Dáil debates

Tuesday, 6 February 2007

5:00 am

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed to take No. 14, motion re withdrawal of Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004; No. 15, motion re referral to select committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of agreements between the European Communities and the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Tajikistan; No. 16, motion re technical amendments to Standing Orders; No. 4, Finance Bill 2007 — Order for Second Stage and Second Stage; No. 22, Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries Bill 2006 — Order for Report, Report and Final Stages. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than 8.30 p.m. and business shall be interrupted not later than 10 p.m.; Nos. 14, 15 and 16 shall be decided without debate; Private Members' Business which shall be No. 71, motion re health service reform, shall be taken for 90 minutes at 7 p.m. or on the conclusion of the opening speeches on No. 4, whichever is the later; the Report and Final Stages of No. 22 shall be taken on the adjournment of PrivateMembers' Business tonight and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 10 p.m. by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, with regard to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and the order shall not resume thereafter.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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There are four proposals to be put to the House. Is the proposal for the late sitting agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Nos. 14, 15 and 16, without debate, agreed to?

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I raised this matter with the Tánaiste last Thursday, when two Bills were to be withdrawn, the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service Bill, which would assist very poor people in getting access to credit and money advice. There is now only one Bill to be withdrawn, although there were two on Thursday. Why is that? Overworked journalists have not had an opportunity to follow up on the weekend commitments of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to cap interest rates over a period. No doubt one of these days somebody will find out why we are not capping interest rates and I suspect the Minister for Finance will tell them.

Presumably, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service Bill is being kept on the list for window dressing purposes. Although the Minister could not express acute enough concern about the plight of poor people before Christmas, he is not at all upset now. This Bill is left on the list for blatant window dressing purposes. Is it not the case that nothing will be brought forward in the lifetime of this Government to help unfortunate poor people who are in the grip of moneylenders and who cannot access credit in the normal way?

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I refer to No. 16. It is not the difficulty with regard to the specific amendments and the transfer of additional powers to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission but the importance, when such matters come before the House, of highlighting the fact that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is not representative of all opinion in this Chamber. There are no places for Members of the component parts of the Technical Group. This continues to create a degree of vexation and must be addressed. If additional powers are to be transferred to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, the first thing to be done is to try to make it representative of all strands of opinion in the Chamber.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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No. 16 has been agreed by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. The Comhairle (Amendment) Bill is being withdrawn because the Citizens Information Bill has been passed and is now before the Seanad. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service Bill has been on the list for the last five years——

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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It will be there for the next five.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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——but the Minister for Social and Family Affairs has updated and changed the structure of the Bill and a different Bill will be brought forward. That Bill is being left on the list until the Minister brings forward the other Bill.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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He is certainly concerned about it.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the proposal agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members' Business agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 22 agreed to? Agreed.

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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On the previous list of Bills, the Pharmacy (No. 1) Bill and the Pharmacy (No. 2) Bill were listed together. I note it is intended to publish the Pharmacy (No. 1) Bill but the second Bill is not yet approved. There is concern about patient safety, compliance with European law and compliance with the health and medical laws of the State. Will the Pharmacy (No. 1) Bill deal with those? Why has the No. 2 Bill been dropped from the list?

We are due to discuss the Moriarty tribunal report next Wednesday. Will there be an opportunity for questions and answers at the end of the series of statements? Some Members might wish to raise questions and the Taoiseach or somebody else might wish to give answers. I have asked questions a number of times about the Harris report but there is still no indication that it will be debated in the House. The report, which was translated at a cost of €16,000, deals with the decline of the Irish language in primary schools.

No. 38 on the list is the Education Ireland Bill, which deals with the teaching of English to foreign students here. I visited a school in Dublin West last week. The school has 150 children who require support teaching in English but, due to the inflexibility of the Department of Education and Science, there are only two language support teachers. There is an all round drop in reading skills as a consequence.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The last Bill mentioned by the Deputy is due to be introduced during the year. The Pharmacy (No. 1) Bill, to provide for fitness to practise regulations and so forth, covers the removal of restrictions on pharmacists educated in other EEA countries from managing or supervising a pharmacy in this country that is less than three years old. The Bill covers issues relating to the European Union, EEA countries, the pharmacy review group and the fitness to practise rules and should be before the House in this session. The heads are completed and the Bill is almost drafted. The second Bill was to provide for regulatory services and other issues in the pharmacy review group report. I do not know if the two are being combined, and I do not have a date for the second Bill. Most of the big issues, however, are dealt with in the first Bill, although probably not all of them.

The Moriarty tribunal report is a report to the House. There is no Minister responsible for answering questions on it.

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Taoiseach might want to loosen up.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I went down and gave my good time to the eminent gentleman and I enjoyed it no end. That is over and done with and I will not answer any more questions because I have answered enough questions about signing blank cheques and I am not doing it any more.

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Will the Taoiseach say if he did it?

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Did I sign blank cheques? I signed loads of them for all kinds of organisations and clubs for years. I have given it up now.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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These are changing times.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It cost the State a fortune to find me guilty.

Deputy Kenny asked about a debate on the Harris report and the Government has committed itself to such a debate.

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Chief Whip will arrange the debate in due course.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Will the Taoiseach say whether the Minister for Health and Children was aware of the loophole that has been revealed regarding health insurance and new entrants?

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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This does not arise on the Order of Business. If the Deputy has a question, I suggest he submit it to the line Minister.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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When will the promised amending legislation be brought before the House?

The matter we have just discussed, the regulation and licensing of auctioneers and estate agents, is not on the schedule of promised legislation for the current session. Will that legislation be brought before the House before the Government goes on pension?

