Today's business is items 1, 28, motion 24, and 2. Item 1 will be taken from now until 6 p.m. and I suggest 20 minutes per speaker. Item 28, motion 24, is Private Members' Business and item 2 will commence immediately at the end of Private Members' Business until 10.30 p.m.
Order of Business.
In view of the number of contributions we can expect on local government funding, it is appropriate that Members should be given 20 minutes to speak. What are the Leader's intentions regarding the Education Bill? The Irish Horse Racing Authority recently introduced a five year strategy for the industry. Will the Leader consider making time available so that the House will have an opportunity to discuss a very important industry before final decisions are made?
Members frequently mention the conditions of school building and the need for improvements. It would be helpful, and would mark a new era of openness, if the Minister for Education would make available to Members of both Houses plans for all primary school buildings for the next calendar year; in other words, she could provide information on plans for development in each case. This would save much time for Members and the Department of Education and the Minister would no longer come under political pressure to instigate improvements in a piecemeal fashion. People would begin to see the obfuscation surrounding school buildings on a monthly rather than a yearly basis.
The Minister appreciates the Senator's concern.
The teachers took all the money.
If people could gain access to the lists for January and June and see they were different, they could inquire about the reasons for this and I would no longer be obliged to raise such matters.
In that case we are in the same position as the Senator.
Since our last debate on mandatory reporting of child abuse, the Minister has adopted a position on the matter. It is time the House offered a view on the Minister's plans in that area. I am unhappy with the final position. I am not criticising the Minister or stating that I am right and she is wrong or vice versa. However, this complex and complicated issue merits further discussion. Members have received representations from various interest groups whether mandatory reporting of child abuse should be introduced.
I support Senator Wright's request for information on the Government's intentions regarding the recently published Education Bill. If the Bill is brought before the Houses, what form will it take and how will it relate other legislation, such as the Equal Status Bill? The Employment Equality Bill — which was passed in the Lower House — the Equal Status Bill and the Education Bill were published recently. Does the Government have plans to deal with the three together? In my opinion, they are inextricably linked and difficult to separate. I remind the Leader of his commitment to make time available for a wider debate on education, particularly with regard to political involvement, local government representation and the White Paper.
Has the debate already begun?
Yes.
When is it intended to introduce legislation to give effect to the people's decision in the referendum on bail? When will statutory provisions to support that decision be introduced?
There have been calls for a debate on agriculture and the Leader indicated that he would make time available in the near future. However, in view of the current situation, the fact that it is proving difficult for winter fatteners to make money, the serious effect of the closure of the Russian and Egyptian markets and the removal of export refunds, it is important that the House should examine these matters and that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry should make a statement.
The final matter I wish to raise involves coverage of proceedings on "Oireachtas Report". Are there precise regulations regarding the operation of television cameras in the Houses? When cameras were first introduced, I recall that very restrictive provisions were to be imposed with regard to coverage of proceedings and, in terms of close-ups, the cameras were meant to change shot if the Cathaoirleach stood. In recent weeks there has been an increasing tendency for the cameras to pan across both the Dáil and the Seanad. I have no objection to that but have there been any contacts with the producers of the programme to ensure that coverage follows particular lines? Recently a film clip was inserted in Oireachtas Report. I welcome the more liberal approach.
Senator O'Toole wants to be a film star.
I am sure Senator Cotter could be a film star and get an Oscar. Are there precise rules as to camera coverage of the House?
I ask the Leader for a debate on the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities as soon as possible. I raised this matter previously, there is need for coordination because the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment are both involved. The report should be implemented.
I support Senator Dardis's comments on the modus operandi of the cameras in the House. I served on the initial committee that dealt with this matter and a restrictive approach was adopted. As Senator Dardis has raised the issue. I hope those responsible for the decorum of the House will not retreat into their bunkers and that we will be dealing again with the fixed camera. It is a welcome diversity if those involved are more creative than was the case when the cameras were initially brought in.
I ask the Leader to establish through the Minister, Deputy Dukes, who is responsible for transport policy, whether there has been a change in Government policy in the naming of railway stations. The House will recall that in 1966, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising, the Government of the day initiated a scheme of changing the names of national railway stations.
