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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 3 Nov 2011

Vol. 745 No. 3

Order of Business

Business today is as agreed by the House yesterday and Private Members' business shall be No. 31, motion re social welfare (resumed).

There are no proposals to be put to the House.

There were 30 pieces of legislation promised on the A list to be published before the beginning of the next session. Can the Tánaiste indicate to us, now that we are at the halfway stage, the position regarding the A list and how many Bills will be published, including those published to date, before the beginning of the next session?

To date, eight of the Bills have been published and it remains the intention of the Government to publish the remainder before the next session.

Will the 22 remaining Bills be published before the beginning of the next session? Can we hold the Tánaiste to that?

That is the intention, but as the Deputy knows from experience sometimes due to constraints in drafting or whatever it is not always possible to publish all of them. There is no change in the intention of the Government to publish them.

I refer to the climate change Bill. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, has decided it is not a matter of priority. I assume he is aware of the severe episodes of flooding in Dublin and elsewhere across the State. I ask the Tánaiste to outline the position in respect of that Bill and his view on it.

The temporary agency workers Bill will give effect to the directive on temporary agency work. When will it be published and debated in the Dáil? I also ask the Tánaiste to confirm the State will not seek a derogation from the directive in any form.

Later today, the Minister, Deputy Hogan, will publish an update of our performance on climate change targets. The good news is that Ireland will have met its targets for 2008-12. Challenging targets have to be met between 2013-20. The Minister is undertaking a review of how those targets might be met and has asked the NESC to produce some research on how they might be met, in particular given the performance of different sectors of the economy.

The review will inform the Government's policy on how we can meet our targets. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to enshrine that in legislation. I am sure the Deputy will agree it is necessary that we know what we are doing before we enshrine it in legislation. I understand from the Minister that there will be a very open consultative process which will engage all stakeholders in regard to how the challenging targets from now to 2020 are to be met.

What about the temporary agency workers Bill?

The Bill has been approved by Government. It is being drafted and it is intended to publish it shortly. It will be debated in the House during this session.

Will there be no derogation?

The issue of a derogation only arises if there is agreement with the social partners. I understand discussions are taking place between the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the social partners.

A number of members of the Technical Group submitted requests under Standing Order 32 yesterday on the issue of the Anglo Irish Bank bond. Those matters were ruled out of order, despite the fact that they were of specific importance, were in the public interest and required urgent consideration. We are seeking to discover why they were ruled out of order, particularly as they complied with the terms of Standing Order 32. Is the Leas-Chathaoirleach in a position to provide some guidance with regard to Standing Order 32 and why such matters could be ruled out of order? Is there an option for Members to bring forward matters under the terms of Standing Order 32?

I did not have any notice that this matter was going to be raised. I suggest that the Deputy take it up with the Office of the Ceann Comhairle because I am not in possession of any information relating to it.

The Exchequer figures published yesterday highlight the serious crisis that is engulfing the retail sector. When will the Government be bringing forward the legislation relating to upward-only rent reviews?

That legislation is still under consideration by the Government. When a decision is made on it, we will bring it before the House.

I have raised the matter of expediting the public health (sunbeds) Bill on a number of occasions during the past two years. I am surprised a definite date has not yet been set for the publication of this much needed legislation which is designed to regulate the use of sunbeds, particularly by young people under the age of 18. In light of the high incidence of cancer in this country, is the Tánaiste in a position to provide a specific date for the introduction of this legislation in 2012?

I do not have a specific date but it is intended to bring the legislation forward at some point in 2012.

Is there promised legislation — I am aware there is a commitment in the programme for Government — regarding the issue of people who were affected by the use of thalidomide? This matter was first raised in the House in 1962. There was a great deal of rhetoric uttered and quite a number of promises made during the lifetime of the previous Dáil, when we had many meetings with the people concerned. I note that the Government now appears to be hiding behind the advice given by the Attorney General, which is unfair. This is a worthy cause and a proper resolution must be found to it.

I do not know whether there is promised legislation in this area.

The programme for Government does not contain a commitment in respect of this matter and there is no Bill relating to it on the legislative list. However, I understand the matter was raised as a Topical Issue yesterday. I am sure the Minister for Health will certainly take on board the submissions that have been made.

As the Tánaiste is aware, local authorities are preparing their budgets for 2012. It has been signalled within the local government sector that the Government is considering a major adjustment to the rates system which will involve a change to primary legislation. Is the Tánaiste in a position to indicate whether this is the case? When will the relevant legislation be published?

The anti-democratic privatisation of waste services is continuing, with the Dublin city manager threatening to privatise waste collection in the city in December. A national waiver system has been promised in the past. Will the Tánaiste indicate when legislation relating to such a system will be published?

Legislation is not promised in the context of changes to the system of local authority rates. The only legislation that has been promised, which will be dealt with this session, relates to household charges.