My third question is about the referendum. The Taoiseach informed me during Question Time that the Cabinet today considered this matter and agreed the format, subject to consultation with the Opposition parties. My colleague, Deputy Howlin, has since been in touch with the Minister of State with responsibility for children who said that no wording has been agreed. I would be obliged if the Taoiseach clarified the position.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The property services regulatory authority Bill is to provide for the establishment of the property services regulatory authority to give full effect to the report of the auctioneering and estate agency review group. It is on the list of promised legislation and it is due this year.

The voluntary health legislation is on the list. In reply to Deputy Joe Higgins, I stated that the Government is awaiting its legal advice on the various issues. I have no further word until the process I outlined is completed.

I stated the Government's position on the referendum today. The Government has finalised its position, subject to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan's discussions. It would be ridiculous for the Government to sign off on it and then have a consultation process. This would be the wrong procedure. We will wait for the discussions to take place before we come to a final position, which is the only fair way to ask for meaningful consultation.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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That is an important matter. The Taoiseach certainly left the impression that the Government had dealt with this matter today——

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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We cannot discuss on the Order of Business what happened earlier during Question Time. The Deputy will have to find another way of raising the matter.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Is it the position now that the Government is contemplating running an omnibus referendum in all probability before the general election, but the text is not yet agreed or approved by Government?

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That matter has been discussed for 45 minutes today.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not understand why Deputy Rabbitte is being so mischievous on this issue. I spent 45 minutes today explaining the situation in what I regard as a fair and even-handed manner. The Government has completed its work. We would like this to be agreed on an all-party basis. For the Government to sign off and publish its work would be to ignore the Opposition and we will not do so.

Photo of Emmet StaggEmmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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That is what the Government normally does.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is engaging with the parties and then we will see where we are. This is an entirely reasonable position for us to hold and I did not give any other impression today as was reported outside the House.

Photo of Trevor SargentTrevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Following the Ceann Comhairle's ruling regarding Deputy Cuffe's request under Standing Order 31, where the Deputy tried to raise the subject of climate change, will the Carbon Fund Bill be brought before the House for amendment any time soon, given that €270 million allocated for this purpose in the budget will not be adequate for carbon credits? It has been estimated that €750 million will be needed.

I have asked on previous occasions about this matter. I am still not sure if the promised legislation giving effect to the recommendations of the Kenny report on the affordability of building land and proper planning is promised legislation as the Taoiseach informed me during Question Time. In the case of various pieces of legislation, the House has been informed that publication is expected but that it is not possible to indicate when at this stage. This includes important legislation such as that concerning the register of persons who are considered unsafe to work with children and the crimes Bill and so forth. Legislation which the Taoiseach has informed me on a number of occasions is promised by the Government does not appear on the list of promised legislation. Is there another list that we should be consulting?

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy has made his point. I call the Taoiseach.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Carbon Fund Bill is before the House.

Photo of Trevor SargentTrevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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It seems to be buried. Is it coming back to the House?

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow the Taoiseach to answer the question.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will send a note to the Deputy about that legislation.

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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From our calculations, the Taoiseach probably has between 22 and 25 legislative days remaining before he leaves office. Is it his intention to tidy up legislation currently on the Order Paper, specifically the Building Control Bill which is now on Report Stage and whose return to this floor is a matter for the Chief Whip and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government? What is the current state of play?

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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This legislation should be finalised and I will ask that it is brought back to the House.

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Against the backdrop of the very worrying decision about industrial action made by nurses and midwives at the end of last week, does the Taoiseach believe that the nurses and midwives Bill can be brought forward and addressed before the dissolution of this Dáil? I think the Taoiseach will agree there is a great urgency to do so.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Bill is due this year.

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This year. Who will bring it in when the Government is gone?

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I refer to two items of legislation. The minerals development Bill is to do with an important issue which should be cleared up before the general election. It does not appear to be coming on stream before the election.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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We cannot have a debate.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I will be quick.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It will be brought forward this year.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I know it is this year but, in view of the importance of the subject matter, would it be possible to bring it forward to the early part of this year?

The Postal Services Bill fell off the wagon. If it was thought necessary to have this Bill before the House two years' ago, what happened in the meantime to render that Bill obsolete?

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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We cannot have a debate on the Bill.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Taoiseach can tell me.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy said, it fell off the wagon.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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It is not the only thing that might fall off the wagon.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow Deputy Upton to speak without interruption.

Photo of Mary UptonMary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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A number of local authority tenants are very anxious to purchase the flats in which they are living. When will the social housing Bill be published?

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Bill is due in the early part of this year, before the summer.

Photo of Kathleen LynchKathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Does the summer mean May or June?

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The summer ends on 1 August.

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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It will be published with the MABS Bill.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow Deputy Broughan to speak without interruption.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Is there any possibility of the Indecon report on offshore licensing terms being available before the general election? I do not think it will be incorporated in the Finance Bill.

When will the Stardust Victims and Relatives Committee be given a response from the Taoiseach on the substantive——

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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I suggest the Deputy submit a question on that matter.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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It is my only chance to talk to the Taoiseach on the substantive issue.

Photo of Rory O'HanlonRory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should submit a question on the issue.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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On the substantive issue, will a response be given in the next few days?

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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As regards the Indecon report, I do not know the position. As far as I know, I have dealt with the other issue.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Members of the committee will be outside the gate again tomorrow.

Photo of Bertie AhernBertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I understand the substantive issue, my officials talked to its legal representatives.