Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Feb 2009

Vol. 673 No. 2

Allocation of Time: Motion.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey)

I move:

That notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, oral questions to Members of the Government shall conclude at 4 p.m. today; the proceedings on No. a17, on a Supplementary Order paper — statements on expenditure control and economic strategy — shall commence at 4 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 4.40 p.m. today, and the following arrangements shall apply: the statements, which shall be confined to the Taoiseach and the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, which shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed ten minutes in each case; No. 3, Leaders’ Questions shall be taken on the conclusion of No. a17; and No. 4, the Order of Business, shall be taken on the conclusion of Leaders’ Questions.

An Ceann Comhairle

Is that agreed?

Deputy Enda Kenny

No. What has happened here is indicative of the indecisiveness of the Government. In view of this, I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Standing Orders" and substitute the following: "That questions to the Taoiseach be set aside; that questions for the Department of Social and Family Affairs be brought forward immediately; that statements on the economy by the Taoiseach and the leaders of the Opposition parties shall commence at 4 p.m. and shall resume at the conclusion of Private Member's business and conclude at 10 p.m." It is absolutely ridiculous that we are expected to change business in this way and deal with the most pressing financial crisis the country has ever faced within four statements of ten minutes each. This has been the central issue, focus and point of concentration of the Government and Taoiseach for the past seven months.

An Ceann Comhairle

Prior to calling on Deputy Burton I must state that this is a procedural motion dealing with the business of the Dáil. Accordingly, it is of narrow scope and it cannot lead to a wide-ranging debate now.

Deputy Joan Burton

On behalf of the Labour Party I want to object in particular to the arrangements which provide a mere ten minutes for the Taoiseach to explain to the country what people have been waiting to hear about not only for the past three weeks but for the past four months, since everything went wrong with the bank guarantee scheme. People are waiting to listen. If the Taoiseach thinks he can explain his proposals on reductions of up to €2 billion in public expenditure this year in ten minutes, address the proposal to put up to €8 billion into the recapitalisation of the banks and other issues such as how he proposes to deal with people becoming unemployed and to address the matter of people fearful of losing their houses because they are at risk of getting into mortgage arrears later this year——

An Ceann Comhairle

We cannot discuss the merits and demerits of this now.

Deputy Joan Burton

If the Taoiseach can deal with all of these issues in ten minutes, he is a better man than most of us gave him credit for until now. Ten minutes is grossly inadequate. We are happy to make any change of arrangements in the schedule to allow the Taoiseach make a full statement. We do not want a drip feed of information. Today, the Taoiseach will give us ten minutes of whatever and tomorrow the Minister will give us another 20 minutes of more "drip, drip, drip".

An Ceann Comhairle

We must move on.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

We will all be moving shortly.

Deputy Joan Burton

People who are waiting to understand what the Government proposes to do are not being dealt with fairly.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I agree with and second Deputy Kenny's proposition that the ordering of today's business should be changed to accommodate a more complete opportunity for Members on all sides to participate and not only leaders or finance spokespersons.

Deputy Finian McGrath

Hear, hear.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

This is what is absent from the proposition. Whether the Taoiseach can accommodate in ten minutes what he has to say is academic to this. He is limiting the opportunity to reflect on what he has to state to three contributions of ten minutes each from the three Opposition parties in the House. With respect, the people expect more from this House and this is not being delivered in terms of the opportunity to question and the responses which should be given. The way this is being styled does not meet that need. I appeal to the Taoiseach to revisit it, accept the proposition proposed by Deputy Kenny and respond responsibly to the proposal.

The Taoiseach

The purpose for which I brought forward this motion was to state to the House in the first instance the decisions made by the Cabinet this afternoon and not only to do this by way of formal announcement, which procedurally is within my right to do, but also to provide an opportunity to the leaders of the Opposition parties to make a contribution and provide an initial reaction to the announcement I will make at 4 p.m.

It is also my intention to have a full debate on these matters in the House until 7 p.m. tomorrow by way of motion, which can include a questions and answers session. This would provide everybody with an opportunity to take on board what has been stated, reflect on it and address it in the House tomorrow. The proposal made by the Chief Whip is for me to come to the House in the first instance, provide the thrust of the decisions made, provide an opportunity for leaders to respond initially and to have a full debate in the House tomorrow by way of motion. I would have thought this the best way to deal with the issue.

