The Order of Business today shall be as follows: No. 1, Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad] — Second Stage; and Private Members’ Business No. 30, Enforcement of Court Orders Bill 2004 — Second Stage (resumed), to be taken immediately after the Order of Business and to conclude after 90 minutes.
Order of Business.
I am a bit concerned for your own safety, a Cheann Comhairle, when I see the former Minister, Deputy Michael Smith, sitting high on the backbenches telling us that he will be hanging around for a while longer. I do not know whether you heard that remark or whether there is any significance in it.
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
It could arise.
He is not going to leave a convivial party until it closes down.
I got a medical as well.
Maybe he should keep in touch with Deputy Rabbitte and myself on a more regular basis.
The Deputy will be in opposition for a long time.
Arising from the ministerial appointments and divisions of responsibility that the Taoiseach announced yesterday, is there any Minister of State with specific responsibility for a ministerial task force on drugs? The country is now facing a serious problem in this area. Deputy Rabbitte was previously the chairman of a committee which did very good work. Such a ministerial task force is needed again.
Does the Taoiseach not feel somewhat uneasy about the fact that he has a senior Minister in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform who admitted that he does not know what is happening in terms of penalty points and speeding cameras? He was unaware that half the cameras were not working and that many of the pictures could not be used.
The Deputy's second question does not arise on the Order of Business. I will allow the first question.
Does the Taoiseach not think that, to put it mildly, it undermines confidence in the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, when hundreds of people die on the roads each year, yet he admits he is unaware of these facts, which were raised by Deputy Naughten the other day?
The Deputy will have to find another way of raising that matter. Does Deputy Rabbitte want to come in on the Order of Business?
Yes, sir.
The Taoiseach wants to answer.
In reply to Deputy Kenny's first question, the national drugs strategy and the entire drugs plan is under the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern——
The brother.
——but the departmental team that deals with this is the committee on social inclusion, which I chair. There are about five or six Ministers on it. It is a cross-departmental committee, including the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science, and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. That is how the Government has operated this for the last seven years.
In order to get the new parliamentary year off to a good start I want to assure you, a Cheann Comhairle, that if you hear reports that I am taking a quiet drink with the former Minister, Deputy Michael Smith, in the Members' bar, I do not want you to presume that I am taking sides.
When is it proposed to bring the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulation 2004 before the House? This was on the Order Paper yesterday and it provides for an increase in the fund for horse racing from €200 million to €550 million. I am sure there must be an explanation for it. Perhaps the Taoiseach can provide that explanation and tell us when the order will come before the House.
Why is it that the Bill to revise the constituency boundaries is not on the list of legislation either for this term or this parliamentary year? It is promised that it may be published in 2005 but one hears several of the Taoiseach's backbenchers, who are likely to be affected, expressing conditional wonderment about whether it will ever be enacted in the lifetime of this Dáil.
Dublin North-Central is perfect. The Taoiseach should leave it as it is.
In spite of Deputy Finian McGrath pleading to leave the constituency as it is, I have said before and will now restate that it will be enacted as is. There has been a practice for 25 years of taking the independent commission's report and enacting the changes. I am not sure why the Bill is not being put forward but I do not read any more into it than that. There will be no changes to it, I have made that clear.
It is a very simple one.
It is a good question. We can bring it forward and pass it.
It is a good question.
On the other matter, I do not know if the horse and greyhound regulations have been laid before the House. I will communicate with Deputy Rabbitte about that issue. This revolving fund is examined annually. The regulations were cleared by the Government some time ago, but I am not certain whether they have been laid before the House. I will check that for the Deputy. The scheme for the next year has already been cleared by the Government.
My understanding is that it takes a positive vote of the House. I am trying to establish what is likely to happen and why we should want to increase betting tax for horse racing from €200 million to allow up to a facility of €550 million.
That does not arise at this stage. It will arise when the Bill comes before the House.
I clarified for Deputy Rabbitte when it will come before the House.
I wish all the Ministers of State and the new Cabinet members well in their new positions.
