It is proposed to take item 1, the Architectural Heritage (National Inventory) and Historic Monuments (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 1998, Committee Stage. This is to be interrupted at 6 p.m. for Private Members' time, item 20, motion 33, on nuclear risks. Committee Stage is to resume at 8 p.m. if not concluded by 6 p.m.
Order of Business.
The Order of Business is agreed. However, a number of Senators have asked time and again about the Government's intentions regarding Objective One status. Does the Government intend dropping Clare and Kerry from the group designated for that status, does it intend resubmitting 13 counties or will it go back to the older system? This should be clarified.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government and his Minister for State, Deputy Molloy, announced new housing proposals yesterday. Will the Minister inform the House what land banks are available to local authorities for these projects? If there are no land banks, and it is my understanding that there are very few, if any, it would be impossible to introduce these measures. I agree with the measures in principle but, if infrastructure is not in place where these land banks are available, does the Minister intend making additional funding available to local authorities to put that infrastructure in place?
I have previously raised the need for a debate on industrial policy and industrial relations. Over the past few months we have heard obviously committed Members on all sides comment on job losses in Portarlington, Fruit of the Loom, Clonmel and other places. In the midst of all that it is absolutely unacceptable for a State body like the ESRI to come out with a stupid and ridiculous proposal to scale back on the development of industry when people are losing jobs. It is unacceptable that after ten years of wage restraint we are to accept a situation where workers' demands for average improvements in pay and conditions should lead to a State body telling companies to start scaling back. I have a lot to say on this matter, but I will not abuse my position by doing so now. However, I ask the Acting Leader to arrange for an immediate debate on that ridiculous, specious report from the ESRI. A Minister should come to the House so that we can scotch, rubbish and dispose of that report as quickly as possible and before we start giving out the wrong impression to people who are looking for work. The Government has set up at least five task forces from north Mayo to Donegal to south Tipperary to find employment.
Ten.
That is unacceptable, and I want to hear from the Government about it.
I seek clarification on item 1. Are we taking Committee Stage only and not all Stages? I agree with Senator O'Toole. The Tánaiste should attend a debate on the ridiculous exhortation of the ESRI to companies not to consider expanding as that might fuel a wage increase. Does the ESRI know that we still do not have a minimum wage?
And people are losing jobs.
And people are losing jobs, particularly in rural Ireland. There has been a huge number of closures recently, and the Tánaiste is setting up task forces everywhere to create jobs. We do not have trade union recognition in many areas, and there are approximately 220,000 people on the live register. I remember the Taoiseach of the day saying 20 years ago that if the live register went over 100,000 he would resign. As it happens, he was pushed and did not go voluntarily, but we still have a huge number of long-term unemployed. The ESRI would be much better advised to think in terms of generating more indigenous businesses than making these silly recommendations.
I request a debate on motion 18 which asks the Government to establish an independent assessment of microwave communications masts, particularly in view of Leitrim County Council's vote to reverse a previous planning decision and oppose the erection of such a mast. This will have implications for local authorities all over the country and, given that the Seanad is largely elected by councillors, this matter will concern us as it concerns those who elected us. We should have this debate to clarify matters. I received a call from a woman whose house was near a toy shop which had nine mini-masts. Her family was going berserk because of the interference and they were unable to stay in the house, they had to move in with relatives. There are serious matters to be addressed.
I agree with Senator Coogan about the recent announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy. The Minister said he did not see a housing crisis but is now putting forward a policy for affordable housing to be operated by local authorities.
He inherited the crisis.
He did not, it came about in the last two years, for most of which this Government was in power.
Is the Senator telling the new immigrants to go back from where they came?
The treatment of asylum seekers and refugees is another matter and I wish the Government would take a common approach to that. There will be great difficulty implementing the Minister of State's proposal in Dublin because there is no land bank, and the position is similar elsewhere.
Senator Costello is debating the matter now, which he cannot do. He may seek a debate but he cannot enter into the details at this stage.
I am seeking a debate on the basis that we should have an overall, comprehensive plan to address the critical question of accommodation.
I ask for a debate on taxi licences. A major legal anomaly with increasing the number of licences is the price which local authorities can charge for a new licence, and this is causing major problems for the attempts by various local authorities, including Dublin Corporation, to increase the number of taxi licences without bestowing huge profits on those who obtain them. Some of them have sold the licences by the time they get them.
I also ask for a debate on the ESRI report. Two people have berated the institute for issuing its reflective document, which is now in the public arena. We should debate it and accept it for what it is, a prediction of what might happen because of rising costs in industry. It deserves better than being dismissed because it is an important part of the debate on the problems we will experience in the future in creating industrial jobs.
