Today's Order of Business is Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8: No. 1, motion re the referral of the Trade Marks Act, 1996 (Community Trade Mark) Regulations, 2000, to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, will be taken without debate; No. 2, motion re the establishment of the Joint Committee on the Constitution without debate will be taken without debate; No. 3, motion re the referral of the Standards in Public Office Bill, 2000, to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service and the Committee on Members' Interests of Seanad Éireann will be taken without debate; No. 4, Education Welfare Bill, 1999 – Report and Final Stages will be taken today; No. 5, motion re the Employment Equality Act, 1998 (section 12) (Church of Ireland College of Education) Order, 2000, will be taken for 30 minutes following the conclusion of No. 4, with the contributions of spokespersons not to exceed seven minutes; No. 6, the Intoxicating Liquor Bill, 2000 – Report and Final Stages will be taken today; No. 7 motion for earlier signature motion will be taken at the conclusion of No. 6; No. 8, the Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2000 – all Stages will be taken today but not before 2 p.m.
Order of Business.
The Order of Business is agreed. Going from one to eight is indicative of the work rate of the House and I hope that will be recognised.
Will the Leader be able to find time, an hour or so, for the motions on Tibet? There might be a corner somewhere tomorrow or it could be done over lunch time. That is what we did with East Timor with a very similar motion. The motion regarding ethics in public office is to be taken without debate. Can we have a debate at some point on the interface between business and politics in light of the very worrying remarks of Mr. Kavanagh which indicate that he felt that it was possible to more or less buy an election or at least to influence it?
Will the Leader ask the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to reassure the House that buses are subject to the NCT test, particularly with regard to emissions? They do not seem to be, especially the 25 year old tour buses that are floating around Dublin city, which make life very difficult for cyclists.
There is a great deal of business on the Order Paper today, which is typical of this time of year when we rush to have items finished. Like Senator Norris, I seek clarification on No. 3 with regard to the establishment of the joint committee and its implications. Perhaps, the Leader will circulate documentation on that matter.
Is it possible before the session ends to have a full-scale debate on Government policies and a debate on a motion of no confidence, similar to the Dáil? It would be an opportunity for the Government to put on record what is thinks it has achieved and for the Opposition to put on record where it feels it has been found wanting. At the end of the session, following which there will be a three month gap, will the Leader find time for a state of the nation discussion where both sides of the House could discuss matters of considerable importance? There is one item that I would like to be discussed—
Senator Costello, you can reserve that item for the debate for which you ask if it is granted.
I would like the Leader to put the new National Economic and Social Forum report on housing on the Order Paper. We did not have a debate on the Bacon report and new proposals have been made, with which the Minister for the Environment and Local Government has stated he is not happy. These are issues which would be worth discussing together with the broader issue of what is happening in many other areas, which are causing considerable concern. Will the Leader schedule a full-scale discussion for one day on the important issues that concern the country?
I support Senator Norris's proposition that we might find some time, even during a sos, to take brief statements on the situation in Tibet. No. 3, the referral of the presentation on a Standards in Public Office Act to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, is consistent with the committee's discussions earlier in the year with regard to standards in public office. It will only deal with the general subject matter of the Bill and not with the detail, and it will be up to the Houses to amend it, if that is required. A sub-committee considered some of these matters earlier in the year. Senator O'Toole and I are members of the sub-committee and, therefore, the Seanad will have an input into the discussion on the matters relating to No. 3.
When the next session begins, I ask the Leader to schedule an immediate debate on the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I did not get any joy during Private Members' Business last night when I raised it. Parents have gone to the High Court seeking basic integrated services in education and health and four other cases are listed for next week. It is absolutely appalling that parents will have to go the High Court to seek services. I have raised this issue many times over the last three years. The Leader must bring this to the attention of the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science.
Will the Leader consider a debate in the next session on the importance of our bogs to the heritage of Ireland? The recent finds in County Offaly underline how rich a repository the bogs are – many of our most famous artefacts were found in the bogs. Unfortunately many of these finds were accidental and we need a professional examination and excavation of the bogs.
I am disturbed by the suggestion that No. 3 should be taken without debate. We are talking about ethics in public office. This side of the House has been seeking a debate on this subject for months. Now we are told that it will be referred for consideration to yet another committee, when committees and sub-committees dealt with it last year. It is wrong to take this without debate. This is an ideal opportunity to debate the matter and it is wrong to kick it into touch once again. The Government is avoiding an issue it should have grasped and dealt with. I disagree with this and, on principle, we should not accept it.
I welcome the decision taken by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of young Elian Gonzalez and his return to Cuba. None of us could understand why he was not returned before this. The decision of the United States to open some trading links with Cuba should also be welcomed. It may only be for food and medicine but it is the first step in an area which has been a cause of concern for many over the years.
Will the Leader of the House raise the issue of inter-country adoption with the Minister for Health and Children, particularly the protracted delays being experienced, not least in the eastern region, with prospective parents facing delays in the initial assessment process of up to two years? Senators will know there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of people choosing inter-country adoption. Between 1991 and 1995, 300 people in the State applied for such adoptions. In the period between 1995 and 1999, there was a 300% increase in the number of people anxious to participate in this process. Will the Leader allow time in the new session for a debate on this matter?
