I have notice from Senator Maurice Manning regarding a motion which he wishes to move under Standing Order 29. I call on Senator Manning to give notice of his motion before I give my ruling on it.
Request under Standing Order 29.
I wish to move a motion for the Adjournment of the Seanad on a specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent consideration. The matter relates to the serious situation of public disorder which has occurred over the past number of days in the Darndale area of Dublin.
I have given careful consideration to the matter raised by Senator Manning and I do not consider it to be a matter contemplated by Standing Order 29. I regret, therefore, that I have to rule it out of order.
I greatly regret your judgment. This is — and I am sure Senator Haughey will agree — a matter of great importance. There is a great danger of further disorder if urgent action is not taken to resolve the problem which is more than a policing one. It is a social problem and one of long standing. The matter is worthy of urgent debate in this House to try to bring about its resolution. I will discuss it later with you, a Chathaoirleach, to see if there is some way in which we could have the matter raised in this House.
Senator O'Toole has a letter from me regarding something which is related to this and I will come to it in moment. I would like to say at this point to all my colleagues in the Seanad that there are rules for me as Cathaoirleach whether they are in relation to Standing Order 29 or any other Standing Order. The Senators have the power to change those rules if they want to through the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. I hate ruling out of order something that may be of great importance to any individual Member of this House. Senators have the power to change the rules but while the rules are before me I have to abide by them.
I had a matter before you, a Chathaoirligh, for the Adjournment but I would be prepared to support the point raised by the Leader of the Fine Gael group because it is a serious matter of public concern and interest at present.
I accept that. I referred specifically to the rule of this House and I wrote to the Senator in relation to this. I appreciate it is the same problem and we will discuss it later on.
I want to comment on what the Leader of the Fine Gael Group said, and I will not make a long speech.
You will not be let make a long speech.
I understand that. The people of Darndale are very upset about the sensational newspaper publicity which has taken place regarding this issue. The danger is that if we have a debate——
We cannot have a speech and we cannot even discuss the matter which is the subject of your concern and that of Senator Manning and of Senator O'Toole.
I would be grateful if we could have discussions to consider what would be the appropriate way to deal with this problem.
Thank you, Senator Haughey. I will discuss that with Senator Manning.