Today's Order of Business is item 1, Second Stage. Spokespersons may speak for 30 minutes and all other Senators for 20 minutes. Senators may share time.
Order of Business.
We agree to the Order of Business.
A number of people from outside this country have offered a great deal of help and assistance to us in recent times especially in regard to the peace talks and other matters. Yet, we do not have any honours system through which their contributions can be recognised. The State usually asks the universities to confer honorary degrees on such people. I am thinking, in particular, of people such as Senator George Mitchell and others who have done great service to this country.
I know that when the issue of introducing an honours system was mooted in the past, it was impossible to reach agreement on it. It was felt that such a system was in some way inappropriate to a republic and might perhaps mirror the British honours system in some way. I do not believe that is so. Many republics have honours systems and we frequently see distinguished visitors in the House wearing honours awarded to them by other republics. Will the Leader consider having a short debate on this issue on some quiet day in the future? I believe we are sufficiently mature as a State to be able to confer a non-partisan and universally felt honour on people who have done some service to the State.
We are now facing into a relatively long session. Will the Leader give us a structured indication of the legislation he expects to be taken during the session? I hope he will not give me the usual telephone listing of 89 Bills. I would like him to be more specific as to when the Bills will come before the House.
I wish to draw the Leader's attention to the lack of Government proposals to celebrate the millennium. Will the Leader find out what proposals exist and has he any personal proposals on how we might celebrate it?
The Order of Business is agreed.
I ask the Leader of the House if there could be debate on soil testing, a topic which I have raised with the relevant Minister without much success. I raised it with the Departments of Agriculture and Food and Environment and Local Government. Permission has been given by the Environmental Protection Agency for the trial of sugar beet which is resistant to Round Up, the Monsanto pesticide. I have been unable to find any evidence that soil testing has been carried out in this country in relation to Round Up. The only evidence I could find of soil testing was in California. There is very little testing of soil for residues and it happens with very few products.
I am concerned about this because the debate on the relevance of the persistence in soil of organo-phosphates in the development of breast cancer is still raging in medical journals. We know organo-phosphates remain in the soil for 30 years. We should not be sanguine about what we are putting into the soil.
I would be grateful if the Leader could arrange for a debate or a statement from the Minister in this House on our soil testing policy. These trials are not only relevant now, they may be extraordinarily relevant for animal, plant or human health reasons in the future.
The Order of Business is agreed.
I wish to raise a matter to which the Leader alluded last night toward the conclusion of our debate, where he made an appeal to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to be as flexible as possible on regulations allowing people to exercise their franchise on 22 May.
I received two phone calls this morning from people who went to register for a postal vote with the local authority and they were informed that, as the Order had been signed last night, it was too late for them to do so. As we only passed the legislation after 11 o'clock and as it was signed before midnight, there was no time for people to inquire about postal registration and submit an application.
I endorse the Leader's views as stated last night and ask him to secure a response from the Minster for the Environment and Local Government on that matter. We all urge the Minister to change regulations if necessary to allow as many people as possible to exercise their vote on 22 May. Thankfully there is a great interest in doing so and people should be facilitated in that regard.
It would be useful for the House to debate the role and future of genetically modified crops. Round Up, however, is a hugely beneficial and safe chemical which is cleared for use preharvest in several crops. Its residues in the soil have been assessed and, to use a technical term, the half life of Round Up is very short and it does not persist within soil. I welcome the clearance of trials by the Environmental Protection Agency. That is the way forward: independent trials by agencies such as Teagasc to assess the merit of these crops and to see if there are any potential risks associated with them.
Could the Leader arrange a debate on alcohol policy? Alcohol abuse is very serious at present; drink driving is responsible for most accidents according to a recent report and we hear of children as young as 12 going into school with hangovers. Alcohol abuse is serious and it is my belief that we should have a full day's debate on it.
I ask the Leader when we will have the promised debate on banking in view of the concerns expressed yesterday by the Director of Consumer Affairs regarding the uneven manner in which penalty charges are made without notification to clients. In the interests of openness and accountability, if the Central Bank in particular is not to be involved, more powers will have to be given to the Director of Consumer Affairs. There is also concern regarding mortgage lenders operating in the State without licence. This cannot be tolerated and the sooner we have this debate the better.
I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on regionalisation. We are coming up to a time when Ireland may not have Objective 1 Status in Europe. This House has views to express and recommendations to make and I hope it will be given the opportunity to do so. The part of the country which I represent has not had the lion's share. We received 20 per cent funding while our friends across the Border got 80 per cent. That is a serious problem and I would like an opportunity to contribute to a debate on it in this House.
Has the Leader of the House had a reply from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in regard to our concerns about the need to solve the dispute over Garda pay?
The House was treated with great respect by the Government yesterday, reflected by the long period the Taoiseach spent with us followed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and then the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. It was the entire team which had represented the State during the negotiations. Often on long debates we do not get that high level of representation from the Government and I would like my appreciation of the fact that they took the debate so seriously put on the record.
I agree with Senator Farrell about the appalling driving standards we witness now. This needs to be said again and again. We are wiping ourselves out at a horrific rate. Many of the recent accidents involved a single car and were brought about by speed. We need to debate this issue and pursue it further.
On the issue of environmental hazards, it cannot be proved that anything is safe. It can only be proved that something is not currently dangerous. There is a great reason, therefore, to be wary of genetic engineering. We can only demonstrate the degree to which it is currently safe, we do not know what will happen in ten years. It took 40 years to prove that cigarette smoking was dangerous. We should not rely on multinationals. If anyone wants information on the deviousness of multinationals and how they take different approaches in different countries, we can supply it to them.
