Vol. 396 No. 3
It is proposed to take items Nos. 5, 9 and 10. It is also proposed that business shall be interrupted today at 10.30 p.m.
It is further proposed that in the debate on item No. 5, which shall not exceed 20 minutes, the following arrangements shall apply: speeches shall be confined to the Minister for Health and the spokespersons for each of the groups, as defined in Standing Order 89 and shall not exceed five minutes in each case.
Private Members' Business shall be item No. 24 (Motion 51).
Is the proposal for a late sitting today agreed? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with item No. 5 agreed? Agreed.
On the Order of Business, there is a matter of order which I would like to raise with you, Sir. This afternoon you asked my colleague, Deputy Jim Mitchell, to leave the House because he had stated in the House that the Minister for Communications had misled the House about a matter. I think asking a Deputy to leave the House for that reason is probably without precedent, and it is very dangerous in that while the House, of course, needs to keep order Deputies must be free in the House to state what they know. Deputy Mitchell has incontrovertible evidence——
Surely Deputy Dukes is not going to compound the matter.
I want to make the point because I think it is very important for all Members.
If it is then it is a matter for the House or for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
The Deputy said that the Department of Communications not once but on several occasions in discussions with RTÉ asked RTÉ if ways could be found of diverting some funding from RTÉ to Century.
No, not true.
The Minister has denied that. Deputy Mitchell has a right——
I have ruled on a matter which I deemed to be tantamount to a lie. I posed that question to the Deputy. He did not retract. On that basis I asked him to leave the House.
Deputy Mitchell has alleged and claimed on the basis of information which he has that the Minister has misled the House and Deputy Mitchell has been asked to leave the House because he has made that statement. Sir, none of us would do such a thing lightly. If a Member feels strongly enough and has sound information to make a statement like that, the matter should be cleared up in this House.
Deputy Dukes.
It will not be cleared up by asking that Deputy to leave.
Deputy Dukes, my predecessors have laid down that an allegation that somebody deliberately misled the House, as has occurred today, is tantamount to accusing that person of telling an untruth or a lie and should be withdrawn. That is the procedure I have adopted and I make no apologies to this House for it.
Hear, hear.
There is the counterpart to that procedure——
Please Deputy Dukes, we cannot debate the matter now.
——which requires the Minister against whom the accusations have been made to come in and state plainly what happened.
I have said what happened.
It is not in order now.
I would be very grateful to have that matter cleared.
The Minister is blustering his way through, as he has blustered on every single issue. He did this to save his own face when his baby was sick.
Please, Deputy Dukes. I now call Deputy Quinn.
On the Order of Business may I ask the acting Taoiseach — perhaps a temporary arrangement——
Following the Kanturk Declaration.
——to indicate to the House when it is proposed to give details of the extension of the designated urban areas as has been promised in the budget speech?
In due course.
Will this be the style of the future?
He is nearly as good as the other man.
In view of the attacks yet again on the Belfast-Dublin railway line and the subsequent attack on the hotel where the Irish Congress of Trade Unions were having their conference, may I ask the Minister to indicate if the Government would be prepared to allow time for the discussion of motion No. 49 on the Order Paper which calls on the Government to take every step possible to maintain the Belfast-Dublin railway line and which has been signed by Deputies from most parties.
This would normally be a matter for the Whips.
May I ask the person acting for the Taoiseach if Government time will be made available for it? Is the Minister shaking his head?
It is primarily a matter for the Whips.
May I ask, Sir, if you have received a communication from the secretary of the Higher Civil Servants Association, as reported in the press, seeking to limit the right of Deputies to raise motions on the Adjournment?
The matter is before the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
Would the Ceann Comhairle care to make a statement to the House on the matter?
Not now Deputy. It is a matter for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the matter on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the problems created by the ten month waiting list for driving tests.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
(Limerick East): They can give them all licences as they did before.
May I ask when the Government intend to circulate a new schedule of legislative business? As the Minister will be aware, this is the practice of Government at the beginning of sessions and as sessions develop, and he has no doubt been advised by the Chief Whip that we have virtually exhausted the current schedule for this session.
This is clearly a matter for an appropriate question.
It is for the Government to decide how they are going to direct business.
The Deputy is raising a broad matter and I ask him to put down a question.
It is for the Government to decide the order of business for the session.
My office will facilitate you in putting down questions.
I would have thought it relevant to the business of this House.
May I ask the Minister for Industry and Commerce if it is intended to introduce legislation curtailing the activities of SFADCo?
There is no such legislation.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the unprecedented step taken by consultants in the Cork Regional Hospital in holding a press conference to outline the serious financial situation at the hospital.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the serious matter that the Office of Public Works are declaring large areas of Connemara as areas of scientific interest without consulting with the locals. This is my fourth time to try to raise this matter on the Adjournment, and perhaps I will be successful on this occasion. It is a very serious matter.
I am aware of the Deputy's interest in the matter. The more questions that are raised for debate on the Adjournment, the more difficulty the Chair finds in allocating time and designating Members.
As the Minister for Justice is present, may I ask the acting Taoiseach to indicate when the joint committee on crime will be established? What are the difficulties and delays in doing so?
That has nothing to do with legislation.
It is being considered at present.
It was promised last November that the committee would be established and we agreed the terms of reference. What is the delay?
Deputy Garland is on his feet.
I wish to raise a second matter on the Order of Business.
This is the third time the Deputy has risen.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the problem facing fishermen, particularly fishermen in Howth, which is in my constituency, who are without income or assistance from the Department of Social Welfare for ten weeks because of inclement weather.
I will be in touch with the Deputy concerning that matter.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the continuing problem of the sale of irradiated foods without adequate labelling provisions.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
With your permission, Sir, I wish to raise on the Adjournment the grossly unfair treatment of small milk producers in the west arising out of the formula devised by the Minister for Agriculture and Food on the allocation of the extra quota.
I will be in touch with the Deputy concerning that matter.
