I propose to deal with a number of notices under Standing Order 31 and I will call the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31.
I seek leave under Standing Order 31 to move the Adjournment of the Dáil to debate the following specific and important matter, the necessity to raise awareness of issues affecting the elderly and specifically the necessity to designate one day in the year as "Respect for the Aged Day" to encourage members of the public to remember, honour and respect elderly people in society, and the designation of such a day would act as a focus point for encouraging people to reach out to elderly citizens in the community who have a valuable contribution to make to society and who often find that they are unable to make such a contribution because they are isolated, living alone without family members or confined to their homes due to lack of mobility.
I give notice under Standing Order 31 of my intention to seek the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the following specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent attention, the implications for the prison system and industrial relations of the announcement by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, that he is to close two prisons, place the management of two other prisons outside of the Prison Service and privatise the prison escort service.
I request under Standing Order 31 the Adjournment of the Dáil to discuss a matter of urgent national important, that the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Agriculture and Food give statements to the House to answer the process that accompanied the granting of money to the Punchestown Agricultural and Equestrian Event Centre where such money was set aside in the Book of Estimates for the year 2000 without any formal approach having been made to the Department of Agriculture and Food, where no call for other submissions was made, where when a formal application was made decisions were reached in an unfeasibly short time period and where a further application for twice the cost was accepted in a similarly unacceptable manner.
I seek leave under Standing Order 31 to move the Adjournment of the Dáil on a specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent consideration, in the light of media commentary that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, intends to close two open prisons, move the management for two more outside the Prison Service and privatise the prison escort service, will the Minister state whether he has given serious consideration to the alternative proposals put forward by the Prison Officers' Association, and will he explain why he intends to close the prisons with the lowest operating costs and move prisoners to prisons with higher operating costs?
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the issue of embryonic stem cell research with specific reference to the forthcoming Council of Ministers meeting on 27 November 2003; and further to discuss COM (2003) 390 re proposal for a Council decision on funding of embryo research from the European Commission in view of the recommended rejection of the proposal by the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the attempt by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law reform to privatise elements of the Prison Service and to close two prisons; the implications of this for staff and prisoners and to allow the Minister to make a statement.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the recurring phenomena of accident and emergency crises at our major hospitals, where the situation has been referred to by medical personnel in the hospitals as dire, and which is not unknown at Monaghan General Hospital, where the accident and emergency department has been closed for more than 16 months; to call for the adequate funding of the winter bed initiative scheme to reduce pressure on accident and emergency departments nationwide; and to seek the restoration of on-call status for Monaghan General Hospital's accident and emergency department as a matter of urgency.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the need to move towards the integration of emergency ambulance and maternity cover along the Border so that ambulance crews and hospitals will be able to direct people to the nearest available facility, and so avert some of the dangers presented by the current situation where people are being carried long distances, which is placing them in unnecessary added danger.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the increased waiting times at accident and emergency units, where as many as 40 people can lie on trolleys; and the need for the Minister for Health and Children to address this problem urgently to ensure that the 3,000 beds promised in the health strategy are provided now, ahead of time.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to debate the following urgent matter: the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to explain the basis of his apparently chaotic and reactionary plans to restructure the Prison Service which involve closing one of the least expensive and most effective prisons in the State, designating two more open prisons for unspecified external management, and privatising the prisoner escort service despite a departmental expert group's recommendations to the contrary; plans which do not tackle either the fundamental and underlying structural problems of over-incarceration for non- violent and minor offences and excessively high prisoner-staff ratios, or the need to close several other prisons for health and safety reasons as recommended by the prison inspectorate; and to allow for a full debate on the pressing need for comprehensive and systematic reform of the Prison Service based on best international practice, not unproven right-wing ideology.
Having given the matters full consideration I do not consider them to be contemplated by Standing Order 31 and therefore I cannot grant leave to move the motions.