Question put: "That the words proposed to be deleted stand."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 75; Níl, 66.

Tá

• Ahern, Dermot.
• Ahern, Michael.
• Ahern, Noel.
• Andrews, Barry.
• Andrews, Chris.
• Ardagh, Seán.
• Aylward, Bobby.
• Blaney, Niall.
• Brady, Áine.
• Brady, Cyprian.
• Brady, Johnny.
• Browne, John.
• Byrne, Thomas.
• Calleary, Dara.
• Carey, Pat.
• Collins, Niall.
• Conlon, Margaret.
• Connick, Seán.
• Coughlan, Mary.
• Cowen, Brian.
• Cregan, John.
• Cuffe, Ciarán.
• Cullen, Martin.
• Curran, John.
• Dempsey, Noel.
• Devins, Jimmy.
• Dooley, Timmy.
• Fitzpatrick, Michael.
• Flynn, Beverley.
• Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
• Gogarty, Paul.
• Gormley, John.
• Grealish, Noel.
• Hanafin, Mary.
• Harney, Mary.
• Haughey, Seán.
• Healy-Rae, Jackie.
• Hoctor, Máire.
• Kelleher, Billy.
• Kelly, Peter.
• Kenneally, Brendan.
• Kennedy, Michael.
• Killeen, Tony.
• Kirk, Seamus.
• Kitt, Michael P.
• Kitt, Tom.
• Lenihan, Brian.
• Lenihan, Conor.
• Lowry, Michael.
• McEllistrim, Thomas.
• McGrath, Mattie.
• McGrath, Michael.
• Mansergh, Martin.
• Moloney, John.
• Moynihan, Michael.
• Mulcahy, Michael.
• Nolan, M. J.
• Ó Cuív, Éamon.
• Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
• O’Brien, Darragh.
• O’Connor, Charlie.
• O’Dea, Willie.
• O’Flynn, Noel.
• O’Hanlon, Rory.
• O’Rourke, Mary.
• O’Sullivan, Christy.
• Power, Peter.
• Power, Seán.
• Roche, Dick.
• Ryan, Eamon.
• Sargent, Trevor.
• Scanlon, Eamon.
• Smith, Brendan.
• White, Mary Alexandra.
• Woods, Michael.

Níl

• Bannon, James.
• Barrett, Seán.
• Broughan, Thomas P.
• Bruton, Richard.
• Burke, Ulick.
• Burton, Joan.
• Byrne, Catherine.
• Carey, Joe.
• Clune, Deirdre.
• Connaughton, Paul.
• Coonan, Noel J.
• Costello, Joe.
• Coveney, Simon.
• Crawford, Seymour.
• Creed, Michael.
• Creighton, Lucinda.
• D’Arcy, Michael.
• Deenihan, Jimmy.
• Doyle, Andrew.
• Durkan, Bernard J.
• English, Damien.
• Enright, Olwyn.
• Feighan, Frank.
• Ferris, Martin.
• Flanagan, Charles.
• Flanagan, Terence.
• Gilmore, Eamon.
• Hayes, Brian.
• Hayes, Tom.
• Higgins, Michael D.
• Hogan, Phil.
• Howlin, Brendan.
• Kehoe, Paul.
• Kenny, Enda.
• McCormack, Pádraic.
• McEntee, Shane.
• McGrath, Finian.
• McHugh, Joe.
• McManus, Liz.
• Mitchell, Olivia.
• Morgan, Arthur.
• Naughten, Denis.
• Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
• Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
• O’Donnell, Kieran.
• O’Dowd, Fergus.
• O’Keeffe, Jim.
• O’Mahony, John.
• O’Shea, Brian.
• O’Sullivan, Jan.
• Penrose, Willie.
• Quinn, Ruairí.
• Rabbitte, Pat.
• Reilly, James.
• Ring, Michael.
• Shatter, Alan.
• Sheahan, Tom.
• Sherlock, Seán.
• Shortall, Róisín.
• Stagg, Emmet.
• Stanton, David.
• Timmins, Billy.
• Tuffy, Joanna.
• Upton, Mary.
• Varadkar, Leo.
• Wall, Jack.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Pat Carey and John Cregan; Níl, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg.

Question declared carried.

Amendment declared lost.

Motion put and agreed to.