That is not a matter for the Order of Business. The Senator should put a question to the Leader.
Sligo station, which was designated Stáisiúin Seán Mac Diarmada after the Leitrim-born signatory of the 1916 Rising, has now reverted to its Anglicised title of Sligo station, or Stáisiúin Sligeach.
An accident of geography.
That is not a matter for the Order of Business.
It has exercised the minds of a considerable number of people in my constituency.
I ask the Senator to put a question to the Leader.
They have asked me to raise this in a national forum because of the historic connotations. Can the Leader establish if there has been a change in Government policy in relation to the Government order of 1966 on the naming of stations after the signatories of the 1916 Rising?
I draw the Leader's attention to nursing home fees. There is evidence that those fees have increased beyond the rate of inflation. Those fees are covered by the 1993 nursing homes regulations. The criteria in the North of Ireland for determining when a person's home, for example, might be sold to pay for nursing home fees are more savage than they are here. Are increases of 66 per cent over the last two to three years, which have reportedly taken place in Waterford, Tipperary and Meath, in line with Government thinking?
I ask the Leader for a firm date on the debate on the licensing trade as this is particularly urgent. I received a lot of support for raising this matter and I suggest it should be broadened to include the responsibility of judges who appear to issue licences without any regard for people. They go through the process on a nod as if they were ticket collectors at a railway station, such as Kingsbridge, Connolly or Sligo station. They seem to exercise no judgment as to the consequences that will follow if these licences are granted willy nilly. If a few licences were granted in their back gardens in Foxrock, they might wake up a bit.
We are not debating that matter now.
In the past couple of days a judge, in her wisdom, chose to purport, against the Constitution in my opinion, to confine a drunken man to the north side of the city. This is extraordinary, irresponsible behaviour by judges and it is time something was done about it.
The Senator is fully aware that we do not discuss court judgments in this House.
That is why I thought I might.
It might be no harm for the Leader to have a meeting with the public relations officer who is responsible for the image of this House because we need to present a more positive image. I was amazed to hear members of the media, particularly the print media, saying that the offer of £21,000 to nurses was meagre and an insult. I wonder if they know that Members of this House are expected to survive and to contribute on less than £20,000 a year. They are always talking about politicians going on junkets.
We are not discussing that matter now.
Perhaps the Leader could ask the person responsible to take this matter on board.
I have heard about shooting oneself in the foot, but that is shooting oneself in the mouth.
The Senator has probably shot himself in the foot and nothing was heard about it.
A previous Member of this House, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, used to regularly mention the banking industry. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on this issue. I am sure the House has noted that AIB has reported record profits and that it recently bought a chain of banks in the United States for £800 million. Perhaps we should find out when it will repay the taxpayer the money borrowed to get it out of a hole.
The Senator should take that matter up with Senator Ross.
He is in the Senator's party.
Mr. Naughten
I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications when the independent regulator for the telecommunications sector will be appointed. The role of this regulator is to monitor emissions of non-ionising radiation from mobile telephone base station masts and the MMDS mast. Many communities are worried about the health risks involved. Perhaps the Leader could also ask the Minister if it would be possible to put a research programme in place to clarify if there are such risks because much of the research carried out is ambiguous in this regard.
I ask the Leader for a debate on agriculture. There are two areas which are of grave concern to the farming community and they should be brought to the attention of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry: the first is the lack of roll-on roll-off freight cargo to take cattle from this country to the Continent. I understand ships are available but they are unsuitable as they do not have the proper facilities required by exporters and the second relates to the recent report which suggested that traces of meat and bone meal were found in 58 cases of animal feedstuff. This is a serious matter particularly in light of the debate over the past 12 months. I ask the Leader to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and for regulations to be introduced, and legislation if necessary, to ensure that meat and bone meal cannot find its way into animal feedstuffs. Talk in both Houses about the good quality of Irish meat will have been for nought if we cannot guarantee Irish and international markets that meat and bone meal is not in the feedstuffs given to our stock. Will the Leader raise this matter with the Minister?
I support the call by Senator Sherlock for a debate on the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. Some days ago I watched the return of participants in games in Canada where they won six or seven gold medals. There was nobody to greet them from the Government or the Opposition. I am sure it was an oversight but I genuinely believe that we should treat these victors in sport with the same degree of attention as able bodied people. I hope that when the victors arrive home in future we will accord them the same welcome we give other athletes.
