It is intended to order Items Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for today. Item No. 6 will be taken from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Item No. 5 will be taken if time allows and the other items will be taken in order.
Order of Business.
In view of the new and very welcome spirit of co-operation which has broken out in the House, would the Leader of the House consider reconvening at a reasonably early time after the Christmas break to try to clear some of the motions on the Order Paper which have been there for some time epsecially in view of the fact that it is not necessary for a Minister to be in the House when these are being taken?
I want to say how pleased I am that the matter the Chair picked for the Adjournment tonight is public awareness programmes in the area of donor organ transplantation. Senator Fallon has offered me some time to speak on that matter. I welcome that. On the question of returning after Christmas, we have established a tradition of returning fairly early in the New year. I would wish to see that continued.
A Chathaoirligh, I welcome your initiative in arranging for a visit to the Seanad Chamber. We are all very pleased with that. Perhaps we might have an indication at some stage as to the timescale by which we will be able to move into the renewed Chamber. One other thing I would like to mention on the Order of Business arises on Item No. 5, the European Communities motion. I hope it may be taken today and, if not, that time will be made available for it before the session ends. I had intended to have an item on today's Order Paper but I just phoned it in and did not get round to signing it. It is important and perhaps the Leader of the House will bear this in mind. It is the question of the ratification of the European Convention on Patents which has not yet been done. That is rather worrying. I raised it about a year ago in the House. The Leader of the House then said that he would make some inquiries about it. I have had some communications from some industrial firms who are very concerned in this area.
Could I ask the Leader of the House to consider at some stage in the not too distant future allocating time to discuss the extraordinary change that has taken place in Palestine in the Middle East in the past number of months. I know where his views and sympathies lie and I would be grateful if he would facilitate the House by allowing at least a brief discussion on it.
On the Order of Business, Item No. 46 is a motion about accessibility to public buildings for handicapped people. I raise it under this item because I want to request the Chair's protection and some action on this matter. On the issue of handicapped people I had reason to publish a report about handicapped people, which I do not want to go into today. I was refused permission to hold a press conference in Leinster House. I was told that it was not an appropriate matter for a press conference by a Member of the Oireachtas within the Houses of the Oireachtas. I would like to ask a special meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to look at this matter and to rule as to whether I was dealt with properly or improperly.
That is on the programme for the Committee on Procedure and Priveleges. It is being dealt with.
It may well be on it on a continuing basis. In my case it has caused me considerable expense and inconvenience. I do not approve of the regulation. I do not believe it was intended to work as it is being worked. I ask that this be taken as a special item——
I ask the Senator to raise it through his representative on the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. As for something ongoing, I preside over the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and it is not my style to leave something ongoing if we can deal with it.
I regret that it is ongoing enough to have prevented me holding a press conference here this morning.
Do we understand that business will be taken continuously up to 6.30 p.m. when the Fine Gael motion is tabled? I understood the Leader of the House to make some reference to taking Item No. 5 if time permits. I am not quite clear what is meant by that. I am still not clear on what basis we are to have a break when such a break is not specified on the Order of Business.
The Leader of the House to reply and conclude. Before he does so could he indicate whether Items Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are being discussed together so that there will be no confusion later on?
As regards an early resumption of the House, if the Whips get together we can arrange our business. On the question of patents, Senator Norris said he has had communications from commercial firms. I am sure everybody in the House has had the same communications. I will talk to the relevant Minister about that matter and I will come back to Senator Norris as soon as possible.
I agree that we should have a debate on the question of Palestine and the problems of the Palestinians. Without going into too much details, I will talk to the Minister for Foreign Affairs so that we can have an early debate on that whole issue. We all agree that accessibility to public buildings for every citizen should be a priority and, again, we can talk to the relevant Minister about that. The matter relating to press conferences is not within my ambit. It is a matter for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and the Superintendent of the House.
I said if time permits because I am not too sure exactly what way the various items will develop today. The only thing that is definite is that we will take from 6.30 to 8 p.m. for the remaining part of the motion. We will take items Nos. 2, 3 and 4 together. When I said "If time permits" I meant that we will continue until 6.30 p.m. There will be no break. We will take item No. 5 when items Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are dealt with, if they are dealt with within the time limit between now and 6.30 p.m.
Before we proceed I should like to say to Senator Norris that there will be a report on the Seanad chamber before this House in January — if possible on the first day we come back.
Order of Business agreed to.