I request an urgent debate on the situation which has arisen in recent days in southern Lebanon. Israel has again indiscriminately bombed sites inside Lebanon, a sovereign country, and has justified its actions by stating that members of its security forces stationed in southern Lebanon were killed in raids by Hizbollah. The Israeli security forces should not be in that country. If, during the Troubles, the British Army had bombed Dublin or Cork in order to wipe out suspected IRA cells the situation here would have been the same as that which obtains in Lebanon. There is a need to debate this matter urgently because the Palestinians—
Senator Lanigan has made his point. I call Senator Ridge.
I appreciate that the Leader, Senator Cassidy, is not present—
The Senator should not refer to the absence of any Member from the Chamber.
I was not doing so in any derogatory sense. Two weeks ago the Leader gave a commitment to arrange a debate on the obvious increase in freely available pornography and to put into action the review promised in Fianna Fáil's election manifesto. Will the Acting Leader indicate whether a date has been arranged for that debate?
(Interruptions.)
Order, please. Senator Ridge without interruption.
Will the Acting Leader convey a message to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government from myself and many other public representatives in respect of ballot papers for the local elections? Tomorrow there will be a debate on election expenditure. However, on a previous occasion in the House the Minister stated he would consider the possibility of including photographs of candidates on ballot papers.
There will be a great demand for touch-up artists if that happens.
There have been major changes to electoral boundaries in many areas of Dublin and public representatives may not be as well known as they believe. As stated previously, there is beauty and then there is political beauty and people should be given the opportunity to look at us in addition to knowing us by name. Will the Acting Leader ask the Minister if a decision has been made in this regard?
I join with Senator O'Toole in calling for a debate on the ESRI report. I have not read the report and, therefore, I am not in a position to rubbish it in the same comprehensive manner as my colleague. However, it seems bizarre that at this stage in our economic development we are being told to pull back from creating jobs. It must be remembered that the 3 per cent wage increase people received recently only represents a rise of £3 on earnings of £100 per week. A person could not even buy a packet of 20 cigarettes for that. Therefore, I do not believe we have been very flathúlach in the wage increases we have granted. Senator O'Toole's call for a debate is timely.
I also request a debate on item 26 on the Order Paper in the name of myself and Senator Ryan. I know other colleagues will add their names to this motion which involves asylum seekers and refugees. It is important to debate this matter to encourage the Government to reach a positive decision with regard to allowing refugees and asylum seekers who have lived in the country for six months to take up some form of employment. Employers are experiencing a crisis because they cannot attract people with sufficient skills in various professions and trades to take up employment. Refugees and asylum seekers are willing to work but we do not allow them to do so.
I accept that this matter is being debated by Ministers at present and I believe the Seanad could play a non-partisan role in assisting the Cabinet in reaching a decision. I say this without any intention of trying to drive a wedge between the two Coalition partners. We should be afforded an opportunity to assist the Cabinet in reaching its decision.
A recently published OECD report has criticised the long-term unemployed community schemes and back to work allowances. I ask the Acting Leader to arrange a debate on the direction of policy in FÁS and its relevance in getting the long-term unemployed back to work because I believe it is out of touch. I have asked previously for such a debate.
I also recently requested a debate on apprenticeships. The philosophy of FÁS must be looked at in terms of its approach to courses for the long-term unemployed. It would be timely for the Minister to attend such a debate.
I support Senator Coogan's call for a debate on housing. People in some sectors of society have two, three and four houses. They lie idle for six months of the year yet the owners receive tax breaks on them. By contrast, those in other sectors are not even able to get on the housing ladder. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government with responsibility for housing to attend such a debate.
The Minister should also attend the House to debate his proposals to increase housing densities by up to 16 houses per acre. This will entail changes to county and town development plans. There is a need for the Minister to explain his proposals to the House.
Yet again I ask for a debate on water quality. Since my last request there has been a serious incident of water pollution in a river in County Kildare. On this occasion the local authority was the culprit.
The quality of our drinking water is deteriorating by the day, yet there appears to be a reluctance to have the issue properly debated in the House. The Roman Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burnt. I do not want to be part of a Government or of public life that continues to fiddle while the quality of our water, drinking or otherwise, deteriorates by the day. It will have a negative impact on public health and on the tourism industry. I ask that this issue be taken seriously. This is my fifth time to raise it. I hope I will not have to make another request.
The Acting Leader will look after the Senator.
