It is proposed to take No. 11, motion re Further Revised Estimates [Vote 37]; No. 18, Education (Amendment) Bill 2012 [Seanad] - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; and No. 1, Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Bill 2012 [Seanad] - Second Stage (resumed). It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 11 shall be decided without debate and any division demanded thereon shall be taken forthwith. Private Members' business shall be No. 33, Protection of Employees (Amendment) Bill 2012 – Second Stage (resumed) to conclude at 9 p.m. tonight, if not previously concluded.
Order of Business
There is one proposal to be put to the House. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 11, without debate, agreed to?
No, it is not agreed. The motion is that the Revised Estimates would be taken without debate. I propose that there should be a debate. I propose that the Taoiseach should require the Minister for Finance to come to the Dáil and explain his utterly false assertion that a "No" vote in the austerity treaty referendum would lead to even worse cuts in the December budget.
That is a separate issue.
The Taoiseach should ask the Minister or he should take the debate himself and explain why he continually covers up the extent of further drastic cuts and tax increases that his austerity treaty targets would entail. He should give us clarity rather than threats. Therefore, we should have a debate.
Before I agree to this being referred to committee for debate, will the Taoiseach clarify that the consequence of this Revised Estimate will be to reclassify PRSI receipts as income tax and, as a consequence, that the Government will be cutting €13 million from the national training fund into which employers pay? This would have the effect of cutting a fund used to train people.
That is a matter for debate in committee.
I am saying that if this is the case, the Dáil should debate it before it is referred to committee. It means a cut of €13 million to a national training fund at the very time we need people to be re-trained and when access to training should be available to get them back to work.
The matter was explained in some detail at the committee. The question of payments being made for income tax and PRSI and the net effect of that was explained in some detail at the committee.
I am putting the question.
What about the idle threats of the Minister for Finance? He is threatening the people with a worse budget, falsely. Should we discuss that?
Question, "That the proposal for dealing with No. 11, without debate, be agreed to," put and declared carried.
I raised an issue earlier in respect of the health services. My over-riding sense is that there is an absence of any direction in the health services at the moment. This is principally because the existing governance framework has been arbitrarily disbanded in terms of the HSE board with no alternative put in place. The situation is unsatisfactory. Most commentators and observers remark on the fact that we have a directionless health service at the moment. When will the Health Service Executive governance Bill be published?
It will be taken this session.
On 23 November last, the Taoiseach agreed to meet Opposition leaders to discuss demands for an independent inquiry into sexual abuse allegations in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. At the time the Taoiseach said the meeting would be held before Christmas. I asked the Taoiseach for this meeting again in January. Again, the Taoiseach gave a commitment. I raised the issue in March yet again. For the third time, the Taoiseach agreed to a meeting but so far no meeting has taken place. It is six months since the Oireachtas inquiry referendum was defeated. Last week, I received an answer to a parliamentary question from the Minister, Deputy Reilly, informing me that he is still consulting the Attorney General about the implications. It has been 17 years since the complaints of sexual abuse of patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda were first made. Every time these issues are raised without being brought to a conclusion the victims are traumatised.
What legislation are you referring to?
When will the Government will take action on this issue? When will it meet the Opposition on these matters?
Is legislation required?
No legislation is involved. I will check with the Minister for Health and I will let Deputy Adams know of the progress he has made in this regard. It is not a case of any reluctance to meet Members. This is a traumatic and sensitive issue. I will come back to Deputy Adams.
Will the Taoiseach update the House on when he expects to introduce the mental capacity legislation? This has been often promised from Governments over the years. Groups are looking for a definitive timeframe. Will it be introduced by the end of this year?
The issue raised by Deputy Harris is important. The mental capacity Bill will be produced in this session.
When will legislation be introduced to change existing social welfare and education legislation relating to the community employment schemes as announced by the Minister, Deputy Burton, earlier? A review of CE schemes is supposed to take place but it is not happening.
Is legislation required?
No. The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill has just been enacted.
That Bill was guillotined.
The citizens of the country will have been scandalised again today to find that top management and executives in banks bailed out and financed by the public-----
You have had good run, Deputy. Will you get to the point?
Vast numbers of them are earning in excess of €100,000 and €200,000 per year.
That is nothing to do with the Order of Business.
We have examined the draft of the fiscal responsibility Bill. I am surprised there is nothing in it relating to remuneration of the top managers and executives.
We do not debate legislation on the Order of Business.
Are further amendments proposed to the fiscal responsibility Bill? Will there be another Bill to deal with this matter and to rein in the obscene salaries of top executives and managers in our banks.
Are there amendments to the legislation?
No. That has nothing to do with this legislation. I have already set down the pay guidelines in respect of the banks and bonuses.
Will the Taoiseach take on board the urgent need for the publication of the criminal justice corruption (consolidation) Bill and give me an exact date for its publication? The legislation is urgently needed, especially to deal with what has taken place in the past in the political arena.
Can you help Deputy Bannon?
I regret that I cannot give Deputy Bannon an exact date. Preliminary work on this complex Bill is under way but I cannot give an exact date.
