Before coming to the Order of Business, I propose to deal with a number of related notices of motion under Standing Order 31 from Deputies Owen, Sargent and Ferris. I propose to call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office. I now call on Deputy Owen to state the matter of which she has given notice to me.
Request to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
In accordance with Standing Order 31 I wish to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss a matter of grave importance, the announcement of the imminent closure of the Seagate company in Clonmel, County Tipperary, with the loss of 1,400 jobs without any warning, the implications of this closure for the proposed Seagate facility in Cork; what plan do the Government and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment have to replace these jobs and why was the Minister not forewarned of this closure given the Government promised an early warning system to identify emerging industrial difficulties.
In accordance with Standing Order 31, I wish to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to inquire into the closure of the Seagate company in Clonmel, County Tipperary, with the loss of more than 1,400 jobs, the role of the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the fiasco and to allow the House to set out an economic strategy which will provide a safety net and placement of jobs for communities where trans-national companies renege on their commitments to Ireland.
In accordance with Standing Order 31, I wish to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the closure of the Seagate plant in Clonmel, County Tipperary, the consequent loss of jobs and the plans the Government have to resolve the crisis.
The matter will be discussed today and I do not consider it to be contemplated by Standing Order 31. Therefore, I cannot grant leave to move the motion.
The only item on the agenda today is the discussion of the budget——
We will now move on to the Order of Business——
What relevance does the budget have for the 1,400 people in Clonmel who are about to lose their jobs?
The Deputy should wait to hear the Order of Business as this matter is included for discussion.
I want to discuss why the Government has decided it is not appropriate to adjourn business——
The Deputy will achieve what he wanted——
——when there is nothing else on the agenda which supersedes the importance of what has happened in Clonmel.
The matter will be discussed today.
The Tánaiste is in the factory in Clonmel talking to my relatives.
The Deputy knows he is out of order. The matter is not precluded from discussion.
Does the Taoiseach realise——
Will the Deputy resume his seat? If I call on the Deputy to leave the House, he will not be in a position to talk on the subject today. If the Deputy wants to debar himself from the discussion——
Yesterday when I spoke to the Tánaiste——
The Chair is on his feet and the Deputy should resume his seat. If he does not do so, he will not be present for the discussion and will do his constituents a serious disservice——
——she told me the first she knew of the closure was yesterday but I discovered she knew three months ago. What action has she taken?
The Deputy is deliberately disobeying the Chair.
This is a disaster for my constituents.
I ask the Deputy to resume his seat for the final time. He will be suspended from the House and will not be here to put his case when the matter is discussed.
The matter should be discussed now.
Will the Deputy resume his seat or leave the House?
What more important item can be discussed this morning and what relevance does it have to these people?
I told the Deputy the matter will be discussed today but he does not want to listen to me. Deputy Ferris leaves me with no option but to move that he be suspended from the service of the Dáil.
(Interruptions.)
I have given the Deputy every opportunity to resume his seat. The Deputy wants to take this line. I move that Deputy Ferris be suspended from the service of the House. Is the motion opposed?
Why not discuss the matter now?
The Chair is on its feet.
I wish to raise a point of order——
No point of order can be taken when the Chair is dealing with motions raised under Standing Order 31.