It is proposed to take No. 10, motion re ministerial rota for parliamentary questions; No. 11, motion re referral to select committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2009; No. 12, motion re referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the right to information in criminal proceedings; and No. 1, Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2010 [Seanad] — Second Stage. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that Nos. 10 to 12, inclusive, shall be decided without debate. Private Members’ business shall be No. 75, motion re fuel poverty.
Order of Business
There is one proposal to be put to the House. Is the proposal for dealing with Nos. 10 to 12, inclusive, agreed? Agreed.
Arising from the point raised earlier by Deputy Barrett about Irish passports and Russian spies, will the Minister for Foreign Affairs make a statement to the House and take questions on the importance of the integrity of Irish passports?
Will the Minister for Health and Children make a statement in the House about the resignation of the chairman of the board overseeing the planning of a new national children's hospital on the Mater site? This matter of considerable importance must be dealt with. There have to be reasons for this resignation. As Deputy Reilly pointed out, it is important the Minister for Health and Children makes a statement on this matter so that——
Deputy, is this relevant to the Order of Business?
——we can decide what is best to do in the interest of the children of the country.
The Taoiseach on promised legislation.
It is not a question of promised legislation. Question Time with the Minister for Foreign Affairs has just finished. I presume there was an opportunity to discuss the passports matter then. If not, a special notice question could have been put down.
It was too late to put down a special notice question.
Today, perhaps, but not tomorrow.
I tried today but to no avail.
The Minister for Health and Children announced the resignation of the outgoing chairman of the board overseeing the new national children's hospital. A new chairman has been appointed. There is nothing more to be said about the matter. It is a question of the project moving on as envisaged.
The problem is the hospital is being built on the wrong site.
Today it was announced the children's hospital on the Mater site will be built by 2015. Is it intended to introduce a separate Estimate for the Department of Health and Children to deal with this?
I cannot find any legislation regarding the children's referendum in this session's legislative programme. Has the Government dropped the idea of having a referendum on the protection of children?
A Supplementary Estimate will not be required for the national children's hospital. There may be some for the Department but they will not be specific to the hospital.
From previous replies I have given, a senior officials group is working on the wording of the children's referendum and it will be dealt with by the Cabinet committee responsible in due course. The issue has not been dropped.
When does the Taoiseach expect the geothermal energy development Bill to be introduced in the House? I know he is in a certain amount of hot water already. There is a pilot project ready to go in the Dublin South-West constituency and it is meant to have tremendous alternative energy possibilities. It needs, however, this framework legislation to be put in place. There are three Ministers working in the Department responsible but they cannot get the Bill sorted.
That Bill is due in the first three months of next year.
When will the legislation for electing a mayor for Dublin be introduced? I understand the office will cost approximately €10 million a year to run.
Meanwhile, the health information Bill, which I asked about last week, is still at No. 32 on the Government's legislative list. It is an important Bill which will give actual facts on the state of the health services. The eligibility for health and personal social services Bill is still at No. 59. Is there any hope these Bills will be brought forward to allow a proper discussion about the health crisis as a matter of urgency? People cannot get into Cavan hospital nor can existing patients there have their issues dealt with.
Deputy Crawford, this can be dealt with by a simple parliamentary question. I call the Taoiseach on the promised legislation.
The local government Dublin mayor and regional authority Bill will be published shortly. The health information Bill will be published in the second half of next year. No date has been given for the publication of the eligibility for health and personal social services Bill.
The election of a lord mayor for Dublin is more important than the health issues I raised.
Does the Taoiseach seriously consider he can afford to drag his heels on the publication of the electoral amendment Bill? In the current circumstances, I believe this legislation is a priority.
It never crossed my mind.
It must be the only thing that did not cross the Taoiseach's mind.
What is the Taoiseach thinking about? Is he not in charge?
Now, Deputy Bannon.
That would be a stupid answer from any prime minister.
Deputy Bannon, we must move on. I call Deputy Creighton.
