The Order of Business today shall be as follows: No. a10 on the Supplementary Order Paper, motion re. leave to introduce Supplementary Estimate for the DPP – Vote 14; No. b10 on the Supplementary Order Paper, motion re. referral of Supplementary Estimate – Vote 14 – to select committee; No. 10, motion re. Údarás na Gaeltachta Elections (Amendment) Regulations, 1999; No. 28, motion re. Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (resumed); No. 29, Education (Welfare) Bill, 1999 [Seanad], Second Stage (Resumed); and No. 3, Broadcasting Bill, 1999, Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. It is also proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that Nos. 10 and a10 – leave to introduce Supplementary Estimate, Vote 14 – and, subject to the agreement of No. a10, No. b10, shall be decided without debate and any divisions demanded on Nos. a10 and b10 shall be taken forthwith. Private Members' Business shall be No. 75, motion re. agriculture.
Order of Business.
There is one proposal to be put to the House. Are the arrange ments for taking Supplementary Estimates agreed? Agreed.
In the past 12 months 500 people have been killed on our roads. There are three times as many people killed on our roads per motor vehicle as there are in Sweden because our road traffic legislation does not work. The Government promised to introduce amending road traffic legislation this year. Will it be introduced this year or will we have to wait until next year or the year after for this life saving legislation to go through the House?
The general scheme is expected at the end of this month but it will be next year before the legislation is through the House. The road traffic action plan which was published in August 1998 is being implemented.
How long will it take before legislation is passed through this House? Will the Taoiseach get to it before he leaves office?
It was promised this year.
The Tánaiste will answer that.
The agricultural payments office Bill is a problem which seems to be affecting the Government. The schedule of legislation earlier this year promised that it would be published by the end of the year. In the schedule published for the autumn the status of the Bill is described as follows: "Bill not being proceeded with at present due to other priorities". There are only two other items of legislation listed for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. Perhaps the Taoiseach could indicate to the House whether this Government's policy is the same as the previous one. Will such a Bill be published and, if so, when?
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development backed down.
The Deputy was in the Cabinet too.
The Minister should stay quiet.
The Minister is determined to give effect to his commitment by proceeding with the establishment of the agricultural payments office. What remains to be finalised is the form in which it will be done. There is a question as to whether it requires legislation. Various options are under consideration and the Minister will announce those in due course.
It is the millennium project.
It is progressive obsession.
The purpose of the Bill was to establish an agency to administer FEOGA payments on a statutory basis. The Taoiseach, per haps inadvertently, suggested that legislation was not necessary, yet his document states that a statutory basis self-evidently means that legislation is required. Is the Bill still alive and will it be proceeded with or, if it is not alive, does that mean it is not being proceeded with? Could he clarify the status of that statement? Is it dead or is it on a life support system?
As I have already stated, the Minister is looking at a number of options. Some of those options will require legislation, while others will not. The Minister will complete that review shortly and then we will know whether legislation is required.
That sounds like a recipe for stew.
Does the Minister for Health and Children propose to allay people's concerns about the need for prescriptions for certain products? Will the statutory registration of certain designated health and social professions Bill contain a provision to allow people to buy herbal medicines and vitamins?
It is not appropriate to discuss the content of legislation.
The Taoiseach is probably aware that many people use products, such as St. John's wort and Gingko biloba, as herbal remedies.
The Deputy is totally out of order.
Gingko biloba is a brain stimulant and it might be good if the Taoiseach gave it to his Government everyday to stimulate their brains.
The Deputy is totally out of order. I ask her to resume her seat.
This is not a funny matter.
It may not be but if the Deputy does not sit down and obey the Chair, I will ask her to leave the House.
As a medical practitioner, you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, should know that.
The Chair is on his feet. I ask the Deputy to resume her seat.
Will the Minister for Health and Children come into the House to discuss this matter?
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
On a point of order—
I call Deputy Michael Higgins and then I will hear Deputy Gormley's point of order.
