It is proposed to take No. 16. Statements on the European Council in Dublin on 25 and 26 June shall be made at 3.45 p.m. Private Members' Business shall be No. 28.
Order of Business.
It has been reported in the newspapers during the past fortnight that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the co-Chairman of the Anglo-Irish Conference, is to make a statement in the House of Commons tomorrow and that this statement has in effect been agreed with the Irish Government through constant contact with the co-Chairman. In effect it is a joint statement. The Taoiseach will agree that it would be desirable that this House should have an opportunity of debating the present state of play in Northern Ireland, since it is to be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow. I would ask the Taoiseach to consider allowing such a debate.
It is not strictly relevant to the Order of Business.
I appreciate that the House should be in the picture in some way. I am not quite sure yet. Things are still evolving. I will see what I can do.
Will the Taoiseach contact me?
It is important that some opportunity should be afforded to the House or to the party leaders to have some consultations on the issues.
I refer to the Insurance Bill, the Second Stage of which is to be debated today. The time allowed for Committee Stage should be reconsidered since it is totally inadequate.
That is properly a matter for the Whips.
I would refer the Taoiseach to item No. 6 on today's Order Paper, the Clinical Trials Bill. On over a dozen occasions in this session the Taoiseach has promised that this Bill will be taken. I understand that the Government Chief Whip yesterday indicated to my Party's Whip that this Bill will not now be taken in this session. In view of the commitments given by the Minister for Health and also of the fact that all Stages of the Bill could be taken in a few hours, will the Taoiseach consider making time available before the session ends to take this important legislation?
I regret to have to tell the Deputy it cannot be taken this session. In these matters I am the servant of the Whips.
That is totally unacceptable.
I am sorry, Deputy Yates. We may not discuss the matter now.
There are 20 AIDS patients who require the passage of this legislation to get essential medical treatment.
The Deputy has had his reply. That must be adequate for the time being.
It is a disgrace. The Taoiseach should act immediately. It is absolutely outrageous.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the compensation due to Swords Community Council in respect of expenditure on the VEC school in Swords, given ultimately that the payment of such by the VEC has to be sanctioned by the Minister and her Department.
I will be in touch with the Deputy.
Have the Government now abandoned proposed legislation to give statutory effect to the establishment of the National Roads Authority or has the inordinate delay some other explanation?
Is this legislation promised in this House?
Over-promised.
It is certainly on the stocks. It is in the machine and, subject to all the pressures of the Parliamentary programme, wending its way through.
That is a considered explanation.
Will the Taoiseach confirm that the statements on the EC Summit will conclude at 7 p.m., thus conforming to the position on the Order Paper last Friday? This will effectively exclude me or any other Independent Deputy from speaking on this matter. I regard this as a conspiracy between all the parties in the House to silence the Independents. I intend to speak on this matter.
I must assure the Deputy there is no conspiracy. It is well known, established practice that on these occasions we only have party leaders. I would be very happy to receive the Deputy in my office and go through with him the details of the wonderful, magnificent declaration on the environment.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of Question No. 258 of 27 June and the reply by the Minister which shows the reluctance on the part of the Department of Education to allow repeat examinations for students who are hospitalised and who were too ill to take the leaving certificate paper on a particular day.
I will be in touch with the Deputy concerning the matter.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment as a matter of urgency the total collapse of one of the most important industries in this country, namely, the agricultural industry. What are the Government's proposals to rescue the industry before the end of the year——
I will communicate with the Deputy; he need not elaborate now.
——as there is no market available.
I seek your permission again, Sir, to raise on the Adjournment with the Minister for Justice the recent findings of the Combat Poverty Agency report which show that our court maintenance order procedures are not working.
I am aware of the Deputy's interest in the matter and I will communicate with her.
May I ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food when protests he has made to the French authorities about yesterday's blockade which prevented the importation of Irish lamb into France and if he would ask the French authorities to direct their attention to New Zealand imports rather than Irish imports?
I will be in touch with the Deputy.
I seek your guidance on the subject matter of my Priority Question which was ruled out of order. Perhaps the Ceann Comhairle would clarify the procedures available to me. Is it possible to re-introduce the Priority Question today? I have been in touch with the Department of Social Welfare and they seem reluctant to answer this question. I presume — and I expect the Ceann Comhairle's office are also expected to presume — that they will give the same answer as they gave to a previous question.
