It is proposed to take all stages of Item No. 1, Sea Pollution Bill, 1990, with a sos from 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock.
Order of Business.
On the Order of Business, we will certainly co-operate in trying to get all Stages through but I do not want a guillotine motion here this morning. Given the extraordinary respect and deference which the Taoiseach is now showing to the Members of this House, perhaps the Leader of the House might be able to arrange for a Bill to begin in this House, given, as I said, the enhanced status which this House suddenly enjoys at the present time.
I would like to plead with the Leader of the House to have a debate on the Maastricht Summit. Seemingly they have not got time in the other House to discuss it. The decisions that will be arrived at that summit, as I said here last week, will reflect not only this generation but generations to come. We should be given an opportunity to express the views of the people through the representatives in this House since they are not doing it in the other House.
I too would not like to see a guillotine on the Sea Pollution Bill. We should be able to get through the business in the day but without any time limit put on it. I welcome the fact that at last we have got the Register of the Members of the Oireachtas Interests Bill as the first item on the agenda after the Christmas recess. That is very timely and appropriate in terms of what has been happening recently.
I echo the call made by Senator Tom Raftery to have a full debate on the Maastricht Summit in this House because it is so important in relation to the events that are taking place leading to January 1993.
I still deplore the fact that we have not had an opportunity to discuss the very important events that are taking place outside this House and that have been discussed in the Lower House for the last four weeks. In particular I would ask the Leader of the House to give us an opportunity of discussing the correctness of press briefings by the Government press spokesperson, seeing that the Progressive Democrats had to disassociate themselves from remarks made by the Government Press Secretary.
That is not a matter for the Order of Business by the widest stretch of the imagination.
It is a very important matter because it has led to——
It has no relevance to the Order of Business.
It has led to distortion in the proceedings in the House because of what has been clearly identified as a misleading press briefing.
The Senator cantake it up in the other House when he gets there.
In those circumstances, it would be appropriate for us——
I must again remind the Senator that that is not a matter for the Order of Business.
I want to bring attention to the fact that we have not had the opportunity of discussing any of the events that have been discussed at length over the last number of weeks in the other House.
There is a procedure which the Senator must pursue if he wants to discuss such matters.
This is the second time I have raised it. It would be appropriate for this House to call for the resignation of the Government Press Secretary——
I am not going to allow any discussion on the matter now.
That is how serious I consider what happened the other day in the other House.
The Senator will have an opportunity, if he wishes to avail of it, to put down a motion to discuss the matter.
Can I take that as a positive indication from the Chair that he would allow such a motion to be taken?
I will allow the House to decide.
Can I take it that you will use your good offices to suggest to the Leader of the House——
No, I will not bring any undue influence.
I ask the Leader of the House to respond and tell us we have not had an opportunity to discuss all the ramifications of the events that have been discussed for the past month in the Lower House.
I must confess that I am always amused by the fact that it is all very well when this side of the House is at the receiving end of the brickbats but when they are thrown at the other side, they cast their eyes up in horror.
I would like to echo what my colleague, Senator Raftery, said and ask the Leader of the House if he would eleborate on his plans for a debate on the Common Agricultural Policy and on the forthcoming Maastricht Summit. This matter has been the subject of great debate within our group over the last number of weeks and I am confident that the Leader of the House will respond sympathetically to Senator Raftery's call which Senator Costello and I support.
I would also ask the Leader of the House whether there are any implications for the continuing broadcasting of the proceedings of this House or any threat to same as a result of the proceedings currently in the High Court concerning Windmill Lane.
I must remind the Senator——
I appreciate the matter is sub judice and I do not intend to stray into that area, and I will be guided by the Cathaoirleach, but I believe——
You do not need any guidance, Senator Mooney. You have already stated the exact position.
In the context of the question as it applies to this House, I am merely asking if activities taking place outside this House will have any direct bearing on the broadcast services being provided by the consortium that have the franchise for transmission from this House.
This morning I received in the post a copy of the Local Government (Reform) Bill. Today, 7 November, as we approach the end of the year and are looking to our estimates for local authorities for 1992, I believe the Leader of the House should bear in mind the urgency of advising us of the amounts of money that will be allocated this year. It is our right. The people have a right to a viable local authority system and the local authorities are in a state of chaos at present. Would the Leader of the House advise the Minister that the block grants are vital for the viability of next year's programmes, if we are to have any? Would he also ensure that, as soon as possible, all local authorities are advised of moneys about to be allocated for programmes in the coming year?
