I have had notice from Senator Mary Robinson regarding a motion of which she has given notice under Standing Order 29. I now call on Senator Robinson.
Business of Seanad.
The matter which I wish to raise is about the travelling families in the Tallaght area who are in great danger as a result of the opening of a portion of the by-pass along which caravans with families are parked. This has brought about a high risk of death or injury particularly to children. The illegal blocking of entrances to the estates and side roads has interfered with the rights of both residents in the area and the travelling people. The mass rally planned for Saturday could further escalate tension and the risk of violence. I am suggesting that Seanad Éireann seek urgent confirmation from the Government that the rule of law will be re-established in Tallaght and that urgent measures will be taken for the orderly settlement of travellers in a balanced manner throughout the Dublin county area.
I have decided that the motion is covered by the Standing Order and I ask that Senators who support the request rise in their places. As more than five Members have risen the debate on the motion will take place at 3 p.m. or at the conclusion of the business ordered, whichever is the earlier.
Thank you.
On the Business of the House, I promised to give the latest information that I had in regard to the business for next week. It is proposed to sit on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. In regard to the business which we will have there are two matters which must pass before the recess. One is the Irish Steel Bill which is a Money Bill and the other is the reference of the Bankruptcy Bill, which was circulated quite a long time ago, to the Joint Committee on Legislation. It is necessary for that to be done so that the Joint Committee on Legislation can consider the matter during the recess. In regard to other legislation it is thought appropriate that the following Bills should be dealt with by the Seanad before the recess: the Funds of Suitors Bill, 1984; the Landlord and Tenant Bill and the Road Traffic Bill. There are four other Bills which may or may not fall to be dealt with before the recess. One of those is the Copyright Bill which is on Committee Stage. There is some difficulty in regard to Government amendments on this. If the difficulties are overcome the Copyright Bill would be taken before the recess. There are also at the moment in the Dáil three Bills which might possibly come to us. Those are the Air Transport Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill and the Misuse of Drugs Bill. If these Bills come to us, in the case of the Air Transport Bill, it might well be disposed of. In regard to the Misuse of Drugs Bill, the Seanad might well think that the urgency of the matter here would also suggest that it be disposed of. With regard to the Criminal Justice Bill, I do not think there would be any question of that being completed by the summer recess. The only question then to be decided is whether the Second Stage, or indeed part of the Second Stage, should be taken before the recess. That is the position as I know it at the moment. Also, it would be appropriate if the House completed the debate on the motion on developments in the EEC before the recess.
Just a couple of questions — is there any possibility, if the business is clarified within the next few days, that we could sit Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week and get as much business through as possible in that week? The Criminal Justice Bill should be left until the autumn. I cannot see the relevance of bringing it in and spending a half a day or one day on it if we are not going to complete Second Stage. We should come back early and discuss it and give as much time as possible to it so as to do justice to that Bill. It is a complex Bill. It has been amended in the Dáil. We will not know until Report Stage has been completed what the final Bill will be. I do not think that we should attempt to start a discussion on that Bill until we have had a recess to give us time to have a look at it and the changes that have been made so that we could decide on our attitude to them. It seems as if somebody is trying to push through the Air Transport Bill. I sincerely hope that it does not go through in this session of the Dáil.
One question in regard to the motions on the EEC, I have been asked whether people who have spoken on item No. 5 will be able to come in again since there has been a change, in other words there has been an amalgamation of two motions. If people who have spoken on the first one would like to speak again, will they be allowed to do so since there has been an amalgamation of two motions?
I would like to thank the Leader of the House for being as forthcoming as he can possibly be on the business. I am very grateful to him for an indication that the Criminal Justice Bill is not going to be rushed through or used to keep us here for the whole summer. I fully agree with Senator Lanigan that it is far too important and complex an issue to be dealt with until we have had time to reflect on it. It has been substantially amended and I understand that it is going to be further amended in the Dáil. Therefore we need a considerable amount of time to discuss it. I am grateful to the Leader of the House for the amount of information he gave us. He has obviously worked very hard to get that amount of information.
