Vol. 138 No. 7
I am sure the House will join with me in wishing the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan, a quick recovery.
I have asked each Minister to give me an outline of what they intend to bring before the House between now and Christmas. I have a certain amount of information at the moment, but I will have all of it in another day or two.
The Leader will have to do better than that.
There are certain Ministers who are more forthcoming — I will not say organised——
They are at home, then.
Today's Order of Business is Item 1, the Matrimonial Home Bill, 1993. I understand that the motion will be taken without debate and we will then deal with section 7. Item 2, the Irish Aviation Authority Bill, 1993, will follow; Item 33 will be taken from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight.
On the Order of Business, may I join with the Leader of the House in sending the good wishes of my group to the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan, for a quick and full recovery? May I congratulate the British customs authorities, in co-operation with the Polish authorities, on the enormous seizure of arms made this morning? These arms, one of the biggest consignments in history, were destined for Northern Ireland. This seizure by British customs officials has saved many lives and it has saved Northern Ireland from potential destruction. At a time of bad news in the North this is good news and we should congratulate those responsible.
On the question of legislation, the Leader of the House said he is seeking further consultations. Will he guarantee that it will not be Christmas Eve before he finally tells us the programme for this session, because it is shaping up that way at the moment?
Could we have a debate on the confused status of the interpretative centres following the Government decision this week? The public is confused, particularly about the time element and the amount of taxpayers' money which will be spent before this issue is resolved. Could the Leader confirm that this is the first time in history a senior member of the Cabinet has been overruled by a Junior Minister?
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business.
This matter could be covered in a video entitled, "Honey, I Shrunk the Interpretative Centres".
I congratulate the Leader of the House on his pre-emptive strike about the idea of consulting with the Ministers. We have asked for information about the legislation which must be dealt with between now and Christmas, but it is not available. I think what the Leader is saying indirectly is that he is failing to get co-operation from Ministers. This is unacceptable. We have sought this information in good faith and it is as necessary to Members on the other side of the House as it is to us. It is not an Independent or an Opposition issue. Perhaps it creates difficulties for members of the Government to obtain this information but I insist that we are told about the legislation. It is not good enough that Ministers can decide if they will co-operate with the House. I ask the Leader to show determination on this issue.
I support the good wishes of Members to the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Deputy O'Sullivan, who was recently hospitalised. On his last visit here I said that, although I had many reservations about what he had done, the fact that Mr. Matt Murphy was part of his operation impressed me. In the meantime, Mr. Matt Murphy has resigned from the marine enterprise at Sherkin Island and this has created problems for me. I must remind the House about the commitment given by the Leader that we would have a further comprehensive debate on marine matters between now and Christmas.
In relation to a debate on Northern Ireland, during the past week I had four telephone calls from people in the North who are concerned about the impact of the troubles on young children who may be left orphaned, etc.
You are making a speech. Tomorrow you will have an opportunity to debate this issue.
Any small step, such as the arms seizure today, which helps to reduce the loss of life must be welcomed.
I have every sympathy for Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan who has been a friend and colleague for the past 30 years. I am sure the expressions of goodwill by Senator Manning and others will be welcomed. He is courageous to publicise the fact that he is suffering from cancer and this will be of help to present and future cancer victims. I applaud his bravery and I am sure his family will appreciate what has been said this afternoon.
I join in the good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I have had dealings with him in the past few months and he has been an effective and honourable Minister. He has the good wishes of everyone in the House.
I thank the Polish and British security agencies for the arms seizure. As has been said, it will save lives in Northern Ireland and, perhaps, in the Republic. It underlines two points; first, that some people are deaf to the encouragement being given to the cause for peace; and second, how urgent it is for the constitutional politicians to maintain the momentum in trying to find a solution.
In respect of the legislative programme and acknowledging the fact that the Leader has tried to deflect criticism, I ask him when it is intended to take Item 5, the Road Traffic Bill, 1993, and if he has any information on that matter? Perhaps he could clarify another matter? I understood that the arrangements for Private Members' Business were being modified and that there would be extra time available. Will that be the case this evening? I am not clear about that.
My understanding at a meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges was that we would continue the current arrangements until Christmas and subsequently amend them.
Thank you, a Chathaoirligh. In relation to another matter, can we assume that the farmers who are waiting for their payments from the EC will soon be paid? Perhaps it is a case that when they are paid we will know with certainty that there is about to be a general election.
I join in the good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan and his family. I hope they will all come through this successfully. I also join the other Members in congratulating the British and Polish customs services for the seizure of arms. It highlights what has been seen as an anomaly in the coverage of these incidents in that the arms in question were going to Loyalist paramilitaries. It shows that the tertorists are not only on one side of the divide in the six north-eastern counties.
Following on the recent find of cannabis resin off the west Cork coast, would it be possible to have a discussion with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for the Marine to find out what new plans will be implemented to cover drug importation into this country?
The matter I wish to raise only came to my notice at 1.10 p.m. today. It relates to the deputation that went to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry this morning. I understand that the Minister issued an instruction that the door should be locked against the IFA president, Mr. Alan Gillis. I protest against this type of performance. The Minister did a shameful act.
That has nothing to do with the Order of Business. A question to the Leader please.
