Today's business is item 1. The business will be interrupted from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. There will be 30 minutes for principal spokespersons and 20 minutes for all other speakers. Senators may share their time.
Order of Business.
Will the Leader indicate whether the Government proposes to restore the Shannon River Council Bill which passed Second Stage in the last Seanad? This Bill was a Fianna Fáil initiative and it received the support of all parties. Is it proposed to restore the Bill on Committee Stage? This is within the power of the Leader.
Will the Leader give the Opposition some indication of the business over the next few weeks? I do not wish to be told that there are 100 Bills being introduced this year. I wish to know what is happening over the next three or four weeks so that the Opposition groups can plan their schedules.
Yesterday the Leader stated that he had no difficulty restoring the Foreign Adoptions Bill to the Order Paper. I do not see it on the Order Paper. We were told that this would done immediately. I move amendment No. 1: "That the first item on today's Order of Business be non-Government motion No. 14".
I second Senator Manning's amendment to the Order of Business. We will have to insist that commitments are honoured. Yesterday the Leader gave the House an indication that the Government was well disposed towards this measure. The second part of the motion refers to the Attorney General's advice. We are all well informed in these times of openness and the Leader should not have any difficulty in presenting that advice to the House.
I recently raised the need for a debate on industrial relations. This is an opportune time to have such a debate. Issues such as industrial relations, union recognition and the minimum wage are being discussed publicly and Members of this House are entitled to have an input into that debate and to be informed on the issues. The debate should be arranged at an early stage.
The Labour Party supports the amendment proposed by Senator Manning and seconded by Senator O'Toole. In view of the fact that we will observe two minutes' silence at 11 a.m., this is an ideal opportunity for the House to debate the peace process and Northern Ireland. I congratulate Mr. Paul Burton and his friends from across the political divide, the trade union movement, etc. on their first initiative called STOP which focuses on the peace process and remembers those who have died in the violence. They oppose violence in all its forms and put great emphasis on the necessity to use this window of opportunity to progress the peace process. This would be an appropriate opportunity for us to debate the issue.
Yesterday, I raised the proposal by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to set up a commission under the Local Government Act, 1991 to look at reform of local authorities and boundaries changes. I asked the Leader yesterday to ask the Minister for information on this issue and if he would come to the House to debate it. This is important because the Minister has postponed the elections for another year so that it will be eight years before local elections take place. This year, 1998, is the centenary of the establishment of local government here. Therefore, it is important we debate the issue and look at how far local government has progressed over the past 100 years and where we envisage it going over the next period of time.
There have been many calls over the past number of weeks for a discussion on international affairs, particularly on Iraq and Algeria. We should have a discussion on the merits or demerits of the United States and its allies deciding whether to bomb the Iraqi people again. One of the reasons given is to "take out" Saddam Hussein; another is to find out what radioactive materials and biological weaponry are in Iraq. In the last Gulf War the United Nations dropped 141,921 tonnes of munitions on Iraq. All the Iraqi people suffered as a result of the bombing that took place. Quite an amount of the munitions used were depleted uranium bombs. The water courses and infrastructure of Iraq suffered dramatically as a result. When I talk about the Iraqi infrastructure I include in that the Iraqi people.
It is not in order for Senator Lanigan to go into such detail on the Order of Business. The Senator has made a good case for a debate.
I ask for an urgent debate because the death rate in Iraq per 1,000 children under five years of age increased from 2.3 in 1989 to 16.6 in 1996.
Hear, hear.
There is a need for an urgent debate and I hope the Leader of the House will be able to arrange one before there is a military strike on Iraq next week.
I ask the Leader when the promised debate on radon will take place in view of the recent failure of the Department of Education to install a radon venting system in a school in the west. There is a need for regulations, particularly for public buildings.
I join with Senator Costello in seeking an early debate on the North. It is very important that all the issues are fully discussed.
In light of the recent announcement of fees in the Brigid McCole case, will the Leader take up the issue of legal fees with the Government so as to address the significant public disquiet in this area? The legal team did an excellent job on behalf of the McCole family but I ask the Leader to ask the Government to specifically look at having a maximum prices order in relation to legal fees. I suggest a refresher fee ranging from £500 to £700 per day, which would seem very generous to the average person. The Government should try to ensure these kind of figures are imposed rather than the rates that are being charged at present.
In cases involving compensation claims where the State is clearly culpable there should be simplified procedures put in place to address the issue rather than putting people through a harrowing experience and expensive court procedures. I ask the Leader to bring that to the attention of the Government.
I agree with Senator Lanigan and wish the Government would put on record its views which were reported yesterday in The Irish Times about the crisis in Iraq which was a good deal more moderate than the United Kingdom's view on the issue. I would like this recorded and not simply attributed to an anonymous spokesperson.
On the question of industrial relations, I agree with Senator O'Toole that we need a debate not just on that issue but on the whole future of social partnership. I am appalled at the idea that something that has produced five years of the most extraordinary economic performance in this country's history would end up in ruins because of the obduracy of a shopkeeper who was lucky to get into Ryanair at a time when it was profitable. We ought to look at what will happen if we let social partnership fall apart.
I ask the Leader to contact RTE because of its high-handed decision to dispense with Sunday services on RTE 1 FM and put it back to medium wave. Sunday services have a big listenership, particularly among senior citizens and people who are sick in hospital or house bound. It is scandalous that this decision was taken without discussing the matter with anyone. We talk about transparency and openness in the media but where was this evident when RTE took its decision? This is just the tip of the iceberg. It will only be a short time before it is abolished altogether.
