It is proposed to take No. 3, Central Bank Reform Bill 2010 — Second Stage (resumed); and No. 1, Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010 [Seanad] — Second Stage. Private Members’ business shall be No. 72, motion re energy security (resumed), to conclude at 8.30 p.m. tonight, if not previously concluded.
Order of Business.
There are no proposals to be put to the House today. I call Deputy Kenny on the Order of Business.
What is the situation concerning a Government decision on the children's referendum? Does the Taoiseasch expect to make that during this session, so that we can have clarity on when the Government intends to hold it? I know the Taoiseach has some work to do before that.
I support the efforts being made by the Minister in respect of head shops. Many Deputies from both sides of the House have already raised this matter. The issue is whether one brings in really strict regulations or attempts to ban these premises completely. People in Dublin are now receiving leaflets through their doors advertising a home-delivery service of the products on sale in head shops, with a mobile phone number to make contact. According to the leaflets, the service is available from Thursday to Sunday from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., and there is a delivery charge of €10 on top of this. I quite understand that if one makes a serious attempt to ban something completely one can drive it underground with consequences such as these.
I am just bringing to the attention of the Taoiseach that this is what is happening on the streets of estates in Dublin currently. I will send this leaflet to the Minister with responsibility for the issue, although he may already have received one. I am sure the Government Whip is aware of the issue. This issue is brought home in stark reality to people when a father sits in front of them and says his 16 year old has spent three weeks in hospital because of a €5 substance he bought with others in a head shop, but the doctors cannot determine what is wrong with him and he has almost died on two or three occasions. That is quite frightening. I support efforts from the Government to deal with this serious situation.
I referred to this issue yesterday on the Order of Business and gave a detailed response. The DPP is also considering the issue and whether it is possible to prosecute under existing legislation while we await the new legislation.
The first question Deputy Kenny asked related to the referendum on children. Deputy Mary O'Rourke chaired the all-party committee which recommended that a referendum be held and did an excellent job as Chairman. She has the admiration and support of the entire House for the work she did. Yesterday, she said the Government should now deliver on that referendum. The committee has delivered its part of the equation. Will the Taoiseach be more specific as to when that referendum will be held and will he give an assurance that it will be held this year?
Yesterday, my colleague, Deputy Róisín Shortall, pursued the issue of the carbon levy with the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív. This levy will come into effect on 1 May and will drive up the price of heating oil and fuel. The Government promised previously that measures would be introduced to protect low income families and households against the carbon levy and its impact. However, the Minister did not seem to know much about this yesterday when Deputy Shortall pursued the matter.
That is a question for the line Minister.
Given that the levy is imminent, with 1 May almost upon us, will the matter be addressed? Will we see something introduced next week or will legislation have to be introduced to bring in the fuel poverty protection measures? What can the Taoiseach tell us about this?
I am not aware there is legislation promised in this area. The levy is being dealt with in the context of the budget, but any issues arising will be dealt with by the Ministers concerned.
On the question on the referendum, an excellent report has been prepared by the committee and I echo what has been said with regard to the work done by all on the committee, including the Chair. Everybody worked very hard on the issue and the matter is now being considered by the Minister with responsibility for children, the Attorney General and others and we will consider it in due course. We understand and recognise the work that has been done.
As a member of the all-party committee, I join colleagues in urging the Government to expedite the proposal to bring forward the required legislation and accommodate the referendum in the current year. The committee produced a fine body of work over a long and protracted period of some 60 meetings and in the interest of children and children's rights, it merits being brought forward and, hopefully, being enshrined in the Constitution this year. This is something which all parties in the House are committed to achieving.
On the issue of legal substances currently available in this jurisdiction, I referred in earlier questions to the Taoiseach to impending legislation north of the Border and in Britain to ban a number of substances and their derivatives. It is important that whatever lessons can be learned from that approach are applied in this jurisdiction. The tendency heretofore has been to ban a specific substance, without address of the various derivatives or of minor chemical adjustment to a substance, which is a means of bypassing or getting around the ban of the substance on the list.
Those will be valid points for the Second Stage debate.
I ask the Taoiseach to take heed of the legislation being introduced north of the Border and on the neighbouring island. Hopefully, we will be able to mirror the expediency being applied there in that regard.
I welcome the Taoiseach's response yesterday with regard to the nurses and midwives Bill being imminent. This was the only Bill on the list of Bills under the Department of Health and Children listing on which he could give this response. However, I am concerned about the threatened prescription charges Bill. I note it is to be fast-tracked and published this session. This Bill should be withdrawn. The lesson should be learned that the imposition of up to €10 per month on medical card holders to access prescriptions is an unacceptable proposition. I encourage the Taoiseach to take heed instead of the repeated appeals of Deputies to bring forward the eligibility for health and personal social services Bill, which has been promised for many years but is down as "not possible to indicate a time for publication". It is unacceptable that there is movement forward to penalise the least well-off in society with regard to access to medicines and at the same time the Government is failing miserably year after year to address eligibility to health and personal social services. It is high time, as I said yesterday, the Taoiseach intervened directly with the Department of Health and Children in this regard.