When will the landlord and tenant Bill be published? Will the Government consider the issue of upward-only rent reviews and in particular, legacy agreements on existing leases? In the summer, Colm McCarthy, commenting on a report he produced for Retail Excellence Ireland, said recent policy actions by the Government have been unsuccessfully challenged in the courts on the grounds that they infringed constitutional property rights. On that basis, he argued it may be worth reviewing the Government's position on legacy leases——
I must discourage Deputy Creighton from a Second Stage contribution. I call the Taoiseach on legislation in this area.
——and examining to see whether it might be feasible to incorporate this matter in the proposed landlord and tenant Bill.
The legislation in question is due for publication next year.
Is the Taoiseach aware of yesterday's statement by the chief executive officer of the Road Safety Authority that drug-driving could be just as serious as drink-driving?
This is not appropriate for the Order of Business.
It is appropriate.
No. A parliamentary question to the line Minister would be more appropriate.
It is appropriate because it is dealing with legislation.
The Order of Business is for queries on promised legislation.
There are provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2010, passed by the House before the summer, which the Minister must introduce. When will these be activated so that we can address drug-driving which, according to the Road Safety Authority's chief executive officer, is as serious a matter as drink-driving? When will the promised road traffic amendment Bill to make provision for mandatory testing of drivers in certain circumstances be introduced?
I understand the mandatory testing issue will be dealt with in this session. There are, as the Deputy said, different times for the implementation of various parts of the previous Bill which have been enacted and provide for impairment tests. I will revert to the Deputy on when they are due to be introduced, if they have not already been introduced.
It provides for measures to be taken that would facilitate dealing with drug driving.
For impairment tests, yes.
I would like to raise two issues. First, we heard in the news today there will be more savage cuts at Cavan hospital, depriving people of essential services. This is an inevitable consequence of the closure of surgery at Navan which was not recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons.
Deputy, we are on the Order of Business.
Some 1,800 cases of elective surgery have been cancelled which has caused horrendous problems for the whole system. When will No. 59, the Eligibility for Health and Personal Social Services Bill, be published? Will it have any meaning if people will be deprived of services at the whim of the HSE which is clearly out of control?
The second issue I wish to raise with the Taoiseach is the Licensing of Health Facilities Bill, No. 63, which will provide for a mandatory system of licensing for public and private healthcare facilities. There are currently private facilities in the country which are not subject to any sort of standard and we have had major problems with some of them. In the meantime, we are closing our public accredited facilities.
There is no date for either of those Bills. I informed Deputy Crawford about the status of the first Bill.
In the programme for Government there was a commitment to introduce a Bill on climate change and we were promised it would be published before the global conference last year on climate change. Now, 12 months later, the Bill has still not appeared. I am sure if the Taoiseach is honest he would agree that most people consider it more important than getting a fifth mayor for Dublin. As far as I can see, such a Bill is still in the twilight zone of list C. Is there any prospect of bringing it forward? When will a Bill be published?
A framework for the Bill was published last year before the Copenhagen summit and on the basis of that framework the general scheme of the Bill is currently being drafted. I understand it is currently at a progressed stage and it will come to the Government in due course. Work is also under way on developing a national policy on climate change adaptation with a view to having a framework for that prepared.
In the spirit of consensus that now exists I would like to help out the Government. As has already been mentioned, the Ceann Comhairle allowed the mention of the Lord Mayor Bill. The Green Party has been particularly evident in the past week or so on radio and television but unfortunately it is absent now. Could I help it and perhaps the Taoiseach by suggesting that——
Could the Deputy help the Chair? Does he have a query about legislation?
In the context thereof, the Chair will see that he is being helped. Perhaps the Taoiseach might consider introducing the legal costs Bill at an earlier stage than was anticipated, given that some €500 million in legal costs arising from the tribunal is coming down the tracks and that there are other costs, such as the Lord Mayor proposals that will cost the Exchequer a lot of money——
The Deputy is ranging all over the place. Is there a specific query?
