It is proposed to take No. 1, Referendum Bill, 1998, Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. Private Members' Business shall be No. 32, Children (Reporting of Alleged Abuse) Bill, 1998, Second Stage.
Order of Business.
When will the local government funding Bill be ready and will it take account of comments made by the European Commission yesterday?
No, there will be no changes to the Bill regardless of what may have been said yesterday or the day before or what may be said tomorrow. It will be circulated next week.
On the Referendum Bill, the purpose of which is to ratify the Amsterdam Treaty, has the Government had second thoughts about the proposed wording and will the options clause remain as the preferred text to be presented to the House? Will there be discussions between the parties in the House in advance of the debate in the House?
We are anxious to reach agreement on the wording. I have discussed the matter with at least three of the parties in the House. I have discussed it with one of them on two occasions. I have received correspondence from a number of parties.
Will the Taoiseach consult all parties on the wording?
All those in favour.
Many parties in the House are anxious to campaign for a "yes" vote. Will the Taoiseach discuss the form of words to be put to the House with the parties to reach agreement in advance of the debate?
That is what we are endeavouring to do. As the Deputy is probably aware, we discussed the matter at some length with his party yesterday. I am due to meet another party tomorrow. I will consult all the parties in favour before we conclude our deliberations. I have received correspondence from Deputies Bruton, De Rossa and Quinn.
Has the Taoiseach decided when the referendum will take place?
No.
I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach has withdrawn the referendum wording from the schedule of business for this week to enable further discussion of the wording to be put to the people. I have expressed the view inside and outside the House that there should be two separate questions. In relation to the impending execution of Karla Faye Tucker, given that the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said he has done as much as he can do, will the Taoiseach use his influence to encourage the President of the United States to use his substantial influence to have the execution stopped? It is ludicrous at a time when the United States is preparing to go to war against Iraq to prevent the development of chemical weapons, it is preparing chemicals to be injected into the body of a woman.
This issue has been the subject of a Private Notice Question and, therefore, does not arise on the Order of Business.
I appreciate that. Is the Taoiseach prepared to lift the telephone and talk to the President of the United States to have this grotesque execution stopped?
Will the Deputy, please, resume his seat?
Is it the Government's intention to intervene in the Ryanair dispute? Section 38(2) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, allows the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to intervene in a trade dispute where the Government is of the opinion that it is of special importance. As the Ryanair dispute has not been resolved and is of great importance, will the Taoiseach ask the Tánaiste to intervene?
That matter does not arise on the Order of Business.
The Taoiseach answered questions about the matter last week.
As I speak, the Labour Court is announcing the outcome of its deliberations. I understand it will indicate that it will keep the matter under review and is prepared to facilitate both sides to the dispute in any way it can to try to resolve it. I understand also that it is its view that Ryanair should recognise the union and negotiate a procedural agreement to regulate relations between the company and the union.
Do the remarks of the Government Chief Whip in respect of the electoral Act constitute promised legislation? What is the disposition of the Government? Is a simple amendment being contemplated? Will the Taoiseach assure the House there is no question of an assault on the core principles of the Act?
I understand the issue has been discussed by the Whips and will be discussed again tomorrow. I have not received any request to do anything major arising from those discussions.
(Mayo): We spoke earlier about the referendum Bill. Some time ago the people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to change the bail laws, and last May we gave legislative effect to that with the l997 bail legislation. Eight months later that legislation still has not come into effect because the commencement order has not been made. When will the commencement order be made to give legal effect to the legislation?
As I understand it, before that legislation comes into place there has to be some improvement in regard to the prisons. The Minister answered a question on that matter in the House last week. I would like to see this happen as soon as possible. As the Deputy is aware, the Minister has somewhat moved forward the prison programme. Work is now ongoing in a number of prisons.
A Deputy
All promises.
The Taoiseach, without interruption.
No, that work is ongoing. Work in Mountjoy and Wheatfield is under way. Contracts that had not begun some months ago are speedily moving ahead and——
And money provided for them all.
——tenders have been invited for the huge extension in Portlaoise. The Minister has moved these matters forward in a matter of months. That will allow the order to be signed and the legislation to be implemented.
There are already extra places.
Will the Taoiseach state clearly Government policy in relation to the issue of mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse?
That matter does not arise on the Order of Business. The Deputy can table a question on the matter.
It is a matter of promised legislation on the reporting of child sexual abuse that has been answered in this House. The Tánaiste said she strongly——
The Deputy can refer to legislation, not make a statement.
It is a question in relation to promised legislation where there is a conflict between the attitude of the Tánaiste, expressed in favour of legislation, and the Minister of State with responsibility in the Department of Health and Children, who said it is not necessary. Will the Taoiseach simply clarify the matter?
I understand that matter will be debated in Private Members' time tonight and I do not think——
No, that is our Bill.
I would not like Deputy Howlin to worry about these matters because——
I worry about them all the time.
——there is no difficulty between the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey.