Is legislation promised in this area?
The first two Bills mentioned by the Deputy are due this session. There is no date for the one he mentioned last, but we are working on it.
I support the sentiments expressed by my colleague on that last issue. There is general consensus among the public ——
The Deputy should know that the Order of Business is for making direct inquiries about promised legislation. The Deputy should not anticipate legislation.
I am referring to promised legislation, namely, the Bill referred to by Deputy Ó Caoláin on eligibility for health and social services. I am not anticipating any debate, but am trying to generate enthusiasm on the part of the Government for legislation it has promised for a long time. It is very recalcitrant in bringing it forward.
It is very difficult to generate enthusiasm on the Order of Business.
Minister Martin was not that quick at bringing forward legislation when he was in the Department either. In view of the fact that so many people are inquiring about their entitlement to health and social services generally and the vast raft of legislation proposed by the Government for so long, what does the Taoiseach intend to do to encourage the Minister for Health and Children to move forward with that legislation, which hopefully will benefit the general public?
Is legislation promised?
I know the Taoiseach answered the question on the legislation, but he has not answered my question. Does he intend to take any initiative to instruct the Minister for Health and Children on the issue?
Many important pieces of legislation have been brought to the House, some of an emergency nature because of the difficult situation with which the Government has had to contend due to the economic and financial crisis. This has affected work on what would otherwise have been proceeded with. The Minister for Health and Children has set out her priorities for this legislative session. With regard to the position regarding the legislation in question, my response is the same as I gave to the preceding Deputy, that we do not have a date for it, but work is continuing on it.
I call Deputy Bannon.
On another related issue ——
Deputy ——
Very quickly.
Specifically on promised legislation please.
I never ask anything except on promised legislation. There are very few debates in which one on the backbenches of the House can participate, but this is one of them. There is a piece of promised legislation into which the Minister for Transport can get his teeth and it has been promised for a very long time. He has shown habitual reluctance to answer parliamentary questions. One of the Bills is to consolidate and update merchant shipping provisions since 1894. Surely that has been on the promised list for a very long time, but if it has not, it should have been. Is there any intention to bring forward this Bill because the status of the Bill is that it is not possible to indicate at this stage when publication is expected? That is the same as all promised legislation. I would like to encourage a little rapidity there.
As the Deputy stated, it is a consolidation Bill and it is not a matter of very high priority given the other priorities of Government. It will come forward in due course but I do not think the merchant shipping industry is waiting with bated breath for it.
Obviously the Minister is not waiting with bated breath for it.
On long promised and long awaited legislation, the heritage fund (amendment) Bill appears to be part of the Government's conspiracy to ignore our unique heritage. Will the Taoiseach state whether this Bill or the monuments Bill will win the Government's slow race for publication?
We had an inquiry about this yesterday.
This is a different Bill. It is the heritage fund (amendment) Bill. The Ceann Comhairle should be familiar with the legislation on the Clár.
There is no date for that legislation.
When is it expected that the legislation to regulate management companies will come before this House? It seems to have been in the other House for a very long time.
We should not interfere with the other House.
I am not trying to interfere with it.
When it is finished in the other House.
I just want to find out when we will deal with it. There is nothing in the rules that I know of that stops us from asking when we will deal with a Bill.
It is in the other House now.
It is important that the matter is raised regularly until it is dealt with because it is urgent legislation. I know the Taoiseach appreciates that and has supported it.
Is the Taoiseach aware of the widespread opposition to the regressive stealth tax by taxing domestic water supply as proposed? Will he agree to withdraw the threatened legislation?
There is no date on that legislation at present.
It has been very clearly promised or threatened by the Minister, Deputy John Gormley.
The Taoiseach has indicated——
I am asking the Taoiseach whether it will be taken this term. Seemingly footpaths will be dug up outside people's houses to install charging meters.
It is not on the A list. There is an issue that has to be dealt with in due course. The programme for Government relates to the matter.
Perhaps the Government is withdrawing it.
No.
Yesterday, the Taoiseach indicated to me that the legislation to put on a statutory basis the role as patron of VEC schools at primary level would be published in this session. Will the Taoiseach clarify whether "this session" means prior to the House rising on 8 July? Otherwise we will enter a fourth year in which these schools will be acting illegally and three new schools will open under the same patronage format.
As the Deputy knows, when a Bill is placed on the A list, it is about what can be published this session. Technically, it is about being published prior to the beginning of the following session. My cursory knowledge of the matter leads me to understand that it is expected to be published this session.
Let me briefly explain my concerns about this. If it is published while the House is still sitting, prior to 8 July, at least we will get some standing with regard to the nature of the legislation. However, the Attorney General has received a detailed letter citing legal problems and objections relating to the faith formation structure in State schools which are clearly in breach of the Constitution. It is essential for us to see in the legislation what way this matter will be addressed at primary school level. If it is not published until September, it will continue for a further year. Will the Taoiseach clarify this point? It is serious and we need to see the legislation while the House is still sitting.