I have allowed Senator Farrell some latitude but this is not a matter for the Order of Business.
RTE is not very helpful as far as religious services or anything of a Christian nature is concerned.
Hear, hear.
We are all appalled by the level of carnage on our roads. Many of these accidents and fatalities are on rural roads. I ask the Leader to appeal to the Minister to advocate a policy to the National Roads Authority, which seems to be the governing body with regard to speed limits, which would protect the two most vulnerable groups in society, the old and infirm and children. Speed limits should be put in place at all national schools and health centres in rural areas where there have been many fatalities. Many local authority members and councillors find it more and more difficult to get the National Roads Authority to respond to their calls to have speed limits put in place. Councillors have local knowledge of their areas. It is accepted generally that speed is the greatest killer on our roads.
Will the Leader consider having a debate on funding for local authority houses? Perhaps the Minister for the Environment and Local Government could come into the House to debate the issue. There is a need for a policy change in this area. It costs in the region of £100,000 to build a local authority house but a family housed in such a house is never encouraged to do anything for itself. I think the Minister would welcome the opportunity to have a full and open debate on this issue. Those of us who are members of local authorities have some idea of the imbalance which exists when ten people out of 100 are selected and housed in a centrally heated, double glazed house, the rent for which is never sufficient to cover its maintenance. This is an important matter to rural dwellers and I would welcome the opportunity to debate it.
I also urge the Leader to arrange a debate on the urgent matter of the erection of telephone masts in small towns against the wishes of the communities there.
The first ever motor car fatality occurred on this day 100 years ago. I support Senator McDonagh but I urge the Minister for the Environment and Local Government not to have a debate on the issue but to use this anniversary to take action. Such action should be based on the ideas outlined in this House on numerous occasions last year following the carnage on our roads which has continued unabated. There is a lot of talk on this issue but not enough action.
I want to raise a matter which affects practically all adults, namely, insurance and the insurance industry. Last week, the non-insurance members of the council of the Office of the Insurance Ombudsman stated that none of them was present when it was decided not to renew the insurance ombudsman's contract. Allegations of interference with the work of the ombudsman were also made. It was ironic that we received the ombudsman's first report on the day following the announcement of her resignation. I ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to come into this House to debate the insurance industry.
I support Senator Walsh's call for the Government to look into legal fees. Brigid McCole was one of my constituents and I never debated her case publicly before. However, I was shocked at the announcement last week of the amount of legal fees — totalling £1.3 million — which were paid to lawyers in contrast to the £175,000 award received by Mrs. McCole on her death bed.
I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach for having allowed me to raise the issue of the Pretty Polly factory in this House last week. I would like the Leader to express our gratitude to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for her indication that, all going well, a replacement industry will be in place by Easter.
Will the Leader have a debate on interview techniques for promotions within the public service? I wonder if a CV now takes precedence over performance appraisal. The issue concerns me and, in light of new legislation coming on board, I wonder whether there is transparency in this area.
I support Senator Lanigan's call for a debate on the dangerous situation in Iraq. When such a debate was previously requested, the Leader said he would like to see it taking place in the context of a general foreign affairs debate. However, this situation is so serious that I believe we should have a focused debate on it. We are complicit in the issue to a certain extent in so far as European countries provide the materials for bomb making. What would happen if one of the anthrax factories was hit?
I also support Senator Farrell, although I think he got his information the wrong way round. Religious service broadcasts have been changed to FM from AM and that does cause difficulty for elderly people. I also want to put it on the record that, as a member of the Church of Ireland, I am tired of that church being used as a stalking horse to try to get rid of the Angelus broadcasts as if everyone who is not a Roman Catholic wants it off the airwaves. They do not; a number of us appreciate and like the broadcast.
I also support Senator Lanigan's call for a debate on Iraq and I suggest it should take place sooner rather than later in view of the imminent bombing of Iraq. It is very important that we get behind the gung-ho headlines on this issue which refer to military assets. We are all aware that humanitarian issues are involved here as there is a possibility that men, women and children will be killed. I was particularly upset by the manner in which this case was presented by the British Prime Minister at the White House when he said that if people did not submit, they would have to suffer. There is an echo here of the armalite and the ballot box strategy which I find unacceptable.
I support Senators McDonagh's and Quinn's comments about road deaths. Members of the legal, nursing, medical and teaching professions and all trades are obliged to undergo refresher courses from time to time. Many drivers have never taken a driving test and are never obliged to undergo a refresher course. We all think we are great drivers. We, as politicians, are required to confront our failings at every election but until drivers commit a misdemeanour their ability is never called into question. A mechanically propelled vehicle in the hands of an indiscriminate or careless driver is a lethal weapon. In the past, the words "care", "courtesy" and "consideration" briefly summed up driving skills. In many cases those words have been replaced by "road rage". I would welcome a debate on this issue.
Senator Manning disagreed with the Order of Business for the second day. The Government approves the restoration of the Adoption (No. 2) Bill to the Seanad Order Paper on the basis that the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Fahey, would consider the outstanding issue outlined in the memorandum to Government with a view to addressing these difficulties and report back to the Cabinet. The issue referred to relates to ordinary adoptions affecting Paraguay. The Department is currently pursuing this issue to enable the Minister to report back to the Government prior to moving the motion to restore the Bill to the Order Paper. I did not promise yesterday to have the Bill restored today. I said I would have no difficulty restoring the Bill to the Order Paper when the Government had cleared the motion to restore it.