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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2003

Vol. 563 No. 2

Order of Business (Resumed).

Regarding the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Taoiseach promised a remembrance fund commission. I presume that requires legislation, and I ask the Taoiseach when we will see it.

I am not too sure if it requires legislation. I will let the Deputy know in due course.

When I asked the Taoiseach previously about the publication of the housing private rented sector Bill, he told me it would be published before Easter. As we know, the publication of a Bill is now accompanied by considerable public relations fanfare, so I presume the Minister and his public relations retinue have now pencilled in a date for the publication of the Bill. What is that date?

I do not have the Minister's diary but the Bill is due in this session.

That type of reply is not acceptable any more. I am sure the Minister has some target date for the publication of the Bill, and the Taoiseach, who normally comes to the House briefed with every detail he can master in his folder, ought to make that date known to the House.

I suggest that the Deputy put down a parliamentary question to the Minister.

We are allowed, on the Order of Business, to ask about the timing of the publication of legislation. I asked the Taoiseach a specific question about the timing of the publication of this legislation. Will the Taoiseach give information on the target date for the publication of this Bill, which I believe is available to the Government?

The information is not available to the Government. Deputy Gilmore is entirely wrong. The parliamentary counsel has not yet completed the drafting of the Bill, so I cannot set a date and try to put pressure on the parliamentary counsel. The most I can inform the Deputy is that the Bill is expected to be introduced in this session.

In the context of the redundancy (amendment) Bill, and in view of the fact that 150 people lost their jobs in Tipperary Town last Thursday, an hour after the Taoiseach had visited the area, I ask whether he would specifically request the Tánaiste to replace those jobs. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows Tipperary town and understands the needs of those people.

The legislation is planned for this year.

The Taoiseach was made very welcome in Tipperary Town last week. Then, at 4 o'clock on the same day, 150 people lost their jobs.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not relevant. The Deputy can only ask about promised legislation.

In fairness, the Taoiseach's representatives in the constituency have been giving all sorts of briefings to the media—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not relevant to the Order of Business.

Will the Taoiseach at least comment on this and give the people of Tipperary some hope because—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Taoiseach has answered the question on proposed legislation. The Deputy should allow the business of the House to proceed.

I am trying to—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

There are other ways for the Deputy to raise the issue. It is not in order now. Given the importance of the issue—

We are talking about the livelihoods of 150 people.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Then the Deputy should go about raising the matter in the right way.

We have a situation where billions of euros are being wiped off workers' pension funds because of the obscenity that after a lifetime of work, people's pensions and futures are made dependent on the global gambling casinos that are the stock exchanges. What is the Taoiseach doing about that, in the context of the employee protection Bill?

The legislation on protection of employees will come before the House in this session.

Will the Taoiseach say if the Minister for Health and Children will introduce legislation to deal with the report of the task force on medical staffing, assuming he has received those recommendations?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Does the Deputy have a question on proposed legislation?

Has the Minister received that report and will legislation follow? If not, when will the medical practitioners Bill be introduced?

The medical practitioners Bill is being prepared, but the report to which the Deputy refers has not yet been received by the Minister. When it is, the Minister will bring it to Cabinet.

Is the Taoiseach aware that a further €20 million will be taken out of farmers' pockets through regulation as a result of the Minister's withdrawal of the use of vaccines and—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Has this got anything to do with promised legislation?

There should be an opportunity to discuss this in the context of either the pharmacy Bill or the veterinary medicines Bill. Will the Taoiseach sit there and allow another €20 million to be taken from farmers?

The veterinary medicines Bill is designed to replace and update existing legislation regarding the veterinary profession and related activities. The Bill is currently being drafted and it is hoped that it will be available in the middle of 2003.

On Committee Stage of the Finance Bill 2003, the now absent Minister for Finance confirmed to me that, as a result of members of religious orders donating their salaries to the orders, the State had to refund religious orders to the tune of €9 million in 2003 in charitable exemptions. I ask the Taoiseach when a charities Bill will be introduced so that we can see who benefits from what in relation to charities. The public is, rightly, extraordinarily generous to charities, and we have no charities legislation.

To answer Deputy Crawford, the pharmacy Bill will be introduced in 2004. Regarding the charities Bill to reform the law in the administration and regulation of charities, a public consultation process is envisaged prior to the preparation of the draft heads. The target date for the drafting of the heads is June 2005.

I would like to ask the Taoiseach about the progress of two Bills. In light of the possibility of flooding in east Cork as a result of coastal erosion, I would like to know when the coastal zone management Bill will be published. Will the public service broker Bill be published this year, as promised?