They just have different views.
The mandatory reporting of child abuse is a commitment in An Action Programme for the Millennium. It remains a commitment and will be introduced in the lifetime of this Government. The Minister of State wisely advised the Government and this House that we should all be aware of the complexities involved in this issue. Many difficulties arise which the Deputy will recall because when he was Minister for Health he set up a group to examine this issue which reported back to the then Government on 17 clauses that had to be dealt with. The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, is following the advice that those 17 issues should be dealt with comprehensively and that the difficulties should be ironed out. When that is done we should deal with it but in the meantime, both he and the Minister for Health and Children have engaged with the various groups and professions concerned to ensure we can move on this issue.
Will legislation be introduced in the lifetime of this Dáil?
Yes, but we want to ensure that it is meaningful and will deal with the complex issues that exist.
May I ask the Taoiseach the reason the proposed legislation on school attendance has been relegated to fourth division in the Government's legislative programme? The Taoiseach will recall that, following the findings of the Clondalkin survey that almost one quarter of children regularly do not attend school, he committed himself to making this issue a priority of the Government.
As I understand it, this legislation was intended to update the law on school attendance.
Absolutely. The law is 72 years old and has been found to be hopelessly inadequate. The Taoiseach indicated priority in his own approach to this issue because of the shocking findings of that survey.
My information is that there are 23 heads on this Bill. A draft was received last July and work on that is ongoing in the Department.
This is very disappointing.
May I ask the Taoiseach the position on the charities Bill?
The fund-raising Bill is at a very early stage. It is not on the list for l998.
Dr. Upton
May I ask the Taoiseach the position on the Irish-Romanian adoption agreement and will it be before the House for ratification in the near future? This is a matter of concern to quite a number of adoptive parents.
That matter does not arise on the Order of Business. It is not promised legislation.
I think it will come up soon.
Will the Taoiseach outline the current position in relation to the children's juvenile justice Bill? I remind him that this Bill received a Second Reading in this House one year ago. When the Taoiseach's party was in Opposition, this was one of the subjects, along with mandatory reporting and the truancy Bill, about which Members asked questions at least once a week.
Brevity please, Deputy.
They seem to have forgotten about those matters now. What is the position?
There is a motion on the Order Paper to restore it to the Stage it was at last summer.
One year later.
May I ask the Taoiseach the proposals the Government has for Dáil reform, particularly in regard to items such as an electronic voting system and reform of Question Time so that oral questions can be answered either here at some period during the week or in committees? I am sure the Taoiseach has some imminent proposals on this matter.
A subcommittee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges has a number of proposals on Dáil reform. I would be in favour of moving those forward but it is a matter for the agreement of the House. The Committee on Procedure and Privileges has to agree on the kind of issues we want it to resolve.
Will the Taoiseach ask the committee to bring forward proposals within, say, the next two months?
We will ask the committee to consider that but it has reported.
This is an issue of tremendous importance to us.
The Order of Business is not the appropriate place for questions.
May I ask the Taoiseach if the views expressed by Mr. Verstrynge, who is in charge of the EU Cohesion Fund, were cleared by or even communicated to the Government before they were made?
I answered that question earlier.
That question has already been answered, Deputy. I call Deputy McManus.
Is this about suggestions made yesterday?
Did he talk to the Taoiseach about it?
No.
Does he not worry about the Taoiseach's views?
He knows my views. I am against it.
In relation to the Refugee Act and the failure of the Government to fully implement its provisions, the Taoiseach has indicated that the delay is as a result of a court action being taken by an individual. Is it true that the Department of Justice and Law Reform has not even filed its defence——
That matter does not arise on the Order of Business. The Deputy may ask a question about promised legislation.
It does arise, it concerns legislation that is not being implemented.
The Deputy may ask a question just about the legislation.
Is it true that the Department of Justice and Law Reform has not filed its defence in this case and is therefore party to the delay in implementing legislation passed in this House with the agreement of all parties? Will the Taoiseach reply to that question? It is important that we have this information.
That matter does not arise on the Order of Business.
In response to a question last week from Deputy Bruton about the bus regulation Bill, the Taoiseach indicated that it might be published later this year. There is no sign of that Bill on the list; it is not even in the fourth division. I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, is dealing with the Bill. Will the Taoiseach indicate when we will see the bus regulation Bill that he said last week would be published by the middle of this year? The Taoiseach knocked it off the list.
I was asked last week when it was intended to implement the road transport Bill and I was also asked about an amendment to the l933 Act. I believe Deputy Stagg subsequently raised a question about another Bill. I did not think he was talking about the l933 legislation.
The Whip might be confused but I am not.
It was said last week that we might be confused but we have checked out this matter and I believe the Deputy is confused.
When will the bus regulation Bill be published?
I call Deputy Broughan.
I asked a question——
The Taoiseach answered the Deputy's question and he should resume his seat. I have called Deputy Broughan.
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle——
The Deputy asked a question and was given an answer.