It is proposed to take No. 6 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 — financial resolutions; No. 7, motion re referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a Council framework decision amending framework decisions; No. 8, motion re referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a Council framework decision on the European evidence warrant; No. 23, statements on the recall of Irish pork and bacon products; No. 9, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regional Fisheries Boards (Postponement of Elections) Order 2008 (back from committee); No. 24, statements on the report of the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the EU; No. 25, statements on the Fisheries Council. 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 not later than 10.30 p.m; (2) Nos. 6, to 8, inclusive, shall be decided without debate, and in the case of No. 6, Financial Resolutions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, on the Supplementary Order Paper, shall be moved together and decided by one question which shall be put from the Chair; (3) the proceedings on No. 23 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 1 hour 45 minutes today and the following arrangements shall apply: (i) the statements shall be confined to a Minister or Minister of State and to the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, who shall be called upon in that order, who may share their time, and which shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case; (ii) a Minister or Minister of State shall take questions for a period not exceeding 40 minutes; (iii) a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; (4) the proceedings on No. 9 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: the speeches shall be confined to a Minister or Minister of State and to the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party and the Labour Party, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed ten minutes in each case; (5) Private Members' business which shall be No. 60, motion re consumer issues, shall be taken at 8 p.m. tonight and shall adjourn after 90 minutes; (6) the proceedings on No. 24 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 8 p.m. tonight and the following arrangements shall apply: (i) the statements of the Taoiseach and of the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case; (ii) the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes in each case; (iii) Members may share time; (iv) the Minister for Foreign Affairs shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; (7) the proceedings on No. 25 shall be taken at 9.30 p.m. tonight and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 10.30 p.m. and the following arrangements shall apply: (i) the statements of a Minister or Minister of State and of the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed ten minutes in each case; (ii) the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed five minutes in each case; (iii) Members may share time; (iv) a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes.
Order of Business.
There are seven proposals to be put to the House today. Is the proposal that the Dáil shall sit later than 8.30 p.m. tonight agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Nos. 6 to 8, inclusive, without debate, agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 23 agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No.9 agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 24 agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members' business agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 25 agreed to? Agreed.
I call Deputy Kenny on the Order of Business.
I am giving the Taoiseach notice that I will not be accepting a guillotine later this week on the Health Bill 2008, the legislation to withdraw medical cards from persons over 70 years of age. This is an issue on which many Members will want to speak. I am advising the Chief Whip of that in advance.
Up to ten reports have been laid before the Dáil by the Chairmen of the Oireachtas Committees on European Scrutiny and European Affairs. In view of the importance of these reports, will the Taoiseach consult with the Government Whip on setting aside time at some appropriate occasion for a decent debate on them?
In light of what Deputy Charles Flanagan raised, can the shocking tragedy of a young child allegedly taking the life of an innocent man on the streets of Dublin be the subject of a response from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform? Obviously that cannot take place today but perhaps tomorrow or Thursday. This issue has sunk to a tragic low and is redeemable in the sense of dealing with those social dysfunctions and tragedies that occur where innocent life has been lost.
When will we see the Gas (Amendment) Bill, which is on the list for publication before the end of the session?
The Gas (Amendment) Bill is on Report Stage, which could be taken next week perhaps. I am not sure but it is possible.
The shooting in East Wall on Sunday night is a deeply disturbing development. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr. O'Kane and the local community. What makes it deeply disturbing is the apparent youth of the people involved. The Garda Síochána is carrying out a full investigation into the circumstances of this tragic death and I do not want to say anything that impinges on the investigation. A number of persons are in Garda custody. We will seek to learn whatever lessons there may be in these tragic circumstances. The important thing in the short term is that those responsible, whatever their ages, are brought to justice. I understand the Garda investigation is making steady progress. It may be possible, through a private notice question or an Adjournment debate, for the matter to be taken on another day if the Ceann Comhairle so decides.
We have made a commitment that we can have a debate each month on the report Deputy Kenny mentioned. While I note what Deputy Kenny has to say on the health Bill, it is important from the Government's point of view and in the interest of certainty and the clarity of the situation to have the matter enacted before the Dáil rises this term.
I agree with Deputy Kenny. The Labour Party will not agree to the guillotining of the Bill, which is being introduced here to take the medical card from pensioners.
I join Deputy Kenny and the Taoiseach in expressing sympathy to the family and friends of the victim of the awful shooting in East Wall, Mr. O'Kane. I appreciate that the Garda investigation is under way. No one here wishes to say anything to compromise that or a subsequent trial, but elements of this case suggest that anti-social behaviour has morphed into violent gun crime.
The programme for Government contains a number of specific commitments in respect of anti-social behaviour. We were to get a regime where stay away orders were to be introduced, banning orders that could ban people from particular areas, new provisions in respect of parental responsibility and anti-social behaviour teams established. Nothing has been done about any of these promises made in the programme for Government. Six or seven criminal justice Bills are listed for publication and it would be helpful if the Taoiseach or the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform could say something about what is happening to the commitments the Government gave about strengthening measures to deal with anti-social behaviour in the programme for Government and whether these will see the light of day.