A major contributory factor with regard to the privatisation of refuse collection services related to the campaigns of non-payment that were run and advocated——

Give us a break. Services were privatised throughout the country. There were no campaigns in the remainder of the country.

Those campaigns were conducted exclusively against local authority services and, as far as I can recall, not against the services provided by private operators.

Of course they were not aimed at private operators.

We will debate that issue on another day.

We can debate it now. The Deputy should ask a question.

The Deputy knows he is wrong.

Deputy Kehoe must be kidding. Those opposite were responsible for privatising refuse collections and year after year they voted in favour of the imposition of bin charges.

We are on the Order of Business.

On a point of order——

There is no point of order.

——the Deputy can only ask questions on the Order of Business, he cannot lecture the House.

I know that Deputy McCarthy.

A Deputy

He can walk out the door.

Large numbers of people were badly affected by the flooding that occurred on Monday, 24 October. Many of these individuals are repeat victims of flooding. In Blackrock, which is in the constituency the Tánaiste and I represent, I met people whose houses have been flooded and badly damaged for the umpteenth time as a result of the Maretimo Stream overflowing. Is legislation being brought forward in respect of compensation for flood victims, particularly those who cannot take out insurance as a result of the fact that their properties were flooded on previous occasions? The Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, has indicated that the Government is giving consideration to providing assistance to families who have been affected by flooding. Will the Government be bringing forward legislation or proposals in respect of providing assistance, compensation and support to the many families that have been affected by flooding?

Assistance is already being provided by officials the Minister for Social Protection has deployed to deal with this matter. The Government discussed this matter on Tuesday, 25 October. It is intended that the particular needs of people who found themselves in extreme difficulties as a result of the floods will be addressed. The Departments of Social Protection and the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Office of Public Works, OPW, are working on some remedies in respect of this issue.

The other matter on which we are working and on which we will be receiving a report in the near future is that of the difficulties some householders — as a result of the fact that their homes were flooded last year — have faced in obtaining insurance. These people's homes have been flooded for a second time but they now have no insurance. We are considering what can be done to address the insurance requirements of those householders going forward. Proposals are being developed for people who found themselves in extreme difficulty.

Is there a timeline in respect of this matter?

The Department of Social Protection has already done some work in this area.

In view of the level of confusion that has arisen among many householders in rural areas with regard to the issue of septic tanks, will the Tánaiste indicate when the Water Services (Amendment) Bill be introduced?

The Bill was published this morning and will be introduced in the Seanad in the first instance. It will be brought before the Dáil when the Upper House has completed its consideration of it.

The Tánaiste will be well aware of the crisis that exists in the farming community as a result of the bad weather. Farmers have been unable to traverse their lands or spread slurry on them. Many of them will take in their cattle for the winter with those tanks still full. I compliment the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who have already provided an extension in this regard. Is there any proposal on the part of the Government to provide a further extension? Would it be possible for the Government to introduce legislation which would allow farmers to work to prevailing weather conditions rather than to the calendar? As the Tánaiste is aware, that would be a practical and common-sense approach to take to this matter.

As Deputy Healy-Rae acknowledged, the relevant Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has already granted an extension. However, I am not aware that he is planning a further extension. Putting in place a regime which would be weather rather than calendar-related would make a great deal of sense. That matter can be pursued with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

I raised the issue of attacks on members of the emergency services, particularly gardaí, a number of months ago. I asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if it was his intention to introduce special legislation to afford protection to people in the emergency services, who are being attacked in the course of their duty, and to sufficiently penalise and punish the perpetrators of those attacks. Given that on Monday night in the city five members of the Garda Síochána were admitted to hospital following such attacks and one was penned to a wall by a jeep and narrowly escaped serious injury or death, will the Minister give a commitment that he will keep the situation under review? Given what happened during the past week has the Government any plans to introduce legislation?

The Minister for Justice and Equality and the Government as a whole take very seriously the attacks on members of the Garda and members of other parts of our emergency services including fire brigade staff and other staff. As that matter is under consideration by the Minister for Justice and Equality I will ask him to respond directly to the Deputy.

I wish to raise three issues. The first two concern long-promised legislation, the national vetting bureau Bill which is imminent and the judicial council Bill which also has been promised. What progress has been made on the compilation and heads of the Bills and when they are likely to come before the House, given their urgency? The other issue is a different type of question.

There is still a small amount of time remaining.

The national vetting bureau Bill is due this session and the judicial council Bill is due early in the next session.

The other issue is in anticipation of the possible reply to Parliamentary Question No. 113 on today's Order Paper. I ask the Tánaiste — I will understand if he does not have the information readily to hand — if it is intended to introduce supportive legislation in view of the abhorrence to the guillotine in this House and outside?

The Deputy is asking me to anticipate the reply to a parliamentary question which has not yet been replied to. I suggest he await the reply to the question.

On a day when climate change is again making the headlines, will the Tánaiste tell the House the Government's position on the Antarctic treaty?

A chilling question.

I will reply directly to the Deputy in regard to the Antarctic treaty.

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