I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to attend the House and give us an explanation why such an act was allowed to take place. If not, could the Leader allow time tomorrow to debate this serious issue — apart from the £170 million owed to farmers. Locking the door against any section of the community is a scandalous act and can only be described as such.
There is the debate on GATT tomorrow, Senator D'Arcy.
I wish to be associated with the other Members in sending best wishes to the family of Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I wish him well.
I ask the Leader of the House to request the Minister for Education to initiate an investigation into the behaviour of the administration of Letterkenny regional technical college, especially the behaviour of the chairman of the board of governors, Councillor Bernard McGlinchey.
That is not relevant to the Order of Business. It is appropriate to raise it on the Adjournment or some other way, and I would prefer if the Senator would deal with it that way.
I am making the request——
Fire away.
It is all in the family. Family loyalties are being broken.
——as I feel it is a serious situation in view of the fact that students have been harangued and tormented there.
I have ruled that it is not relevant to the Order of Business.
I also have been approached by some of the students about that matter. If an Adjournment debate is granted, I will be very happy to take two minutes to support the Senator.
I also join in the messages of goodwill to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. He is very courageous to disclose this personal information. It can only do good because anything which demythologises a disease like cancer has to be welcomed.
I ask for a debate before Christmas on unemployment, particularly with regard to the social welfare implications so that we can ventilate our views about the comments of Mr. Maurice Doyle. I would welcome such an opportunity.
With regard to the arms find, it is extremely significant that this happened at this time because I have been concerned that, coming up to Christmas there might be a temptation for some of the so-called Protestant paramilitaries to bomb some of the busy shopping streets in Dublin. I was particularly glad to notice that this major arms find, which included several tonnes of high explosives and a large quantity of guns, was welcomed by all sections of the Unionist community.
The Senator is making a speech. We will debate this matter tomorrow.
With regard to the interpretative centres, I am glad this matter was raised. I ask the Leader of the House if we may debate on this issue in light of the fact that archive material is left lying around and we do not have museums where there is real material. Instead we are building these Disneylands because money is available from Europe.
I support Members who want a debate on the negotiations and consultations which have taken place on the interpretative centres. Given what Senator O'Toole called the new film, I hope my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, will not be known as the "Shrink". I am sure there are other names he could be called given his tours around the country.
That comment is inappropriate to this House.
I was only commenting on what Senator O'Toole said in regard to the name of the film.
Do not try to blame Senator O'Toole. It is inappropriate.
I want to refer to the programme "Tuesday File" which was shown last night. It reported on toxic dumps and the problems people have in Counties Donegal, Meath and Cork. I ask the Leader of the House if time can be made available for the Minister for the Environment to come to the House to state Government policy on these matters. It was evident from this programme that many, if not all, the local authorities involved have different ways of dealing with these problems. They are not adopting a coherent approach to the way they look after the safety of those living in the immediate areas.
That matter is suitable for the Adjournment or Private Members' Business.
I, too, send good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan. He is a kind and courteous Minister and I have great admiration for him.
I too would like a debate on the proposed interpretative centres. I have confidence in my colleague, the Minister responsible for this area; he is doing an excellent job.
When will Item 22 be debated? This calls on the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht to set up a music council to cater for the needs of the live music industry in order to save existing jobs and to create further employment in this great growth industry.
I would like to be associated with the best wishes being sent the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan He was courageous to make this announcement. He promised to visit County Mayo and I look forward to meeting him there shortly when the roads have improved. I concur with Senator Dardis's call that cheques be paid to farmers. It is ridiculous that there is a delay in this regard. Last year farmers were paid promptly because of the general election.
I wish the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, well. He was a former colleague in Cork County Council. We entered the council at the same time, we are from the same parish and our mothers were born in the same street. We wish him well.
Before I call the Leader of the House, I send my good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan. He was in the House recently and he performed excellently.
I, too, would like to be associated with the good wishes being sent to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan.
If the Irish Aviation Authority Bill is not concluded before 6 p.m. it will be resumed after 8 p.m.
Does that mean that the Adjournment debate will be taken at the conclusion of business?
I was about to say that, yes. The Adjournment debate will take place at the conclusion of business. With regard to legislation, it is only fair to put the following on the record: we will have further statements on Northern Ireland tomorrow, as all sides wanted; we will provide the extra time sought for the GATT debate tomorrow; we will have the National Monuments (Amendment) Bill and the Adoptive Leave Bill, both of which are being initiated in this House; we will take the Second Stage of the European Parliament Election Bill and the Road Traffic Bill before Christmas; the Local Government (Dublin) Bill is to be concluded before Christmas; we will also have a Bill relating to the new shareholding in Aer Lingus, the Merchant Shipping, (Salvage and Wrecks) Bill, and other legislation which is on the way. The House will be dealing with seven or eight Bills so there is no shortage of legislation and no shortage of notice as to what is happening. I will do my best to ensure that——
We will be spending Christmas Day in the Seanad.
Why not?
The Whip informs me that we will be sitting three days a week, and during Christmas week.
We might as well sit until Christmas Day to get through all the business.
There is a heavy legislative programme and, while Senators rightly ask for various debates, there will not be time between now and Christmas to do that because legislation is the first priority.
I would like to add my words of congratulation to both the British and Polish authorities on today's seizure, and I am sure that everyone would welcome that.
