The Order of Business is Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5. No. 1, motion re approval of terms of memorandum of understanding between Ireland and Israel, will be taken without debate. This motion will be referred for discussion to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business. No. 2, motion re referral of the Civil Service user's network report to the Oireachtas Joint Committee and Finance and the Public Service, will be taken without debate. No. 4, statements on the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on Attention Deficit Disorder in Ireland, will be taken between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. with the contributions of spokespersons not to exceed 10 minutes and those of other Members not to exceed eight minutes. No. 5, motion re Appropriation Act, 1999 (resumed), will be taken between 1.30 p.m. and 3 p.m.. Business will be interrupted between 1 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.
Order of Business.
The Order of Business is agreed. All of us are watching with a sense almost of helplessness as events unfold in Northern Ireland. All the great achievements of the past two to three years are in peril. It is not my intention to comment on why that is but I wish the Taoiseach, the British Prime Minister and all others involved well as they try at this late stage to ascertain whether the good work of the past number of years can be salvaged. All of us believe that too much has happened and that we have travelled too far. Many people have changed their minds and moved a distance that none of us could have expected previously. All of us hope that all will not be lost. However, it is the biggest crisis since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and it is important that all of us wish those are trying at the last minute to salvage the Agreement well and hope that they will be successful.
I refer to the invitation of distinguished visitors to address the House, a prerogative which has been available to us for some time but has been used very sparingly. Given that Seamus Heaney has received three great international awards over the past few weeks and has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the House should invite him to address it under the distinguished visitors protocol. William Butler Yeats was a Member of the House in its earliest manifestation and Brian Friel, another great playwright, was a Member during our time. It would be fitting if we could honour Seamus Heaney by inviting him—
I am reluctant to interrupt the Senator, but there is a convention whereby these matters are first raised at the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.
I apologise, a Chathaoirligh. Will the Leader make Government time available to discuss the Shannon River Council Bill, 1998? It is a Private Members' Bill in the names of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Independents. It will be taken during Fine Gael's Private Members' time next week. Will the Leader consider making Government time available next week as a large number of Members on all sides want to contribute to the debate?
Following the point raised by Senator Manning in December, the INTO had a big row with the Minister of Education in Northern Ireland, Mr. McGuinness, about the millennium holiday. Yesterday teachers, school children and their parents gathered outside Stormont demanding more resources for schools. The day before, farmers demonstrated outside Stormont demanding the same for their sector. It is great to see normal politics in operation throughout the whole island and it would be an awful shame if that were to cease. Having achieved unity of purpose among the people on the island, we must wish the negotiators well today, try to recognise the difficulties they face and hope we can retain what has been achieved.
On another issue, I would like to bring it to the attention of the Leader of the Labour Party that his incoming general secretary is negotiating a new national agreement which I presume he will expect the Labour Party to endorse when he comes out of the negotiations.
Senator O'Toole, these are points I am sure you will have an opportunity to make next Thursday.
I note Senator O'Toole did not mention that he is not the current general secretary; he is the incoming general secretary. We will wait and see what he has negotiated before the party leader supports it.
The Senator will hardly support it.
We certainly will not come into this House with a blanket recommendation, as Senator O'Toole did yesterday. There are certain items we would like to carefully tease out.
Yesterday I called for a debate on Northern Ireland. Next week would be an appropriate time for such a debate because the crucial talks are taking place today, and perhaps tomorrow, and everything needs to be sorted out before the weekend is over in terms of what will happen. We all wish the negotiators well, particularly the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, in the work they are doing. It would be a terrible travesty of justice if at this time, just a few months before the completion of the Good Friday Agreement in all its manifestations, we fell at the last hurdle. We all hope that the negotiators can do something to bring about a solution to the problem and prevent the downfall of the Executive and a return to the crisis we have experienced over the years. I would like the debate extended to include other issues such as the Patten report, the de Chastelain report and the cross-Border arrangements on co-operation.
I ask the Leader for a debate on the issue of waste and litter. Kerbside, the only public and private initiative established to deal with waste as distinct from landfill, where approximately 90% of our waste is dumped, has been a financial dis aster in that only £80 was made on the sale of any recyclable products. It cost £1.6 million to run Kerbside, and 40% or thereabouts of all kerbside waste went to landfill, so a major question arises in that regard. As a result of European Union directives we will now be responsible for incinerators and the disposal of hazardous waste and many questions arise from that. I ask the Leader of the House to arrange an early debate on that matter.
I also call for a debate on Northern Ireland. We hope such a debate will be held in the context of an Agreement and an Executive that is working in Northern Ireland. This is the most pessimistic period, however, since the Good Friday Agreement was signed and all we can do at this stage is encourage those who are still involved in the negotiations to continue their efforts. We are with them in spirit and, despite the fact that the situation looks bleak, we are hoping against hope that there can be some sort of positive outcome later today. We wish both the British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach well in their negotiations.
