Dáil debates
Wednesday, 2 March 2005
Order of Business.
11:00 am
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed to take No. a11, the Finance Bill 2005, financial resolution; No. 3, Health (Amendment) Bill 2005, Order for Second Stage and Second Stage; and No. 17, Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004, Second Stage (resumed). It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. a11 shall be decided without debate. Private Members' business shall be No. 44, motion re investigation into the murder of Robert McCartney (resumed) to conclude at 8.30 p.m.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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There is one proposal to put to the House. Is the proposal for dealing with No. a11, motion re Finance Bill 2005, financial resolution, agreed to? Agreed.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I intended to raise a matter under the Pharmacy Bill, which is the only way I can raise it. Deputy Neville raised the issue. What arrangements is the Government making in respect of the predicted pandemic of avian flu? This has the potential of a nuclear accident in terms of deaths arising from it and it appears other countries are already stockpiling millionsââ
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That is not appropriate to the Order of Business. The question may be put to the line Minister during Leaders' Questions.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Ceann Comhairle seems to have turned his antennae in this direction during the past couple of days. I said I would raise the matter under the Pharmacy Bill.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is not appropriate.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Pharmacy Bill is noted as No. 60, to consolidate and update pharmacy legislation. I cannot raise the matter in any other way and I am only following the instructions given to me by the Ceann Comhairle.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy may raise the matter on the Adjournment or in a number of other ways.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I wanted to raise it with the Taoiseach while he is present.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is a matter for the line Minister. We would be here all day if every Deputy were allowed to raise any matter in any way.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will finish very quickly. Is the Government making arrangements to deal with an expected avian flu pandemic?
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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There are other ways this matter can be raised during the day.
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Callely, will deal with it.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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When it is too late, like the iodine tablets issued by the former Minister of State, Deputy Jacob.
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Are we to understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, is dealing with the threat of avian flu?
Will the Taoiseach say if this morning's reports about the Travers report being taken by the Minister on Friday and being taken to the Cabinet next Tuesday are correct? Will it be published after the Cabinet meeting?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am told we will have the report in a matter of days but I do not know exactly when. We will bring it to the Cabinet as soon as we have it.
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Will it be published after the Cabinet meeting?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding aspects of it, I do not know. It will be published.
Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Is the Taoiseach saying that whether it will be published depends on what is in it?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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No. We have to examine it. There may be legal issues.
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What time will the selected league contest start?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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As Deputy Rabbitte knows, the matter is related to the Supreme Court judgment and we must consider the legal aspects. We have no desire but to proceed with the matter. At any rate it is probably out in the public domain.
Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The promised legislation I wish to raise ties in closely with the Standing Order 31 issue raised by my colleague, Deputy Gogarty. It relates to the register of persons considered unsafe to work with children which according to the list has no publication date. In view of the fact that there are guidelines already published in Northern Ireland and the fact that my colleague Deputy Boyle was told in January that the cross-departmental working group reporting to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on the proposal is in effect taking action on the matter, is there a need for the legislation, since Northern Ireland seems to have gone ahead without waiting for the legislation? Are we just holding on for the legislation without doing anything? Should we be acting?
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should confine himself to the legislation.
Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Is there a need for legislation given this situation?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am told that the Minister has now appointed an implementation group to advise on implementation and the necessity for legislation. If legislation is not required he will simply move ahead on the matter.
Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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When will the Abbotstown sports campus development authority Bill be published? When will repairs be carried out on the roof of the National Aquatic Centre? It took a year to build and it will take five months to repair a hole in the roof. The Taoiseach might intervene personally in the matter.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The first question is appropriate.
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Bill will be published during the current session.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In the light of another potentially calamitous situation surfacing in Letterkenny, will the Taoiseach say when the work permits Bill will be brought before the House? I understand from the line Minister that other legislation will take precedence. Does the Taoiseach accept that the issue needs to be urgently addressed, and that lives are risk if it is not?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is an urgent matter and is due for consideration in the current session.
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I understand another Bill will jump ahead of it. The Taoiseach might talk to the line Minister about the matter.
Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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I want to ask about promised and secondary legislation on the day when President McAleese has a special forum to discuss the rising levels of suicide. I wish to recognise her humane concern on this matter in that she is assisting the interested organisations to focus on it.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should ask a question on legislation.
Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Despite raising a matter which the Minister of State might describe as "tiresome", will the Taoiseach say when the Mental Health Act 2001 will be fully implemented and when the promised legislation on the reform of the psychiatric services will be introduced?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The first Bill referred to has been passed and implementation of it is a matter for the Minister.
Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Will the Taoiseach say when the building control Bill will be brought before the House to strengthen the enforcement power of local authorities under the Building Control Act 1970?
Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yesterday, during Question Time, the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, assured me when questioned on the emergency planning task force that we could deal with all sorts of disasters including nuclear fallout etc. Last night we had a couple of inches of snow and the periphery of Dublin came to a standstill. Can the Taoiseach ensure that Operation Freeflow can be activated at short notice to deal with such situations?
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise on the Order of Business.
Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It took three hours to travel 20 miles earlier. It is crazy out there. Perhaps the Taoiseach might pass a comment on it. When he is out for his morning jog, I am sure he encounters traffic difficulties.
Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Following yesterday's court decision to award an individual a much larger sum than those being awarded by the Residential Institutions Redress Board to victims of child abuse, has the Taoiseach taken advice to amend the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Both the Attorney General and the Minister for Education and Science will examine the result of the case but, following a preliminary examination, I do not think there will be any changes.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach stated last year at a meeting in Dublin Castle during the EU Presidency that the issue discussed most often at Cabinet is climate change. I recently asked for a debate on this issue at a Whips meeting. Can we have the promised debate on climate change?
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the debate promised?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Whips can discuss that.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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They have. I am waiting for an answer.
Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Given the current debate on criminality, when will the criminal justice (international co-operation) Bill, the criminal justice (protection of confidential information) Bill and the defamation Bill be introduced?
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The heads of the criminal justice (protection of confidential information) Bill have been approved. The Department has received the first preliminary draft and it is under consideration. The legislation should be possible this year.
The heads of the criminal justice (international co-operation) Bill were approved late last year and the Bill is due in the middle of this year. The Criminal Justice Bill 2004 is due to resume on Second Stage in the House.
Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I support Deputy Neville's commendation of the President for focusing on the serious national problem of suicide, particularly among young people. Given the lengthy delays experienced by relatives awaiting post mortems and so on, when will the coroners Bill be brought forward?
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That was dealt with yesterday. Deputy Neville raised it.
Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I was not present. Did the Taoiseach have an opportunity to visit the accident and emergency departments in the Mater and Beaumont Hospitals, our two local hospitals? Perhaps he could consult the UK Government on ways to expedite the accident and emergency issue.
Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise on the Order of Business. I call the Taoiseach to respond on the coroners Bill.
Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It will be introduced this year.