Joe Higgins
Question:11 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion last met. [1874/06]
View answerWednesday, 1 March 2006
Questions (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:12 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach when the membership of the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion last met. [3217/06]
View answerCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:13 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the Cabinet sub-committees on which he sits or on which his Department is represented. [3218/06]
View answer
Pat Rabbitte
Question:14 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion last met; and when the next meeting is due to be held. [4187/06]
View answer
Trevor Sargent
Question:15 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion last met. [6399/06]
View answerOral answers (40 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 15, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion last met on 1 February 2006. The sub-committee's next meeting is scheduled to take place on 5 April next. I generally attend meetings of the Cabinet sub-committees on housing; infrastructure and public private partnerships; health; European affairs; science and technology; and children, which meets following the meetings of the Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion. There are no plans for future meetings of the Cabinet sub-committees on Aer Lingus and decentralisation.
I know the Ceann Comhairle is waiting to stop me from asking a question before I——
The Deputy is familiar with Standing Orders at this stage.
I could see he was holding his breath and waiting to pounce. I suggest the House should revert to its practice during the current Government's first term in office, when the Minister of State with responsibility for social inclusion and drugs problems gave lengthy answers to questions on this matter and Deputies were allowed to ask at greater length about the role of the Cabinet sub-committee and Government policy on this issue. That would be a good initiative. What is the precise role of the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion in 2006? What recent initiatives have been taken by the sub-committee? In what way has the sub-committee made a difference to Government policy? In particular, what difference has the sub-committee made to the problems being suffered in many communities?
The matters discussed by the sub-committee impinge on Cabinet confidentiality. They cannot be discussed on foot of the questions before the House. If the Deputy reads the questions, he will find that they refer to when the last meeting of the sub-committee was held and when the next meeting will be held.
I know but, in fairness, if I am confined to just listening to the Taoiseach give us a date——
The Deputy can submit questions to the line Ministers on all these issues. His questions will be answered then.
Yes, but the Taoiseach has responsibility and attends these meetings.
The Taoiseach has no responsibility for the matter.
Why is he answering questions on it then?
If the Deputy reads the questions before the House, he will see what they refer to.
Technically, all the Ceann Comhairle will allow is for the Taoiseach to name a date and all other Deputies to remain in their seats and stay schtum.
If the Deputy looks at his question, he will see he asked the Taoiseach "when the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion last met". That is the Deputy's question.
The Taoiseach would be delighted to answer if the Ceann Comhairle let him.
One cannot ask a supplementary question, in effect.
I admit there is very little opportunity for supplementary questions on foot of the questions before the House.
That is ridiculous.
If the Deputy has a question on this issue, it should be directed to the line Minister.
It would be more honest not to have allowed these questions at all. I asked the Taoiseach a few questions before I was stopped.
I will respond to the points made by the Deputy at the start of his contribution. As I have said previously, there is nothing to stop Deputies from tabling questions as we used to do. The only difference is that in the last Dáil, I did not take up the full 90 minutes available to me for oral questions during the week — the relevant Minister would come in before that time had elapsed — but the practice in this Dáil has been that I have used the full 90 minutes, which means that no time is left for questions to other Ministers. I cannot do anything about that. Questions have to be tabled to the line Ministers for response during their own period. It is beyond my control.
What can the Taoiseach do? He would answer the questions if he could.
I take up all the time available to me.
Does the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs and social inclusion receive regular reports on the drugs issue from the Garda Síochána? Following the publication last September of Merchants Quay Ireland's annual report, my colleagues and I called for the development of a fully resourced national action plan to prevent and address cocaine use and its consequences. Has the Cabinet sub-committee addressed this very pressing issue?
All the issues relating to drugs and the relevant groups are dealt with by the sub-committee, which meets all the relevant interests regularly.
Does it consider reports from the Garda?
Would Deputy Rabbitte like to ask a supplementary question?
The Taoiseach has answered so comprehensively that I cannot think of another question.
It is impossible to improve on perfection.
Perhaps the Taoiseach can remind Deputies who is on the Cabinet sub-committee and the dates of the meetings of which we are talking. We should have such details when we are asking questions of the line Ministers and doing the real business. I ask the Ceann Comhairle to consider the spectacle before him. We are asking about the date of a meeting, which is information that could quite easily be elicited by a telephone call if it were not for the possibility of being able to ask a supplementary question. It is as if the only question that could be asked of SteveStaunton were to relate to the colour of the jerseys to be worn by a football team.
That changes too.
To ask the Taoiseach about the date of a meeting without being able to ask supplementary questions does not ring true or have any semblance of reality. A wider Standing Order is needed so when we ask questions, we can follow them by asking about some of the related issues.
Perhaps the Deputy should submit a question for written answer.
I think the Standing Order is what we are really talking about here.
That is a matter for the House.
When a question is allowed, we expect to be able to ask supplementary questions. Apparently, there is no possibility of a supplementary question in this case.
There is no provision for supplementary questions dealing with matters which are subject to Cabinet confidentiality.
We are not just in here to listen to the Taoiseach.
That is a long-standing rule of the House. There are precedents.
The Ceann Comhairle can see how ridiculous this looks.
It is pointless tabling a question such as this and we have just agreed that is the case. I cannot add to it. It is just a case of having a question on the Order Paper. The relevant Ministers are the Minister for Education and Science, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, and the Ministers of State with responsibility for children, housing and urban renewal, the national drugs strategy, community affairs, equality issues, including disability issues, and labour affairs, including training. We have a full attendance at most of the meetings and that is a broad range of Ministries. Deputies may table questions on any individual areas of responsibility.