Vol. 140 No. 7
Today's Order of Business is Item 1. It is hoped to conclude all Stages. There will also be a two hour debate on Item 2. I suggest 20 minutes for spokespersons and ten minutes thereafter.
I am sure the House wishes to extend its good wishes for a speedy recovery to our former colleague, Deputy Michael Ferris. I understand he has undergone surgery in the past two days.
On the Order of Business, we join with the good wishes for a speedy recovery to Deputy Ferris in South Africa.
The matter of South Africa was raised yesterday. It was proposed to debate it as soon as possible, particularly to learn from the experiences of our colleagues who had the honour of helping with the election there. If this is to be of value, it should be done soon. I formally suggest that it is debated.
I also raise the matter of the defamation Bill. Unusually, it was published by the National Newspapers Association of Ireland this week and presented to the Taoiseach. We had a debate on this some time ago and the Minister, Deputy Taylor, said at that stage that, while he felt the subject was worthy of consideration, it was very far down the list of his priorities and his Department was not in a position to publish a Bill on the matter.
The National Newspapers Association has gone to the trouble of having a Bill published by Mr. Marcus Burke, a former parliamentary draftsman. It would be highly unusual for a Bill published by an outside group to be taken as a Bill either by the Government or the Opposition as their own Bill. I would certainly not propose that, but since the NNAI has gone to the trouble and expense of having a Bill prepared on a matter which is certainly of interest to all Members and is of public importance, I would ask the Leader if we could provide two hours over the coming weeks to debate the main issues in this Bill and to see if there is some way, if the House thought it proper, that this matter could be progressed further. It is unusual to have a Bill published by an outside group and I am not sure what procedure we would follow. Perhaps we could have a debate to discuss the issues in the Bill and if it is thought appropriate we could take it further.
I was concerned yesterday by the very short notice we were given in regard to Government amendments. I have given a lot of thought to it and it seems to me that this House has not been earning the respect of those who are responsible in various areas. I am actually placing the blame on ourselves. I propose that the Leader takes into account that part of our duty and responsibility is to earn the right to play a role in our primary function of legislation. We have a different role to play than the Lower House. Therefore, while our primary role is that of legislation, in order to earn that, we should find time in the next few weeks to debate some items that are not urgent. This is exactly the role that this House can play if we are to earn the regard, respect and therefore the responsibility of that primary function in the future.
Let me take three items that come to mind which are not urgent. One is the enlargement of the European Union. That was passed by the European Parliament yesterday, will now be the subject of referenda in each of the four states and will come back to us to be ratified before the end of the year. We should be debating that question this month for two reasons. First, it would be away from the immediacy of the moment when enlargement occurs later in the year, and, secondly, to send out a welcoming hand to those four new member states who are due to hold referenda.
We could also discuss the role of the United Nations. Now is the time for us to debate that role, so I would urge the Leader to find time for such a debate this month. The role of the UN has changed from peace-keeping to peace-making. A third point — though it is almost too late now to avoid the immediacy of it — would be a debate on the banking requirements for this nation. I am not saying that we should do it together with the debate that is going on at the moment. It would have been much better to have done this earlier. The world of banking is changing and we in this House need to play a role and recognise how credit unions, building societies and banks are changing. It too late to do that when a sudden crisis occurs and we may well find ourselves debating one particular aspect of that.
I would ask the Leader to find time this month to debate items such as the United Nations, the enlargement of the European Union and the banking system.
I would like to ask the Leader to convey to the Minister for Foreign Affairs the absolute necessity of putting as much pressure as we can on the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity to deal with the major problem that has emerged in Rwanda. Over 500,000 people are in one camp on the Rwandan border and the figure is growing every day. It is a major crisis, but the United Nations has not done its job in protecting the people. We will not have done our job either unless we put pressure on to ensure that the UN and African countries deal with this major problem. The African continent is blowing up around us and we are doing nothing about it. Unless we put pressure on, nobody else will. I would ask the Leader either to have an emergency debate on that matter or at least to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to put as much pressure as he can on anybody who can deal with that problem.
It would be appropriate on the day after the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians to send our congratulations to both nations for getting this matter to the beginning of peace in that area. In a sense it is a great achievement for the Palestinians that at last they have part of a state. I hope that in future they will together bring peace to that whole area.
On behalf of the Progressive Democrats I would like to send our good wishes for a speedy recovery to Deputy Michael Ferris. As regards Item 2, I think that ten minutes is very little time, particularly for Senator Sherlock and myself, to debate the health strategy. I would ask the Leader if we could have 15 minutes. I support Senator Lanigan's call for a debate on Rwanda, where the situation is urgent. As a nation we should be seen to do something, because nobody seems to be doing anything about the crisis. If the United Nations is to be seen as an effective body, some action must be taken in that area.
On a totally unrelated matter, as the House will be aware, the Leader paid tribute to RTE's technical brilliance last Saturday in the Eurovision Song Contest, which I enthusiastically support. Although I was present, I would also like, in the context of remarks made in the Lower House by the party leaders, to ask the Leader to convey our congratulations and pay tribute to Charlie McGettigan and Paul Harrington on their outstanding achievement. As the House will be aware, Charlie McGettigan is an adopted son of Drumshanbo in Leitrim, thousands of whose people turned out on Monday last to give him a traditional Irish welcome. It is an outstanding achievement for somebody from a small rural area. The pride that was manifested by the people of the region and of Ireland generally should be recognised and recorded in this House.
