Today's Order of Business will be Item 3 between now and 6 p.m. and Item 21 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Order of Business.
May I ask the Leader of the House if he could make time available today or tomorrow to discuss a matter about which there is a great deal of public anger, that is the proposed new changes in telephone charges? The Leader should make time available to discuss the matter fully before what is obviously a blunder is compounded.
I wish to put on the record of the House that I have had a number of discussions during the past week with the Government Chief Whip about accommodation for the Independent Senators. Some progressive proposals are being put to the Government side and I hope the matter will be resolved over the next couple of days. I hope that will dispose of the matter.
Will the Leader give a clear indication of the discussions that are taking place in the other House and with Government about subsidies for political parties to fight elections? There seems to be no recognition that Independents seeking election should get any support whatsoever. If there is any attempt to disbar or not support Independents in either Dáil or Seanad elections——
It is not a matter for the Order of Business. The Senator is making a speech.
Making politics a cosy party political club is not acceptable.
There are several Items on the Order Paper which are matters to be resumed. One is statements on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. When is it intended to return to this matter? There were a number of people who wished to speak on it before it was adjourned last week. Senator Kennedy only had a few minutes to begin his contribution. In view of the topicality of this matter and the fact that farmers have become fillers of forms rather than producers of food, can it be resumed as soon as possible?
I wish to ask the Leader of the House if he could provide some time for a debate on the entertainment business and in particular the providers of entertainment. There is major public concern regarding copyright and royalties and the ability of organisations to act in a monopolistic and anti-competitive way. This is a matter of public interest and this House should have a debate on it.
I concur with Senator Manning in asking the Leader of the House for time today to discuss the proposal by Government to increase phone charges by 400 per cent for certain users. If time is not allowed for this discussion I want to give notice that I intend under Standing Order 29 to raise this issue later today.
May I ask the Leader of the House to provide time in the near future to consider the feasibility of having the Land Registry provide maps in each county rather than in Dublin. Time has——
It is not appropriate to the Order of Business. If you want to ask the Leader to initiate a discussion——
I ask the Leader of the House to allow a debate on the value and possibility of having the Land Registry provide a service in every county to avoid confusion. The present situation is unworkable where the Land Registry is holding up——
You are making a speech. I know the Leader will take your point.
I ask that he should. Perhaps this House does not realise the importance of such a debate for the rural community.
I welcome what my colleague Senator O'Toole said about improvements in the accommodation for university Senators. I want to put on record my strong feelings on the matter. The Cathaoirleach knows that I have put a strongly worded motion on the Order Paper. It is not just a question of accommodation but also of secretarial services. We are being asked to make bricks without straw. It is a farce. I will leave it at that as I am glad there has apparently been some progress.
I welcome, a Chathaoirligh, your consent to the matter on the Adjournment about Christ Church Place — although it is not being taken today. I intend raising this under Standing Order 29. It is the most important discovery since Wood Quay and tomorrow it is to be backfilled and destroyed by a commercial company. It is about time we did something about this. May I finally raise a matter that is of considerable concern to everybody——
May I just say that I received notice from you only last evening so you cannot blame me.
I am not blaming the Cathaoirleach at all, not in the slightest. I only heard about it yesterday from the archaeologist involved. I thank the Cathaoirleach for accepting it. I do not wish to be critical.
There is one further matter that might be of interest to the House. We had an extremely good debate last week on the question of AIDS. I am horrified to read in the Irish Independent today about a cabal within RTE. I remember the days when RTE used to be attacked on the basis that they were a nest of Workers' Party sympathisers. It appears to me they are far more a nest of the Knights of St. Columbanus. The RTE Authority, or people inside it, have conspired against the Government to block an AIDS advertising campaign. To whom are these people responsible?
Have you a question for the Leader of the House?
Will he consider an urgent discussion on this matter in which a semi-State body is apparently openly defying Government policy and the clearly expressed wishes of this House? It is most extraordinary——
You are making a speech, Senator.
I will not make a speech. May I say also that this morning I received, in an Oireachtas envelope, a squalid piece of lying disinformation emanating from one of those reactionary right wing movements which I will not even deign to name.
It is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
May I ask the Leader if he could make time available to discuss the problem of back moneys due to people as a result of the EC equality ruling. An impression is being given by legal people, solicitors in particular, that they alone can claim these moneys for those who are entitled to them. That is very sad. May I ask the Leader if the matter can be speedily clarified? The Minister said to me when speaking on the Social Welfare Bill that anyone who applied would get a prompt reply. However, that is not the case. Solicitors are applying and charging 10 to 20 per cent of any moneys due.
I ask the Leader of the House to reconsider the decision to take the concluding stages of the Unfair Dismissals Bill today. This is one of the first Bills we have initiated in this House. We have to take a different view of Bills initiated in this House as against Bills passed on to us from the other House. The decision to take the Committee and remaining stages today should be reconsidered. There are 38 amendments down and it would be sinful for us to treat this Bill with such disdain that we do not deal with them all.