The heads of the coastal zone management Bill are expected early next year and it is expected that it will come before the House later in 2004. The public service broker Bill will be brought forward this year.

When will the education for people with disabilities Bill be brought before the House? I would like the Taoiseach to outline what is happening with the ground rents Bill.

It is hoped that the education for people with disabilities Bill will be ready in this session. I understand that the consultation process is nearing an end and the Bill will be brought forward in this session. Legal and constitutional issues relating to the Bill and dealing with landlords and tenants have not yet been resolved.

May I ask the Taoiseach about the current status and possible fate of the drug offenders Bill and the investigations Bill?

Work is at a preliminary stage on the drug offenders Bill, which will provide for the registration of convicted drug dealers with the Garda Síochána. It will also provide for stricter penalties for prisoners involved in the supply of drugs, in accordance with the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government. I do not have a date for the Bill, which is at a preliminary stage.

I asked about another Bill.

The investigations Bill will be brought forward this year.

When I attended my first meeting of the party Whips last week, on behalf of the Labour Party, a clear understanding was given that there would be a debate on Iraq after the Adjournment tonight to allow Members to comment on the ongoing crisis there. I understood that such a debate would be held if it was deemed necessary.

We seem to have waited forever for the coastal zone management Bill, which was mentioned by Deputy Stanton. I am specifically interested in the first integrated plan, in Bantry Bay. A report in a newspaper today indicated that the Ministers for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources do not intend to provide further funding for this valuable project in west Cork. Will the Taoiseach ask the Ministers to review their decision about this pilot coastal zone management scheme?

I will pass on the Deputy's views about the coastal zone management scheme. I have already outlined that the House would have debated a completion of the UN position, but there has been no such change. We have had several debates and we will have another debate when the process develops further.

I think that a vote is needed on Iraq. Before he goes to Washington, I would like to ask the Taoiseach, who is somewhere between Iraq and a hard place, if he intends to discuss the implications of the proposed comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty Bill while he is there.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.

It is perfectly in order to ask about promised legislation.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The only question that is in order is to ask the Taoiseach when the Bill will come before the House.

I was about to ask that question. The comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty Bill was promised in April 2001 and again in mid-2002, but the Government is now suggesting that it will not come before the House before 2004. Given that we may be looking at the aftermath of nuclear detonation, with depleted uranium and nuclear bombs, in Iraq during the next couple of weeks, does the Taoiseach feel that the Bill should be brought forward? The Bill may be a historic irrelevance if it is not brought forward soon.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy should ask a question about promised legislation.

The International Criminal Court, which is not supported by the United States and Iraq—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The provisions of the Bill are not appropriate to the Order of Business.

Would the Taoiseach be able to avail of the criminal justice (international co-operation) Bill if the United States was part of the International Criminal Court system?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That question is not in order.

The draft heads of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty Bill, which will implement Irish obligations under the treaty, are being prepared and it is expected that they will be brought to the Government later this year. The Bill will come before the House next year. The criminal justice (international co-operation) Bill will allow for the ratification of a second additional protocol to the EU Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. Work on the heads of the Bill is in progress and the Bill is expected to be published in the middle of the year.

Notice has been served of the intention to take strike action in the vocational education committees on 24 March, a date which will have passed by the time this House sits again. Although agreement has been reached, a strike is being threatened because the Department of Finance has not advanced the moneys needed to pay the staff to fulfil the agreement.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy should ask about promised legislation.

The Minister for Finance is not here. The strike action will take place before the Dáil returns.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Has the Deputy a question about promised legislation?

A Bill relating to the protection of employees is due before the House. The Taoiseach or the Minister for Education and Science, who is not present in the House, should intervene.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not appropriate. The Deputy can raise the matter at a more appropriate time.

There will be a strike, even though—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

It is not in order on the Order of Business.

—agreement has been reached because money has not been supplied. Nothing is being done.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That matter is not in order on the Order of Business.

May I ask when the protection of employees (fixed-term contracts) Bill will be brought forward?

I answered a question about that Bill earlier.

Arising from the Minister for Health and Children's unilateral decision to provide for the wholesale closure of wards and beds in hospitals throughout the country, especially Dublin—

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy should ask about promised legislation.

I refer in particular to the Mater Hospital, where the Taoiseach was once employed. Is this not a breach of statutory duty?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy should raise the matter at a more appropriate time. There are provisions for the Deputy to raise such an issue.

May I clarify the point, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

It is not appropriate to the Order of Business.

The management of the hospitals have a statutory duty to regulate staff employment and management. A breach of those duties has been forced.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy cannot discuss that issue now. He should ask about promised legislation.

The Government's unilateral action has, in effect, compelled a breach of the legislation.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Order of Business has concluded.

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