It is proposed to take No. 16, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of proposed planning scheme for Poolbeg Peninsula, back from committee; No. 22, Criminal Justice Bill 2007 — Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage——
Order of Business.
——heresy.
——No. 17, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann——
He is AWOL.
——of the air transport agreement between the European Community and the United States of America.
It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders that (1) the Dáil shall sit later than 8.30 p.m. tonight and business shall be interrupted on the conclusion of No. 17; (2) No. 16 shall be decided without debate; (3) the proceedings on the resumed Report Stage and Final Stage of No. 22 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 10 p.m. tonight by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in regard to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; (4) the proceedings on No. 17 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 65 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (i) the speeches shall be confined to the Minister and Minister of State and to the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party, and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order, and who may share their time, which will not exceed 15 minutes in each case; (ii) a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which will not exceed five minutes; (5) the Second Stage of No. 6, the Electoral (Amendment) No. 2 Bill 2007, shall be taken in Private Members' time tonight and the proceedings on the Second Stage thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 April 2007.
There are five proposals to put to the House. Is the proposal for the late sitting agreed? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 16, motion re Poolbeg Peninsula without debate agreed? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 22, Report and Final Stages of the Criminal Justice Bill 2007 agreed?
It is not agreed, Sir. Members will recall that a last minute brokered position was achieved when the Tánaiste offered not to guillotine all Stages of the Criminal Justice Bill at the last sitting before the Easter recess. There are now 171 amendments, some of which are new and many of them from the Tánaiste. We have very tight time and have acted very responsibly on this. There has been significant disquiet outside this House about the way this House has dealt with this matter. The views of important and statutory entitled bodies have not been entertained in this debate. I ask that the guillotine not be pressed. We will do our best to proceed, as we have done on Committee Stage, to have all matters concluded within the time allowed.
I wish also to object to the imposition of the guillotine again on this particular Bill. We have had the its application on a number of occasions during the course of the Bill's passage through the House and it is proposed to apply the guillotine once again to the Report and Final Stages at 10 p.m. tonight. This approach is inadequate. It will mean that significant and important amendments will not be properly addressed in this House. I urge the Taoiseach to withdraw the guillotine and allow the debate to take place fully and openly.
Question put: "That the proposal for dealing with No. 22 be agreed."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 65; Níl, 54.
Tá
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Dermot.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Ahern, Noel.
- Ardagh, Seán.
- Blaney, Niall.
- Brady, Johnny.
- Brady, Martin.
- Callanan, Joe.
- Callely, Ivor.
- Carey, Pat.
- Carty, John.
- Cassidy, Donie.
- Coughlan, Mary.
- Cowen, Brian.
- Cregan, John.
- Cullen, Martin.
- Curran, John.
- Davern, Noel.
- de Valera, Síle.
- Dempsey, Noel.
- Dempsey, Tony.
- Dennehy, John.
- Devins, Jimmy.
- Fahey, Frank.
- Finneran, Michael.
- Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
- Fleming, Seán.
- Fox, Mildred.
- Glennon, Jim.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Jacob, Joe.
- Keaveney, Cecilia.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kelly, Peter.
- Killeen, Tony.
- Kirk, Seamus.
- Kitt, Tom.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Lenihan, Conor.
- McDowell, Michael.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Moloney, John.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Mulcahy, Michael.
- Nolan, M. J.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- O’Connor, Charlie.
- O’Dea, Willie.
- O’Donnell, Liz.
- O’Donovan, Denis.
- O’Malley, Fiona.
- O’Malley, Tim.
- Power, Peter.
- Roche, Dick.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smith, Michael.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Wallace, Mary.
- Wilkinson, Ollie.
- Woods, Michael.
Níl
- Allen, Bernard.
- Boyle, Dan.
- Breen, James.
- Breen, Pat.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burton, Joan.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Connolly, Paudge.
- Cowley, Jerry.
- Crawford, Seymour.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cuffe, Ciarán.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Enright, Olwyn.
- Ferris, Martin.
- Gormley, John.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Higgins, Joe.
- Hogan, Phil.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kenny, Enda.
- Lynch, Kathleen.
- McEntee, Shane.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McGrath, Paul.
- McHugh, Paddy.
- McManus, Liz.
- Mitchell, Olivia.
- Morgan, Arthur.
- Moynihan-Cronin, Breeda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Neville, Dan.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- O’Dowd, Fergus.
- O’Keeffe, Jim.
- O’Shea, Brian.
- O’Sullivan, Jan.
- Pattison, Seamus.
- Quinn, Ruairí.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Ryan, Seán.
- Sherlock, Joe.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Stanton, David.
- Timmins, Billy.
- Twomey, Liam.
- Upton, Mary.
- Wall, Jack.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Kitt and Kelleher; Níl, Deputies Kehoe and Stagg.
Question declared carried.
Is the proposal for dealing with No. 17, motion re air transport agreement between the European Community and the United States of America, agreed? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members' business agreed? Agreed.
I looked at the list produced by the Government Whip covering the time remaining in the term of this Dáil and noted there are eight Bills to be published before the end of the session, as the Taoiseach has said on a number of occasions. There appears to be some confusion over the outstanding matter of stamp duty. The eminent leader——
There has been great confusion in the past week.
(Interruptions).
Do the Opposition parties feel the need to stamp on each other?
Deputy Kenny without interruption.
