It is proposed to take items Nos. 9 and 3. Private Members' Business will be No. 69.
Order of Business.
Will the Taoiseach indicate when he will give time for an explanation of the extraordinary article that appeared in The Mail written by the Minister for Foreign Affairs——
I am ruling the Deputy out of order.
——to the extent that regrets have been expressed in connection with the wrong criticism made against this country——
I cannot allow this. The Deputy is not in order.
——by the British Prime Minister and if the whole tenor of that article——
I am asking Deputy Lenihan to resume his seat.
Deputies
Out, out, out.
(Interruptions.)
For "out, out" read "sorry, sorry".
It is performances like that which have the Opposition over there.
And will keep them there.
I am quite willing to debate that anywhere with the Deputy at any time.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Order, please.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the hardship being experienced by social welfare recipients.
Under Standing Orders the Deputy is too late to ask for a question on the Adjournment.
The "Barry Fitzgerald show" is not going so well at present.
On a point of order, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said he is very anxious and quite prepared to deal with the points made by Deputy Lenihan about his cringing, abject——
I said "anywhere", not necessarily in here.
(Interruptions.)
That is not a point of order.
In view of if not an announcement then an indication from Government that the Minister for Defence is taking over the role of the Minister for Finance in controlling public expenditure, will the Taoiseach allow the House an opportunity——
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
I have seen reports of this in the newspapers. Will the Taoiseach allow us to discuss it some time?
The Deputy is not in order and should resume his seat.
(Interruptions.)
I think it is a laugh as well.
Last week when the Taoiseach was asked about the reports of the electoral boundary commission he said that when these reports were available he would announce the date of the local elections. In view of the fact that the commission's reports have now been made available to Deputies will the Taoiseach inform the House of the date of the local elections?
The reports have not yet been published. Advance copies were made available to the Deputy before publication as a matter of courtesy. A decision regarding the date of the local elections will be taken when the Government meet on Thursday.
The reports have been made available to Members of the House other than the one made available to me as a matter of courtesy.
That is not true.
Deputy Coogan has already sent details to the local papers in Galway.
(Interruptions.)
Fair play to him. Personal statement by Deputy Coogan.
There was consultation with the Opposition on one point this morning regarding the effect of the reports. They are now being printed and will be available as soon as they are printed. A decision regarding the date of the local elections will be taken on Thursday.
Do the Government propose to set up another committee on crime, lawlessness and vandalism? We have notification of a meeting tonight, organised by Deputy Mitchell, at which we are informed——
This has nothing to do with the Order of Business.
It is business.
It does not arise.
As far as I am concerned it does. The Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner are attending a meeting tonight.
It is a matter for the Chair whether something is in order or not.
Is the purpose of the meeting tonight to cancel out the activities and work of the special Oireachtas Committee on Crime, Lawlessness and Vandalism?
I understand a request has been made, which involves Deputies on all sides of the House, to meet the Minister. The Minister, out of courtesy, responded to that. It appears that the request relates to Deputies of all parties, which was not originally understood, and in view of the concern of Members of the Opposition to be involved in the delegation the Minister immediately and courteously agreed to meet them.
This is an important matter.
It will have to be raised some other way.
This was not organised through the Whips office. The Government Chief Whip knew nothing about it at 12.50 this afternoon. It is an extraordinary way for any Government to organise business. The Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner attending a meeting tonight——
Limerick East): I will meet any delegation I like without going through the Whips office.
I am moving on to business.
On the Order of Business——
I am somewhat taken aback. This request was received to meet a group. It was specifically requested that Members of the Opposition be included. As a result the Minister agreed. If the Minister is at fault for agreeing to such a proposal then courtesy is not appreciated in any way.
We see this matter as affecting the effectiveness of an important Oireachtas Committee. That is the point at issue. We see this as a very serious breach of procedure. If something like this was contemplated by the Government — and we would welcome it — there is a way of doing it. I draw the attention of the Taoiseach and the Chief Whip to the fact that it appears to us to be by-passing the procedures of this very important Oireachtas Committee on which we agreed to co-operate with the Government as regards the working of it.
I must disagree completely. Deputy Mitchell asked to meet the Minister for Justice with some Members of the House. Members of Fianna Fáil wished to accompany that delegation and the Minister agreed. If he had disagreed I suppose we would have been told we were discourteous.
(Interruptions.)
Order, please. I cannot allow a debate on this matter.
Some other way will have to be found to raise it. It is not in order now.
It is reaching a stage of farce. The Deputy should control his own party and let us know what they want.
We cannot be brushed aside in this way. The point is that the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, who is an impartial officer of the State, is being brought to this House this evening whereas he should be brought here only under all party auspices.
He is meeting an all party committee at the request of the Deputy.
I am calling item No. 9.
I shall have to leave them to it.
The sooner the better.
(Interruptions.)
On a point of order, why am I being denied the opportunity of making a request on the Order of Business?
If the Deputy does not resume his seat I shall have to adjourn the House. This has gone far enough.
On a point of order, why am I being denied the opportunity of speaking on behalf of the people of Wexford who returned me to this House?
At the discretion of the Chair we have passed from the Order of Business, after a very long time, to the business of the day as ordered.
On a point of order——
I am calling Deputy Doyle on item No. 9. Deputy Byrne will please resume his seat.