It is proposed to take No. 12a, motion regarding ministerial rota for parliamentary questions; No 19, Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2005 — Second Stage (resumed); No. 20, Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004 — Second Stage (resumed) and No. 21, Land Bill 2004 [Seanad] — Second Stage (resumed). It is proposed that, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 12a shall be decided without debate.
Order of Business.
There is one proposal to put to the House, the motion regarding the ministerial rota for parliamentary questions. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Does the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children expect the Cabinet to deal with the issue of the terminal at Dublin Airport next week? I note the comments made by the chairman of the Competition Authority, Mr. John Fingleton, that Government intervention is the greatest barrier to competition.
Does Deputy Kenny have a question that is appropriate to the Order of Business?
Yes. Mr. Fingleton argued that the State should stop preventing people from entering markets. Does the Government intend to change the Competition Authority to deal with that restriction upon competition entering the market? With regard to the e-mail regarding the former Minister of Health and Children, Deputy Mícheal Martin——
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
The question arises on the Order of Business. Does the Government intend to amend the Public Service Management Act, 1997 in view of the fact that the Minister accepts no responsibility for the debacle foisted upon the Irish people?
The House cannot discuss the possible content of legislation.
The Minister does not accept any responsibility despite the fact that it is contained in the Public Service Management Act. I consider myself very lucky that he did not have to cast his vote this morning and vote against his colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin.
The Chair has ruled on the matter.
The Government has no plans to amend the Public Service Management Act. Our competition law has been greatly enhanced in recent years but must be kept under constant review. I hope the Government will be in a position shortly to make a decision regarding the terminal at Dublin Airport.
Can the Tánaiste give the House an approximate figure for the anticipated payout under the redress scheme for long-stay charges? Approximately how much will be paid out this year? What investigation is going on inside the Department of Health and Children following the discovery that the critical file from the Attorney General was being squatted on by the previous Minister?
Deputy Rabbitte's question does not arise on the Order of Business. There is no provision for Leaders' Questions on Thursday mornings.
The entire controversy pivots around the missing file from the Attorney General.
That may well be the case but the question does not arise on the Order of Business. Deputy Rabbitte must find another way of raising the issue.
We now find that the previous Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mícheal Martin, squatted on this file. I am seeking to ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children——
We cannot have a situation every morning whereby leaders of parties have an opportunity to submit a leader's question. The Chair is here to implement the Standing Orders and as the Chair has pointed out repeatedly in the past, if Deputy Rabbitte wishes to change the Standing Orders, he should set about doing so and the Chair will be happy to implement the new Standing Orders. Standing Order 26 covers the Order of Business and the Chair cannot allow one Deputy to go outside that and insist that other Deputies obey it.
Since 1919, it has been possible to ask a question as the leader of a party on the Order of Business.
The Standing Orders have been implemented by my predecessors since the foundation of the State. In recent years, Leaders' Questions were established to facilitate what Deputy Rabbitte wishes to do now. We will not have this argument every morning of the week.
A senior civil servant at assistant principal level——
The Chair has ruled that Deputy Rabbitte is out of order. I call on Deputy Rabbitte to resume his seat.
It is impossible to carry out our business in this House.
It is not advisable to get into a confrontation with the Chair this morning. The Chair will be obliged to take the necessary action if Deputy Rabbitte persists.
With regard to the cost, it depends on the level of take-up, particularly by estates but the lower figure that has been estimated by the Department is €845 million. A figure of approximately €1.2 billion or €1.3 billion has been estimated by the Health Service Executive. It is in that ballpark, which is why I have used a figure of approximately €1 billion which is somewhere between the two. I do not think the legislation will be passed until the autumn so I think the bulk of it will be paid next year.
Is there any investigation going on?
There has been a major reorganisation of the Department. It has a new Secretary General. Considerable effort was spent trying to locate that famous file from the Attorney General but it has yet to be found. I do not have it in my possession.
Promised legislation will be published in due course, after which the Government is expected to take action on the terms of that legislation. Is there any point in anticipating the outcome of the decision concerning the Prisons Bill 2005, which accounts for the closure of Mountjoy Prison, considering that €30 million has already been spent on a site by the Government pending the legislation?
We cannot have a debate on this matter.
Is there any point in that legislation being treated seriously given that the Government has acted as if it is already an Act?
Allow the Tánaiste to answer.
The Prisons Bill 2005 is ordered for Second Stage. If the State did not need to get involved in public tendering, perhaps the Government could make private land deals and get land as cheaply as everyone else. We must go to the market and advertise, which happened in this case.
This was not normal.
It was normal.
On Deputy Kenny's point, the Government has promised competition in bus services. Senator Mary O'Rourke, when she was Minister, was to have produced legislation in 2001.
The Senator is in competition.
She is in hot competition. This legislation is now listed as No. 79 on the programme with the statement that its date of publication is not possible to indicate at this stage. What has happened to the Government's views? I know the Senator had strong support for competition but it appears to have left the agenda.
In a recent court case, €2.2 million was awarded to an individual who was wrongly detained in a mental health institution. When will the tribunals that were promised by legislation be established to deal with cases wherein people feel they have been wrongly treated in mental health institutions? They are sorely overdue.
The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, informs me the Bill will be introduced later this year.
I share the Deputy's view about the mental health tribunals. They have not been established because the consultants have not been prepared to participate. When we have a sufficient number of psychiatrists willing to participate on the panels, the work will begin immediately concerning the 600 people who were involuntarily detained. The Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, is working to try to make this a reality.
Can the Tánaiste give the House a timeframe?
We need at least 50 to 60 psychiatrists to participate but do not yet have anywhere near that many. Work is ongoing to achieve this target over the next few weeks.