Will the Leader impress on the Minister for Education and Science the need to redress the wrongs being done in the higher education grants system? Once again nurses in the final year of their degrees are not being allowed maintenance grants. This is a snub by the Government to the profession. Nursing is a noble profession and nurses do wonderful work. At their most vulnerable time – when they are in college – we are refusing to help them further their education. It would be a great thing if the Leader could see to it that the Minister for Education and Science would redress the wrong being done to the nursing profession by allowing final year students maintenance grants like other students.
I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to allow for a full debate on No. 3. We have waited for the publication of the Standards in Public Office Bill for some time. The Taoiseach has spoken about it on several occasions in relation to the Government's response to the mountain of sleaze before it and the difficulties in political life as a result. It is not sufficient or satisfactory that such important legislation is referred to a committee without debate when this could be the second last day of the last session of this Seanad. It is a mark of the denial so evident on the Government benches at present, denial of the huge problems not only in the body politic but in housing, the economy, inflation and transport.
A detailed contribution such as that being made by the Senator is not in order on the Order of Business.
The Government is in total denial.
I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to allow for a proper debate on this very important matter.
Following the outstanding commitment given by the Minister for Education and Science to special schools in terms of additional teachers and care workers, will the Leader ask the Minister to consider making available the necessary capital funding to meet the accommodation needs brought about by that generous commitment?
I second Senator O'Meara's amendment. It would be extraordinary to take this without debate. The Leader said that No. 5 would be taken with debate.
I thank Senator Coogan for his tolerance. In response to Senator Norris, I will do all I can to allow time for statements on Tibet. In response to Senators Henry and O'Meara and all other Senators who expressed concern about No. 3, it is only being deferred. It was agreed by the leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Independent Senators, in the absence of the leader of the Labour Party, that we will have a long debate on all these matters when we come back in October. The matter is being referred to a committee on which Senator Dardis and Senator O'Toole, the leader of the Independents—
He is not the leader.
—represent the Seanad. Legislation will come before this House and will be fully debated. There will be no time constraint on that debate, as has always been the case. I was Leader of the House for three years yesterday—
Senators
Congratulations.
Does the Leader get a pension?
—and not once in that period has a Bill been guillotined or has anyone been muzzled. It is most unfair of Senators in the busiest session in the history of the Seanad to say that everyone has not been given an opportunity. All calls made on the Order of Business have been facilitated to the fullest extent. I have done my utmost to facilitate requests made by Senators. That is my duty.
In relation to the call by Senator Jackman, last night's debate was extended to allow everyone to make their contribution. I will see what I can do early in the next session to facilitate her request.
I will pass on Senator Norris's comments on the old buses in Dublin to the Minister for Public Enterprise. I fully agree with what he said.
Senator Costello will recall that there were statements on inflation last week, while two weeks before that we had statements on financial matters. Following the request of the Senator, I am pleased to inform the House that I recom mend 30 minutes for each spokesperson on the Finance (No. 2) Bill and 20 minutes for all other Senators so we can record our appreciation of the Government's hard work and success during its three years in office.
Hard work and success is hardly the appropriate phrase.
We can then discuss the programme it has laid out for the next six years, particularly the next two years over which this Government will preside.
Senator Ó Murchú requested statements or a debate on the importance of bogs to the national heritage, and I will certainly arrange for such a discussion. The request is a timely one and it will be included in the next session.
I will pass on to the relevant Minister the concerns of Senator Ó Fearghail about the delays of up to two years in completing inter-country adoption procedures. If a debate on this issue is required in the next session, I will allow time.
Senator McDonagh called for a debate on higher education grants, and there would appear to be much merit in what he is requesting. I will certainly pass on his views to the Minister for Education and Science, and we can have a debate on this matter in the next session.
Senator Kett recorded his appreciation of the allocations that have been made and he has asked the Seanad to acknowledge them. I will pass on his views to the relevant Minister.
Senator O'Meara has moved an amendment to the Order of Business: "That item 3 be taken with debate." Is the amendment being pressed?
Yes.
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Burke, Paddy.Coghlan, Paul.Coogan, Fintan.Costello, Joe.Henry, Mary.Jackman, Mary.Keogh, Helen. |
McDonagh, Jarlath.Norris, David.O'Dowd, Fergus.O'Meara, Kathleen.Quinn, Feargal.Taylor-Quinn, Madeleine. |
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Bohan, Eddie.Bonner, Enda.Cassidy, Donie.Chambers, Frank.Cregan, John.Dardis, John.Farrell, Willie.Fitzgerald, Liam.Fitzgerald, Tom.Gibbons, Jim.Glennon, Jim. |
Glynn, Camillus.Kett, Tony.Kiely, Daniel.Lanigan, Mick.Leonard, Ann.Moylan, Pat.O'Brien, Francis.Ó Fearghail, Seán.Ó Murchú, Labhrás.Ormonde, Ann.Walsh, Jim. |