A number of important criminal justice issues have been brought forward by the Administration and I am sure there are more to come to try to deal with the problems that are arising in modern society. On the question of anti-social behaviour and anti-social behaviour orders, the legislation requires that a sequence must be followed before one can be issued. This involves formal warnings being issued before an order comes into play and additional steps in the case of children. I understand that, up to the end of October, 907 warnings were issued to adults and 548 to children under the legislation. In addition, 12 behaviour contracts have been entered into for children. Where it is necessary for gardaí to seek behaviour orders, they have done so and three have been obtained.
We must be realistic about what such orders can achieve. They were never intended to nor can they address, unfortunately, the problem of gun crime. The point is taken that we must continue to review to the greatest extent we can to maximise effectiveness within the resources available. The Minister has spoken out strongly against a growing gun culture in our society and he has indicated his intentions in that respect regarding the question of handguns, etc. While there is no room to be complacent and there is always room to listen to ideas as to how the situation can be improved, that would be an accurate assessment of the up-to-date situation.
Everyone will be aware 10,000 jobs are being lost every month. Many of the jobs are being lost in north Dublin. The people in Balbriggan do not have a dole office since it closed a week ago.
We cannot debate that now.
This is important. A total of 2,500 people are in receipt of social welfare payments and they must travel to Coolock to collect them with no bus service available.
Every Deputy has something important to raise in his or her constituency.
Will the employment agency regulation Bill ensure State agencies behave in a responsible fashion to the people? These recipients coming up to Christmas must travel ten to 12 miles for payments without access to public transport. It is a disgrace and I would like the Taoiseach to address it.
When is the legislation coming before the House?
All politics is local.
I understand the employment agency regulation Bill will be available in January. We appreciate the difficulties faced by people who lose their jobs, particularly at this time of the year, and the Department of Social and Family Affairs has put a range of measures in place to deal with the increased workload. I note what the Deputy said about a particular part of his constituency and I will have the matter checked.
I thank the Taoiseach.
Given the murder of Aidan O'Kane on Sunday night in East Wall should serve as an eye opener to spark the Government into action and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform last week revealed that 1,200 legally held firearms have been lost or stolen, will the Government use the promised criminal justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to address this issue or will it convert the promised explosives Bill into an explosives and firearms Bill to address the increasing availability and use of illegal firearms?
Is legislation promised?
Is legislation required to ensure delivery of additional X-ray machines capable of detecting illegal drugs and weapons in containers or trucks in our ports? Currently, one machine rotates between ports.
The explosives bill is due next year. Since Operation Anvil was instigated in 2005, more than 2,200 firearms have been taken out of circulation and more work continues. There has been an effective rate of success by the Garda in that aspect of its work under Operation Anvil.
I refer to three Bills. First, during Question Time last week, the Minister for Education and Science indicated he did not intend to proceed with the education Ireland Bill, which is on the list. In light of that, will the Taoiseach ask him to outline in a detailed statement the measures he proposes in order that Enterprise Ireland can carry out the functions that would otherwise have been contained in that Bill?
Second, in view of the threat to reintroduce third level education fees for university students and others, will the Taoiseach ask the Minister to bring forward Committee Stage of the Student Support Bill because next year's crop of students will not benefit from reforms otherwise? The reasons Committee Stage has not been taken have not been conveyed to the House.
Third, since the Government is having difficulty drafting legislation, I have come to its assistance by drafting the vocational education committees (amendment) Bill to enable the primary school model in north County Dublin to be put on a legal statutory basis and I offer it to the Government free of charge.
I understand the Department of Education and Science is considering alternative arrangements regarding the education Ireland Bill. The Department and the Government are considering the preparation and the publication of a Bill relating to vocational education committees. The Student Support Bill is awaiting Committee Stage and I cannot give a reason it has not been taken.
Last Thursday I asked the Tánaiste about the publication of the animal health and welfare Bill and she replied it was not possible to indicate a date. In light of everything that has happened since over a single weekend, does the Taoiseach believe there is a prospect of fast-tracking this legislation in the interests not only of animal health and welfare but also public, consumer and end user health and welfare? When in 2009 will the public health (miscellaneous provisions) Bill be published?
I cannot give a date next year for the second Bill the Deputy inquired about but the animal health and welfare Bill is in a process of consultation with various stakeholders before it can be proceeded with.
I offer my sympathies to the family of the man killed in East Wall in my constituency. I call for a full debate, hopefully, tomorrow, on anti-social behaviour, which has become embedded in urban communities. I would like the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and other relevant Ministers to be present because this is a major malaise in the country.
I cannot, unfortunately, permit a debate about this now but if both the Deputy and Deputy Flanagan who also raised this matter table a Special Notice Question, I will see——
It is in order to call for a debate on the Order of Business, which is what I am doing.
Given the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has expressed concern about the number or legally held handguns throughout the country, would it be possible to introduce the necessary legislation to confront the issue of illegally held handguns and to estimate the number of——
To which Bill is the Deputy referring?
The criminal law (defence of life and property) Bill would be appropriate in the current unfortunate and tragic circumstances. Perhaps, as a matter of urgency, the Minister might make some effort to bring the legislation to the House without further delay.
I understand it will be published late next year.
That is the answer to everything.