Senator Norris has undermined himself and confused me as I always thought he was the most important discovery in Ireland. I would like to ask the Leader of the House if we could have a debate on the subject of the Structural Funding for this country. I indicated last week that I would appreciate if some time could be afforded for such a debate.
I support the call by Senator Manning and other Senators to the Leader to provide time for a debate on the increase in telephone charges. I would also like to support the call by Senator Finneran that the House be provided with time to discuss the abuse of music users by the copyright organisations and I compliment him on the accuracy of his observation on the matter.
I ask the Leader to provide time for a debate on the health services. I say this with particular regard to a recent decision which, from 1 June, involves the closing of the casualty unit in the Ennis General Hospital between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., the closure of one theatre and the closure of one ward. These are urgent matters that we need time to discuss in advance of 1 June and, consequently, I ask the Leader to raise the matter with the Minister for Health and provide time in the House.
Finally, I would like to inquire if a decision has been reached on the matter of Mother Teresa addressing the House in a few week's time.
I would like to request the Leader of the House to provide time within the next week to discuss the seed potato disaster in Donegal. A sum of £2.5 million was allocated to the farmers who lost out in this disaster but now quite a number of them stand to lose out as a result of a document from the Department in relation to the regulation. Only those farmers who have an RSI number will qualify. Legally the RSI number——
You are making a speech, Senator. You have made your point. If you want a debate, ask the Leader.
The scheme does not come into operation until 1994 and I would ask that we have time to discuss it here.
I would like to put a question to the Leader of the House in view of a report that appeared in The Irish Times yesterday which stated that no money from Europe will go to the Department of Defence in the next number of years. It also stated that a high-level committee in the Department of Defence will close down a number of barracks around the country. It has to be said that military barracks are an integral part of the fabric of an area. They play a major part——
Have you a question for the Leader of the House?
I would ask the Minister for Defence or the Minister for Finance to give us an indication as to what is happening with the moneys. Is money to be made available?
I would like to ask the Leader of the House if we could have time to discuss the problem of threatening letters being sent by prisoners to victims of serious crime. These letters are, apparently, not censored. We have previously discussed the incest case in Kilkenny; now the victims's misery is perpetuated by the receipt of letters from her attacker. This is not an isolated case, it is a common occurrence. As a result the victims of crime are often in a worse situation than the criminals.
In order to prevent confusion in light of the fact that the Culliton report called for balanced telephone charges, would the Leader of the House ask the Leader of Fine Gael why they have now changed their minds in calling for the implementation of Culliton?
(Interruptions.)
Will the Leader of the House confirm that Committee Stage of Item 3 will be taken today and if it is not completed, that it will be resumed? Will there be an interval between Committee and Report Stages to allow Members to put down further amendments?
I wish to raise two issues. The first is very important and has been mentioned by Senator Henry. It concerns the extraordinary revelations that prisoners can intimidate people from behind prison bars. I hope the House will have the opportunity to discuss that and the report on the Kilkenny case at the earliest possible date.
The second issue I wish to raise is the extraordinary treatment of this House on RTE. Last week there were important debates on AIDS and on the Comptroller and Auditor General but there was no coverage of those debates by RTE. That is disgraceful; RTE viewers would imagine nothing happens in this House. That is a serious distortion and is a matter for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
I join with Senator McGowan in asking the Leader if he could discuss the Land Registry and Ordnance Survey with the Minister for Justice. Farmers have a serious problem acquiring maps and that problem should be addressed.
Does the Leader of the House intend to allocate time to discuss the sale of the Mespil flats complex and the concerns it has caused for the tenants? Had Mr. Haughey been Taoiseach and had a member of his family been involved in the scandal, the Minister, Deputy Spring, would have been so irate——
You are making a speech. You should not refer to people who are not present.
——that it would have caused serious damage to his health trying to raise the matter.
Would it be possible to have a debate on the possibility of establishing a complaints authority for the written media in view of the fact that a popular RTÉ presenter and a member of the Judiciary were last week accused in newspapers of being part of a golden speculation circle? There was also the recent controversial tape recording by a journalist.
That is not an appropriate matter for discussion.
They are all first cousins.
I believe this warrants discussion as wrong information is being given to the public.
It is impossible to answer every query that has been raised. Many of them are appropriate to the Adjournment or to Private Members' time. I will deal with those that are relevant to the Order of Business.
With regard to the concerns of Senator Quinn and other Members, there will be no guillotine on Committee Stage of the Bill. This Bill was initiated in the Seanad and it will get the respect and time it deserves.
Senator Manning and others referred to telephone charges. Item 2 on today's Order Paper — a motion on Employment through Enterprise — will be taken tomorrow and that will be an appropriate opportunity to discuss telephone changes.
I understand we can discuss Common Agricultural Policy next week and the Structural Funds, mentioned by Senator Kelleher, are on the agenda for the future. The Whips will deal with the Land Registry issue raised by Senator McGowan and the health issue raised by Senator Howard. Senator Finneran suggested a debate on problems in the entertainment industry. I suspect that many people would consider this House an appropriate venue for a debate on entertainment and its problems.
Order of Business agreed to.