Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed to take No. 9, motion re statement of expenditure for Houses of the Oireachtas; No. 13, Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006, Report Stage (resumed) and Final Stage; No. 1, Europol (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad] — Second Stage; and No. 2, Citizens Information Bill 2006 — Second Stage, resumed. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 9 shall be decided without debate. Private Members' business shall be No. 49, motion re health services, 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. 9, motion re statement of expenditure for Houses of the Oireachtas, agreed?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I understand from the Order Paper that this motion refers to expenditure from January next year until the end of December 2007, which is of interest to every Member of the House and the public. While one cannot have a discussion on how these moneys are spent, it might be in order to have an arrangement whereby we could discuss the commission's programme or receive a report from the commission on what it intends to do next year. This expenditure will affect matters such as printing facilities for Members and a range of other initiatives being taken to improve the efficiency of the House.

This issue should be related to the package for Dáil reform, which the Government Whip has been talking about for some time, to make the business of the House more efficient and relevant. Is it proposed to have a presentation on the commission's general programme for the moneys that will be spent between January and December 2007 or will the House bypass the matter and have others write about it when Members might have direct inputs to make?

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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On the last occasion this proposition was before the House, I asked that we utilise the motion to have a proper review and discussion of the workings of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. I asked this not only on behalf of my party colleagues, but I hope I was reflecting the views of my colleagues in the Green Party and the members of the Technical Group. There is no direct representation of the Technical Group on the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. This is a significant deficiency given that, collectively, we have a greater number of Members than one of the main Opposition parties. We have no direct voice on this commission. Proceeding once again without debate with a motion on the statement of expenditure for the forthcoming year is deficient. I therefore again ask that the proposal I put 12 months ago be revisited, reconsidered and, hopefully, acceded to.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a technical procedure to be followed on this matter. When the motion is agreed, the Secretary General must present the statement of Estimates to the Minister for Finance not later than 30 days before the preparation by the Minister for Dáil Éireann of the Estimates of receipts and expenditure, that is, the White Paper for this year. That White Paper is presented to the Dáil on 1 December. The statement of Estimates must be presented to the Minister not later than Tuesday, 31 October. With regard to a debate on the Estimates of the commission, that is a matter for the commission and the Whips. We must move the motion so we can comply with procedure to ensure we have resources next year. That is the issue I wish to address.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the proposal agreed? Agreed.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Has the Taoiseach received any communication from the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs about reflecting the will of the people in law following a referendum conducted in respect of the name Daingean Uí Chúis or Dingle in County Kerry? There is a Private Members' Bill before the Seanad at present. The Minister has been saying this matter is illegal but it is important to make it legal. Has the Taoiseach received instructions from the Minister that there will be a positive response on this issue?

Second, will the Taoiseach respond to the claim this morning by Fr. Peter McVerry that young offenders in prison are being left to rot in a warehouse from sheer boredom——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That does not arise on the Order of Business. The Deputy must find another way of raising it. It is a question for the line Minister.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister informs me that he has arranged a meeting with Kerry County Council in two weeks.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Let Dingle dangle.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Minister, Deputy Séamus Brennan, would have had that sorted out in ten minutes.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Does the Taoiseach anticipate a referendum being held arising from the St. Andrew's agreement?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is too early to make a judgment on that matter. The position in the talks was that one party wanted to have an election. Other parties did not want an election or a referendum. If the issue came down to having to have an election — the larger parties would have the right to seek it and the other parties would accept that — and a larger party wanted it, I believe the two larger parties would accept that they would have an election. During the talks and discussions I argued that it is not necessary. If people insist that it is, it has its own difficulties but if there must be an election, we must have it.

An alternative suggested was that there could be a referendum. If there is a referendum, the issue is that it should be held on both parts of the island because that was the issue for the Good Friday Agreement in the first place. It will not be clear until the final legislative measures are cleared, if we get to that, hopefully on 21 November. It is too early to say what will happen. The main party is still insisting that it would prefer an election.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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In reply to previous Leaders' Questions, the Taoiseach said we can expect legislation on the price of building land. Will there be an announcement of legislation in that regard? The Taoiseach said: "Fág an bealach, tá sé ag teacht." Can he indicate when that might be? With regard to legislation that is expected, Coillte and many others who are concerned about the environment and motorised vehicles going onto Coillte property, and I am not just referring to the huge construction lorries at Ballinaboy in County Mayo which are very contentious——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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What is the name of the legislation?

