It is intended to take all Stages of Item No. 1 today.
Order of Business.
There are one or two questions on the Order of Business I would like to ask which, I hope, are of a non-contentious nature. The first one is that I do not understand why the Order of Business for today has been adjusted to exclude a debate on Anglo-Irish relations. Perhaps the Leader of the House could correct me on this, but my understanding was that we were to spend all day today discussing Anglo-Irish relations, Item No. 7 on the Order Paper.
You have made your point.
That is only the first point. I have several other points to make and they are coming to me as I go along. The second point I would like to make is to ask the Leader of the House to explain why we are not taking Anglo-Irish relations today, why we are taking the B & I Line Bill. If there is an urgent reason for taking Item No. 1 today, why was this not explained to the House when it was agreed that we would take a full day's debate on Anglo-Irish relations? If there is a reason why the B & I Line Bill should be taken — a money reason — it was well known at the time it was agreed to take Item No. 7.
You have made your point. Will you get to the next point on your list, please?
That was my second point. I would like to ask the Leader of the House about the Companies (No. 2) Bill. The Companies (No. 2) Bill came to this House some time last May or June. We are now only half way through Committee Stage. I would like to know what the plans and prospects are for the Companies (No. 2) Bill and when we are going to take the next part of that Bill. Third, and finally, I would like to know when it is proposed to take Item No. 7 if it is not proposed to take it today. If we finish the B & I Line Bill early, could we start Item No. 7 today and finish it next Tuesday or on St. Patrick's Day, if necessary, which would be an appropriate day?
You will be parading that day, I presume.
I wish to make a few brief points on the Order of Business. I asked the Leader of the House, in the midst of other happenings, why there was such urgency about the B & I Line Bill — the same point raised by Senator Ross. My more important point today is, can the Leader of the House give us some definite indication as to when Item No. 5, the Adoption (No. 2) Bill, will be taken. Week after week this has been raised. Week after week we have been told shortly, as soon as possible, in the very near future. Nothing has happened — there has been no movement. As things are going it could be well after Easter before we get to that Bill. There is an urgency about it. There is almost certainly all-party agreement on what has to be done. I urge the Leader of the House — I know it is not in his hands — to put pressure on the relevant people and to express the disquiet of all sides in the House about the tardiness with which this Bill is proceeding.
When is it intended to take the International Development Association (Amendment) Bill? I concur with the Leader of the Fine Gael group in what he has said about the Adoption (No. 2) Bill. This is a Bill which is not about finance or desiccated arid subjects. It is one which affects little children who can be adopted once this legislation is passed. It is about people who are longing to adopt these children. For that reason it is inexcusable that there is delay. I cannot understand it and I find it quite unacceptable. I hope the Leader of the House will be able to give us the assurances we need that it can be taken next week.
Will we take the Companies (No. 2) Bill next week? If so, will Government amendments be circulated to us at some reasonable time in advance of next Wednesday? The Companies (No. 2) Bill and all of those Bills have been sitting there for some time. One is beginning to get nervous that something may spring out of the woodwork at very short notice on some of these when the Government finally get around to drafting their amendments. It is not the fault of this House that a major work load of Government legislation is lying undealt with. It is not the fault of the Leader of the House or of the Fianna Fáil Whip, but of the Government.
The message should go back from this House that this House has done its job well on Government legislation but the Government have not done their job well on the legislation. I concur fully with the remarks of Senators Manning and Bulbulia about the Adoption (No. 2) Bill. It is not our fault. We have done our job well. We have facilitated the Government in every way we can and they have been less than courteous to us in letting us know why these delays happened.
It would be useful to know next week's sittings and the sittings of succeeding weeks. The Insurance Bill has not been mentioned this morning. I know many Members on both sides of the House have put a lot of work into that area. It is my understanding that the Department are ready to take the Bill. I wonder when it can be taken.
I wish to refer briefly to matters raised yesterday by Senator O'Toole regarding the AIDS debate. He said I misquoted him, which I did, and I think I owe him an apology. He was referring to safe methods of sex and I thought that he was encouraging them, since he was mentioning them. I hope he will accept my sincere apology, knowing that he is an intelligent and gracious man. I thought I would explain myself. The word "deviant" means de via or off the road, people not travelling the same road with me. If people took offence at that, of course I apologise to them. The phrase in recent times has come to have a pejorative sense when it is applied to people who, if you said they were deviant would be regarded as abnormal because of their attitudes to certain issues or because of their orientations or their political affiliations or whatever. Heaven forbid that I would suggest that any Member of this House is abnormal in any way. However, if any Member considers himself abnormal, in addition to the public global apology I will offer him a personal apology.
We will be sitting one day next week Wednesday. Regarding the Insurance Bill, we hope to have information on that before the end of the day. I will get a date for the taking of the Committee Stage of that. Regarding Senator Ryan's query on the Companies (No. 2) Bill, I can assure him that if the Government are bringing in amendments the House will have prior notice of these amendments so that the Opposition will have time to consider them.
I share the concern of Senators regarding the Adoption (No. 2) Bill and I assure the House that the Minister also shares the concern that is being expressed here by various people. It is not my style to have to get up here week after week and say that we will take this legislation in the near future or as soon as possible. I will see the Minister today and get a definite date on which we can actually take it.
I would not accept the statement that matters of finance are uninteresting and arid. Matters of finance can be fertile ground for job creation and for the preservation of various items. One of the reasons we are taking the B & I Line Bill today is that there is an extreme urgency in getting the extra finance which is needed to allow B & I to continue to operate. The Bill is of major importance.
As far as Item No. 7 is concerned, it is the hope that by agreement we will take that, without giving a guarantee, the week after next or at an early date. The reason I do not particularly want to take that motion today relates again to the fact that we agreed to give it an all-day airing, and if we start to break it up the impact will not be as effective as having a full debate on it. Item No. 5 I have dealt with — Senator Manning's point. Senator Bulbulia asked about the International Development Association (Amendment) Bill. We will be taking that on Wednesday next week.
Order of Business agreed to.