Yesterday, the Minister of Education and Science indicated she expects it to be published this session. That is as much information as I can give the Deputy.
That means September then.
As the Taoiseach might know, tomorrow the Committee of Public Accounts will start its investigation into the failure of banking regulation in the country. Although the Taoiseach certainly does not have to do so, given his role as the former Minister for Finance is he prepared to come before the committee and answer questions on the period in question?
This is not appropriate for the Order of Business.
I am just asking the Taoiseach. It would be helpful.
Deputy Broughan is just casually asking the question.
It would help us to join the dots.
It is absolutely not appropriate for the Order of Business and the Deputy knows that.
Yesterday, the Minister for Transport stated that there is very strict European regulation of the treatment of air passengers. It appears a number of companies are not prepared to carry out their obligations in this regard. Will the Taoiseach take a personal interest to ensure they follow their remit——
This is not promised business. Tonight or tomorrow night——
It is with regard to the implementation of legislation in which many citizens have an interest.
There are other ways of raising the matter with the Minister.
The Taoiseach is interested.
We had a Private Notice Question on this matter yesterday. It is not in order; it is an Adjournment matter.
Will the Taoiseach come before the Committee of Public Accounts?
The task force will give attention to the transport matter. In February 2009, the Minister for Finance gave a very full indication on the other issue.
The committee will examine the period during which the Taoiseach was Minister for Finance.
I know. We will be looking at it every day of the week for the next two years, according to how Deputy Broughan is going on.
Is the Taoiseach sure?
A number of Deputies have asked questions on legislation relating to head shops.
We had this already.
This is a different angle. Last night I raised the issue on the Adjournment and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform graced the House with his presence. However, he did not throw any light on the proposals, which last Friday he declared were imminent, regarding introducing legislation to empower the Garda to deal with the matter. This has been raised almost every week for the past six months and we still do not have any sign of any legislative proposals. Will the Taoiseach take on board the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill which the Labour Party published and presented to the Dáil, which would, if passed, immediately prevent the proliferation of new head shops and would require retention applications for existing head shops? This would deal with the matter immediately and it could be passed very rapidly as it is a simple straightforward Bill. It could take one day in this House and another day in the Seanad.
We need to move on. Is there promised legislation?
I do not want to get into a debate on the matter on the Order of Business. I do not think that Bill provides a full and comprehensive solution to the problem. For example, leafleting on home delivery would not be covered by it. This issue is being dealt with and the Minister for State, Deputy Pat Carey, is very anxious to proceed on it.
There is no Government progress on it.
As I stated yesterday, there has been a requirement of notification to the European Commission because it involves a restriction on trade. Most, if not all, of us are agreed that this issue needs to be dealt with. The Director of Public Prosecutions is examining his independent powers to see what can be achieved through prosecutions under existing law. I can assure the Deputy that this matter will be dealt with as soon as possible, in line with the notifications that must be given to the EU.
My question was——
Deputy, we had——
Will the Taoiseach accept the Bill that is before the House? He did not reply to that question.
The Taoiseach indicated that the matter was being addressed.
The matter has been addressed for the past 12 months and there is no sign of any progress taking place. There is something already there. Will the Taoiseach take that on board and deal with it?
For approximately two years, my party has been calling for the Government to consider the introduction of a carbon windfall profits tax on energy generators. This could provide approximately €200 million a year for the Exchequer. I understand the Government has given a commitment to introduce legislation to recoup from energy generators unearned profits on the back of the percentage of electricity bills that applies to carbon. However, I do not see the legislation on the A, B, or C list.
What Bill is that?
It is legislation that will be required.
What is the name of it?
We do not have a name yet. That is the problem.
We do not have a Bill so.
I understand the Government intends to introduce legislation prior to the end of the summer.
The Deputy needs to ask about specific legislation if he is speaking on the Order of Business.
Do we have a new Ceann Comhairle?
Do we have a new Taoiseach?
I just think it is ridiculous. People come in here——
The Order of Business is about promised business and promised legislation.
What about disciplining the Minister who is interrupting?
We are here to find out if there is promised legislation.
It is a very fair observation.
The Deputy should ask how many reports he has commissioned.
Let me simplify my question as the Minister for Foreign Affairs seems to be a bit jumpy today.
Does the Minister keep a running count on all the reports he did?
Deputy Burton has returned.
I remind Deputy Burton that Deputy Coveney is in possession.
(Interruptions).
Sorry, could we have Deputy Coveney without interruption? Could the Ministers assist?
My understanding is that I am entitled to ask about promised legislation——
We are allowing the Deputy to do so.
——or legislation that applies to commitments given by Government.
Promised legislation.
The Government has given a commitment to introduce some form of levy or tax on windfall profits being made by energy generators. That will require legislation. My understanding is that legislation is likely to be seen before the summer. Is that correct? Will we see it and what will it be called?
If it is not on the A list, it will not be before the summer, if it is to come at all.