It is proposed to take No. 1a, Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad] - Second Stage; and No. 2, Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012 - Second Stage (resumed).
Order of Business
There are no proposals to be put to the House today, so I call Deputy Kelleher on the Order of Business.
Now that the report on hospital groups has been published and the establishment of hospital trusts is in a transition phase, when will we see the White Paper on universal health insurance so that we can have a discussion on how to fund our health services? The establishment of hospital trusts is a key component of Government policy, even though it is at variance with Labour Party policy. We would like to have a debate on it, so when will the White Paper be published?
The Labour Party has been advocating universal health insurance since 2001 when the first document on it was published.
That was social insurance.
Of course, Fianna Fáil did nothing about that either. The White Paper will be available for discussion when it is published.
When will the Tánaiste's colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, publish the whistleblower legislation, which is very pertinent to today's discussion?
As regards the Fines Act, as the Tánaiste knows, people are increasingly being imprisoned for non-payment of fines that could be collected over a 12-month period. Taxpayers are losing huge amounts of money over this. When will legislation to amend the Fines Act be introduced?
The whistleblower legislation, which is an initiative of the current Government, will be published this session. The amendment to the Fines Bill will also be published this session.
The Minister for Justice and Equality has announced that he intends to table amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill giving himself the power to shut down mobile phone networks in advance of the G8 summit. This move comes alongside what can only be described as a huge campaign of hype and hysteria whereby drone planes are being brought in and thousands of police are also being brought over from Britain.
Is the Deputy asking about promised legislation?
Is this legislation part of a systematic campaign to try to intimidate peaceful protesters at the G8 summit? These peaceful protesters against war and militarism will be intimidated and bullied North and South.
The Deputy's paranoia knows no bounds. The Government has no agenda to stifle peaceful, democratic protest. While we are on the subject, let me say that we welcome the holding of the G8 summit in Fermanagh. It is a unique opportunity to focus attention on Northern Ireland and the Border areas as well as on the investment needs and job requirements of those areas.
I hope the holding of the G8 summit in Fermanagh will help attract investment North and South of the Border to provide additional employment for those who need it.
Why do we need these powers?
A Deputy
If the protesters could stay up there a few nights, it would be great for tourism too.
I wish to ask the Tánaiste about two pieces of legislation. Has the sport Ireland Bill, which will amalgamate the Sports Council and Sports Campus Ireland, been discussed in Cabinet? I welcome the idea that it will cut down on administration and duplication and will hopefully provide more funding for the front line rather than governance. In the next few weeks more than 60,000 students will sit the leaving certificate and after that their minds will turn to student grants. I have made an effort to raise the question of the future plans with Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, and in this House. Obviously SUSI did not work well last year.
She was very sick.
That is an understatement.
That is not a matter for the Order of Business.
I know the idea is that it needs to work better. It was a good idea but I would like to see what plans there are to overcome the difficulties that were there last year.
I will ask the Tánaiste if there is any legislation on that. Somehow I doubt it.
There should be.
The heads of the sport Ireland Bill are being finalised and it is expected to be published this year. On the problems that arose this year with the administration of the student grant system, the Minister for Education and Skills has done an examination of that.
It is a mess. One cannot contact it these days.
A Deputy
The Bill was a disaster.
We had a discussion on this issue at Government this week. He is working to ensure the system works better in the coming year. One of the things that would help is the full completion of application forms for student grants-----
That is not true.
-----and the full submission of the accompanying documentation that is required with student grant applications. One of the problems last year was that many of the applications that were submitted did not contain the full information-----
That is spin.
-----or the full back-up information. Those who are applying for student grants will help the situation themselves by ensuring the applications are fully completed and the supporting documentation is submitted with it.
It was not their fault.
The programme for Government rightly commits the Government to resolving the plight of a variety of groups in society. Some time ago, the Taoiseach made very positive, worthwhile and commendable comments on the Magdalens. Can the Tánaiste tell us when it is proposed to publish the report by Mr. Justice John Quirke? In addition to that, positive statements have been made about victims of symphysiotomy.
Some weeks ago, the Tánaiste referred in the House to commitments, also contained in the programme for Government, to the 32 survivors of the thalidomide drug. The programme for Government makes very clear commitments on those 32 people where it says the Government will seek to resolve their plight. Can the Tánaiste answer one simple question on that? Since he last referred to the matter here, has the Minister for Health met representatives of the 32 survivors with a view to advancing the situation?
In this section of the agenda, I am required to answer questions on promised legislation.
Also on the programme for Government.
Let us be reasonable. Let us not make a foolishness of the place. I cannot possibly know the answer to every possible question that should be addressed to the individual Minister.
That is a damning indictment of the Tánaiste.
We thought he was better than that.
He did a great interview for the job.
I would respectfully suggest that the question be addressed to the Minister for Health.
I have two related items. Could the Tánaiste outline when he expects the betting (amendment) Bill to come through to broaden our income from those betting firms that are based offshore and increase the State's contribution to the horse and greyhound fund which makes a valuable contribution? When does the Tánaiste expect amendments to the Horse Racing Ireland Act to come forward? This follows from the Indecon report and will bring about the changes in structures of the Horse Racing Ireland board that the Minister announced a number of months ago?
I expect the betting (amendment) Bill this session and the heads of the Horse Racing Ireland Bill have yet to come to Government.