In regard to the points made, I would like to take up first of all the point on the sittings next week. It has been impossible to find a consensus in the House as to what should be the appropriate sitting days when we sit for more than one day. This week we met on Wednesday and again today. The proposal for next week was to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. This was so that we would give equal justice or injustice to all those who have difficulty on Tuesday and those who have difficulty on Thursday. I would consider the question of sitting on Thursday but to sit on Friday might create difficulties for a number of Senators because there are a number of public bodies who meet on Fridays. I certainly will consider the matter and I will discuss it with the representatives of the other groups.
In regard to the Criminal Justice Bill, Senators should realise that if the Bill passes the Dáil either next week or the week after, this House must deal with it within 90 days. That would mean, for example, if it passes in the first week of July in the Dáil, then we must complete our discussion on it by the first week in October. The reason behind the suggestion that we might start the discussion on the Bill is that the Minister's opening speech, the opening response of the Opposition and the opening speeches of the Government parties could be made and that much time would be saved from September. We would not then find ourselves having to crowd the Committee Stage or Report Stage because of the necessity to complete it early in October. I have discussed with the Minister the question of coming back early in September. But one must appreciate the Minister's position. Ireland is now assuming the Presidency of the EEC. August is a blank month as far as the EEC, as an organisation, is concerned. In fact the first and second week of September will be very busy weeks for Irish Ministers who will be holding the chairmanships of the individual Council of Ministers. So the Minister might well have difficulty in coming in in the first or second week of September. There are many complex factors here. While I would say that it might be looked at in the abstract, the best thing might be to leave it over and for the Seanad to resume in the first week in September so that it would then have a month in which to do Second Stage, Committee Stage and Report Stage. There are in fact advantages from the point of view of this House in devoting one day or portion of a day to the opening of the Second Stage. None of this can be made any firmer until we know whether Dáil Éireann is going to complete its consideration of the Criminal Justice Bill next week or indeed the week after.
There is one other question in regard to whether we should try to sit next week and wipe everything off. This might make it difficult for us to take the Misuse of Drugs Bill. Some Senators would be anxious that this Bill might become law. This Bill has been ordered in the Dáil for Committee Stage next Tuesday. It will in fact be taken when the Dáil comes back in order to deal with the Criminal Justice Bill. Even if it is taken next week we will be in difficulty. If the Dáil does not reassemble until the week after, we are faced with a difficulty if not an impossibility of handling the Misuse of Drugs Bill even at short notice. The Seanad will appreciate that the situation is still complex; indeed it is liable to change from hour to hour. I was in touch with the Government Whip's Office immediately before coming into the House so I have the most up to date information and I am sorry it is not more exact.
I would just like to thank the Leader of the House for giving the matter every attention because it would seem that whatever other considerations outside this House are delaying debate, it is not the Leader of the House who is causing the delay. I would like to thank him for his very frank explanation of the situation as it is. The question of the debate on the EEC——
I am sorry about that. It is really a matter for the Chair rather than for me. The situation is that we have had the debate opened on one motion. The Senators who spoke in that debate spoke about all the matters that are in the particular reports. It can be argued that there might be information in these reports which would have made one say something different or something supplementary. I do not see that the whole thing could be opened up again. In fact, the only purpose of putting down the second motion was that the House would have formally noted the reports. My hope would be that the debate should continue on Motion No. 7, "That Seanad Éireann takes note of developments in the EEC during 1983" and following conclusion of that debate, that No. 8 would be moved and agreed without further debate. I would equally express the hope that when we resume in September or October, but certainly before the end of October, a further report would be available so that we would not have this disjunction that we have now which is entirely due to the lateness of the report which has been deplored from all sides of the House.
Does the House agree to the suggestion of the Leader of the House on the EEC motion?
I feel that it is reasonable.