How does it affect a person?
It stimulates the brain.
It stimulates the brain, not the mouth.
Please allow Deputy Michael Higgins to speak.
I am reluctant to interrupt Deputy Owen's question with which I agree. It is an important issue.
Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur maidir le reachtaíocht i gcúrsaí ealaíona. Bhí fógra sna páipéirí coicíos ó shin a chuir in iúl go raibh sé ar intinn ag an Aire Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Oileán reachtaíocht a thabhairt isteach chun leasaithe a dhéanamh ar an mbun Acht a bhaineann le cúrsaí ealaíona. An bhfuil sé fíor?
There is nothing in the list of promised legislation about changing legislation which affects the Arts Council. However, an announcement has been made by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands that it is proposed to bring in legislation which will change the relationship between the council, the executive and those for whom the council caters. It is not on list A, B, C or D. Is it one of those colourful kites which is being introduced by the Minister and the Minister of State?
Is legislation promised, Taoiseach?
It is not on the list. I think the Minister has made some announcements on aspects she is looking at. The Deputy should put down a question to the Minister.
I wish to finish, I will not delay the House.
Deputy Higgins, as you have been told, legislation has not been promised. The Taoiseach has answered the question.
It was promised.
I wish to clarify the status of the Taoiseach's phrase "the Minister is looking at it". The Minister has been looking at the whole world for years.
Deputy Higgins, please.
Is legislation promised, yes or no?
No.
As the people who set up the tribunals which are sitting at present, should we not receive periodic progress reports?
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
Will we receive a clear indication as to when the tribunals will conclude? Will there be any outcome from these tribunals in view of the fact there was no outcome from the beef tribunal?
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
That is what we and the public want to know.
The latest score from the tribunals.
I would like a reply from the Taoiseach.
It is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
It is very appropriate.
Hundreds of people are involuntarily committed to mental institutions every year, without a proper appeals system to protect their rights. Through a reply to a parliamentary question last week it was discovered that two people have been incarcerated in this way for the past 64 years.
If Deputies intend to ask about legislation, they should come to the point and not make preliminary comments about it. If the Deputy has something to ask the Taoiseach on legislation, I suggest she does so.
I am doing what every other Deputy has done. I have explained—
It is totally out of order for any Deputy to make preliminary remarks.
Ministers have to be briefed first, otherwise they will not know what we are talking about.
In view of the fact that two people have been incarcerated for 64 years and an appeals system was not in place, will the Minister ensure the mental health Bill, which has not yet been published but is promised for this session, will be published and passed within this session? People's lives are being infringed upon—
When will the Bill come before the House?
—and the Taoiseach has a duty to ensure we are in line with EU conventions on human rights.
Will the Deputy please allow the Taoiseach to answer her question?
The mental health Bill, which updates the legislation for the detention for treatment of a mentally disordered person, is due this month. It contains 70 sections and I cannot give a commitment it will be passed prior to Christmas. It will be a matter for the Whips to order the time.
Mr. Hayes
The Taoiseach is aware that since the House last met, Lord Lucan finally gave up the ghost and is now officially dead. Given this development, when will the Taoiseach honour his commitment to abolish ground rents and when will he enact the famous reforming legislation of his colleague, Deputy Woods?
Or else Deputy Woods will have to be abolished.
That matter is still being looked at for constitutional reasons.
This is the sort of thing that makes the public cynical. The Taoiseach has no intention of introducing that legislation. Why does he not just say that?
(Dublin West): Will the Taoiseach clarify the position regarding the National Parks and Historic Properties Bill? When I raised the possibility of the Blasket Islands being restored as an historic park, the Taoiseach said the matter would be dealt with under this legislation. However, in the list it is put down as not being proceeded with at present. Will the Taoiseach give a timescale for the legislation?
Will the Taoiseach introduce equality legislation to stop the banks making a Cinderella out of the Labour Party by writing off only £28,000—
The first question is in order.
