It is proposed to take Nos. 8, 9 and 10. Private Members' business shall be No. 19, motion No. 12.
Order of Business.
There is nothing to put to the House.
In view of the rather peculiar statement by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Higgins, this morning on RTE radio about the Mullaghmore interpretative centre, will the Taoiseach say if the decision on those centres is a collective Cabinet one?
That is not a matter for the Order of Business.
All decisions are collective Cabinet ones.
Will the Taoiseach allow a situation to continue in which Ministers may dine á la carte in regard to Cabinet decisions and pretend not to be part of the Cabinet when it suits them?
I do not believe Deputy Bruton will have an opportunity to dine either by way of a full menu or á la carte.
Has a date been set for a summit meeting between himself and the British Prime Minister? Has he carried out an investigation as to how a document which purports to be an official draft for the joint communique, which apparently was available only to six people, got into the hands of the Irish Press?
That is not a matter for the Order of Business. I call Deputy De Rossa.
Perhaps the Taoiseach could be given an opportunity to reply.
The Deputy may raise that in another manner, perhaps by way of parliamentary question.
The Taoiseach might like to reply.
I call Deputy De Rossa.
When will we have the summit?
I have called Deputy De Rossa.
On a point of order, I tabled four parliamentary questions to the Taoiseach in relation to Northern Ireland, all of which were ruled out of order. I assume that if I ask further questions in this manner they will also be ruled out of order. When can I ask the Taoiseach such questions?
Deputy O'Keeffe has a question tabled for tomorrow.
All I can say is that this is not the appropriate time. Deputy Harney should desist as Deputy De Rossa has been called.
The questions I seek to raise are important and the Taoiseach should use this opportunity to inform us if there will be a Summit, when it will take place and whether——
That is out of order for the Deputy and the Taoiseach at this time and the Deputy should be aware of that. I ask her to desist.
On a point of order, the Taoiseach made a statement in relation to the leaked document to several radio stations and newspaper journalists. The least he could do is to inform this House whether——
I have allowed the Deputy some latitude on this matter. I ask her to raise it in another manner. I call Deputy De Rossa.
I try to raise those issues in whatever way I can.
Deputy Harney should desist. She is being totally disorderly.
We are making a farce of this House if such questions are not answered here.
I would point out to the House and to Deputy Harney that questions in relation to Northern Ireland are tabled on tomorrow's Order Paper, if the Deputy is present I am sure she will ask a supplementary.
My question related to promised legislation. Approximately two weeks ago the Taoiseach indicated he would publish a list of legislation proposed to be taken during this session, in other words before the Christmas recess. At that time I indicated there were approximately 30 Bills promised before Christmas and that only a small number had been published to date. Will the Taoiseach indicate how many, or what, Bills will be published before the Christmas recess? Will he circulate that list to us?
We circulated a list of the Bills we hope to publish this session and I have instructed the Government Whip to keep all parties up to date and inform them each week what Bills will be presented. This ought to be satisfactory.
In view of the fact that juveniles account for 31 per cent of all those held in detention, is the Minister for Justice in a position to say when the Juvenile Justice Bill will be circulated?
I have already indicated to the House that we expect to publish that legislation early in the new year.
Which new year?
The Chinese new year.
For the past seven years 4,000 applicants have been waiting for the processing of their applications for a passport made to consular offices and embassies. Two weeks ago at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs we were informed by the Minister for Justice that the necessary amending legislation was at an advanced stage. Can the Taoiseach confirm that this is the case?
If the Deputy is referring to the naturalisation Bill, as I think he is——
He is referring to the Citizenship and Nationality Act to which a minor amendment has been needed since 1986. The Minister knows all about this.
It is at an advanced stage of preparation and will be published as soon as possible.
Will the Taoiseach see to it that it is followed through?
The Minister has their money.
I wonder if the Taoiseach will assure the House that if my friend, the Minister for Arts and Culture——
Do not forget the Gaeltacht.
——feels it necessary after the battle of the Burren to tender his resignation, he will not accept it.
Under no circumstances.
As long as he does it in Irish.
May I remind the Taoiseach that two weeks ago he promised the House that he would circulate to Deputies a list of the legislation which would be published before Christmas? This has not been done. It is not satisfactory for the Taoiseach to tell us that he has asked his Chief Whip to let us know from time to time what is being done. At the beginning of this session there was a song and dance about the number of Bills the Government proposed to deal with before Christmas. I want to know what Bills will be published and dealt with.
While I will give the Deputy a list I would have thought, if the Chief Whip kept everybody else informed during the week, this would have been satisfactory. The list to which I have referred contains the Bills that we expected to publish, not deal with, this session.
The list to which the Taoiseach has referred is comprehensive. The Ethics in Government Bill is No. 22 on the list. I think the Taoiseach would agree that fundamental to ethics in Government is the confidentiality of Government documentation. In this regard I share his annoyance at the fact that a document was leaked to the Irish Press last Friday. Will the new legislation include a section dealing with treason? What happened last Friday amounted to nothing less than that. Has the Garda inquiry been concluded and will the person concerned be charged with treason? I do not blame the reporter or the newspaper for publishing it but, as I said, I share the Taoiseach's annoyance at the fact that this document was leaked. In present circumstances it amounts to treason.
It is not a matter for the Order of Business.
Legislation has been promised, the Ethics in Government Bill.
The Taoiseach mentioned that the intention is to keep the list up to date. May I ask him if he keeps back numbers of the lists of promises?
He never throws them away.
It would be useful if he looked at the list dated 7 October 1992. At No. 5 — very near the top — is the Confiscation of Criminal Proceeds Bill, but that Bill has not appeared.
The Deputy will be surprised.
Is this list one of those works of fiction that qualifies for tax relief or is it a genuine statement of Government intentions?
In the first half of this year we passed more Bills than any previous Government in the history of the State. The Deputy will be glad to know that the Bill he has inquired about will be published on Friday and that the amnesty is going exceptionally well.
The special collector could have told the Taoiseach that.
Is it the Taoiseach's intention to introduce legislation to amend the Official Secrets Act to ensure no further disclosures of documents similar to the one disclosed last week? That amounted to national sabotage. People should be prevented from disclosing documents of this nature given that unwarranted fears have been raised in Northern Ireland and an opportunity has been given to people who are ill-disposed towards this country, North and South, to make hay.
This matter should be raised in a more appropriate manner.