Thanks to the support of my colleagues on the Independent benches and the assistance of two lawyers – Adam McAuley and David Tomkin – I have presented the Regulation of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, 1999, to the House; it is No. 19 on the Order Paper. The Bill makes provision for the establishment and maintenance of a register of clinics which provide assisted human reproduction. Some Members on the Government side of the House have also expressed their concern on this topic. This country is at the forefront of technology in this area, yet there is no legislation covering the clinics which provide it. I do not suggest that anything unethical goes on in any of the clinics which operate here. However, I would like the Acting Leader to arrange Government time for the Second Stage of the Bill because it is an area that should be urgently addressed.
Will the Acting Leader arrange a debate on the state of the Irish language? A recent report outlined the great decline in the daily usage of the language in Gaeltacht areas, which is very disturbing. Is géarchúiseach an scéal é agus tá sé fíor thábhachtach anois go gcuirfidh an tAire polasaí láidir i bhfeidhm chun cosc a chur leis an sleamhnú sin.
Beidh Lá 'le Pádraig á cheiliúradh againn i gcionn cupla seachtain eile agus beimid go léir ag maíomh as ar ndúil sa Ghaeilge. Tá sé fíor-thábhachtach, áfach, go mbeadh níos mó ná sin á dhéanamh againn. Tá súil agam go mbeidh díospóireacht sa Teach seo go luath faoi struchtúir agus stiúir don Ghaeilge sa tír seo faoi láthair.
I was delighted to hear Senator Ridge state that the Fianna Fáil manifesto is part of her bedtime reading.
It is hardly that.
I recommend this excellent document to other less enlightened members of her party who are interested in enlightened policy development.
It would put me to sleep.
I support the call for a debate on housing, particularly in light of yesterday's announcement by the Minister of State which will make housing more accessible to a wider range of people. We have a proud record of home ownership. I would welcome a debate to highlight any barriers which might affect the successful implementation of this scheme.
I also support the call for a debate on the ESRI report. Although we might not agree with all its recommendations, we should listen to it. If it had been listened to during the 1980s, we would not have to repay such a huge debt. I would not treat its findings lightly.
A High Court judge recently called on the Oireachtas to examine a potential conflict or double invigilation between the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act and the Competition Act which could affect the current trend of business mergers. Perhaps the Acting Leader could ask the relevant Minister to come into the House to discuss this issue.
As regards regionalisation and Objective One status, will we witness an act of disloyalty and gross betrayal of the people of Kerry, particularly the people of Kerry South which contains huge areas of disadvantage? What will the unfortunate farmers of Kerry South say when they see this incompetent Government make a dog's dinner of our regionalisation proposals?
I thought the Senator welcomed it when it was announced.
My fear is that the Government has given false hope to the people while colluding with faceless bureaucrats behind our backs. Will the Leader tell the House what, if anything, the Government is doing to prevent this travesty of justice which the exclusion of Kerry would represent given our statistical validity?
The allocation of money to people whose income is under £20,000 to buy a house is like putting the cart before the horse. As chairman of the housing committee of Cork Corporation, I know there is no land bank in that area. We are looking for derelict and infill sites to build houses for people on the housing lists. The Minister is giving the impression that people who are not on the housing lists will get sites from the local authorities to whom he has given the authority to do so. That is unfair and we must have an urgent discussion on it. Senator Quill is also on the housing committee. We had a long discussion last Monday night about this serious matter. It is important that the Minister comes into the House to explain what is going on. We should not give the impression there are land banks when there are not.
FÁS must be embarrassed about the report published yesterday which shows that it spent £600 million each year. We had a debate before Christmas on this matter and we admitted that FÁS was not working to its full capacity. We should have a further discussion to ascertain if it is possible to get people who are unemployed to go to work.
I support the request for a debate on industrial policy. Will the Deputy Leader find out what happened to the famous, or infamous, early warning unit in the Department? It was set up after the closure of Digital in Galway, supposedly to intervene at an early stage when closures were threatened.
In the series of closures mentioned today it is obvious that if the unit is doing its work, it is not communicating it to the public. That was certainly the case with regard to the Avon Arlington factory in Portarlington where the closure decision was not communicated to the workers in sufficient time for them to come to terms and cope with this dreadful situation. Is that unit working? If it is, with whom is it communicating? The Minister and the Department must do a better job on this issue.
When will the Government bring forward its proposals to revise the licensing laws?
Will the Deputy Leader bring to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy, that the Government will have to pay due regard to the provision of recreational and other facilities in local authority and other estates if it is considering increasing housing densities in urban areas? If the number of houses is increased without such provision, there will be worse concrete jungles which deprive people of the rec reational and other space they badly need. Many local authority housing estates already leave much to be desired in terms of the facilities provided. It is essential that proper community facilities are built despite the increase in housing densities.