Is the Senator proposing we have a debate on the matter?
I am. I thank the Cathaoirleach for drawing my attention to that.
I support my colleagues who raised the need for urgent examination of the imminence of our losing Objective 1 Status. One of the problems for the approach they suggest, that the poorer areas should retain that status, is that there is no proper system of regional government in the State. The Department of Finance has vigorously resisted such a form of regional government and because we do not have powerful regional authorities Brussels will not agree to a region in this State getting separate status. We cannot have the country divided into sub-regions without proper devolved authority.
I support Senator McGowan's statement on our Objective One status and the regions involved. On the Order of Business previously I have requested a debate on the NESC report, which gives details of national investment over the years. The Government should inform the general public and the Seanad of its proposals and discussions at European level. Members should be aware of the concerns of people living in those regions and that they hope any imbalances will be addressed in the next tranche of EU funding.
I support Senator Gallagher when he asked the Leader to ensure everybody who wishes to vote in the referendum should be able to do so. As the referendum is still four weeks away it should be possible to have a supplementary register or postal voting scheme for anyone who may be away from home on the day of the referendum.
I join with Senator Ridge in calling for the Leader to make his offices available for mediation in order to resolve the Garda dispute and remove the picket from Leinster House. It is wrong that the law enforcers of this country have to resort to picketing Leinster House in order to get their entitlements.
In relation to the Garda dispute raised by Senators D. Kiely and Ridge, I did communicate immediately after the Order of Business yesterday to the Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform the concerns of the Members. He assured me that everything possible was being done and all communications were being kept open in order to bring this dispute to a successful conclusion. Nobody is happy to see the gardaí picketing the gates of Leinster House for the past two mornings. I hope there will be a successful conclusion to this dispute as soon as possible.
In relation to Senator Manning and his proposal for a debate for an honours system, I think this is a very good idea.
Senator Manning also inquired about any new ideas the Government might have to celebrate the millennium. I will contact the Taoiseach's office and inform the House at the earliest opportunity. I will also look into what Members can do and discuss it at the Chief Whips weekly meeting to see how we can progress this proposal.
Senator Manning also inquired about forthcoming legislation; I will deal with that at the end of the Order of Business.
Senator Henry raised the issue of soil testing. I will facilitate a debate on this issue at the earliest opportunity. This is a very topical issue and a debate would allay fears of the people concerned.
Senators Gallagher, Cosgrave and I raised the issue of postal voting for the referendum. I was in discussions with the most senior people involved with the referendum and its legislation as late as 11.45 p.m. last night. These people then got in touch with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government's office. A message was left on my answering machine at 12.30 a.m. that they would get in touch with me this morning. There are currently 50,000 people who will be unable to vote in the referendum if the Minister does not do something about it. Yesterday I mentioned that I have 70 people in a 2,000 catchment area who will not be able to vote. One group is going on a pilgrimage. These people should be allowed to vote as this is the most important referendum in the history of the State. It is encouraging for politicians and legislators involved in these negotiations to see that everyone wants to vote. I call on every Member to try to ensure that everyone who wants to vote can acquire a postal vote. We may need to legislate for it but we will have the support of all sides of the House. I will have discussions with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government later and I will inform the House tomorrow morning about what took place.
Senators Farrell and Ryan called for an urgent debate on the abuse of alcohol and its effects in relation to car fatalities. There were 30 fatalities over the past three weeks. I will facilitate having a half day's debate on the abuse of alcohol and its related problems within the next two weeks.
Senator Coghlan called for a debate on the banking system. The Senator's Front Bench spokesperson and I have agreed to debate this issue in two weeks' time.
Senators McGowan, Ryan and Chambers requested a debate on the rationalisation of EU funding. On numerous occasions Senator Chambers has also called for a debate on the NESC report. This is a very important debate and I will discuss with the Leaders and the Whips how best we can facilitate it.
There are many debates being called for and many of them are urgent. Over the next two or three weeks I envisage we will facilitate having these debates. I ask the Leaders to be flexible when I ask for their co-operation in that regard. They have been brought to my attention and I do want to facilitate Members. It will be necessary to sit extra days in order to have time to discuss all these issues.
Senator Manning called for a list of forthcoming legislation. He will recall that since the Government took office on 26 June 1997 22 Bills have been enacted by the Government since that time. There is a list of 22 Bills currently before the Dáil and the Seanad. In the last session the Government promised 15 Bills and these were published. In the forthcoming session the Government expects to publish 11 Bills prior to the summer recess. The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution was the first of these Bills. I remind the House that the Government is leaving space in the event of legislation being necessary arising from the Agreement reached on the Northern Ireland Multi-Party Negotiations. It is of the utmost priority that we leave space so that these Bills can be discussed in this session also.
I will list the remainder of the Government's Bills. These are: (2) the Copyright (Amendment) Bill; (3) the Industrial Development (Amendment) Bill; (4) the Urban Renewal Bill; (5) the Electoral (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill, which most Members will be anxious to see passing both Houses; (6) the Investor Compensation Bill; (7) the EMU Bill; (8) the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Bill; (9) the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, to amend the law on advertising by solicitors; (10) the Parental Leave Bill and (11) the Family Law (International Protection of Children) Bill. That is the proposed list of legislation but I expect there will be other legislation in relation to the multi-party talks.
Order of Business agreed to.