Before getting down to the specifics of the issues on promised legislation, what is the basis for the promised programme of legislation? Some 19 Bills on the Easter list were promised for 2004 and are now scheduled for 2005. Nine of these were originally promised for 2003. Six of the Bills promised on the Easter list to be published by the start of the session are still not published. These are supposed to be indications in writing of publication dates. We do not yet have the Abbotstown sports centre authority Bill, the veterinary medicine Bill, the employment permits Bill, the health and social care professions regulatory Bill, the building societies amendment Bill and the prisons Bill. Yesterday the citizenship BilI was published. In the context of the employment permits Bill, I am concerned that those who want to work and are in a position to work are frustrated by not being able to do so.
We cannot discuss the contents of what might be in the Bill.
It is important to know what the Government's priorities are, whether that legislation is effectively sidelined, never to be seen, whether these lists have any meaning and what is the real meaning behind them.
Most of the Bills referred to by Deputy Sargent are on the list for this session. The exception is the prisons Bill, which is not on the list for this session. The legislation put forward for between now and Christmas are Bills the Government hopes to pass in consultation with the Attorney General and the Parliamentary Counsel. The Departments hope to present those Bills. The House is passing more legislation that it ever did. Each year this increases. There is only a certain amount of parliamentary time. It is an indicative list, but we hope the Bills listed for this session will be dealt with in the session.
Has the Taoiseach not learned not to make promises he cannot keep?
When is the safety, health and welfare at work Bill likely to be introduced in the House?
The Bill is already published. It is ordered for Second Stage and I am sure the Whips will shortly bring it forward.
It is not on the priority list.
It is already published.
I am aware of that. When will it come before the House?
It is a matter for the Whips but it is ready to come before the House.
With the abolition of the health boards, there is practically no accountability or possibility of scrutiny in the health service. Given that a major health Bill will come before the House, will the Taoiseach guarantee that a sufficient period will be allowed between its publication and the debate in this House, so both the public and the public representatives will have an opportunity to debate fully the implications of the Bill? The Hanly report required the closure of many accident and emergency departments throughout the country. That was Government policy, even though at the last election it appeared to be changed.
The Deputy should put a question on legislation.
Given that there is a new Minister for Health and Children, what is Government policy on the Hanly report?
Sorry, Deputy, as you quite rightly addressed your question to the Minister for Health and Children, I suggest you submit a question to the Minister for Health and Children.
I am entitled to ask about the Hanly report.
The Deputy is correct in saying the health Bill is very important. We will try to provide as much time as possible. As the Deputy will be aware, it is important to try to pass the Bill during this session so we can put in place a number of procedures on 1 January 2005. I have noted and the Tánaiste has heard what the Deputy said about adequate time to debate the legislation.
I call Deputy Joe Higgins.
On a point of order, a Cheann Comhairle, will you explain to the House the order in which you call Deputies who indicate that they wish to contribute on the Order of Business? Two Deputies on the backbenches have been indicating that they wish to speak before people on the front benches but they have not been called. Will you explain to the House how you call people on the Order of Business? Are you trying to suppress the minority vote in this House?
If the Deputy will resume his seat, I will explain to him quite simply how I call people.
There is plenty of room for people——
The Deputy must resume his seat and he will be called in due course.
(Interruptions).
The Chair calls the leaders of the parties——
Surely the Ceann Comhairle should explain how he calls people who indicate.
The Chair was in the process of explaining the procedure to the Deputy when he continued to interrupt. Quite simply, the Chair calls the leaders of the parties in proportion to their size. The Chair calls in rotation someone from the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party, the smaller parties and the Independents. It is quite simple and it has been the same for the last seven years. On the basis of proportionality, the Chair is obliged to call more speakers from the larger parties than from the Independents. Sorry about that, Deputy Breen. I call Deputy Joe Higgins.
You will not get rid of Independent Deputies. We will let the electorate decide that, not the Chair.
The Deputy's turn will come. I will refuse no one.
(Interruptions).
The Taoiseach promised me across the floor of the Dáil before the summer recess that there would be no decision on the management proposal to privatise Aer Lingus until the Cabinet sub-committee set up to examine the issue reported to the Dáil and there was an opportunity to discuss it. When will the committee report and when will the Dáil have an opportunity to discuss the matter?
