It is proposed to take Nos. 4 and 2.
Order of Business.
Is the Taoiseach in a position to respond to the request which was put to him through the Whips this morning to provide time for Dáil Éireann to express its congratulations to the people of Kuwait on having had their independence restored, to congratulate those involved in achieving that event and to express support for the people of both Kuwait and Iraq in reconstructing their lives?
It is a matter for the Whips.
This request has been conveyed to the Taoiseach through the Whips.
I certainly would welcome an opportunity to discuss in this House the war and to welcome the ceasefire which has taken place if the Taoiseach and the Whips can agree on a time to be made available. We would also discuss the question of the Middle East and the United Nations role in recent events.
That matter does not arise now, Deputy.
I want to add to the request made to the Taoiseach. If time could be made available for such a debate in the House today I would welcome it.
I want——
Where do you stand now?
We stand on the outside.
I am standing in front of you but against the war.
(Interruptions.)
They brought about the ceasefire.
I am glad the Taoiseach finds the matter amusing because I do not find it amusing at all. It is a very serious matter.
Their fellow got beaten.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
The Taoiseach would have done more justice to this country if he has enabled a debate to take place while the war was in progress.
Deputy De Rossa will now please address the Chair.
I stood to express my relief that the war is over, to welcome the fact that a ceasefire has been declared and to ask the Taoiseach if he will now set an early date for a debate in this House on how we believe peace, security and justice in the region can be established and secured.
I have already ruled on that matter.
When will the Taoiseach enable this House to debate the matter? When will he state in this House, and not outside it, the Government's attitude to the region and the situation there?
There are many ways open to Members to raise such matters in the House.
We are seeking Government time to raise these matters.
So that we can find out the views of the emperor of Europe on this war.
That is an original idea.
Ask the people of Kuwait their views on the war.
(Interruptions.)
I call Deputy Michael Noonan, Limerick East.
(Limerick East): On Monday night Deputy Gilmore, speaking for The Workers' Party, said that the Americans were like the Provisional IRA in pursuing the war. I would like to know how we could get them to explain that statement in the House.
Please, Deputy, I will hear no more of this matter. It is not in order now.
If time was provided for a debate in the House we could explain exactly how we feel.
(Interruptions.)
A Cheann Comhairle——
Deputy Spring, I would hope on another topic.
Yes. May I ask the Taoiseach if the Government intend submitting a paper to the European Commission on security and defence policies? I am sure the Taoiseach is aware that many leaks are emanating from Brussels on these matters. Will the Government submit an Irish Government position paper to the Commission on common security and defence policies?
The matter is surely not relevant now.
I have already dealt with that matter several times.
I am sorry, Sir, but the question I raised first does arise on the Order of Business.
That is primarily a matter for the Chair, Deputy Bruton.
May I ask the Taoiseach if he will respond to the request he has received from the main Opposition party on this matter?
I take it that was the matter appertaining to the meeting of the Whips.
I am sure we would all like to use this occasion on the Order of Business to express our feelings of relief and joy at the cessation of hostilities but, as you say, a Cheann Comhairle, it is not in order.
That is why this House should be made relevant. The matter can be debated in every pub in Ireland but not in Dáil Éireann.
Please, Deputy.
I suggest that the matter should be processed through the Whips in accordance with the proper procedure.
This is what the Chair has ordained in the matter — it is primarily a matter for the Whips. Deputy Proinsias De Rossa on the Order of Business.
Requests have been made at the Whips' meetings to get debates on these matters but the Government Whips has refused to enable such a debate to take place.
I thought the Deputy was raising another matter.
I am raising another matter.
It was raised this morning but not yesterday morning.
We have asked for time to be made available for a debate on the Gulf for the past three weeks but you have refused it.
Deputy McCartan, please allow your Leader to make his point.
May I refer back to the matter I raised on the Order of Business yesterday when I opposed the guillotine on the Radiological Protection Bill? The move which we made to have the guillotine extended to 7 p.m. was defeated. Despite the fact that 30 sections of the Bill and 27 pages of Schedules were not debated——
Is this a point of order? Will the Deputy please get to the point.
——and 40 amendments were not debated, the other business which had been scheduled to continue until 10.30 p.m. finished at 6 p.m.
Please, Deputy De Rossa. The Deputy is making a long statement.
(Interruptions.)
You were missing from the House.
We were here all day.
It would have been possible to debate this Bill if the Government had been more flexible in relation to how the business of this House is ordered.
Please, Deputy De Rossa. Deputy Jim Mitchell.
May I ask the Taoiseach if the Minister for Justice will be making a statement today on matters arising from the Marsh case in the Central Criminal Court yesterday?
That does not arise now, Deputy Mitchell.
I want to ask you, A Cheann Comhairle, if you would request the Government or the Government Chief Whip to ensure that when discussing the Order of Business the question of Guillotines will not be brought in when there are a large number of amendments and sections of a Bill to be dealt with. What happened yesterday was a collapse of business——
We cannot have a rehash of yesterday's business now.