I would like to join with the calls to the Leader of the House in relation to European affairs and the Maastricht Summit. I would ask him to try to find time for a debate on that matter either before the summit or immediately after it because I believe it will have profound implications for Ireland. We are facing fundamental changes in our relationship with the Community and in the way we operate our own Parliament. From that point of view this is something we are going to have to give every consideration to.
Many Senators will be aware that yesterday, at the Irish Council of the European Movement, there was a detectable shift in attitudes to neutrality in particular. I realise that that is not a matter for the summit but if there are profound changes of that nature taking place, it would be appropriate for this House to consider them and I would ask the Leader to take that into account.
There is one other matter I would like to draw to his attention, and perhaps he would communicate our concerns to the Minister for Justice about it. I am speaking about the current dispute in the courts. According to the information I have people who are wards of court — people who are incapacitated in many ways, sometimes mentally and physically are not being paid the money due to them because of that dispute. It has always been the practice that people who are disadvantaged would not have to suffer because of industrial action but these people are suffering. I would ask the Leader of the House to bring that view to the Minister for Justice.
I would like to add my voice to the calls to the Leader of the House for a general debate on the present political situation. This House is eminently suitable for such a debate, and perhaps we would give it the time and attention in not quite so polarised an arena as in the other House and maybe tease out many of the problems and concerns being spoken of to us by the electorate at large. May I also ask the Leader to consider a debate on the Maastricht Summit? This is the House most suitable for that type of debate and I am afraid we are going to have a major job awakening the public to the importance of the upcoming referendum — as far as I am concerned the successful outcome of that referendum — and let us start the debate in Seanad Éireann. Let us encourage others, through the media, to get in on the debate so that the people who have many problems will come down the road with us and appreciate what is at stake. It is most important that this Chamber has a good profound debate and let us start the process now.
I would like to second that and support the call for a debate on the Maastricht Summit. The debate has been started by the Irish Council of the European Movement and it had a major debate on subjects leading up to yesterday. However, I think we are approaching what is probably one of the most important issues to face the Irish nation in 2,000 years. We need to have this debate. This is very important and I ask the Leader to give us that debate as soon as possible.
I support Senator Raftery's call for an early debate on EC reform, before the summit. It will not be much use if the House does not have an input before the Taoiseach and the Ministers attend the summit.
I would like to ask the Leader if he can fit in a debate on the famine in a number of African countries. It would be appropriate to have such a debate before the Christmas break. The unfortunate populations in a number of countries are not getting the aid the free world should be giving them because of the political situation in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. I hope the House will be given an opportunity to call the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the plight of millions of people on the African continent.
I was listening to the radio on the way here this morning and I heard the national lottery are providing the organisers of the Pavarotti concert at the Point Depot with £250,000. It is rather strange that we have social organisations — the Rape Crisis Centre comes to mind — that are going out of business for want of money. If the national lottery must give £250,000 to some organisation, it would be better to give it to a social organisation like the Rape Crisis Centre. I would like the Cathaoirleach to pass on that suggestion. I am not sure who is in charge of the national lottery at present; it appears to be the Department of the Environment. I think they should look at it. People who want to go to see Pavarotti can afford to pay for their tickets. This should be looked at.
I would again request the Leader of the House to arrange for a debate on the proposed increase of 40 per cent on car hire rates for next season. If this happens, it will have a devastating effect on the future of tourism.
I would like to say to Senator Manning that at all times Senator Wright and I will continue to seek to have Bills initiated in this House. Senator Raftery and others asked about the Maastricht Summit next month and the European scene. I have given a commitment that as soon as a White Paper is produced we will have a debate in this House. I made it clear yesterday——
That will be after the summit.
I accept that but the whole area of EC policy pre-1992 will be considered in the White Paper that will be produced soon. As soon as we have it we can certainly have a debate on the matter.
Senator Costello and others asked about the current political situation. I indicated yesterday the Whips would meet on this matter and see what can be done to have a debate arranged over the next few weeks.
Senator Mooney asked about Windmill Lane, and rightly so because we are all watching this matter with interest. It is, a Chathaoirligh, as you have said, sub judice and I would prefer not to comment on it except to say we have a particular interest in it and we are watching the matter with concern.
Senator Ryan asked about the rates support grant. I have indicated to the appropriate Minister the concern of local authorities throughout Ireland to know the position as soon as possible.
Senator Dardis asked again about the courts dispute. Senator Lydon and others spoke about the summit and other EC matters and Senator McDonald asked for a debate on famine in Africa. I have no proposals for such a debate at this time. Senator Bohan referred to the national lottery and I share his views on that. Senator Foley asked for a debate on tourism; I will continue to investigate this matter to see if it can be arranged as soon as possible.
Order of Business agreed to.