It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the Order Paper.
Order of Business.
A few weeks ago the Leader of the House, in reply to a query of mine, said he would investigate the possibility of taking Motion No. 21, in the names of Senator Desmond and myself, on the question of the "Interim Report on Equal Pay". On that day all Members on this side of the House were in agreement that if the leader of the House could so arrange it we would, if necessary, have a special sitting to take this motion. Could the Leader of the House inform us of the outcome of his investigation?
The Government have not yet completed their examination of the implications of this report and, therefore, it is no possible to accede to the Senator's request.
Could I ask the Leader of the House when it is proposed to take No. 7 on the Order Paper and what is the Government's attitude towards it?
I would suggest that it would make for a more orderly discussion if Senators would ask their questions and the Leader of the House, in concluding, could answer the various questions.
With all due respect, a Chathaoirleach, I have had experience of that system for some time and I find, with the number of people who ask questions, that by the time we come to the end of the discussion I cannot keep track of half of the questions. May I suggest that I should answer them one after another?
It is not an orderly proceeding. The Order of Business is a motion and the Standing Order provides that there may be one speech from each Senator on a motion and following this the Leader of the House should conclude.
Perhaps Senator Brugha would take notes and then the leader of the House could reply.
Arising out of Senator Ó Maoláin's reply in regard to Motion No. 21, and without prejudice as to whether that was orderly or not, I should like to put forward the point that it would probably be far more appropriate for the Seanad to discuss this motion before the Government reach the final conclusion on it. I think the Seanad—and I am referring only to the question of the time limit of taking this, and not to its merits— would be fulfilling a far better function in discussing a subject of great public interest such as this in full debate before a final Government decision has been reached. In this way we could make a contribution which would be far better than that of discussing afterwards a Government decision which, in 90 cases out of 100, will prove to be immutable.
I also am a little apprehensive about the reply of the Leader of the House to Motion No. 21. Like Senator Dooge, I feel that a discussion on Motion No. 17, relating to the White Paper on Local Government, would be more appropriate before the Government have decided on action arising out of that White Paper, especially in view of the fact that the White Paper suggests that it would welcome comment. I should like the Leader of the House to give some indication as to when this motion is likely to be discussed. I have asked about this twice before but I am sure, quite inadvertently, the Leader of the House did not manage to reply on the Order of Business as to when this motion might be taken. It is now suggested that the local government elections are not to be held next year but instead a Bill is to be presented to amalgamate the Dublin authorities and have an election for them and them alone. Obviously, if this is the case, a discussion on the White Paper would be very appropriate and very timely at this stage.
I cannot give any indication of when the motions in which the Senator is interested will be discussed. With regard to Senator Dooge's suggestion, if we are to bring forward the motion merely for debating it surely a debating society in one of his colleges would be just as good as the Seanad. If it is a question of not taking these debates seriously and that you you do not want a governmental view of the situation then you might as well go to a debating society.
Order of business agreed.