I now propose to deal with a number of topics under Standing Order 31. I call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss an important matter, namely the threat of closure or downgrading of the maternity department of Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, together with seven or eight other similar-sized hospitals across the country. In the light of the anxiety and fear created by the leaked report of the task force on medical manpower, the Government and the Minister for Health and Children should make a statement on the issues involved.
I now call on Deputy Lynch.
I would say the Minister knows what I am talking about.
It is all a load of fiction.
I would say the Minister knows all about it.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss an important matter of public interest. When is it intended to provide the funding required to permit the new Cork School of Music building project to advance from the planning stage to actual construction, especially having regard to the problem now faced by the school and the need for the new building to be available by 2005, when Cork will be the European City of Culture?
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss an issue of urgent national importance, namely, the dispute between the Minister for Health and Children and the Irish Nurses' Organisation regarding the latter's pursuit of a claim for increased remuneration for its members' on-call commitment for surgical theatre duty, in view of the 30 scheduled operations that were cancelled earlier this week at the Mid-West Regional Hospital, Limerick, the proposal to have further work stoppages tomorrow and the suffering and hardship caused to patients whose operations are cancelled.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss the following urgent matter of national importance: the need for a system of proper training and accountability for judges, especially in the area of race relations and equal status.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss a matter of urgent national importance, namely, yesterday's Supreme Court judgment in which a case of drink-driving was dismissed. There is now an urgent need for the Minister for Transport to outline the background to the case and the action he intends to take to remove this legal loophole.
Having considered all the matters raised, I do not consider them to be in order under Standing Order 31.