I move:
That Deputy Harte be suspended from the service of the House.
Suspension of Member.
Question put.
The Committee divided: Tá, 66; Níl, 38.
Tá
- Aiken, Frank.
- Allen, Lorcan.
- Andrews, David.
- Blaney, Neil T.
- Boland, Kevin.
- Booth, Lionel.
- Boylan, Terence.
- Brady, Philip.
- Brennan, Joseph.
- Brennan, Paudge.
- Breslin, Cormac.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, Patrick.
- Burke, Patrick J.
- Calleary, Phelim A.
- Carter, Frank.
- Carty, Michael.
- Clohessy, Patrick.
- Colley, George.
- Corry, Martin J.
- Cotter, Edward.
- Crinion, Brendan.
- Cronin, Jerry.
- Crowley, Flor.
- Cunningham, Liam.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Lenihan, Patrick.
- Lynch, Celia.
- McEllistrim, Thomas.
- Meaney, Tom.
- Millar, Anthony G.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Mooney, Patrick.
- Moore, Seán.
- Davern, Don.
- de Valera, Vivion.
- Dowling, Joe.
- Egan, Nicholas.
- Fahey, John.
- Fanning, John.
- Faulkner, Padráig.
- Fitzpatrick, Thomas J. (Dublin South-Central).
- Flanagan, Seán.
- Foley, Desmond.
- Gallagher, James.
- Geoghegan, John.
- Gibbons, Hugh.
- Gilbride, Eugene.
- Gogan, Richard P.
- Healy, Augustine A.
- Hillery, Patrick J.
- Hilliard, Michael.
- Kenneally, William.
- Kennedy, James J.
- Kitt, Michael F.
- Lalor, Patrick J.
- Lemass, Noel T.
- Lemass, Seán.
- Moran, Michael.
- Nolan, Thomas.
- Ó Ceallaigh, Seán.
- O'Connor, Timothy.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Malley, Donogh.
- Smith, Patrick.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Níl
- Barrett, Stephen D.
- Barry, Richard.
- Belton, Luke.
- Belton, Paddy.
- Burke, Joan T.
- Burton, Philip.
- Clinton, Mark A.
- Collins, Seán.
- Connor, Patrick.
- Coogan, Fintan.
- Costello, Declan.
- Creed, Donal.
- Crotty, Patrick J.
- Dockrell, Henry P.
- Dockrell, Maurice E.
- Donegan, Patrick S.
- Donnellan, John.
- Dunne, Thomas.
- Esmonde, Sir Anthony C.
- Farrelly, Denis.
- Flanagan, Oliver J.
- Gilhawley, Eugene.
- Governey, Desmond.
- Hogan, Patrick.
- (South Tipperary).
- Jones, Denis F.
- Kenny, Henry.
- L'Estrange, Gerald.
- Lindsay, Patrick J.
- Lyons, Michael D.
- McLaughlin, Joseph.
- Murphy, Michael P.
- O'Donnell, Patrick.
- O'Donnell, Tom.
- O'Hara, Thomas.
- O'Higgins, Michael J.
- Reynolds, Patrick J.
- Ryan, Richie.
- Sweetman, Gerard.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Carty and Geo ghegan; Níl, Deputies L'Estrange and T. Dunne.
Question declared carried.
We were in Committee. It was not reported to the Dáil. Under Standing Order No. 50——
This is a motion.
We were in Committee. It should be reported to the Dáil. Under Standing Order No. 50——
No; there is no precedent for any such action.
May I read Standing Order No. 50:
...the Chairman shall forthwith suspend proceedings and report the circumstances to the Dáil...
This is the Dáil.
When did you report it to the Dáil?
This is the Dáil in session.
The Committee was in session.
Deputy Harte is suspended from the service of the House.
I think this is wrong.
(Interruptions.)
There may be rules some Deputies did not hear before.
Standing Orders——
Deputies
Chair, Chair.
Will Deputy O'Higgins please resume his seat? The position is that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle reported the matter to me when I came into the House.
A Deputy
In the back corridor?
He reported it from a seat in the House.
That is correct.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Harte has been flouting the rules of the House——
The Deputy was called to an action in another country.
May I be allowed to explain——
I appealed to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and he refused to listen to me.
Deputies
Chair, Chair.
Under the orders of the House, Deputy Harte must leave the Chamber.
In protest, I refuse to leave the House.
Deputies
Chair, Chair.
Then I must ask the Captain to accompany the Deputy.
I would leave under normal circumstances but——
Deputies
Chair, Chair.
Get him out.
Apples will grow again. Remember I will meet the Minister on even terms.
Deputy Harte withdrew from the Chamber.
Now that Deputy Harte has obeyed an order of the House, I want to inquire what action it is proposed to take about the continued—repeated to my ears five times —statement by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries that Deputy Harte was a liar. We cannot have one law for one side of the House and another law for the other.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
If Deputy Harte has been suspended from the business of the House for calling the Minister a liar, the Minister must withdraw or also be suspended.
That matter should have been dealt with immediately.
Of course it should. On many occasions I requested the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to deal with it. Are we to have a situation in which when you are not in the Chair, there is to be complete disorder permitted from one side of the House?
Deputies
Hear, hear.
May I at this stage, in the hope that——
This is quite irregular from both sides of the House.
In an effort to bring some order back to the House, may I, if I have transgressed the orders or the rules of the House in any matter or phrase or word I used, unreservedly withdraw such remarks?
The Minister for Labour got you to do that.
We are resuming on the Committee Stage of the Livestock Marts Bill.
Bring back Deputy Harte and let justice prevail.
It is not the Minister I blame but the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
Maybe he did not hear it.
He could not help hearing it. It was bellowed in a louder voice than mine and that takes some bellowing.