Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Many Senators, including Senators Twomey, Norris, Alex White, O'Donovan, Keaveney, Quinn, Walsh, Leyden, Harris, McDonald, Buttimer, Ó Brolcháin, Bacik, MacSharry, Healy Eames, Hanafin, Mullen and Bradford, mentioned this afternoon's statements on the child care inquiry report and the wider issues involved. The proposal of Senator Bradford that the debate be kept ongoing should be given consideration, and I will examine whether the Order of Business needs to be amended during the course of the day.

With regard to the contents of the report, I urge Senators to beware of the context. It has been mentioned this morning that the young people concerned are wary of further attention being directed upon them. There is also the issue of court cases. Even references to the geographical location of the case have been frowned upon because they may help to identify the young people and the family concerned. I ask Members to be aware of those constraints when addressing this.

Because we only have an hour today, the discussion will be concerned with the narrow issues dealt with in the report. Many Members have mentioned the wider issue of resources for child care. The report is quite emphatic in stating that the problems were not the result of a deficiency in legislation or resources but rather neglect of duty with regard to the children. There are wider issues in child care that need to be discussed in the House, and we will have an opportunity of doing that.

There were calls for a debate on the children's rights referendum. This is something this House can and should revisit. The process has been going on since 2003 in various Oireachtas committees, and there is a need for the Government to bring it to finality by mentioning a date for the referendum. An Oireachtas sub-committee recently produced a useful wording for the referendum, although there is concern that it may not be sufficiently legally watertight. There is an onus on the Government to clear up any confusion that exists as quickly as possible. My hope is that we can resolve this within a matter of months and that the people will have an opportunity to vote early next year.

The subtext of the delay over the years has been a political fear of unleashing the issue of individual legal rights for children. It has been shied away from for far too long, and until we are prepared to address that issue, the idea of having a proper debate among the people and seeking to change the Constitution to fill the lacuna that exists in the rights of individual children is something to which we will return again and again. Instead of trying to address the needs of children in a proper legal and constitutional way, we will end up discussing the issue incessantly.

Senators Regan and Bradford mentioned the lost at sea scheme. In the past, we have been restricted from examining this issue further because it was being dealt with by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. We had a brief opportunity, on the presentation of the report, for a debate in the House. The Senators' points were well made. The committee's report bears further examination, and if there is an opportunity for a further debate in the House, we should avail of it.

Senators Walsh, McDonald and Bradford mentioned the Croke Park agreement. There is a need to review progress made under the agreement but also to question whether the underlying figures are valid for the next number of years. We have had a debate in the House, but we should have a continuing debate to review and question the process, and I will see that further time is made available for this.

Senator Quinn, supported by Senator Coghlan, spoke about the ending of daylight saving time this week and asked whether we should move to central European time. There are significant economic and environmental advantages to doing so. We are linked in the current time zone with the UK, and any changes there would force their consideration here also, although it is not unusual for neighbouring jurisdictions - for example, Spain and Portugal - to have different time zones. Senator Quinn has proposed a useful debate.

Senator Coghlan asked about the four-year programme and the question of an earlier budget. It is my understanding that the programme will be made available in mid-November, which will allow a three-week window for further debate and discussion on the contents of the programme and the contents of budget 2011. This is necessary. As of now, the budget is pencilled in for 7 December. If it was to take place on the traditional day of the first Wednesday in December, it would be on 1 December. I am not sure whether the budget might be presented over a matter of days, but the interval of two to three weeks between the presentation of the four-year programme and that of the budget is important.

Senator MacSharry spoke about the erratic behaviour of the bond market today and the increase in bond spreads to over 7%. This is of major concern, but it also underlines the fact that we must have cohesion in our approach to the four-year programme and the budget in order to send out a message about how we as a nation are tackling these economic difficulties and how we can engender confidence among the international community. I ask Members to bear that in mind, particularly in the context of this afternoon's debate.

Senator Healy Eames asked about the question of unemployed teachers and the difficulty they are having in serving their time in probation. I am not clear about the reason the probationary period has been shortened from five to three years. There may have been good reasons for doing that, but I will undertake to get that information to Senator Healy Eames.

Senator John Hanafin asked for a debate on the representation of the economy and economic issues. This has been a theme of discussion in the House on a regular basis, including the extent to which confidence can be engendered among the people in general. I will see whether time can be made available for such a debate.

Senator Buttimer asked about comments made by the former Taoiseach, Deputy Ahern, in Poland. I did not hear those comments so I am afraid I cannot speak on them. Finally, Senator Butler spoke about the growing number of families that are in difficulties with mortgage arrears. It is my understanding that the report on mortgage arrears will be available in a number of weeks, and that will provide an opportunity for the House to debate the issue. There have already been some initiatives on foot of the earlier report, and the indications are that a number of significant new measures will be introduced in advance of the budget to allow it to take account of this problem.