I suggest that the Deputy submits his question to the appropriate Minister.
This was Taoiseach's business. In fairness, I think I am quite in order. For a nation whose people are dispersed to the four corners of the world——
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
——is the Taoiseach satisfied that the national airline should be ceasing to return human remains?
There are other ways in which the Deputy can raise the matter.
It is in order under Standing Orders to have an answer on the debate promised by the Taoiseach.
There has been no decision to privatise, sell or change regarding the issue raised by the Deputy. I said that any legislation in this regard will be brought before the House, but there is no decision to do any of these things.
What about the refusal to carry human remains?
Will the Taoiseach give a date for a Bill which appears to be on the Order Paper as long as I have been a Deputy concerning the register for persons who are considered unsafe to work with children? This urgent legislation has been dragging on for a long time.
I have no fixed date on the legislation. A cross-departmental working group was established by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to consider proposals for reform of vetting of employees by the Garda. The final meeting of the group has taken place and a report is being presented to the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who are now considering its publication. Its publication is dependent on the working group's recommendations.
Last session the water services Bill was earmarked for priority. However, it does not appear to be included for this session.
The Bill has already been published. It is already before the House.
No, it did not come to the House.
It is published.
When will it be taken?
It is ready to come before the House.
In order to be of assistance, perhaps the Taoiseach might like to clarify section C of the list of proposed legislation. There are no less than 70 pieces of legislation listed, the heads of which have yet to be approved by Government. In some cases, the heads have been prepared but have not yet come before Government. There is no year in which 70 pieces of legislation have gone past that particular point. What is the point of section C? My point, which I make to be of assistance, is that all are listed for publication during 2005. Perhaps three are suggested for early 2005. This means that between 65 and 68 are in some type of miasma of time which means, in reality, that they will not appear at all.
I want to inquire about a specific consequence of this. Other legislation has been dropped off entirely, including the Higher Education Authority Bill, about which it is stated that no date can be suggested for its publication. However, at the same time, the Government has commissioned the OECD to speed up the destruction of the university sector and other third level institutes that might be interested in broad education. A simple Directive No. 57, which would have given rights to workers, which is to transpose Directive No. 203/72, the European co-operative society Bill, will not come before us until 2006. Is this the type of behaviour of a reforming, re-invigorated, reincarnated Government? What about the Taoiseach's own instructions? Perhaps he might work on the legislative programme and make a shorter list of what is likely to come before us.
I thank Deputy Michael Higgins for his advice but this is precisely what the Government has done. It has put forward a shorter list of what it hopes to do between now and Christmas. In the legislative process, which Deputy Higgins understands although perhaps not everybody does, the period from when a Bill is initiated or first examined until it is finally enacted in this House is sometimes very short, sometimes within a Dáil session.
It depends on who is blocking it.
No, it depends on the urgency. Other Bills are debated at some length, others have different degrees of priority. I remember bringing many Bills before this House which took a long time to process. I brought in the Trade Union Act in 1990, the development process of which began in 1958 and which I had the pleasure of completing.
I remember it well.
I brought in the amendments to the Truck Acts that were there since 1851 but which nobody had got around to changing until I did so in 1989. It is not a new or unusual feature of the House, therefore.
They must have been long-distance trucks.
With regard to the Higher Education Authority Bill referred to by Deputy Higgins, the date has been set because the Government set up an OECD group over the last year, involving participation by all the presidents and staffs of the universities, to review the higher education sector. The group has recently reported and it made sense to await that high-level report, which involved the entire third level sector, before introducing a Bill which would have been out of date.
It did not involve the entire third level sector.
The Bill is now being reviewed on that basis. That is the logic with which I am sure Deputy Higgins will agree.
In view of the extremely worrying derailment of the Luas so soon into its life on the streets of Dublin, I ask the Taoiseach, either by way of a statement or by bringing forward legislation on health and safety at work, to give the House some early opportunity to discuss this and to hear what independent assessment of the safety of the Luas is in place.
