It is proposed to take Nos. 6 and 7. It is also proposed that the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. today and business shall be interrupted at 10.30 p.m. It is further proposed that the proceedings on all stages of No. 6 shall be brought to a conclusion, if not previously concluded, at 6 p.m. by one question which shall be put for the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only amendments set down by the Minister for Finance. It is further proposed that the proceedings on all stages of No. 7 shall be brought to a conclusion, if not previously concluded, at 10.30 p.m. by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only amendments set down by the Minister for Industry and Commerce. Private Members' Business shall be No. 37, Motion 50.
Order of Business.
May I now ask if the proposal for a late sitting today is agreed? Agreed.
Is the proposal for dealing with No. 6 agreed? Agreed.
Is the proposal in relation to No. 7 agreed? Agreed.
On the Order of Business, can I ask the Taoiseach if he intends to make any time available in the House during the course of this week for the Minister for Industry and Commerce, or perhaps even the Taoiseach, to indicate whether the Government actually intend to sell the Insurance Corporation of Ireland and the PMPA?
I do not think this is a matter appropriate to the Order of Business.
It is because we are ordering the business for the week.
I should like to raise on the Adjournment the brutal and unprovoked assault on a young Dublin man by members of the Garda Síochána from Finglas Garda Station on 12 June last, details of which I have already supplied to your office a Cheann Comhairle, and to the Minister for Justice.
I am aware of the subject matter and I will communicate with the Deputy.
May I ask the Taoiseach if he has seen a report about an all-party committee from the British House of Commons who are going to Tehran to ask the Iranian Government to use their influence to try to free the hostages and whether he thinks such an approach from the Dáil on behalf of Brian Keenan might be useful?
I would prefer if a question were tabled in respect of a matter of this kind.
It is a matter of some urgency.
Would the Minister indicate if, as a matter of urgency, he proposes to take any action in regard to the fact that the Italian Government are preventing Aer Lingus from implementing the recently agreed EC air transport arrangements?
That is a matter on which proper notice should be given and the matter raised in the appropriate manner.
It has cost Aer Lingus £300,000.
It is not appropriate. I call Deputy M. Higgins.
An féidir liom a iarraidh arís an mbeidh aon tseans ag an Teach seo díospóireacht a bheith againn ar Mheastachán Roinn na Gaeltachta? Tá sé de nós gach bliain díospóireacht iomlán a bheith againn ar gach gné den Ghaeltacht agus cúrsaí Gaeilge.
Níl fhios agam ó bharr mo chinn cad í an Ghaeilge ar "repetitive", ach chuir an Teachta an cheist sin an tseachtain seo caite agus thug mé freagra air.
Tá mé buíoch den Taoiseach gur choinnigh sé an cheist in a cheann ar feadh seachtaine ar a laghad. Séard a theastaíonn uaim a fháil amach ná an bhfuil a aigne déanta suas aige ag an bpointe seo go mbeidh díospóireacht faoi Mheastachán Roinn na Gaeltachta nó nach mbeidh, mar tá sé de nós againn. Beidh sé ag déanamh a phíosa staire féin mura mbeidh seans againn cúrsaí an Mheastachánin do Roinn na Gaeltachta a phlé.
Nach bhfuil tú sásta leis an freagra?
Níl mé, mar ní bhfuair mé an t-eolas fós, an mbeidh díospóireacht againn nó nach mbeidh.
(Cur isteach.)
Is leor san.
I wonder if I could raise this matter to a standard of Realpolitik. On the question of a local issue, may I raise on the Adjournment the disgraceful and dangerous condition of Church Road, Ballybrack——
Certainly.
——and the over-utilisation by CIE of Churchview Road, Ballybrack? With your permission, may I raise those two very important local issues?
I shall communicate with the Deputy. A number of Deputies have risen: Deputy Noonan (Limerick East), Deputy John Bruton, Deputy Keating and others.
