Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 February 2004

• Prelude (0 speeches)
  Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 2.30 p.m.
• Ceisteanna — Questions. (0 speeches)
  Constitutional Amendments.
  • Constitutional Amendments. (58 speeches)
    Question 1: To ask the Taoiseach the constitutional referenda he intends to hold during 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1006/04]
• Priority Questions. (0 speeches)
  Non-Resident Accounts.
  • Non-Resident Accounts. (19 speeches)
    Question 96: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the apparent difficulties of the Revenue Commissioners in obtaining evidence to prosecute persons who defaulted on the fines of the tax...
  • Decentralisation Programme. (8 speeches)
    Question 97: To ask the Minister for Finance if a survey has been carried out generally to establish the number of public servants willing to transfer to new locations under his decentralisation...
  • Tax Code. (23 speeches)
    Question 98: To ask the Minister for Finance if the amendments contained in section 13 of the Finance Act 2002 were drafted in response to requests from Eircom ESOT for retrospective changes to...
  • Insurance Industry. (6 speeches)
    Question 100: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will intervene with insurance companies to ensure that flood cover is provided to householders in areas where remedial measures have been taken...
• Other Questions. (0 speeches)
  Offshore Accounts.
  • Offshore Accounts. (17 speeches)
    Question 101: To ask the Minister for Finance the progress made to date with regard to the series of meetings being held by the Revenue Commissioners with chief executives of Irish financial...
  • Departmental Investigations. (13 speeches)
    Question 102: To ask the Minister for Finance the investigation which has been held into the circumstances in which contracts worth over €800,000 were awarded by the Office of Public Works to a...
• Adjournment Debate Matters. (1 speech)
  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Ring — the need for the...
• Leaders' Questions. (43 speeches)
  Last year I had the opportunity to meet the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bomb. This was one of the most sobering meetings I have ever attended. Over two hours, people made their case...
• Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 31. (4 speeches)
  Before coming to the Order of Business, I propose to deal with a number of notices under Standing Order 31. I will call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted the notices to my office.
• Order of Business. (116 speeches)
  The Order of Business today will be No. 30, the Finance Bill 2004, allocation of time motion for select committee; No. 13a, motion re the ministerial rota for parliamentary questions; and No. 6,...
• Finance Bill 2004: Allocation of Time Motion. (1 speech)
  I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (1) The proceedings in the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service on the Finance Bill 2004 shall be brought to a conclusion...
• Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion. (1 speech)
  I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Resolution of the Dáil of 6th June, 2002, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral...
• Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2004: Second Stage. (26 speeches)
  I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The primary purpose of the Bill is to give legislative form to the increases in motor tax rates and trade plate licences which were contained in...
• Private Members' Business. (0 speeches)
• Electronic Voting: Motion (92 speeches)
  I move: That Dáil Éireann, noting the Government's failure to: —consult with, or seek the agreement of, the other parties in Dáil Éireann for the fundamental change in our electoral system...
• Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed). (49 speeches)
  Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
• Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2004: Referral to Select Committee. (1 speech)
  I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government, in accordance with Standing Order 120(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that...
• Adjournment Debate. (0 speeches)
  Community Employment Schemes.
  • Community Employment Schemes. (3 speeches)
    I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. It concerns the three-year rule for community employment schemes but only in those schemes relevant to disadvantaged people. For...
  • School Closures. (2 speeches)
    I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter on the Adjournment. The closure of St. Mary's secondary school on a phased basis is a serious blow to the...
  • Hepatitis C Incidence. (23 speeches)
    I am raising one aspect of the ten-year blood scandal saga, which is as scandalous as any of the others with which we are familiar. It is the failure to inform some blood donors that they had...
  • Social Welfare Benefits. (2 speeches)
    I am not seeking a commission of inquiry at the moment but, depending on the Minister's answers, I might be. I am here to ask that the Minister for Social and Family Affairs explain the...