It is proposed to order Nos. 1 and 2 and to suspend the sitting from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. If any Senator concludes his or her contribution at any time after 12.45 p.m. the sos should commence then but still continue until 2 o'clock.
Order of Business.
Could I ask the Leader of the House when it is proposed to take Item No. 12. EC legislation has had many implications in regard to the Irish insurance industry. I wonder, because the front desk has been extended, is there any chance that the desks for the backbenchers could also be extended?
That is an experiment and if it is satisfactory we intend to have it done to all the desks.
I used the other seat yesterday and it works. At least all your papers do not fall on the floor.
If Senators are satisfied we will have it done to all the desks.
Could I ask the Leader of the House what business it is proposed to take next week? I am uncertain whether we are taking the Status of Children Bill or the Control of Clinical Trials Bill next Wednesday. Secondly, he was very laudatory about my patience in regard to Item No. 27 two weeks ago, which is the Housing (Homeless Persons) Bill. Can I formally give him notice that my patience has now expired? Apart from the fact of having had a cold night last week which ended my patience quite dramatically and effectively, I propose to circulate amendments to my Bill within the next couple of weeks and I will then ask to have the time of the House devoted to having that issue debated since it appears that the other House is either unwilling or incapable of doing so.
In regard to Item No. 12 I am sorry that I cannot give the precise information, but the position is that the Order Paper is now ordered in the order in which material will be taken. I could perhaps go down the Order Paper and indicate when I expect them to be taken. It is proposed, as already announced, that the House will meet next Tuesday, Lá na Gaeilge, and appropriately would take Items Nos. 4 and 5. If that does not take the whole of the day, Item No. 3 would be taken. Items Nos. 6 and 7 are draft orders which should not take very long, whether there would be room for them on the Tuesday or whether they would have to be left over to a subsequent date depends on the length of the debate on previous items.
At the moment — I have not quite finished my discussions with the Ministers concerned — it is proposed on Wednesday, which will be a full sitting day from 10.30 a.m. until 8 p.m. to take the two heavy items of business, No. 8, which is the Status of Children Bill and No. 9, which is the Control of Clinical Trials Bill. As of this moment the intention is to take them in that order. There will be the resumption of Private Members Business, No. 10. I think, depending on what progress is being made, that the House should sit on Thursday of next week and if, in particular, the National Monuments Bill is not completed today, I feel that it should be taken then.
The following weeks the House will be sitting on Wednesdays and Thursdays. There is a large amount of committee work still to be done on Government legislation but even so there would be a hope of going back to devoting Thursdays completely to the question of reports of joint committees, which means that No. 12 should be taken within a week or two after that. That is the best forecast I can make. It is as difficult to forecast exactly when items will be taken as it was for Senator Brendan Ryan to forecast whether he was picking a good night to sleep outside the gates of the House, unless there is a very special reason for doing otherwise we should debate the reports of joint committees in the order in which they come to us.
In regard to the question of No. 27, Senator Brendan Ryan will have noticed that at least the Homeless Persons Bill has been ordered in the Dáil, but I understand it was not reached yesterday. I think it will be ordered again today. I will convey to the Minister responsible the state of Senator Brendan Ryan's patience at the moment.
Order of Business agreed to.