I am not ranging all over the place; it is about consensus. The Taoiseach mentioned consensus earlier and I want to offer assistance to the Government in a simple and practical way that will be of benefit to the Taoiseach, the Government, the Green Party and even the House. Could the Taoiseach collaborate on that?
I understand that legislation will be dealt with next year at the earliest.
Will it be dealt with at all?
It will.
There is reassurance in that.
I would like to ask about the assisted human reproduction Bill. Following a court case some months ago a commitment was given by the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, that legislation would be introduced to regulate in vitro fertilisation and research on and the destruction of embryos, etc. That commitment was given by the Minister but it does not appear in the Government’s legislative programme. Is it still intended to introduce legislation during the term of the Government to deal with that issue?
I will have to revert to the Deputy on that matter. I am not aware of the up-to-date position. A top expert in this area, Dr. Hardiman, was on the radio recently talking about the need for an open debate on very complex and difficult issues which arise in regard to this area. On that basis, there is a great deal of complexity and many issues have to be looked at before a commitment can be made to legislation on any particular point of view on the issue. If the experts in the area say that there is a need for us as a society to start to debate the issues——
The expert report was published.
I am aware of that but the fact that a report has been published does not mean we have come to a resolution or crystallised a position in society as to how we go forward.
In light of yesterday's High Court judgment on Internet service providers and the downloading of music, is any consideration being given to legislation to make Internet service providers responsible? I ask this question in terms of capturing tax from on-line gambling.
I will have to revert the Deputy on that issue as I do not have any information on it.
On the Industrial Development Bill, is the Taoiseach concerned that many work visas are being issued to workers in non-EEA regions? In some companies whole tranches of workers have been brought in from non-European Union countries. Given that there are 500,000 unemployed people — every weekend the Taoiseach, like myself, meets many people who are looking for jobs——
A parliamentary question would be appropriate.
——is the Taoiseach sure that the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, is implementing the regulations in this regard correctly?
I have every confidence that the Minister of State is fulfilling his functions.
Is the Taoiseach aware of the problem?
I am aware of what has been stated in a recent report, namely, that 5,000 or 6,000 people in the hospitality and other sectors have been issued with visas. As the Deputy knows, there was some indication from a person who commented on the issue on the public airwaves about the fact that unfortunately there are areas of activity in which people are not taking up job opportunities at the moment.
That is not what I heard.
There is no point in the Deputy taking what I say out of context. I said I heard a person on the radio making that point. These issues are being examined constantly. We have good labour market policies. Up to 60,000 people are obtaining employment through local employment services for the sort of areas to which I referred. There may be some issue there. I will ask the Minister of State to revert to the Deputy.
One in four people will suffer from a mental health condition. The concerns about the Mental Health Act 2001 have been discussed in the media and we are informed that a Bill is expected in 2011. Will the Government consider speeding up the publication and implementation of the Bill in view of the concerns surrounding the 2001 Act?
I am not sure that would be possible considering the workload which has been set out for the current session. I will ask the relevant Minister to bring that matter to the attention of the relevant Minister and ask him or her to correspond with the Deputy directly.
I wish to ask about the Health Information Bill, the aim of which is to provide a legislative framework for the governance of information in the health sector.
When is the start-up date for the cystic fibrosis unit at St. Vincent's hospital? Does the Taoiseach accept the delays over the summer period were an absolute disgrace for families affected by cystic fibrosis?
That question is much more appropriate for the line Minister
What is the attitude problem or the problem with the HSE with regard to the 34 dedicated beds for cystic fibrosis?
Deputy, this is ideal material for a parliamentary question. It is not appropriate.
It is relevant. I am looking for information on the health information Bill and the question is with regard to cystic fibrosis patients——
A question on promised legislation and not a Second Stage speech. It is a question and answer session.
——who have to wait despite all the talk, waffle and hot air. Will the Taoiseach get some answers from the HSE on this project?
A parliamentary question to the line Minister.