Senator Coogan and many other Senators asked about Objective One status. The aim of Government policy has been to maximise the area of the country that will qualify for Objective One status so that by 2006 part of the country will still be eligible to qualify for Objective One in transition status. That is a laudable aim and the Taoiseach is proceeding on that basis in the talks he is having today. As to the outcome of those talks and whether 13 or 15 counties will be included, I cannot say. However, it is the Government's objective to ensure that the maximum area qualifies. Should certain areas have to be excluded in the interests of the other areas qualifying, that might be the ultimate position.
I commend the initiative of the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy, to deal with the difficulties for low earners getting their first run at the housing market. The initiative is a serious attempt to address that problem. Land banks are primarily a matter for local authorities. I am a member of a local authority which sold lands which might have been kept. There is another means which might be used to deal with this issue and which might be put to the Government. Where private developments take place, part of the lands might be allocated for social housing—
The Minister of State did not say that.
—rather than a capital gains levy being brought to bear on the developers. It is a suggestion that could be brought forward.
The Minister of State, through the Bacon report, the initiative announced yesterday and other initiatives coming on stream, is dealing effectively with this issue which is not, as Senator Costello indicated, an overnight crisis.
Senator O'Toole, Senator Costello and others raised the ESRI report. The quarterly reports of the ESRI bear reading by all Members of the Oireachtas. Generally, they are useful documents. In this report the ESRI is worried about competitiveness and wage inflation. However, it is extraordinary to suggest that a company which is offered extra business should decline it. That cannot be consistent. The ESRI is an independent body and operates as such, which is one of its strengths. However, it would be wrong for a business to decline extra business on the basis that it might lead to extra wage costs.
Senator Costello referred to item 20, motion 18, on the Order Paper regarding microwave masts. Perhaps he got the call this morning on his mobile phone.
It was a land line.
We can deal with this. It is a Labour Party motion on the Order Paper and can be dealt with in Labour Party time.
Senator Lanigan raised the issue of taxi licences, which can be examined, and called for a debate on southern Lebanon. I share the Senator's sentiments about the intrusion onto the territory of southern Lebanon but, in the aftermath of an Israeli general being killed, some retaliation was to be expected, although one would not condone it. It is something to which we could give consideration.
Senator Ridge inquired about a debate on pornography. I cannot give a date for a debate on that matter. I suggest that the Senator liaise directly with the Leader on his return. Unfortunately I cannot give an explicit—
Explicit?
I cannot give an explicit and unexpurgated undertaking as to when any debate might take place. I agree with the Senator's sentiments about the local election ballot papers. I sought on one occasion to amend legislation so pictures would be put on all ballot papers.
What kind of pictures?
Commissioner Flynn in repose.
Will they be censored?
Pictures will be put on presidential and European election ballot papers. I will ask the Minister if it is his intention to put them on ballot papers for local elections.
Senator Norris raised the issue of asylum seekers. A motion on this subject has been tabled by the Independents. My view is that they should be allowed to work after a certain period and it is wrong that they cannot – it removes a burden from the State. This, however, is an issue which is yet to be resolved.
The OECD report on FÁS was raised by Senators Ormonde and Cregan. We will try to arrange a debate on that. The Leader has previously indicated to Senator Ormonde that time would be found for it.
Senator Burke mentioned housing density which is relevant to Minister of State, Deputy Molloy's initiative. The Minister has indicated that he will come into the House to discuss these issues but he will be unavailable for a fortnight from next week. That will have a bearing on when he will be able to attend.
Senator Quill has raised the issue of water quality on several occasions. I will consult with the Whips and the Leader on his return to see what can be done to accommodate her.
I commend Senator Henry for bringing forward item No. 19, the Regulation of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, 1999. I discussed this issue with the Minister for Health and Children and he agreed to hold a debate on Second Stage in the House at the earliest opportunity, although it may not be within the next fortnight.
Senator McDonagh is right; it is a matter of regret that the Irish language is declining, particularly in Gaeltacht areas, and this is something I hope we will have time to discuss.
Senator Walsh raised the High Court action and the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act and the Competition Act. I have no information on that but I will attempt to find out what I can for him. Senator Cregan asked about local authority land. I am not aware of restrictions on local authorities which prevent them from buying land.
I do not know the position regarding the early warning unit raised by Senator Gallagher but I will attempt to find out and will let him know. I share his views about Arlington. It was very precipitive in the way the workforce found out and it was not the first time this has happened. The Tánaiste is concerned about this.
There are two aspects of licensing laws, the opening times and the regulation of licensing. The matter is under discussion but I cannot say when we might expect legislation.
I agree with Senator O'Dowd that there should be recreational space and play areas in housing estates. Frequently it is not a question of a lack of desire on the part of the local authorities but insurance implications which restrict them.
Order of Business agreed to.