It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 in that order. I should tell the House that it is expected that we will be sitting tomorrow and that we will be taking Nos. 7, 4 and 8 tomorrow.
Order of Business.
I am grateful to the Leader of the House for taking item No. 5, that is:
That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to make an order to preserve indefinitely the Viking site at Wood Quay, already designated a National Monument, in view of the many other sites in Dublin available for civic offices.
I would like to express my gratitude for this being taken but I wonder whether the Leader of the House could agree that it be taken at 5.30 this evening so that the three hours allocated to it could be completed satisfactorily on the same day, especially as there are two others ordered for tomorrow?
I am also grateful for the fact that item No. 5 appears in the Order of Business. We have gone over the reasons for its urgency and I would like to support Senator Martin in his plea that this item should be taken at 5.30 to give the full three hours today for its discussion. Perhaps if this is not possible the Leader of the House could give us an assurance that this motion could finish its full course tomorrow. One hopes that in fact we will get to the stage of having a fairly substantial debate on item No. 5 today but if it has not entirely finished perhaps we could finish it tomorrow.
I would like to support very strongly the request made by the Independent Senators that the motion on Wood Quay be taken at 5.30 in order to allow three hours debate today. This is an extremely urgent matter and like the Senators I welcome the fact that time is being given to debate it today because of the increasing alarm about and the seriousness of the situation. We voted in the Seanad last week in an attempt to have it taken last Wednesday instead of today and I think it would be most helpful to Senators if we could possibly fix that time for having it this evening. Looking at the Bills which have been ordered for today I think they are reasonably technical; some of them are Money Bills and obviously they would have a certain priority but if we are sitting today and tomorrow I think it would greatly facilitate Senators and it would allow us to ensure that we do contribute to the debate on this absolutely vital subject where the Seanad can make a very substantial contribution. So, I would very strongly support what I think is a very reasonable request and I hope the Leader of the House will accede to it.
I would like to join in support of Senators who have spoken on this matter and say that provided the debate were completed tomorrow I would be quite satisfied. I am sure the Leader of the House can make that arrangement but obviously if we had a fixed time for it such a cooperative gesture would be most convenient and it could certainly be completed tomorrow.
I understand that the first three items are Government business of some urgency and I cannot agree to take No. 5 before them but I think it is more than likely that the motion will start this evening and will possibly conclude this evening. All I can undertake to do is to ensure that the motion will be taken either today or tomorrow and if necessary we will sit late tomorrow evening to ensure that it is done.
I would like to thank the Leader of the House for that assurance.
Order of Business agreed to.