(Limerick East): The Taoiseach on a number of occasions promised legislation to enable building societies and other finance houses to become involved in banking activities and a consequential Bill to extend the powers of the Central Bank to control these activities. The Taoiseach indicated some time ago that he hoped to have these Bills before the Dáil this session. Does that commitment still stand? Will there be publication before the end of this session?
We shall not have them this session. It is a long and difficult birth.
(Limerick East): I am sorry, I did not hear the answer.
The legislation is in the course of gestation. It is a very long and difficult birth.
Refrigeration.
On a matter of promised legislation, would the Taoiseach give the House some information about the prospects for the introduction of legislation in regard to European patent conventions? The first is the European Patent Convention and the second is the Community Patent Convention. I understand that the latter is, in one interpretation of the Constitution, supposed to require a referendum if the EC Ministers do not agree to its being dealt with by means of a Community Act. Has the Taoiseach considered this matter and would he consider using his influence at Hanover to get the agreement of his colleagues to allow the matter to be dealt with without the necessity for a referendum?
Yes, as the Deputy knows, this is a somewhat constitutional situation. I shall explore the possibility of what the Deputy suggests.
On a number of occasions we have been promised legislation in relation to tax reform, including in the last budget. When might it be reasonable to expect legislation which will incorporate tax rates of 25 per cent and 40 per cent, as put forward by the Progressive Democrats in view of the very broad spectrum of support available in the House now for such measures?
I have put a major piece of legislation on tax reform, in the form of the Finance Bill, successfully through the House.
What about some tax reductions?
If I could possibly know what the Progressive Democrats are up to in regard to tax reform, I would be very happy to legislate——
The Taoiseach will be pleased to know that it has been accepted by Fine Gael and Labour and by many of his own people.
——or, indeed, in many other areas.
I shall explain it to the Taoiseach some time.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I wish to move the First Stage of the Fisheries (Amendment) Bill of 1988 in my name on the Order Paper.
Is this Bill opposed?
Yes, it is a ridiculous Bill.
We are in bad form, are we not?
The Bill is opposed. It is adjourned in accordance with Standing Orders to the next day on which Private Members' Business is taken.
I seek permission to raise again on the Adjournment the matter of the failure of the Department of Education to adequately provide for Gael Scoil Míde in Baldoyle.
I shall communicate with the Deputy.
If it is agreed to take the issue, I wish to share my time with Deputy Cosgrave.
I ask permission to raise on the Adjournment the failure of the Minister for the Environment to make any allocation to the Finglas area in the recent applications in allocation of national lottery funds, despite the fact that there is a large number of valid applications in——
Hear, hear.
——and there are many groups throughout the country that did not send applications in that received allocations.
I shall communicate with the Deputy.
Sir, is it your intention to allow time to the House to record its appreciation — I speak as one of the patrons of the Football Association of Ireland——
Is it timely and relevant?
It is not in order now.
We should have some record of our appreciation of the Ireland football team.
What about writing on the back of a cheque from the Government?
I hesitate to show the red card to the Deputy. I shall try hard to facilitate you.
Deputy Andrews may not be aware that I spoke for the entire nation last Sunday.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment with the Minister for Health the circumstances of the death of a child and its mother on 16 and 17 March last in Holles Street and St. Vincent's Hospitals.
I shall communicate with the Deputy.
Because of the public disquiet and the many allegations that have been made on this question, may I raise on the Adjournment the issue of the sale of land by the Southern Health Board at Our Lady's Hospital?
I shall communicate with the Deputy.
Might the Taoiseach consider the introduction of an honours list whereby suitable recognition could be given to people who have achieved——
If the Deputy is serious with regard to that matter, he should raise it in a more formal way. It should be raised at a more appropriate time.
I seek to raise on the Adjournment the matter of the serious situation with regard to the non-availability of grants for pollution control, despite the announcement by two senior Ministers that such grants were available.
I will communicate with the Deputy. May we proceed to the business ordered.