Hear, hear.
I am grateful to Senator O'Toole for drawing my attention to the fact that one of the papers before the Seanad concerns the quality of drinking water in Ireland. I brought this issue before the House during debates on, for example, the sheep premium scheme. It is a most important paper and I would be sorry if we were to only have a short debate on it, particularly during Lent. It is a very serious paper by the Environmental Protection Agency which shows the dreadful deterioration in the quality of water here within the last five years. I would be grateful if the Leader would allow time for a debate within the next few weeks.
I wish to draw the attention of the House to an ugly situation which has developed in Spain in the past 24 hours. A number of Irish hauliers have been caught in a French style blockade. The Spanish hauliers are in dispute with the Government about the price of fuel and have decided to call a halt to the movement of haulage traffic. The situation worsened last night with the tyres being slashed on some of the vehicles and I understand that an element of danger is now involved. Will the Leader bring this matter to the attention of Minister Dukes and the Tánaiste?
I also wish to ask the Leader for a debate on heritage grants. There is a perception that some parts of the country do very well from heritage grants while others get none. I know there is a logical explanation and who better to describe that to us than the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht? I want a debate on the Ulster Canal as a matter of urgency.
I ask the Leader for a debate on the environment, particularly coastal erosion. It is a big problem that is getting worse. No positive action seems to be under way to do anything about it. Our beautiful sand dunes are now just hills of sand that will soon be blown away. On numerous occasions I have inquired about research into how to reproduce the marram grass that lasted for two generations and retained the sand dunes. It will be an awful loss to the country if they disappear.
Can the Leader arrange for a debate on the media? Of late they are prejudging cases with no foundation as happened with a Member of this House recently. A number of recent cases have had to be stopped because the media prejudged the outcome and printed photographs. No one should be judged, except by the jury and the judge.
Will the Senator put a question to the Leader?
We should have a debate on this matter and introduce guidelines and restrictions because the media must be stopped prejudging cases.
My county enterprise board presented research information recently which indicated that county enterprise boards are creating jobs ahead of target. However, this research also showed that most small enterprises have difficulty securing matching funds from the banks. In the light of this fact and the massive profits recently announced by AIB, I support Senator Norris's call for a debate on the banks. Item 11 on the Order Paper is Statements on Banking. Would the Leader indicate when this debate will be resumed?
I support Senator Farrell's call for a debate on the media and the libel laws. I was disturbed by a full page advertisement in The Irish Times today which was below the belt in its portrayal of a former Minister. The Minister was not in my party but that is not the point. This was a low form of advertising and it should not be tolerated.
I also call for a debate on the banks. AIB recently announced massive profits and the other banks will do likewise shortly. We are living in buoyant times and the majority of the banks' profits are generated by the ordinary working person. It is important that we send a message to the banks that they should start to reduce their charges.
I agree with Senator Finneran's comments on the export of live cattle. There are difficulties exporting cattle to Europe at present as animal health regulations must be strictly adhered to. I am glad the Minister is endeavouring to address these problems and that extra ferries will be provided over the weekend. Would the Leader arrange for a debate on this matter?
My second point relates to the charges imposed by Irish Multichannel which operates an MMDS system relaying television channels to domestic and commercial consumers. Irish Multichannel's basic rental charge in 1995-96 was £164.45, this year the charge is £270.
I am sure the Senator could find another way of getting this information to the Leader.
Will the Leader arrange for a debate on this matter because this is a rip-off? Householders, pubs and hotels are being overcharged. The Competition Authority should be asked to investigate this matter.
I, too, call on the Leader to consider the possibility of a debate on the media, broadcasting in general, whether there should be a press council and code of ethics for journalism, which is deteriorating rapidly, and giving fair play to all political parties. I notice that since the demise of The Irish Press nobody is giving the view of Fianna Fáil, which is the largest party.
We are not debating that now on the Order of Business.
Try Independent Newspapers. Ask Sam Smyth.
What about RTÉ?
I call on the Leader to have a serious debate on this issue. The Senators opposite will not always be in Government and they, too, might need a fair press, which does not exist at present.