This matter does not arise on the Order of Business.
The Bill is about to come before the House.
This is a grave matter of traffic safety.
It would help if motorists did not enter yellow boxes in which they should not be in the first place.
How can something be derailed?
That is what the Minister, Deputy Brennan, is asking.
It is not clear from the Taoiseach's statement to the House this morning regarding the appointment of Ministers of State what specific functions are being assigned to them. Specifically with regard to housing policy is it intended that the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, will retain responsibility for it? Will the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, when he comes to make his delegation of functions order, have discretion in the reallocation of that responsibility?
The delegation orders and assignment of responsibilities will take place at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
The All-Party Committee on the Constitution sat through most of the summer recess in 2003, taking submissions from the general public with regard to property rights. Now that the committee's report has been submitted to the Government, is it the Taoiseach's intention to implement it or must legislation be brought before the House to facilitate its implementation? It is important that the committee should now have a decision as to whether its submission has been accepted by the Government and if it will be implemented.
Perhaps the Taoiseach might ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Ms Harney, why I was left waiting 17 hours for an antibiotic in a hospital in the west.
This issue does not arise on the Order of Business. Deputy Breen can submit a question to the Minister for Health and Children.
I shall check with the Department regarding the first issue raised by Deputy Breen. The Deputy is basing his question on a report that was presented. If he submits a question to the Minister, he will receive a reply on the action that is to be taken.
Perhaps Ms Harney could administer some antibiotics.
Given the earlier references to the Bills under section C of the list of proposed legislation, when is the broadcasting authority Bill expected to be progressed or will it be conditional on No. 37, which is a continental shelf Bill? What priority rating will be given to the Bills? Perhaps the continental shelf Bill is indicative of where some of the other Bills might go.
On the continental shelf Bill, which is to update and consolidate the Act of 1968, because of their strategic importance, the three main Continental Shelf Acts of 1968-1995 are being reviewed. The Acts do not provide for charging fees and rentals for pipelines and commercial activity generally. The heads of the Bill are expected towards the end of this year and legislation will hopefully be drafted in 2005.
What about the broadcasting Bill?
The heads of the broadcasting Bill are expected towards the end of this year and the legislation is expected by next year. Its purpose is to establish a broadcasting authority of Ireland and to amend the RTE provisions.
I ask the Taoiseach at the start of this session whether any progress has been made by the Government in the matter of ground rents. This has been an issue for a long time and action has been promised for approximately eight years.
I have one other question. Health boards have been abolished, they are not in existence and are not meeting. Yet, when decisions are made or actions taken, they are being described publicly as emanating from the health boards.
This matter does not arise on the Order of Business. I suggest that Deputy Sherlock submit a question to the Minister for Health and Children.
In the matter of legislation, is it legally correct to call such decisions health board decisions or are they executive decisions?
We are dealing with virtual health boards.
Deputy Sherlock's first question is in order.
There has been some progress on the ground rents legislation.
One of the implementation bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement, the Loughs Agency, has been unable to function because there is no legislation in place. What is the delay in bringing forward that enabling legislation and when are we likely to see it before the House?
There are some difficulties with that implementation body. It has done some work. I am not sure if full legislation in this House is required but I will communicate with Deputy Morgan on the matter.
When will we have the Postal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill? It is one of about 40 Bills which the new Minister for Foreign Affairs has left behind in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in various stages of disarray. Is the Taoiseach concerned that the pensioners of An Post have been waiting almost a year for their due increases under Sustaining Progress?
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
It is an important issue.
Of course it is and that is why the Deputy should submit a question.
Please allow me finish and ask the Taoiseach about the An Post pensioners. We got Sustaining Progress awards, other groups of workers and pensioners got ——
That does not arise. If the Deputy resumes his seat, the Taoiseach will answer his first question but if not, we will move on to Private Members' Business.
It is outrageous that the An Post pensioners have been dragged into the dispute between management in An Post.
The Postal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has been published for some time and is ordered for Second Stage. I will communicate with the Minister to find out when the legislation will come before the House.