Before coming to the Order of Business, I propose to deal with a number of notices under Standing Order 31. I will call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office. I call Deputy Crawford.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
I request the adjournment of the House in accordance with Standing Order 31 to raise an issue of national importance, namely, that farm families in Counties Cavan and Monaghan, as well as in other parts of the country, are not being paid REPS grants; that their applications under farm waste and development grants are not being dealt with for approval, or for payment in the case of those whose work is completed; that farmers are being requested and ordered by local authorities and the Department of Agriculture and Food to carry out farm waste management and dairy hygiene projects; that, as I understand it, first-time REPS grants are supposed to be paid, under departmental protocol, within 12 weeks of application with second and subsequent payments at ten weeks; and that late payments should be treated in the same manner as any other late payments and should be subject to interest reimbursement.
I request the adjournment of the business of the House, in accordance with Standing Order 31, to discuss a matter of urgent and national importance, namely, the need for the Minister for Finance to come before the House to reveal the policies, if any, the Government intends to put in place to deal with the effect of the euro reaching record levels against the US dollar, taking into account how such a rate may impact on Irish exports and, more particularly, Irish jobs.
I seek the adjournment of the House under Standing Order 31 to debate an issue of national importance, namely, the threatened non-co-operation between staff in Bord Fáilte and CERT in relation to the new body Fáilte Ireland and the threatened industrial action which, if allowed to escalate, could affect our already threatened tourism industry.
I seek the adjournment of the House under Standing Order 31 to debate an issue of national importance, namely, the revelation that British Nuclear Fuels Limited intends to continue to dump the radioactive chemical technetium-99 into the Irish Sea at Sellafield until it is banned from doing so under regulations that will come into place in 2007; and that the Government take immediate action to pressurise the UK authorities into adopting new technology such as polymer filtration which does not necessitate the dumping of radioactive materials into the Irish Sea.
I seek the adjournment of the House under Standing Order 31 to debate an issue of national importance, namely, the unacceptable risks posed by the Sellafield nuclear reactor to the citizens of Ireland; a confidential memo from the British Environment Agency revealed that British Nuclear Fuels wants to increase the dumping of radioactive waste, particularly technetium-99 into the Irish Sea until 2007; the need to take serious legal action against the British Government and Sellafield; the need to recognise that the British Government is not interested in the concerns of Irish citizens and has consistently ignored representations from the Irish Government on this matter.
I seek the adjournment of the House under Standing Order 31 to debate an issue of national importance, namely, the short-term and long-term implications for agriculture and Ireland as a major food producer; of the Irish Government position on CAP reform negotiations and the need for clarity on what is meant for Irish farm families by the term "partial decoupling".
Having considered the matters raised, they are not in order under Standing Order 31.