It is proposed to take Nos. 12, 5, 13, 14 and 15. Private Members' Business shall be No. 25.
Order of Business.
Has the Taoiseach fixed a date for a meeting which he intended to hold at deputy party leader level to discuss the arrangements for this year's National Day of Commemoration? It would be important that it be done in the course of this week.
My information is that it is arranged for Thursday.
I want to ask the Taoiseach why my Private Members' Question was not taken yesterday, in view of the fact that it is of great national concern. It deals with the recent promotion in the Army.
I am sorry, Deputy, the matter is not in order now.
I asked for it to be taken on the Adjournment and I am asking you now what facility I have to bring this most important matter to the floor of the House.
The Deputy is a very experienced Member of this House. That is not for the Chair.
It is a matter of national importance.
The matter of my ruling, Deputy, may not be canvassed in the House in this fashion. I shall have to ask the Deputy to desist.
With all due respect, I have no intention whatever——
(Interruptions.)
I call Deputy McCartan.
May I have the matter raised on the Adjournment, Sir?
I shall communicate with the Deputy.
As it is a matter of national concern, the Taoiseach should answer the question to clear the air once and for all.
I can give no commitment on a matter of that kind. I will communicate with the Deputy. I have called Deputy McCartan. If he does not respond I shall not call him again.
The Taoiseach will not answer the question.
I wish to raise on today's Order of Business the matter which I raised yesterday as to whether the Taoiseach, in consultation with the leader of the so-called Opposition, has in any way reviewed the very short period of time available for discussion of the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill. The Taoiseach is aware that there are now 41 amendments tabled to that Bill.
Deputy McCartan, that matter was decided by this House yesterday.
I seek to raise the matter now because new information has come to my notice. It would appear that the Order of Business was agreed between the Taoiseach and the Leader of the Opposition when the latter did not know——
Deputy McCartan, please.
——the facts.
The Deputy cannot make a speech now.
Deputy Dukes proceeded on the basis, a Cheann Comhairle——
Please resume your seat.
May I ask the Minister for Labour if he will ask the Labour Court to intervene in the industrial dispute in the ISPCC?
That matter is not for the Order of Business. The Deputy will have to find some other means of raising that matter.
In view of the announcement that three of the six stallions purchased by Bord na gCapall have such obvious anatomical defects as to make them unsuitable for the job for which they were purchased, would the Taoiseach give assurances that Item No. 19 on the Order Paper will not be proceeded with?
Deputies
Hear, hear.
(Interruptions.)
Judging by the reaction of my colleagues in the House, I fear for the future of the life skills programme.
It is well to see an injection of humour in the House this morning.
I am quite serious.
I can give the Deputy a good stallion.
Deputy Doyle, it is not in order now.
At the risk of being accused of going from the sublime to the ridiculous, may I reiterate my party's fundamental opposition to an Order of Business——
Deputy Keating, the Order of Business for today was decided yesterday. It may not be raised now. It is quite disorderly for the Deputy to raise the question of the Order of Business.
I want to restate our opposition to it.
Not now, Sir.
I should like to raise, for your consideration for the Adjournment today, the matter which I sought to raise yesterday, of the threat to the contracts of part time teachers at the ending of courses in the vocational sector because of the failure to announce their budget before the vocational schools resume.
I shall communicate with Deputy Higgins in respect of that matter.
In view of the commitment by the Minister for Justice to review the bail laws and in the light of the appalling decision yesterday to grant bail to a man who has five charges against him for committing incest and also two charges against him for assault on his daughter and who is now out on bail——
On a point of order——
This cannot be discussed on the Order of Business.
Could I ask the Minister when it is proposed to introduce amending legislation?
Is it in order for a Member of this House to attack the Judiciary in the manner in which it has just been done?
A Deputy
Yes.
They operate the laws that this House makes.
The Deputy should not overreact.
On a point of order, a Cheann Comhairle, I submit to you that Deputy Barrett's question related to promised legislation and is therefore in order. I think you should allow the Minister to answer.
My understanding is that no such legislation was promised.
It was in the paper today.
On the Order of Business, may I inquire as to whether Deputy Dukes has sought further time on the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill——
(Interruptions.)
——as yesterday he did not know what stage the proceedings had reached?
Deputy McCartan must not treat the business of the House in so flippant a fashion.
(Interruptions.)
The Leader of the Opposition did not know to what stage the proceedings had got.
(Interruptions.)
If the Deputy persists in interrupting the business of the House, I shall have to invoke Standing Orders against him.
(Interruptions.)
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the urgent question of the absence of any second level school in Castleknock, Dublin 15, this September.
I will communicate with Deputy Mitchell.
As the House is finishing its business this week I would ask the Taoiseach if he has yet received a report from the Attorney General's office as to what other Treaties are affected by the judgment in the Crotty case. Is the Taoiseach in a position to tell the House——
This does not arise on the Order of Business.
I would draw to the attention of the Chair that the Whip of the main Opposition party was unaware yesterday that the Committee Stage of the National Monuments Bill had not been touched. The Deputy thought it was almost completed. Has he reconsidered his position with the Whip of the Government?
I made no such statement.
Will the Taoiseach say why his Minister for the Environment was not in a position to supply information of a minor sort to Question No. 126 on the Order Paper yesterday in my name?
That does not arise now.
What facility have I got to get this information?
May I raise on the Adjournment this evening the question of the adequacy of the career guidance information service following recent decisions taken in the Department of Labour?
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I have been raising for some time the question of important legislation which has been promised on building by-laws. The most recent reply of the Taoiseach was that this will be coming to the House shortly. It is very important having regard to the gas explosion in Raglan House. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that this Bill will be introduced in the next session?
The legislation will be introduced.
Can I raise on the Adjournment the unsatisfactory state of the law regarding the granting of bail?
I will communicate with the Deputy.
In the light of the fact that Deputy Quinn did not get a response to his question I seek permission to raise on the Adjournment the on-going strike of the ISPCC.
I will communicate with the Deputy.