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The forestry Bill. When will it be published?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the first question, work is continuing on those proposals. As regards the Forestry (Amendment) Bill, a comprehensive review of this sector, including potential legislative implications, commenced in the latter half of 2005. A consultative group representing all the stakeholders has concluded its evaluation and is to meet again shortly to finalise matters. If that happens, it is hoped the legislation will be ready next year.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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In the course of his musings recently, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs spoke about introducing legislation to curb high interest rates being charged by legal moneylenders. Is that legislation pending?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no legislation promised. The Minister said he is seeking advice from legal representatives and others as to what is possible on that matter.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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He got his headline.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Will there be consequent legislation or a debate on the report of the three wise men about salmon in the next two weeks? It would give the Government backbenchers a chance to express their views on the report. Second, does the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources intend to introduce a tax on mobile phones?

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Deputy suggesting it?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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A debate on the report should be discussed by the Whips. It is a good report and would be worthy of discussion.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The ground rents Bill has been promised since time immemorial and will, no doubt, appear in the Fianna Fáil election manifesto for the forthcoming general election. Where has the Bill been buried and when will it resurface? Will it ever be brought before the House? What is missing? Is it bottle? Let us deal with it.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Bill is not proceeding as present. A Supreme Court decision has implications for it.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There was a Bill on the agenda for many years dealing with advertising alcohol to young people. It was removed from the agenda because the Taoiseach said he was working with the trade to try to deal with the situation.

Deputies:

A cosy deal.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Will he reconsider that decision in light of the tragic situations we regularly encounter? The sale of alcohol Bill is on the legislative programme but it specifically deals with the promotion of alcohol among sports organisations and so forth. Is the Government serious about trying to curtail the sale of alcohol to young people, given its implications?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The heads of the sale of alcohol Bill, to codify the law on the sale and consumption of alcohol, have been approved and it was sent for drafting some time ago. It is due to be published in the spring session.

The heads of alcohol products (control of advertising, sponsorship and marketing practices/sales promotions) Bill have been approved. However, voluntary agreements were reached with the alcohol and advertising industries and the Department wishes to delay proceeding with the legislation for a period to see what will be the outcome of those agreements.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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How long more must we wait?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The point is——

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I do not raise this matter to be awkward.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should allow the Taoiseach to reply, without interruption.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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——that if I honestly believed that passing legislation would solve all our problems, we would not bother with the code of practice. If we can encourage the industry to press forward with its advertising campaign which stresses people's responsibility, it would probably have far more effect. Young people are unlikely to read the various sections of the legislation as they engage in behaviour that is responsible or otherwise. It is worth making the effort to see if we can make progress on this issue. If the process to which I refer does not work, we will proceed with the Bill.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Will it be necessary to introduce legislation to give legal effect to the recommendations in the report on salmon drift net fishing that was published yesterday? Is the Taoiseach in a position to confirm that the sum of €25 million to which the report refers will be available for compensation in respect of currently licensed drift net fishermen?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Legislation is not required in this regard. The Government will have to come to a decision on the other aspects of the report. The three wise men have indicated that we should not delay too long in respect of this issue because it is of major importance to the entire salmon industry.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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On the enforcement of fines Bill and in view of the fact that over €40 million remains uncollected from those who evaded car tax and that one in ten people do not tax their cars, will the Taoiseach introduce a mandatory requirement that people who do not tax their cars will, as is the case in the United Kingdom, be automatically fined?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have a date for the publication of the enforcement of fines Bill.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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When will the Curragh of Kildare Bill and the defence amendment Bill be published and taken in the House?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Both are due to be published in this session.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Will they be taken in the House during this session?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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That depends on time constraints. Both should be published this session.