Will the Leader ask the Minister for Finance to consider extending sections 6 and 20 of the 1972 VAT Act as suggested by the Irish charities reform group? The changes suggested by that group show a saving of £35 million to charities. When we consider that organisations are totally underfunded, that would be an ideal consideration. Will he also ask him to consider extending section 848 relief on personal donations? Such relief, which currently applies to Third World charities, if applied to domestic charities would bring in a sum in the region of £16 million at a cost of £2.5 million to the Exchequer. I hope the Leader will discuss those issues with the Minister for Finance.
Will the Leader draw to the attention of the Minister concerned a problem which has arisen in Britain and which I fear Ireland has not protected itself against? It relates to the enforcement of fines incurred under health and safety regulations by companies outside the State. I will explain the position briefly.
A Swedish company was held responsible for the death of six people in Britain, but Britain has been unable to enforce the £1 million fine. It also appears that Britain will have to write-off a £500,000 fine imposed on an Australian company. I mention this in the context of an inability to enforce fines on companies outside the State. We have had experience in the past of having to enforce fines on Irish indigenous companies which are unenforceable outside the State. If our present laws do not permit us to take such action we should take steps to ensure we can do so in the future.
I also draw the attention of the House to the successful outcome of a conference on genetically modified foods in Montreal last week. Represen tatives from over 100 countries were involved. That is an amazing achievement when one considers that when the Minister for the Environment and Local Government tried to get people from different sides of the argument around the table last year one group refused to talk to the other and the talks fell apart. The Minister, and perhaps the Minister for Agriculture and Food, may look again at this issue to see if we can achieve success. If it was possible to reach a successful outcome in Montreal taking 100 different viewpoints into consideration, surely it is possible to do so in Ireland.
I understand that the bodies of some of the patriots executed during the War of Independence are still buried in the grounds of Mountjoy Prison. Included would be the revered and much respected Kevin Barry. It is only right that the mortal remains of such noble people should be re-interred in a much more appropriate place like Glasnevin cemetery, affording people the opportunity to visit their graves and pray for them. I hope the Leader will investigate that matter for me.
Mr. Ryan
Has the Leader managed to penetrate the impenetrable Government to find out what is happening to the Telecommunications (Infrastructure) Bill? Telecommunications infrastructure is a necessary condition for continuing economic growth. Sitting on our hands will not make it happen. However difficult the issue, if we do not deal with it we will run up against a brick wall in terms of economic development.
The joint committee on Trinity College Dublin and the universities seems to be proceeding interminably. The committee was set up to facilitate an institution which regards itself as particularly special. I am intrigued about who is paying the costs for this. Is the body which thinks itself so special paying for it or is it the taxpayers of Ireland who are paying? Perhaps you, a Chathaoirligh, could clarify that point for me.
I will try to do that, Senator Ryan.
Mr. Ryan
Are there Government proposals to change the university franchise to extend it to those currently disenfranchised and to restore some sort of proportionality to the distribution of seats between one university which has 100,000 graduates and another which has a mere 35,000 and is already very special without having such representations?
I wish to be associated with Senators Manning, O'Toole, Costello and Keogh in sending good wishes to the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister who are having very serious discussions in the United Kingdom today. An enormous amount of work has gone into bringing the talks to where they are today. Over the past number of months Northern Ireland as a whole has been transformed, but what I did not realise until I visited it the week before last is that the changing fortunes in the strength of sterling vis-à-vis the punt is having an enormous effect, particularly on all the businesses along the Border and for 25 miles away from it. Most businesses in the North are decimated. I join with everyone today in wishing them well and I hope there will be a breakthrough even at this late stage.
I will convey Senator Manning's views to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges regarding his proposal to invite Seamus Heaney. As the Cathaoirleach has said, another formula for that is being considered.
Senator Manning called for additional Government time to debate the Shannon River Council Bill. I will consult the leaders after the Order of Business. I have read the Bill and I realise that 95 per cent of it is a Brendan Daly and Michael O'Kennedy Bill. I am pretty certain that practically all sides of the House are in favour of it. It is a matter of convincing the Government that this should happen. I am being honest about this on a non-political basis.
Senator Costello called for a debate on waste and litter and I will allow time for that. Senator Kett asked me to convey his serious concerns and those of the charitable organisations regarding section 848 relief on personal donations. He also referred to the 1972 Act, particularly sections 6 and 20. I will discuss this matter with the Minister for Finance and, if necessary, I will allow time to have it debated over the coming weeks.
I can tell Senator Quinn that I will allow time for a debate on the implementation of fines, particularly in the area of health and safety. I will also convey his views to the Minister regarding the enforcement of fines on companies outside the State which are trading in the State through their related companies.
Senator Ó Murchú raised the important issue of the remains of Kevin Barry and of those people who are buried in Mountjoy Prison. I will discuss it with the Minister. I concur with the Senator that Kevin Barry should be buried in Glasnevin cemetery.
Senator Ryan inquired again about the Telecommunications Bill. I will bring it before the House when I am instructed to do so. With regard to his request for the Minister and the Government to look at the form of the Independent Senators' constituency, I can inform him that it is being closely looked at. Senator Ryan will have a difficulty because he may have to go back there at some stage. He should bear that in mind.