Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senator Buttimer again called for a debate on the economy, but, as the House knows, I have given a commitment that we will have a full and wide-ranging debate on the economy before the summer recess. I have committed to at least a half-day of debate on this. We look forward to that. We have a new, young and dynamic Minister of State with special responsibility for children and youth affairs, Deputy Barry Andrews. I will pass Senator Buttimer's views to the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, and he will give the Senator's proposal serious consideration.

Senators Leyden and Glynn expressed strong views on turbary rights, especially in areas of the Midlands, where we all live and which we represent. Senator Glynn correctly said the opportunity of turf cutting ties in with the high price of oil and alternative energy. We are coming to the end of a ten-year agreement with the farming organisations. Because the price of oil has gone through the roof, it should be extended by at least ten years. I call on all concerned here for common sense to prevail. Everyone is entitled to this. We have our industry in Bord na Móna, which has been an outstanding success. It was established by a father figure, Dr. Todd Andrews, in 1946 and has stood good to the people of Ireland to today, especially to give meaningful employment in areas such as Rochfortbridge and Cúl na Móna, areas which we all know and in which we grew up.

As I said, with the cost of oil gone through the roof it is common sense that a decision would be taken quickly on this. In the election two Fine Gael councillors came out strongly and said they would vote "No" because their people were so hard-pressed. It was very difficult to say otherwise. I have no difficulty passing to the Minister the strong views expressed in the House.

Senator Callely called on me to supply a brief on primary care from the Health Service Executive and information on how primary care teams will be funded. I will make that request of the HSE and the Minister. As a former Minister of State, Senator Callely has much expertise and experience in this area and I will do everything I can to get the figures he requested. The Senator and others called for a debate on housing and homelessness. I have no difficulty with this taking place.

Senator Bacik called for a debate on multi-purpose labour and other labour issues. She also made a request regarding the workings of Parliament. I take my instructions from the Government, which gets agreement of the Whips in both Houses if possible. It is not possible to do as she asks. We can tell colleagues the weeks we will sit but regarding the matters to be debated and Bills forthcoming, there are many areas in which our destiny is not in our hands. As always, I will let Senators know which weeks we will sit during autumn and winter, but it is not possible to specify the hours and matters to be discussed. However, we will endeavour to assist all Seanad Members to the best of our ability.

Senator Jim Walsh highlighted his serious concerns about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and called for us to bring an all-party motion on it to the House. All Senators want to find out the truth of what happened in this terrible atrocity. I will bring this to the Leaders' meeting next Tuesday before the Order of Business and see how we can progress this proposal. Senator Walsh also pointed out the 90th anniversary of the sitting of the first Dáil is coming up on 21 January 2009.

Senators Donohoe, Buttimer and John Paul Phelan spoke about the Dublin transport authority, DTA, and the Minister's handing over of power. As every Member of this House is a member of one committee or another, we all know those authorities have to appear before the committees and are directly answerable, live on television, to the responses and queries of the Oireachtas Members. It is about getting value for money and getting the job done efficiently. While I share some of the views the Senators expressed, we had the Minister in the House to discuss the DTA and these views were strongly expressed, particularly regarding public representatives being members of the new authority, which I fully support. It is untrue such bodies are not accountable. They are answerable to Oireachtas committees, the same as the National Roads Authority, NRA.

Down the years Members were very frustrated with the NRA, but now that it has been established for almost 15 years, it is an outstanding success. The work taking place across the entire country is incredible. It is on budget and in some cases ahead of time. It takes a long time to achieve the fine-tuning we would all like to see. The same is happening with the HSE and will happen in the teething stages of all these other authorities being established. The professionals and experts dealing with their own professions are bound to bear fruit. Politicians want to see value for money and are great people for establishing and seeking funding for the various projects. However, we then have to hand them over to the professionals who have the expertise to get the job done. We all hope the Health Service Executive will become a success like the NRA.

Senator Norris raised No. 24, motion 31 on Zimbabwe. We had an all-party motion before the House when we agreed our strong views on what is happening in Zimbabwe. We cannot condone anything that is happening there. The all-party motion has been agreed already by everybody in the House.

Senator Butler requested a review of the HSE and I have already covered this. I can have this take place but I do not envisage it happening before the summer recess unless we do it in some other way because there is so much legislation arising for Members' consideration as well as the half-day debate on the economy. I envisage we will sit during the second week in July, will recess into committee work for the last two weeks in July and will take the usual holidays for the month of August. We will return with a very heavy schedule beginning with the committees during the first three weeks in September. Then, as we all know, the Houses return in the last week in September.

Senator John Paul Phelan called for a debate on housing. I have no difficulty in this taking place but if the Senator wants it to take place before the summer recess, I ask him to speak to the leader and deputy leader of his group to ascertain whether they will take it in Private Members' time. If not, I give an undertaking that we will take it after the summer recess. On the school building programme, I will inquire from the Minister about the matters the Senator has highlighted this morning. I will come back to the Senator directly in this regard.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill called for a debate on the fishing industry. I have given an undertaking that this will take place before the summer recess. The serious challenge facing this industry is of the most urgent nature. In Athlone over the weekend we heard of the horror stories and difficult plight that industry is facing. It should be one of our greatest industries.

I wish our new Minister, Deputy Brendan Smith, and his Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, well. They spent nine arduous hours discussing this with the representatives of the industry in Athlone over the weekend. I know they are doing all they can with the EU to get whatever initiatives are necessary and to find out what can be done to assist the plight of those involved in this industry. I wish them well. I will have statements on this issue in the House before the summer recess.