Before coming to the Order of Business I propose to deal with a number of notices under Standing Order 31. I will call the Deputies in the order in which they submitted the notices to my office.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
I seek leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to raise a matter of public interest requiring urgent consideration, namely, the negligence of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who has failed to take decisive action during this year's 16 Days of Action Against Violence Against Women campaign, save for his reprehensible decision to cut funding to this sector for 2004; and the need for the Minister to confront the pervasiveness of the problem and outline to the House a properly funded, resolute multi-annual action plan to tackle this social scourge that devastates at least as many lives as drug and anti-social crime and which is also a contributing causal factor to criminality in many cases as it can warp the development of children who grow up with violence in the home.
I wish to seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to raise a matter of national importance, namely, the need to debate the Government's decentralisation programme—
We may need a respirator for the Deputy.
Absolutely. I ran to get here. We need to ascertain what the word "voluntary" means in the context of relocating civil servants in a non-spatially strategic way, as in the case of the proposed removal of the Irish Prison Service headquarters from Clondalkin.
It is a matter of concern that a young Deputy is so unfit.
I ran from the sixth floor.
The pace of life is too much for the Deputy.
Deputy Gogarty should be allowed to continue uninterrupted.
The Irish Prison Service headquarters has been located in Clondalkin for only two years and it is now proposed to move it to Longford, with serious ramifications for 130 of its employees.
The Deputy is enjoying the lifestyle of the party.
I seek leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to raise a matter of national importance, namely, that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should concentrate more of his time and energy on delivering a meaningful policing service for citizens of this State, that he should deliver improved Garda services to where they are needed so that citizens, particularly older people, can live free from the fear that they currently endure, particularly in villages like Castlebellingham and Kilsaran in County Louth where residents say they have been abandoned by the Garda and left at the whim of drug dealers and thugs, and the necessity for this House to hold the Minister accountable for his failure to ensure delivery of proper policing to all communities throughout the State.
What about Northern Ireland?
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss a matter of urgent national importance, namely, that this House debate the findings of the Monitoring Poverty Trends in Ireland report, issued by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which shows that the incidence of relative poverty in this country has doubled since 1994, is particularly striking among older people, the ill and disabled, and those who work within the family home. Many of these groups are increasingly stuck and are unable to move out of their poverty. This House must debate the failure of Government policy in this area.
Having considered the matters raised, they are not in order under Standing Order 31.