I have heard nothing from the Tánaiste regarding her commitment to the House in October 2004 to investigate my brush with the MRSA superbug. Her Department has all my records from the hospital in question.
The Deputy should submit a question to the Tánaiste.
The Tánaiste wants to answer.
Well, we——
The Tánaiste can answer during her questions time.
In light of the Tánaiste's——
I nearly lost my life because of the MRSA superbug. When will the issue be addressed?
I appreciate the Deputy's seriousness but there are other ways of raising it in the House. If the Deputy wishes to submit it on the Adjournment, it can be raised in that way.
If one cannot make the Deputy join one, kill him off.
I hope the Tánaiste will persuade doctors to wash their hands regularly, as this is where most of the illness is coming from.
Has the Deputy a question appropriate to the Order of Business?
(Interruptions).
Allow Deputy Burton to continue without interruption.
In light of the Tánaiste's commitment to public service reform, will there be further reform legislation given the disclosure of facts concerning a file being sent to a Minister's office and no trace of it existing?
We cannot have a debate on the matter.
It will cost taxpayers €1 billion. As this is a key issue of public service reform, surely the Tánaiste has something to say.
We do not require legislation to ensure files go from A to B.
I presume an inquiry will take place.
We have heard much recently about the problem of alcohol in accident and emergency units. Why has the Government not implemented the recommendations of the task force on alcohol abuse? When can we expect to see the Bill on the control of advertising, sponsorship and marketing of alcohol products?
The Bill is being worked on by Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, and will be introduced later this year.
Is legislation promised in the context of the role of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority in credit unions? If so, at what stage of development is it?
As far as I remember, the credit unions are under the ambit of IFSRA but no legislation has been promised.
I was under the impression there was.
Will the Government introduce legislation to encourage the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, to address the House an odd time so Members can ask him questions about promised legislation?
Does the Deputy have a particular Bill in mind?
Legislation has been promised for 2006 in the case of Bord Gáis and in the urgent area of broadcasting. These Bills have been shelved until after the next general election. Would it be possible to encourage the Minister to make a special guest appearance during Order of Business some morning and tell us what he is going to do?
The Minister was here and is here most of the time. The heads of the Bord Gáis Bill are expected later this year.
The Minister is like the invisible man.
In 1996 the Department of Health approved a High Court agreement for the provision of general hospital services in south Tipperary. When will the Tánaiste implement this agreement?
The Deputy is out of order.
I am not out of order.
The Chair has ruled on the matter.
The Chair is out of order.
Has the Deputy a question on legislation?
With respect, I have raised this issue under Standing Order 31, on the Adjournment, through parliamentary questions——
The matter does not arise on the Order of Business.
I asked the Tánaiste to make amends——
The Deputy is being disorderly and should resume his seat.
——but she has refused to do any of the work involved. When will she answer my question? The Tánaiste is reneging on this issue as she has on others.
If the Deputy does not resume his seat we will move on to the next business.
Which of the two Bills, the strategic national infrastructure Bill and the national roads infrastructure Bill, will deal with the planning of motorways?
I imagine the roads legislation will deal with roads and the strategic infrastructure Bill, which will be going before the Cabinet shortly, will deal with other matters.
I have received representations from a woman who has a bill of €5,000 for 12 days in an acute psychiatric unit even though she has a medical card due to expire in 2015.
Does the Deputy have a question appropriate to the Order of Business?
Yes. She was billed because she went to her local acute service, which is outside her old catchment area.
We are moving on to No. 12a, motion re ministerial rota for parliamentary questions to be taken without debate.
In light of this, when will secondary legislation in connection with the Health Act 2004 be introduced? Are there plans to bring forward specific proposals under section 73, which give additional function and powers to the Health Service Executive?
I will be signing a number of regulations over the next week in connection with the 2004 Act. I am not familiar with the issue Deputy Naughten has raised but will check it.
I have raised the matter of building controls legislation on the Order of Business repeatedly. The House was told the Bill will be published later this year. Does the Tánaiste know whether the heads of the Bill have been fully drafted, whether a parliamentary draftsman was involved and whether it would be possible to publish the heads at this stage? Serious issues of consumer protection and other matters exist.
The heads of the Bill were cleared by the Government and I will discuss the matter of issuing the heads with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche.
What has happened to the Railway Safety Bill 2001? Over two years have passed since it left Committee Stage. No framework exists to deal with a serious rail accident.
The Minister for Transport informs me that the order for Report Stage and major amendments are being drafted.
That has been the case for quite a time. What is causing the delay?
I have no idea but it is a significant administrative task for the Department.
We have agreed to take it as legislation.
We have not heard about it on this side of the House.
I asked the Taoiseach about alternative practitioners and he told me about the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill. However, I have received replies to several parliamentary questions stating that it will cover mainstream practitioners and I note the Tánaiste has no plan to deal with alternative practitioners. Having got those replies yesterday, I am still confused. Will the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill cover alternative practitioners? I fear it will not from the details I received.
It is not appropriate to discuss what might be included in a Bill. I suggest the Deputy submits a question to the Tánaiste on the matter.
I gave Deputy Cowley the answer to that question yesterday. The answer is no, of course it will not.
It will not deal with alternative practitioners. When will that issue be dealt with?
When will the Tánaiste sign the regulations in respect of the nursing home charges issue?
There is a difficulty in signing them at present in that if we had signed them in their original draft form, we would have imposed a charge on people who, traditionally, did not pay a charge. I am referring to the mental health psychiatric area. I propose next week to sign regulations covering the elderly and to deal with the mental health psychiatric aspects in subsequent regulations which will possibly take a further number of weeks. I obviously do not want to impose a new charge on people who, traditionally have not paid a charge. I have asked the Department to expedite the preparation of the regulations covering the care of the elderly because we are losing approximately €12 million a month.