Deputy Bannon can sleep easy tonight.
Will the Taoiseach outline when the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill will be published? What stage are we at? Will powers of deposit retention for the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, be included? This is a major issue of contention that crops up constantly. I remind the Taoiseach that his Labour colleagues were committed to this previously-----
We do not need to remind anybody on the Order of Business.
-----and had a Private Members' debate on it.
The residential tenancy Bill will be published in this session. The Deputy will be entitled to raise those issues and table amendments at that time but the Bill will be taken in this session.
With regard to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill, as the Taoiseach is aware, all Members have received thousands of e-mails about fur farming. Will the Taoiseach let us know when the Animal Health and Welfare Bill will be debated to give us all an opportunity to contribute?
The Animal Health and Welfare Bill has been published. It is awaiting Second Stage in the Seanad and following that process it will come back to this House.
Would the Taoiseach ever reply to the e-mails? We are getting thousands of them. They think we are in government.
Thousands of them.
We all get them every weekend.
We are getting thousands but I am not in government.
(Interruptions).
Will the Taoiseach indicate the current status of the workplace relations Bill?
I do not have a date for that.
I ask the Taoiseach for an assurance that that Bill will be in place before the end of this year. I am relying on a statement issued recently by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that that legislation was gone for drafting and that it would be enacted by the autumn.
I am aware that he is doing a great deal of work on it. I will advise the Deputy of the progress made on that and I am conscious that he has said it is important that it be done before the end of the year.
The education and training boards Bill is due before the House. It is an important Bill to do with the reconfiguration of the vocational education committees system and the education system. Will the Taoiseach indicate if the Cabinet has signed off on that Bill and when can we expect to see it come before the House?
No. It has not been signed off yet by Cabinet but it is expected that it will come through in this session.
On promised legislation, can the Taoiseach give some indication to the House as to the degree to which the adoption tracing and information Bill has been examined in Cabinet and whether the heads have been discussed? Similarly, what is the position on the DNA Bill which has been promised for a long time by the Taoiseach's predecessors?
In respect of the adoption Bill, the heads have not been approved yet by Cabinet. Quite a deal of work has been done on that. The DNA Bill will be brought forward later this year.
In the context of the workplace relations law Bill and with reference to the Vita Cortex issue which has not been resolved where the owner has walked away from the Labour Court and has not agreed to the resolution to that dispute, are there any plans whereby we can amend the law to ensure the workers are protected? To be fair to the Taoiseach and to the Minister for Social Protection who expedited their payment-----
The Deputy is straying somewhat.
I will conclude on this, a Cheann Comhairle, and I thank you. It is appalling that an owner of a company can walk away from his obligations. Is there any chance we can examine legislation regarding that?
The Minister for Social Protection has asked for a review in so far as her responsibilities in that regard are concerned. Quite a deal of work has been done on that but I cannot give the Deputy an exact date on it. I will advise him on the progress that is made.
Will the Taoiseach indicate if the climate change Bill will be published before the end of the year?
No. I answered that question yesterday. That Bill will be published probably very late this year or early next year. A review in respect of policy and the targets set out in that regard is currently under way.
It was excellent having the Taoiseach in Galway for the announcement of 115 jobs at Cisco on Monday, which was great news for the Galway region. I ask the Taoiseach about the Science Foundation Ireland (Amendment) Bill which will allow Science Foundation Ireland to invest more money in applied research and create the kind of environment where we can have more high-tech, high quality jobs coming to places like Galway in the future.
The company in Galway is a world class leader in what it does. It is technology that is moving at an enormous speed, and I commend it. This Bill will be brought forward later this year. The fact that it is not before the House currently does not prevent or restrict the opportunities and the discussions that are taking place on a range of areas for continued investment here.
Could the Taoiseach give us an exact timescale for the treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism Bill? We know it will be after the result of his austerity treaty is in but does he intend to take it before the summer recess? Will he confirm in that regard that that is not part of European law as yet and cannot be so part until there is a further amendment to the treaty on the functioning of the European Union over which he has a veto? Will he confirm also that he could therefore withdraw from that Bill-----
No. He cannot do that on the Order of Business.
-----and this disgraceful threat that is being used to coerce the Irish people to vote "Yes" and that they will be excluded from funding from the bailout mechanism if they do not vote "Yes"?
Deputy, can you tell me the legislation you are inquiring about?
Does he accept that that is undemocratic and can he clarify that that cannot be brought into EU law-----
No. He cannot do that on the Order of Business.
-----until the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is amended?
What legislation are you inquiring about, Deputy?
The legislation is the treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism Bill-----
That Bill is passed.
-----the so-called bailout fund.
The Deputy should go down to the Oireachtas Library, do some research and find out the answers to the questions he cannot answer about where he will get the money if the people were to follow his illogical proposal.
I asked the Taoiseach a question about legislation-----
This legislation will be published shortly when the Deputy will see exactly what it contains and have the opportunity to debate it in due course.
Will the Taoiseach withdraw this undemocratic threat over the Irish people?
It is a stability treaty, not an austerity treaty.