To add to Senator Kelly's point about a discussion on the banks, it would be wise if the Seanad debated the Credit Union Bill before discussing the banks because we would then be in a much better position to dictate to the banks? I ask the Leader for a debate on the Credit Union Bill?
It is so long since the Order of Business began that I almost forget what was said. Colleagues will have noticed that there were nine requests for different debates. Clearly, there is a problem. Many of these topics are worthy of debate and I have been giving some thought to that matter. I propose that, starting in a few weeks, we will meet on Wednesday morning from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to devote time to the type of debates requested. That means it is incumbent on those who call so persistently for these debates to make sure they are here on those particular days because Senator Wright and I have had experience in the past of people calling loudly for debates and then not being present when they took place.
Can we have the first one?
I propose that we begin this in two or three weeks and give people good notice of the topics for debate. The universal experience of the House is that short, focused debates with short contributions are much more effective than long, rambling ones. We will start that experiment and I will deal with the topics to which I hope to give priority.
Can we put in for an increase?
The Education Bill, which was raised by Senator O'Toole, will not be in the House before Easter. It will be taken in the Dáil soon and we will have it as soon as it is finishes there.
I would be very keen to give priority to the strategic plan for the horse racing industry, on which there is a very special vein of expertise in this House. Sadly, one of main contributors has been sidelined from that particular debate, but it is one to which I will certainly give priority.
Senator O'Toole raised the question of the plans for school buildings. I suspect that would be an ideal motion for the Adjournment.
The question of mandatory reporting would benefit from the system of short debates to which I referred as would the Education debate, although I think the Senator has constant dialogue at the decision making level in Education. I am not sure he needs a debate in this House.
Inside track.
It is a one-way, non-return type communication.
Senator Manning without interruption.
He does it by other means.
Senator Dardis raised the question of the legislation on bail. My understanding is that it is at an advanced stage of preparation but I will have more specific information for him tomorrow. I agree that there is a need for a debate on agriculture. I will try to slot it into the schedule of debates and it will be high on that agenda. On the question raised about "Oireachtas Report" and the cameras, my understanding is that there is a rule and it is not being obeyed. Whether it is a good rule in the first place is another matter. The question of liberalising coverage of the House has been exercising the broadcasting committee for some time and as soon as a decision is made I will report back to the Seanad.
Senator Sherlock and others asked for a debate on disabilities, which is a priority. There is neither a Government decision on nor Government involvement in renaming of railway stations. I am not aware that it is happening and if so, it is a matter for CIE but to confirm that point I will contact the Department. However, it is not something which would emanate from Government and to the best of my knowledge it has never been discussed. Senator McAughtry raised an interesting question relating to nursing homes. I suggest this would be a suitable matter for the Adjournment.
Senator Norris' suggested a debate on licensing, which I hope to include in the new schedule. He also asked for a debate on banking but my memory of the last such debate is that it was seriously under-subscribed and most of the contributions did not enhance the reputation of the House. Senator Cregan is right — the Credit Union Bill provides a good opportunity to debate banking in a wide way and I would be happier to leave it until then.
I welcome the maiden contribution, not the maiden speech, of Senator Naughten. He raised the question of the independent regulator — my understanding is that an advertisement will be placed in the next few days for that position and it is everyone's hope that it will be filled as speedily as possible. Senator Finneran raised matters which would come under the agriculture debate but I undertake to refer the specific points to the Minister. Senator Henry mentioned the quality of the water supply, which is another issue we should debate soon. Senator Cotter raised the position of the Irish hauliers; I am sure the Department of Foreign Affairs is fully aware of that but if not, I will bring the matter to its attention. We could debate the heritage issue later.
Senator Farrell and Senator Cassidy raised the question of the media and I have said for some time that I would welcome a debate on aspects of that issue. It is not a one-way street — there are areas where we as politicians should look at our performance and perceptions. The report on the newspaper industry might provide a structure for the debate and I will see if I can make that happen soon. Senator Lydon mentioned an advertisement which I think was no credit to either the radio station or The Irish Times. Senator Maloney raised the question of banking. My answer to Senator Enright's question is yes.
Order of Business agreed to.