden raised this matter with me on Thursday last. On that occasion I told him I would have inquiries made and come back to him. Lest there be any doubt about it, by "inquiries" I meant only that I would consult my staff. I did so, I came back to Deputy Leyden during the afternoon and explained the position to him.
In order that it may go on the record of the House — and I regret to say I cannot have a discussion on it — I want to read the following short statement:
Between 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday last my officials drew the attention of the RTE technical personnel in charge of the broadcast to the fact that the order of the Dáil of the previous day provided only for the broadcast of statements by the Minister for Finance and the statements of the Opposition spokesmen, and that the order did not authorise the broadcast of proceedings before the opening statement, between statements, or after the concluding statements. In fact, I understand that the Chair's intervention before the Minister started his statement was not broadcast.
If Deputies will refer to the order of the House any reasonable interpretation of it is as it is there. If in relation to any future broadcast or broadcasts — Deputy Leyden also raised this with me — Deputies want to have it more flexible or to cover time instead of persons, then that can be made perfectly clear in the order of the House, as on the last occasion.
That is all I have to say.
A Cheann Comhairle, first you are confirming that RTE themselves did not actually withdraw this live broadcast; that is what you are saying basically. Second, in a sense they were anticipating your decision regarding the proposal put forward by a Member of this House that he had a particular right to speak. So, in a sense, the officials, by terminating the broadcast, were actually anticipating a decision which you had not taken at that stage. Those interventions should be in order because they were putting forward a case for their being included in the live broadcast. It augurs very poorly for the proposed live broadcasting of this House that you, Sir, can now, or possibly will in the future, teminate particular broadcasts at particular times. That is a dangerous form of censorship and is something about which I would be very concerned if the live broadcasting of the proceedings of this House proceeds.
I do not think the Deputy need have any concern. I stand over the action of the officials of my House who were merely interpreting the order of the House, which is there for anybody to see. They were interpreting the order of the House and conveying their interpretation to the technical people in question.
A Cheann Comhairle——
I am not going to have any further discussion on this.
I do not think any official of this House should have any say in whether a Member of this House should be heard by the general public. That is a very poor day for democracy.
The House has the right to say, and the House only.
With your permission, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the question of the proposed closure of St. Dympna's Psychiatric Hospital in Carlow.
(Interruptions.)
Deputies Nolan, Aylward and I want to share the time if such time is allocated to that discussion.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
(Interruptions.)
The Minister has disappeared. It is dangerous.