John Bruton
Ceist:3 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the number of Government task forces in which his Department is involved. [18922/97]
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Government Task Forces.
There are no task forces under the aegis of my Department. However, my Department is represented on: the Task Force on the Implementation of the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, which is under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform; the Task Force on Services, which is under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and the Implementation Task Force on Communicating Europe, which is now under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Has the Taoiseach come to any conclusions on Communicating Europe on any modifications to the application of the McKenna judgment in relation to giving information in the Amsterdam Treaty referendum? Can the Taoiseach give an indication of his plans in this area? Will we proceed by legislation or within the confines of the existing judgment?
I referred to this matter recently and we have not made any final decisions. I am conscious this may require legislation. We need a more satisfactory procedure for dealing with this matter in a far more comprehensive way. My initial advice is that legislation will be required. My Department and the Department of the Environment and Local Government are looking at how this may be dealt with.
Has the Taoiseach any deadlines for reaching a conclusion? When can we expect a decision on the course of action he will take?
It is not only a question of legislation. Whatever we do, I am anxious that we reflect on what happened in the recent referendum in terms of the format of nominating two people from the Bar Council who can briefly set out the case. I have spoken to a number of people about this. The Ministers and Secretaries group has discussed the referendum in detail. It requires the Government to put forward the case in a proper manner. I hope to finalise this matter before Christmas and provide a clear outline on how the Government intends to proceed. The White Paper on the referendum will be published around Christmas.
Can the Taoiseach confirm that the White Paper will be published before Christmas? What level of distribution of the White Paper is permissible according to the Attorney General? Can it be distributed comprehensively? Is it his intention to produce a user-friendly synopsis of the White Paper, as White Papers are normally not very digestible?
The Cabinet is currently considering the White Paper and how it should be presented. It would have been discussed today but the Minister concerned is in Northern Ireland so it will be discussed next week. The matters referred to by the Deputy will form part of those deliberations.
In view of the substantial number of refugees, immigrant workers and illegal immigrants, and the fact that communities are in some cases reacting in an unhealthy way because they do not see any plan to deal with this in a co-ordinated manner, will the Taoiseach agree that it would be healthy to appoint a task force or at least a Minister to co-ordinate the response to this problem? Would he agree that the racist comments made by some Members of this House are fuelling the problem and should be resisted?
I have not heard any Members make such comments, but nobody should engage in racist comments.
Such comments are against the law.
That is correct. I am well aware of the growing tensions which are inevitable. I will consider the Deputy's suggestion. The response does need to be co-ordinated and I realise the pressures being put on many services which in turn is resulting in many tensions in communities.
The Government inherited from its predecessors the ministerial task force on drugs. Is the Taoiseach satisfied that there is no necessity to consider the re-establishment of a task force of relevant Ministers in the context of the evolving nature of this problem? I appreciate and welcome the fact that the day to day task of driving the programmes put in place by the previous Government has been allocated to the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy Flood. However, the Taoiseach has replaced the task force by a Cabinet committee and I am not sure it has met. Has the committee met in the context of next week's budget?
I am chairing the Cabinet sub-committee which has met and discussed the issues in the context of the 1998 Estimates and budgetary matters. The sub-committee is endeavouring to look at all the issues, with which Deputy Rabbitte will be very familiar, covering the recommendations of working groups including those on children sleeping rough, educational issues, disadvantage, etc. We are discussing these with the relevant Ministers, including the Minister for Finance and the service Departments. Behind this the various interested agencies are dealing directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Flood. It is working and I have been endeavouring to keep in touch with some of these groups through meeting them, going to the launch of some of their task forces and listening to their problems and hearing of the way in which they wish to proceed.
Will the Taoiseach confirm that the provisions of the McKenna judgment are not applicable until after a referendum Bill has been passed?
That is the case. The issue of presenting a more extensive White Paper on the matter and the manner in which that should be done still needs to be addressed and we should avoid creating further difficulties. It would seem that the manner in which the White Paper is presented to the public should be in the domain of the Government and should not be restricted by other considerations. However, some people hold different views.
The Commission on Devolution, which was formerly under the auspices of the Department of the Taoiseach, was transferred under the new Administration to the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Will the Taoiseach arrange for the commission either to meet or be disbanded as it is my information that it has not met since the general election?
I cannot confirm or deny that matter but I will look into it.
Does the Taoiseach accept that devolution should be taken seriously? I understand the reasons for the commission being transferred from the Department of the Taoiseach to the Department of Environment and Local Government but will the Taoiseach give the House an assurance that he will arrange for the commission to meet or, in fairness and courtesy to its members, will he tell them that the Government intends to take a different tack on this issue?
Whether the commission has had formal meetings, it is my understanding that it is still working. The chairman of the commission, Mr. Phil Flynn, and some of its members have communicated their views to me. I will find out exactly what meetings have been held.