Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Brian Hayes raised the proposed industrial action before the weekend by security industry workers. He asked how much banking interests pay towards security. The Minister for Defence has been loud in his call that they should pay the full cost. I fail to see why not, given that they incur the costs by having money transferred by special means. I will ask the Minister to come to the House for a debate in which he can elucidate on his ideas.

The Senator asked about Mr. McBrearty and the Morris tribunal. He also requested a debate on one-off housing next week, as did other Members. However, I sat beside the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government at our parliamentary party meeting yesterday. I seized the moment and said that the House would be looking for him next week. He said he would not be around next week but he would come to the House when he returned the following week. It is not that he will not come here next week as he will not be in Ireland. However, he is keen to come to the House.

Senator O'Toole referred to the Morris Tribunal. I understand we cannot debate the issues involved. However, the interim report was not debated in the House and, therefore, we can seek to have a debate on it. The Senator also referred to the document on immigration circulated to Members earlier by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I checked through them quickly and many of the issues that have been raised in the House are mentioned. The document provides the basis for a coherent debate. The Senator is also glad, as we all are, that the minimum wage has been increased. Equally, he stated a review, which will follow up on the Buckley report, will examine emoluments for senior public servants. We come under the benchmarking process.

Senator O'Meara raised the publication of the immigration proposals by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the McBrearty case and rural housing. The guidelines on one-off housing will be published later. We received an overview earlier. They are concise but I take Senator Coghlan's point that they should be issued in the form of a directive. They will be issued in circular form and they will be quite definite regarding what can and should happen.

Senator Morrissey sought a debate on immigration policy. He also referred to road safety policy, which is divided between two Departments. He wishes that it would be placed in one Department.

Senator Finucane raised the accident and emergency issue and asked for the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children to come to the House. She always comes to the House when requested. She does not shirk appearances in the House. I will put this request to her.

Senator Mansergh referred to the small number unemployed, which is, thankfully, the case, and community employment. Difficulties have arisen when rules that pertained to CE some years ago have been disregarded. I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Fahey, to come to the House to discuss the issue.

Senator Henry asked for a debate on accident and emergency services. Senator Brennan raised one-off housing guidelines. The previous guidelines were a draft, and these are permanent. His voice is added to those requesting a debate. Senator Coghlan raised the Morris tribunal and the guidelines, which he says should be in directive form to tie people into dealing with matters and acting on them. I did not know that Senator Ó Murchú was a co-founder of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association, but he quite rightly made the point that it is not simply about housing; it is about the reinvigoration of the rural community. He welcomed the documents from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell.

Senator Norris is worried about the guidelines, based on what he has read to date. Let us wait until they are issued. He said that he cannot hear anyone because he has a cold but, while sorry about that, I am glad to hear that he is in good voice himself. He spoke of the Dean Lyons case, agreeing with Senator Mansergh. I understand that Deputy McDowell is appointing a solicitor or barrister to review that issue, so let us wait to see what happens.

Senator Hanafin raised the question of better local government. He made the very strong point, with which I agreed, that we should have access to specialised information. As we know, it is all programme managers for this, that and the other now. There are the managers, programme managers and planning officers. The trouble lies with the planning officers' regime, since neither the programme managers nor the manager have any say over planning officers. That is where the difficulty arises. People seek pre-planning meetings and on-site planning meetings, and it is all a great fudge. It is not very clear and sometimes there is not that much courtesy in the whole affair until it gets further up the chain of command, although people are entitled to courtesy. We never read the specialised information——