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 to raise the matters in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dail under Standing Order 31.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter, namely, the failure of the Government to provide multi-million euro funding to the people of Inver-Pullathomas, County Mayo, for damage resulting from the 40 plus landslides which occurred some weeks ago, the total funding being suggested for human and grant aid being in the order of €300,000, compared to the millions give after flooding in Dublin, and the failure of the Department of Agriculture and Food to assess and compensate farmers for the damage done.
I respectfully request the Adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss a matter of urgent national importance, namely, the important issue of the landslide in north Mayo, considering that the landslide occurred on 20 September but to date not one cent has been paid to the people affected by this crisis. I call on the Ceann Comhairle to have a debate on this matter, once and for all.
Only what the Deputy submitted to my office may be read out at this stage.
Cavan-Monaghan would need to be under turf before the Ceann Comhairle would grant a debate on this matter.
That shows the impartiality of the Chair.
It does.
I seek to adjourn the business of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss the following matter, namely, that, in light of a United Kingdom survey by the World Wildlife Fund biomonitoring survey, which showed every person surveyed to contain significant amounts of toxic chemicals within their systems, the Government should undertake a similar exercise in this country, centred around locations where the risk of exposure to such chemicals is higher, such as the long-promised baseline health survey for Cork harbour.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss a matter of urgent national importance, namely, the decision by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, to abolish the diet supplement payable to sick social welfare recipients suffering from diabetes and coeliac disease, and to allow the Minister to reverse this disgraceful decision and make a statement on the matter.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the following specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent consideration, namely, the vindication of Sinn Féin's call for a new rate of tax for the super-rich following news that Irish bosses have been awarding themselves pay increases of up to 50% this year while ordinary workers are tied to a 7% increase over two years, figures which graphically illustrate that the gap between rich and poor is widening while the Taoiseach continues to bury his head in the sand in respect of the levels of child poverty in the State, and the need for the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, to tackle the culture of corporate greed that exists in the State and target the wealthy in the budget instead of the most disadvantaged, as is happening with the proposed €58 million cuts in social welfare.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the following matter, namely, as today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the first of 16 days of action against violence against women, the need for the House to hold the Government to account for its totally unacceptable decision to cut its already low spending on programmes to counter violence for the second consecutive year, despite the fact that nearly half of all Irish women experience some form of sexual abuse in their lifetimes, nearly one fifth of Irish women have been abused by their current or former partner and one quarter of all violent crimes involve a man assaulting his wife or partner, and also to hold the Government to account for its planned cuts to social welfare, including changes in the rent supplement which will have the effect of forcing more women to remain in violent relationships for economic reasons.
I seek the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss a matter of urgent national importance, namely, the need for the Government to institute an immediate public sworn inquiry into all aspects of the Dr. Neary affair and the serious implications this issue has for the delivery of health services in this country and also for the Minister for Health and Children to meet Patient Focus to discuss the Government's proposals to deal with this issue.
Having considered the matters raised, they are not in order in accordance with Standing Order 31.
On a point of order, perhaps the Taoiseach would like to take this opportunity to announce the reversal of the decision to abolish the diet supplement.
That is not a point of order.
We are talking about a miserly €3 or €4 per week for people who are sick.
The Deputy will have to find another way to raise the matter.
Will the Taoiseach announce that the decision to abolish has been reversed?
I ask Deputy Healy to resume his seat.
Perhaps the Taoiseach will make that announcement now.
The Deputy should resume his seat.