This is a matter which is more appropriately dealt with by my office, but I am aware of the Deputy's complaint. I disallowed the Deputy's question because it was clearly a repeat and as it was a Priority Question he could have submitted a substitute Priority Question in accordance with Standing Order 37 (4), which enables Members to table substitute Priority Questions for questions disallowed. Perhaps the Deputy was not aware of that provision.
I was only notified by your office this morning and this allowed me no time to substitute another question. This question was not a repeat, but the answer——
Let us not argue about the matter now. It was clearly a repeat and I have said so. There is little I can do about the matter now. I would advise Deputy Ferris when he is submitting Priority Questions in future that he put down more questions, lest any of them be disallowed. This is the normal practice so that his number of Priority Questions will be answered.
A Cheann Comhairle, may I presume that the answer to my Priority Question would have been a repeat, even though the question was not a repeat?
There are other ways and means of dealing with this matter.
If I may not raise it on the Order of Business, Sir, may I have your permission to raise it on the Adjournment tonight?
I will communicate with the Deputy concerning his plea for the Adjournment.
I have a letter from you, Sir, disallowing a question to the Minister for Justice concerning the Garda investigation into alleged corruption in the planning system in Dublin——
My rulings in these matters may not be challenged in this House. I would ask the Deputy, if he has a complaint, to get in touch with my office, but he may not raise the matter now.
As you, Sir, have ruled this question out of order and in view of the growing public concern about the abuse of the planning system in Dublin, I wish to raise the matter on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with the Deputy. Deputy E. O'Keeffe has been offering and I apologise for not calling him earlier.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the proposed takeover of Hall and Company Limited by the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society thus creating a monopoly in the import of feedstuffs for animals.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I understand the legal profession are interested in the long promised solicitors' Bill but it looks very clear now that the Bill will not be circulated and debated before the summer recess. Could the Taoiseach indicate when the Bill might be circulated and debated in this House?
The Deputy will understand that there is now coming on stream a major report from the Fair Trade Commission which will have a bearing on the solicitors' Bill.
Do I understand from that reply that the Bill will possibly incorporate some of the recommendations that may be provided for in the Fair Trade Commission report? Is that the present state of play?
It certainly has to be considered in the light of the Fair Trade Commission report.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the sudden termination of the EC funded scheme to encourage small farmers in the poorer areas to install rural electrification?
I will be in touch with the Deputy concerning the matter.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment a case that has been raised with the Minister for Justice in this House before, and concerns a refugee in transit who has been booked on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow and Baghdad.
I have facilitated the Deputy in respect of this matter quite recently——
The Minister has disgraced this country——
Please desist Deputy.
He has disgraced this country in the way he has handled this case.
Deputy Carey is being disorderly.
The Minister would like to suggest that as a solution to many of the other problems——
May I ask the Taoiseach if it is the Government's intention to introduce a charter for children and whether it is the Government's intention to ratify the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child.
The Deputy should put down a question.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the 14 per cent increase in the farmer's contribution to the TB levy.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I would like to repeat my request, and that of Deputy Deenihan, for an Adjournment debate on the plight of homeless young people in Dublin and nationwide and the efforts the Minister for Health is making to prepare for the extra powers that will be given to him under the new Children Bill.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
My office was trying to establish contact with the Deputy yesterday to explain the position to her, but they will be in touch with her today.
Thank you.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the shortage of stenographer staff attached to the Editor's Office in Leinster House. I understand the staff complement is very sizeably reduced and that there are no permanent stenographer staff attached to Seanad Éireann or to the committees of this House.
I will be in touch with Deputy Enright concerning that matter.
It is a very grave problem.
On the Order of Business, Sir, may I ask the Minister for Tourism and Transport, Deputy Seamus Brennan, to assure this House even at this late stage and in the absence of an official denial by his Department, that the Aer Lingus property portfolio in Tenerife is exempt from the ongoing Garda investigation?
I cannot permit the Order of Business to be turned into a mini Question Time. That might prove to be a very appropriate question to put down in the ordinary way. Can we proceed with the business ordered?