It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Order of Business.
May I ask the Leader of the House if he will do anything to facilitate the early taking of motion No. 12, which asks the House to take note of the personnel and terms of reference of the body appointed to review the working of Radio Telefís Éireann? That motion has been on the Order Paper for about 18 months. While I recognise that the House has not treated me badly in regard to the taking of motions proposed by me, this is a very appropriate moment at which this motion might be pushed ahead and, if I know Senator Ó Maoláin, he would like an opportunity himself, within the four corners of order, to say something about Telefís Éireann.
Why restrict him to the four corners of order?
I myself have a few things to say about the station and its friends and enemies. If the Leader of the House would agree to try to push this motion ahead, Senator O'Higgins and I, who have proposed it, would be grateful.
I should like to ask the Leader of the House about arrangements for taking motion No. 14 next week.
If we are still discussing the Order of Business, I should like to ask the Leader of the House if he would take motion No. 22, in the names of a number of other Senators and myself, with No. 1 on the Order Paper—the European Communities Bill. This motion reads as follows:
That Seanad Éireann, noting Article 138 of the Rome Treaty, calls on the Government to institute the procedures necessary to establish a joint committee of the Dáil and of the Seanad to nominate delegates to the European Parliament.
I ask the Leader of the House if he would take this because the subject matter is appropriate to the discussion on the European Communities Bill, and I think the Seanad ought to contribute to this debate and also to the procedure for selecting members to the European Parliament.
It is probably pointless to ask—it has been asked so often already—to have motion No. 11 discussed at some stage, particularly in view of the unfavourable publicity which was afforded to the House last week, and of the numbers of motions of an important nature which have been on the Order Paper for a great length of time. I earnestly ask the Leader of the House if he could arrange to have this motion in relation to the White Paper on Local Government Reorganisation taken at some date before the Bill to implement the proposals of the White Paper actually appears.
I press on the Leader of the House the necessity for giving some priority to the motions as they appear on the Order Paper. Two years have passed since the publication of the Devlin Report and the Buchanan Report, and it is a grave dereliction of duty on the part of the Seanad that we have not discussed them. Some newspaper correspondents might be enlightened that the Devlin Report in question is not the one concerned with salaries; it is the first Devlin Report which is concerned with the reorganisation of public services which is a vital necessity towards equipping ourselves for entry into Europe.
I can assure Senators I do not like the look of that Order Paper any more than they do. I do not like looking for such a long time at the list of motions. I can assure them further that I will do my best to get as many as possible of these motions dealt with as expeditiously as possible. We have tried before but for many reasons there have been unexpected obstacles. Some of these motions have now become very topical and I am certainly prepared to undertake to push one specifically mentioned, and I would hope to get them taken within a reasonable time. With regard to the motion referred to by Senator Robinson, that is a matter which affects the Dáil and Seanad and requires consideration by the parties in the Dáil as well as in the Seanad. I do not think it would be possible to take it today.
In regard to what the Leader of the House has just said, it is an extraordinary position if the Dáil has already assumed the sole right to consider this matter without reference to the Seanad at all. Apart from that, I cannot see why it should not be taken. Surely it is the subject of Europe that is important. If the constitution of the new European Parliament cannot be discussed, there is not much point in discussing the Bill. I cannot understand the attitude of the Leader of the House on this.
I am quite sure that if Senator Robinson, in the course of her remarks on the European Communities Bill, takes occasion to make reference to this, it will cover the motion I am speaking about per se. I do not see why that case in regard to the motion could not be made on the European Communities Bill. I do not think we can take the motion today.
Senator Robinson rose.
Senator Robinson has already spoken. Only one speech is allowed on a motion on the Order of Business. Senator Robinson may ask a question, but may not make a speech.
Is the suggestion, then, that the motion is an improper one because the motion would not have been accepted on the Order of Business unless it was appropriate that the Seanad would discuss this. Under Article 138 it is for the Parliament to decide——
The Senator is making a speech now.
Is it alleged that it is inappropriate for the Seanad to discuss this? The Leader of the House said he is anxious to get rid of the motions, so why not take it?
It is not inappropriate for the Seanad to discuss this or any other motion. Senator Robinson is wrong in that. I am only talking about the mechanics of the thing. The Senator knows it is appropriate for the Seanad to discuss any motion properly before it.
It has been proposed that the Order of Business be Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in that order. Is that agreed?
Agreed.