The eminent leader——
(Interruptions).
Ciúnas.
We saw the aggression of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, last night, and we heard him also.
Has Deputy Kenny a question appropriate to the Order of Business?
The Tánaiste has his own proposals on this matter.
Fine Gael has its own proposal, as does Labour.
The House will be aware that Fine Gael and Labour tabled detailed proposals——
This matter does not arise on the Order of Business.
Labour has Fine Gael's.
At least we have proposals.
——to be dealt with as a priority in a single measure.
Does the Deputy have an appropriate question?
He would ask it if he were not being interrupted.
There appears to be inconsistency and confusion in the Department of Finance and the Fianna Fáil Party. As no legislation on changes to stamp duty is proposed, does the Taoiseach, as the leader of his party and the Head of Government, intend to introduce legislation in this Dáil session to amend the current stamp duty regulations?
Why does the Deputy not ask Deputy Rabbitte?
Is legislation promised?
No.
We knew that.
(Interruptions).
I omitted to join with my colleagues in congratulating the Taoiseach on his new happy condition as a grandfather. I presume he is as aware as I that there is a reputable body of medical literature stating that very young children should be protected from too many flashlights and cameras and that he will observe that in the three or four weeks ahead.
At least.
On 24 April 2002, the House was adjourned sine die. In answer to my question on the private hospital building programme, the Taoiseach seemed to tell me that the election would be on 17 May. Having regard to that, will he assure the House that he will not do as he did the last time when he slunk in here in the still of the night?
Deputy Rabbitte should have been around.
It was daytime. Deputy Rabbitte was in RTE canvassing in Donnybrook and doing a good job.
Does Deputy Rabbitte have a question appropriate to the Order of Business?
It is a shame the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, will leave this Dáil like he entered it, namely, wrong. I was manning these benches on my own like Horatio on the night in question.
As the Deputy will be again.
(Interruptions).
Deputy Rabbitte without interruption.
Will the Taoiseach assure the House that he will not repeat that performance?
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
His predecessors gave notice to the leaders of the Opposition of their intention to dissolve the Dáil. For example, in 1997, Deputy Harney and the Taoiseach were invited to the House and were present at the time.
In light of the imminent dissolution of the House, will the Taoiseach give a personal guarantee that the ratio between the number of Deputies for each constituency and the population of each constituency are the same so the election will proceed without interruption by the courts?
On that matter, I told the Deputy that the Government got legal advice that there was no difficulty.
On the first question, I told Deputy Rabbitte that tenders are due to be submitted to the HSE by 17 May. I cannot understand how he read that to mean the election date. I want to clarify what I said.
On the legislative programme, has the register of persons unsafe to work with children Bill been incorporated into other legislation? It seems to be missing.
The register of persons considered unsafe to work with children is to give effect to the recommendations of the child protection joint working group. The legislation arises out of the North-South Ministerial Council. The issue the Bill deals with will be dealt with under the proposals for the upcoming children referendum.
I understand the Taoiseach will have his breakfast in County Monaghan on Thursday morning.
It does not arise on the Order of Business.
It is a long way to go for breakfast.
Can the Deputy's units tell the House what the Taoiseach will be having?
I hope the Taoiseach will enjoy——
I thought the Deputy's party abolished its surveillance.
One is always entitled to a good last meal. The Taoiseach might like to know——
Does the Deputy have a question appropriate to the Order of Business?
I have.
(Interruptions).
Allow Deputy Ó Caoláin to continue.
I understand the Taoiseach will be invited to another breakfast and I hope he will consider attending it.
Under the heading of health and children on the current status of legislation, the register of persons who are considered unsafe to work with children Bill is not on the legislative programme. Will the Taoiseach explain the issue to the House, as the Bill has been on the list of promised legislation for some considerable time, yet we find it is not on——
The Deputy should allow the Taoiseach to answer his question.
——the circulated list of promised legislation?
Does this not fall under the heading of repetition?
The Taoiseach answered that question a few minutes ago.
Deputy Gormley's question has already been answered.
I am sorry, as I did not hear the answer.
Neither did anyone else.
I was thinking about the Taoiseach's breakfast in Monaghan.
And what he was getting served.
The Deputy was preoccupied with it.
He would join the Taoiseach.
I stated to Deputy Gormley, who raised the issue, that the register of persons who are considered unsafe to work with children was to give effect to the recommendations of the child protection joint working group. The legislation arises out of the North-South Ministerial Council. The issues in respect of the Bill will be dealt with under the proposals for the upcoming children referendum.
On promised legislation, if it is not a dull subject in the midst of the skittishness and gallows humour of the other side of the House, what is the Government's intention regarding the broadcasting and minerals development Bills, which are happily on the Order Paper? Given their urgency, is it intended to bring them before the House before the dissolution of the Dáil? What is likely to happen to the electricity (transfer of transmission assets) Bill? Will it be tabled in a rush of enthusiasm by the other side to pass it through the House before the election?
Both Bills are listed for 2007.
There are three Bills. Will they all be published in 2007? Is this the same 2007 we are discussing?
That is exactly the one.
Deputy Durkan should allow his colleague, Deputy Kehoe, to submit a question.
I only got an answer in respect of two Bills.
2007.
The charity regulation Bill has been mentioned in the House numerous times. Will the Taoiseach update the House on that legislation?
The Charities Bill has been published.