I want to ask the Tánaiste about a number of items, including the county enterprise boards (dissolution) Bill and the local government amendment Bill. Last night in the Mansion House, I attended a very pleasant function, as did many others, at which there were many people from the Leader development companies and the voluntary boards that are doing tremendous work. If these are going to be disbanded and brought under the county councils, it will be a retrograde step. The Tánaiste is being disingenuous about SUSI. There are students from Clonmel in the Visitors Gallery today and I welcome them. They are paying for the delay in the payment of grants. The situation did not work. I took the time to go out there and visit it. The Tánaiste is wrong and is telling lies.
Stop, Deputy. Withdraw that comment.
No. He was telling untruths. In an office in Cork there were thousands upon thousands of applications submitted by parents that were not even opened for one month. If the Tánaiste asks, he will be told that. It is unfair to blame the parents and the students.
I am calling on the Tánaiste. The last matter is not on the Order of Business.
I am not blaming anybody.
The Tánaiste blamed the families.
No. Will the Deputy wait and listen for a second? I am making the point very clearly for this year, by way of advice more than anything else, that application forms should be fully completed and supporting documentation should be supplied with them. That will help the smooth operation of the system. As I have said, the Minister for Education and Skills has examined what happened in the past year with the operation of SUSI. He has brought his consideration of that to Government. He is fully aware of it and is endeavouring to ensure it operates better this year. The heads of the local government Bill are being drafted and it is due to be published this session.
For the past two days there have been 3,200 bales of hay in Cherbourg. Only 120 bales have come in. There is a serious crisis. I am aware that animals are dying of hunger.
The Deputy should table a question on that.
This is very pertinent because there is no other way I can raise this today. Animals are dying of hunger. Can anything be done to speed up the importation of fodder?
Where is the ship the Minister promised to bring the food?
This was raised yesterday in the Dáil.
Cattle are dying at the moment.
And sheep.
There is a solidarity fund in Europe. Can the solidarity fund be accessed to help people who are in dire straits?
That is not on the Order of Business.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, has reported to the House on a number of occasions on this issue and has taken very strong action to deal with the fodder crisis. He is very much aware of the distress the crisis is causing to animals and farmers.
Where is the ship he promised to bring in the food?
There is a 24-hour line in place and I am sure he would be quite happy to answer any direct question Deputy Martin Ferris has on the issue.
The telephone will not feed the cows.
He promised a ship to bring in the food.
I support Deputy Martin Ferris in his call. There is urgent need to increase the funding available to our hospitals dealing with cancer patients and cancer research. Massive savings could be made in our health service by tackling the high cost of drugs. The Government needs to take on the might of the drug companies and I ask the Tánaiste this under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012.
The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill has been published and is currently being considered in the Seanad.
The tragic death on the road last night of an individual in Ennis, as a result of what appears to have been a hit and run incident, should be a stark reminder to the Government of the necessity to look at the penalties for the act of leaving the scene of an accident. Does the Government have any proposals to introduce amending legislation to increase the penalties for the act of leaving the scene of a hit and run incident?
A road traffic Bill is due this session and would be an appropriate platform to raise this matter. The Deputy announced he is to publish a Private Members' Bill and, as he knows, there is now a means by which such Bills can be considered quickly in this House. This is an area that needs to be re-examined. I am sure the Deputy will introduce his Bill in any event, but the road traffic Bill will also provide an opportunity to address the issue.
Legislation is promised to underpin research and development. A previous speaker pointed out how important this work is in cancer research. Ireland has been at the forefront of research in DNA, and today there has been an announcement of a breakthrough in cloning research. Legislation was promised in the programme for Government that would underpin research and development in a way that would give certainty to the people involved. At what stage does that legislation stand? It was promised by previous Administrations.
A DNA database Bill is due this session.
Will the Tánaiste clarify to the House the differing utterances that have emanated from the Taoiseach and the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, in regard to the sale of Coillte and related harvesting rights? Will there be legislation from Government to give effect to the merger that is spoken about between Coillte and Bord na Móna?
The Forestry Bill 2013 was published on 24 April and is due for Second Stage debate in the House.
Deputy Durkan, briefly, please.
Some chance.
On promised legislation, what is the progress with the health (amendment) Bill intended to update a number of regulations arising from the 2013 budget in respect of the nursing homes support schemes? I refer also to another important piece of legislation, the criminal records information system Bill, which is to provide for the exchange of criminal records information with EU member states and other designated states. The issue arose in a recent television programme which outlined the activity of criminal gangs and their network across Europe and more widely.
The relevant health legislation will be treated in this session. The heads of the criminal records information system Bill have been approved by Government and the Bill is expected to be published late in this year.
As the Tánaiste knows, the Irish greyhound industry is a major employer and contributor to the Irish economy. It has a number of ongoing issues which I have sought to raise with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, but on each occasion he has told me he is waiting for a Minister of State to be appointed who will have responsibility for that area. Can the Tánaiste let the House know how long more this vacuum at ministerial level will continue, in so far as it relates to the Irish greyhound industry?
I do not know whether the Tánaiste has an answer to that question.
That is a matter that must be considered by Government in due course. There is a greyhound industry (amendment) Bill which is intended to amend and extend the Greyhound Industry Act, and related matters, but I do not have a date for its publication.