I am talking about future Bills.
I am calling Deputy Yates.
I am talking about the manner in which business is conducted.
It does not arise now, Deputy Mac Giolla.
What I am asking is that you request the Whips to ensure that when discussing the Order of Business, particularly——
The Deputy's party also has a representative among the whips.
We opposed that Order of Business in the House, and we did everything possible to ensure that time was given——
Deputy Yates.
I am asking that you intervene to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen again.
Please, Deputy Mac Giolla.
Otherwise we will be left with no business to discuss.
The Deputy will please resume his seat.
This is a matter you should deal with.
I wish to raise a most grave matter which relates to the B & I Act, 1965, and the Government's proposed legislation to amend that Act. I would like to ask the Taoiseach if he or the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications will make a statement to the House confirming that the group of unions were told yesterday that a memorandum of agreement to take B & I out of State hands is to be signed within a week?
I am sure Deputy Yates will find another way of raising that matter.
This matter is perfectly in order.
It is not relevant now and the Deputy may not proceed along these lines.
You are quite wrong. It is promised legislation, and the company cannot be sold without this House consenting to it. I am asking that the House be given an opportunity to debate the matter before this appalling sale is concluded.
Is this promised legislation?
There is legislation promised and necessary in this case, but the Deputy appears to be asking for a statement today which, I submit, is not in order.
The group of unions have decided they will totally oppose the way this deal is being conducted. It would be a disaster for Irish tourism and trade——
That is a separate matter, Deputy, and there are ways and means——
It is appropriate that the House debate it properly before an agreement is signed.
The Deputy is seeking to defy the Chair in this matter.
No, I am seeking to have a proper debate on the matter so that the full facts of the case will be disclosed by the Minister——
You will have to find another way of doing so, Deputy.
——instead of doing a back street deal that no-one is aware of.
Is this not another instance of the Government doing business outside this House and then asking the Members in the House to rubber-stamp what they have agreed elsewhere, thereby denying the House the opportunity to perform its legislative function?
They are not empowered to do that under the 1965 Act.
That is a complete misrepresentation of the position, as usual, by Deputy Bruton. There is a difficult situation concerning B & I and that is being tackled by the Government. In due course legislation will be brought before the House——
In a most incompetent manner.
——when every Deputy will have an opportunity of putting forward their views and accepting or rejecting the legislation, or amending it.
It is too late to influence——
The matter cannot be debated now.
This deal will be signed within a week and it is appropriate that this House should have some role in the matter. I would call on the Minister to make a statement to the House to clarify the position. There is total chaos as regards the unions.
Can the Taoiseach indicate when the legislation to give effect to this proposed sale will be circulated.
It is in the process at the moment.
Have the heads of the Bill been cleared by the Cabinet?
That is a matter of internal Government procedure. As far as the House is concerned, I am informing the Deputy that the legislation will be brought forward when necessary.
Will the legislation be completed after the deal has been done with the purchasing company for B & I or will this House have any role in the matter?
As I have already pointed out, legislation will be necessary——
It will be a rubber-stamping role.
——to authorise the procedure.
May I ask the Taoiseach——
Sorry, this is not Question Time, Deputy Quinn. I have allowed the Deputy the facility of asking some questions. This is not Question Time.
I would like to ask a question on a separate matter regarding promised legislation. May I ask the Taoiseach when the Government propose to circulate legislation to give effect to changes in the Oireachtas with regard to ministerial pensions and pay and conditions, including the secretarial staff of the Oireachtas members.
It will be circulated very soon.
Before Easter?
Not necessarily.
I would like to ask the Taoiseach when it is proposed to introduce the necessary legislation to link Thomond College with the University of Limerick.
It is hoped to introduce it before Easter.
I would like to draw attention to an item in one of this morning's papers concerning yesterday's meeting of the Broadcast Control Committee which deals with the televising of the Oireachtas, and to ask the Taoiseach firstly when it is intended to establish the monitoring committee on the broadcasting of the Dáil and, secondly——
Does this refer to legislation promised?
No.
Secondly, I would like——
Deputy Gilmore, if you are to proceed you must do so in accordance with the business now before us.
I am talking about a committee of the House, the establishment of which is promised.
That is not legislation.
It has been promised.
Deputy Gilmore, you had better come to the point.
Would the Taoiseach give an assurance that until that committee is established he and the Government will desist from attempting to influence and pressure the manner in which the broadcasting——
It is not relevant now, Deputy Gilmore.
As usual, The Workers' Party avail of the Order of Business to make all sorts of unfounded allegations of which this is one. You, Sir, are aware that all these matters are for the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, on which all parties in this House are represented.
May I ask the Taoiseach when it is proposed to publish the competition legislation which was promised 18 months ago? A Private Members' Bill was voted down on the basis that the Government were about to introduce a Bill.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce answered that question two days ago.
He has not produced a Bill.
May I ask the Taoiseach when he intends to bring before the House the Social Welfare Bill, 1991?
Very soon. Almost immediately.