Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 14 Feb 2013

Order of Business

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Deputy Brendan Howlin)

It is proposed to take No. 11a, motion re promissory notes arrangement (resumed); and No. 27, Water Services Bill 2013 [Seanad] - Second Stage (resumed).

It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than 5.45 p.m. tonight and shall adjourn on the conclusion of Oral Questions, and the sitting shall be suspended on the conclusion of No. 11a for 15 minutes; the proceedings in relation to No. 11a shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2.30 p.m.; the resumed Second Stage of No. 27 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 7 p.m. tonight and the order shall resume thereafter with Topical Issues and Oral Questions; and, for the purposes of Standing Order 117A, the first Friday of the month for March shall be Friday, 8 March 2013, the time and date by which notice of a Bill in connection with that sitting shall be received by the Clerk shall be 11 a.m. on Friday, 22 February 2013, and related Standing Orders shall apply accordingly.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

There are four proposals to put to the House. Is the proposal for the suspension of sitting and that the Dáil shall sit later than 5.45 p.m. agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 11a agreed to?

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

Not agreed.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is the Deputy speaking on behalf of his party?

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

Yes.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I can only take a representative of each party.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

When the legislation on Anglo Irish Bank was rushed through last week, we were promised a full and open-ended debate on the promissory notes. I ask the Government to lift the guillotine on that debate because it is important that all Deputies have an opportunity to speak. When I sought time to speak I was only given five minutes due to the guillotine. As a Deputy elected to this House I would like to speak on the matter for longer than five minutes.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Deputy Peter Mathews only got four minutes.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I ask the Minister to lift the guillotine to allow Members to speak on the matter for as long as they require.

Deputy Joe Higgins

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle -----

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Sorry; I can only call representatives of parties. Deputy Higgins knows the situation. I will allow him to speak on the Order of Business.

Deputy Michael McCarthy

He only has one seat now.

Deputy Joe Higgins

The Deputy will be lucky if he has one after the next election. He should be careful.

(Interruptions).

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy cannot speak on this issue.

Deputy Joe Higgins

I want to say to the Minister-----

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I cannot let you in.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

He is not allowed to speak.

Deputy Joe Higgins

It is absolutely outrageous that the Minister is trying to curtail and guillotine this debate.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

He cannot speak.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I have to call the leader.

Deputy Joe Higgins

The Minister is proposing to push through a debt which will burden our children and their children for next 40 years. That is outrageous.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Please resume your seat.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

I listened to Deputy Higgins for many years on the administrative council of the Labour Party.

Deputy Emmet Stagg

It is the same story over and over.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

It is tragic that he could not hold together a party of two.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

It is tragic that it took two parties to make the Labour Party.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

From the Government's perspective, the more debate we have on the successful renegotiation of the promissory note, the better. I am happy to adjourn the debate at 2.30 p.m. if Deputies still wish to speak at that stage.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

When will we return to the debate?

Deputy Brendan Howlin

Whenever we get time.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is the proposal withdrawn?

Deputy Brendan Howlin

I withdraw the guillotine if Deputies wish to speak. I did not get an opportunity to speak, although I hoped to wrap up the debate today. I hope I will get an opportunity to speak. This is something that every Deputy should be required to consider, speak about and, ultimately, vote on because the people of Ireland will want to know where they stand on this issue.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is it agreed that the proposal is withdrawn? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 27 agreed to?

Deputy Joan Collins

We do not agree with a guillotine on the Water Services Bill. This is important legislation and we think the guillotine should be lifted. I oppose the proposal.

Deputy Joe Higgins

It is privatisation of the water supply.

Question put: "That the proposal for dealing with the Water Services Bill 2013 - Second Stage (resumed) be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 75; Níl, 38.

Tá

Burton, Joan.
Butler, Ray.
Buttimer, Jerry.
Byrne, Catherine.
Byrne, Eric.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Coffey, Paudie.
Collins, Áine.
Connaughton, Paul J.
Conway, Ciara.
Coonan, Noel.
Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
Costello, Joe.
Daly, Jim.
Deenihan, Jimmy.
Dowds, Robert.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frank.
Ferris, Anne.
Fitzgerald, Frances.
Flanagan, Charles.
Flanagan, Terence.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harrington, Noel.
Hayes, Tom.
Heydon, Martin.
Hogan, Phil.
Howlin, Brendan.
Humphreys, Heather.
Humphreys, Kevin.
Keating, Derek.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kenny, Seán.
Kyne, Seán.
Lawlor, Anthony.
Lynch, Ciarán.
Lynch, Kathleen.
Lyons, John.
McCarthy, Michael.
McGinley, Dinny.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
McNamara, Michael.
Maloney, Eamonn.
Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
Mulherin, Michelle.
Murphy, Dara.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Neville, Dan.
Nolan, Derek.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Mahony, John.
O'Reilly, Joe.
O'Sullivan, Jan.
Penrose, Willie.
Perry, John.
Phelan, Ann.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Pat.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Brendan.
Spring, Arthur.
Stagg, Emmet.
Timmins, Billy.
Tuffy, Joanna.
Twomey, Liam.
Varadkar, Leo.
Wall, Jack.
White, Alex.

Níl

Adams, Gerry.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Calleary, Dara.
Collins, Joan.
Colreavy, Michael.
Cowen, Barry.
Crowe, Seán.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Stephen S.
Ellis, Dessie.
Flanagan, Luke 'Ming'.
Fleming, Tom.
Grealish, Noel.
Healy, Seamus.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Higgins, Joe.
Kelleher, Billy.
Lowry, Michael.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGrath, Finian.
McGrath, Mattie.
McLellan, Sandra.
Murphy, Catherine.
Naughten, Denis.
Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
O'Brien, Jonathan.
O'Sullivan, Maureen.
Pringle, Thomas.
Ross, Shane.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Brendan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Wallace, Mick.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg; Níl, Deputies Catherine Murphy and Joan Collins.

Question declared carried.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I will move on to No. 4. Is the proposal-----

Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly

On a point of order, while I welcome the Minister's lifting of the guillotine-----

Deputy Paul Kehoe

We are moving on from that.

Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly

Many Deputies on all sides of the House spoke on this motion for a fairly short amount of time because of the restrictions imposed by the guillotine.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

That has been dealt with.

Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly

Will the Minister consider allowing those who have already spoken on the motion to speak again, on the basis that sufficient time is now being provided to those who have yet to speak?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is not a point of order.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

Deputy Donnelly is too late.

Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly

I am making this suggestion in the interests of Deputies on all sides of the House.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

He should have been here.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is the proposal for the sitting and business of the Dáil on Friday, 8 March 2013, agreed to?

Deputy Billy Kelleher

It is not agreed. I do not know what the Minister has against the Gregorian calendar. Perhaps he does not like fish on Fridays. We want to make it clear that we would like more time for parliamentary scrutiny, particularly in the context of Leaders' Questions and questions to Ministers. Five weeks have passed since I was able to ask questions of the Minister for Health. I will be here tonight for Question Time. If the House is sitting on a more frequent basis, we should provide for accountability by means of Leaders' Questions and ministerial questions, rather than pretending to be engaging in parliamentary democracy.