I would like to ask the Leader if it would be possible to initiate a debate on the drugs situation.
We had it yesterday.
It is a debate I have called for on a number of occasions. It is not a city problem, but one that is relevant to every small town in the country. People who start off with soft drugs end up with hard drugs. We should have a debate on this before the summer recess.
I wish to raise three things. First, I want to support the proposal made by Senator Manning that we should discuss the whole issue of defamation, press freedom and civil liberty. It is an issue which is raised by the Bill and the submission from the NNAI. The debate should be initiated in this House.
Second, Senator Lanigan raised an issue that I have also raised, that of Rwanda and Burundi. It is quite horrific that a quarter of a million people have had to flee their homes and upwards of 200,000 people have been slaughtered. The world has done nothing. That is an extraordinary indictment of the so-called civilised world as well as being an indication of the impotency of the United Nations. Something has to be done. This would be a good place to have a debate to highlight the Irish people's concern about these horrors.
The third issue is that of the CFSP, the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which has been raised by the issue of Maastricht and the enlargement process. There is no debate in this country at this time on the issue, though it is the most fundamental and important one we will face in 1996. In the contextual debate on enlargement we should have statements from the Government on the implications for this nation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. We should have a full day's debate on this. We would be serving the people well if we initiated the debate because it touches on neutrality and a series of other things. It is of fundamental importance to the future of Europe and to statehood itself.
I join other Senators in sending good wishes to Deputy Michael Ferris, our former colleague. If one looks at the health profile of Members of the Oireachtas, there is a high risk of heart disease.
The Senator can make an extensive contribution on Item 2. I am sure the Minister will be anxious to hear the Senator's comments.
Indeed.
The Government has been rather pusillanimous. It has spent a large amount of money redecorating Government Buildings but it lost courage at the last minute and left out the most important element for the health of Members and staff of the Oireachtas — the gymnasium. Why do we not have the courage to spend money wisely by looking after the health of Members and staff? We could do with a gym because we lead stressful lives. A gym might prevent other people from suffering heart attacks.
I was not surprised to hear Drumshanbo praised, although I was surprised that it did not happen yesterday. The comment was well merited. Watching the Eurovision Song Contest I was very proud of this small country with its small broadcasting station and its small towns such as Drumshanbo which produced such wonderful talent. We can be very proud.
I do not agree entirely with Senator Quinn's comments. We have not lost the respect of Government — we never had it. That is not our fault. I am not one of these masochistic, self-punishing people and I did not think Senator Quinn was either. The loss of respect has arisen for a variety of reasons with which I will not burden the House. We have played our role and Senator Quinn demonstrated that wonderfully when, during his first couple of weeks in the House, he succeeded in amending Government legislation. That was quite an achievement. That is the role of this House. I have seen it work previously in circumstances where it was allowed to work. However, it is important that we discuss general issues in this House in addition to amending legislation.
We should have regular monthly debates on foreign affairs. It is a subject of obvious concern to all Members of the House and it would be useful to have monthly debates on it. We should also have regular debates on Northern Ireland. Perhaps the Leader of the House would consider my suggestion. The question of a common foreign security policy is being discussed in the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs at present. A group of us had a meeting with the President of Austria this morning and that was one of the questions we discussed.
I join Senators in extending good wishes to Deputy Michael Ferris. I did not know until today that he had undergone a heart bypass operation. The situation in South Africa has been mentioned and I support wholeheartedly the sentiments expressed. The development of democracy in South Africa is one of the great occurrences of recent times.
Another momentous occurrence is the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians. I visited the West Bank and Gaza with a delegation some years ago and I did not think a treaty could be negotiated such was the fierce hostility in the area at the time. Yet the treaty has been signed.
The situation in Northern Ireland is out of control. It must be admitted that it is out of control when people are being gunned down on the street as they travel to and from work. It is about time that the authorities did something about controlling paramilitaries in the North of Ireland.
When is it proposed to introduce a statement or policy on the signing of the Charter for Self Local Government? It is part of the Programme for a Partnership Government. Until the charter is signed, local government will not have the meaningful role it should have.
The Whip has started to make arrangements for a debate on South Africa and on the enlargement of the EU. We hope those matters will be discussed in the next couple of weeks. I hope we will have an opportunity to discuss the defamation Bill. If I remember correctly, it was discussed in the context of a Fianna Fáil motion during Private Members' Business last year.
I reject Senator Quinn's views. The Minister told the House yesterday that there were certain difficulties in bringing forward amendments. She recognised those difficulties by ensuring that the amendments were not be dealt with until Report Stage. The Seanad has been to the fore in its debates during recent months. The Senator mentioned some topics and I can assure him that we are keen to discuss them as soon as possible. We have debated at length East Timor, the small business sector, Developing the West Together and other issues. The House has done itself proud in that regard. The Seanad dealt with 36 amendments to the road traffic legislation and that demonstrates the relevance of this House.
With regard to the health of Members, I support Senator Norris's sentiments. We will encourage the Minister to include gym facilities under Members' facilities as they are outlined in the brochure.
Good man.