(Dublin West): —when prominent members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had £250,000 each written off? If Labour went to the trouble of becoming a conservative party—
The Deputy should allow the Taoiseach answer his question.
(Dublin West): —surely it should be treated equally by the banks as a conservative party—
Deputy Higgins is totally out of order.
(Dublin West): —and have the same amount of money written off.
I do not have a date for the National Parks and Historic Properties Bill. It is to afford protection to national parks and gardens.
That is the first time Deputy Higgins has smiled in two and a half years. It is like moonlight on a tombstone.
The Deputy has not taken off his Halloween mask yet.
Deputy Higgins has his own leader's allowance.
(Mayo): The Intoxicating Liquor Bill, which is on Second Stage, provides for all-night opening for the eve of the millennium, a measure for which there is neither public nor publican demand.
Deputy Higgins, the same point I made to Deputy McManus applies to you.
(Mayo): I know. In view of the fact this Bill is being abandoned and a new Bill introduced, does the Government intend to introduce a short Bill to give effect to the suggested all-night opening? Publicans would like to know the position.
That is a good point.
A short Bill will be introduced to deal with new year's eve and new year's day.
Will it be cleared by Deputy Healy-Rae?
There will not be all-night opening.
In support of Deputy Owen, is the Taoiseach aware the former Taoiseach, Mr. Haughey, had a gingko tree and said if one eats two leaves a day it improves the memory?
The Deputy should raise a matter appropriate to the Order of Business.
He obviously did not eat it every day.
It did not improve his recollection.
He ended up not being able to see the wood for the trees.
As regards the Immigration Bill, when will a comprehensive statement of Government policy on immigration be published? It is a crucial issue—
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
I asked when will the Immigration Bill, which is promised, be introduced?
On the legislation, not its content.
That is the content. I am asking when it will be introduced.
I do not have a date. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made several comprehensive statements on this matter recently.
Does the Taoiseach not know when the Bill will be introduced? Is it not normal for us to be informed on the Order of Business when legislation is to be introduced? Has the Taoiseach been briefed on when the Bill will be introduced?
The Chair has no control over the answer.
In view of the Government's commitment to introduce the civil defence Bill early next year, have the heads been seen and approved by the Government?
They have not.
Does the Taoiseach agree it is next to impossible to fulfil the commitment unless the heads have been approved by now? When will the heads come before the Government?
That is not an appropriate question for the Order of Business.
What is?
On promised legislation.
Work is in progress on the heads and the Bill is expected early next year.
How long does the Taoiseach expect the drafting will take?
That is certainly not appropriate to the Order of Business.
The Leas-Cheann Comhairle, as a former Minister, knows it usually takes at least a year for legislation to be drafted after the heads have been approved.
Which is scandalous.
When will the heads be approved? Is the Taoiseach revising his promise to present the legislation in 2000 in view of the fact the heads have not even come before Government.
In this case there are only eight heads.
Speaking of herbal remedies and cod liver oil, when will legislation emerge in respect of the McDowell report, now that the dispute between the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance is reputed to have been mediated to a solution by the Attorney General?
Is legislation promised?
If the Deputy puts down a question to the Minister for Finance, he will outline what has been agreed.
I am not clear whether legislation is promised.
The Taoiseach has answered the question.
He has not.
The Chair has no control over the answer.
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I know you have experience in another forum, and I do not know if this is the way you try to run the business, but it is not acceptable when all I wish to do is ask a simple question about promised legislation. Is legislation forthcoming?
The Deputy has the lists.
There is no specific requirement for legislation on this matter. The Deputy correctly stated this matter has been resolved. If he puts down a question, the Minister for Finance will give him the details.
Does the Government know—
Please, Deputy Rabbitte, let Deputy Gilmore in.
What is delaying the publication of the local government reform Bill?
It is due this session, in the next month or so.
It has been due every session.
It has been due since the election.