Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the formation of the second Independent group in the House.

I condemn outright the brutal murder in Donabate over the weekend. This is another gangland crime and I wish the Garda every success in its investigations. The attack was made with absolute disregard for human life or for people who happened to be holidaying in Donabate at the weekend. These crimes are a scourge in the city of Dublin and the country in general. I call on the Government to use every power it has at its disposal, such as the gangland crime legislation passed by the previous Government that gives additional powers to the Garda and to the Commissioner. These powers should be used rigorously to seek out those who carried out this brutal attack.

After we raised the issue last week, the Leader agreed to have a debate on the programme for Government. Could the Leader identify a date very shortly for that? I asked for it for several reasons but over the weekend the possible reintroduction of third level fees was mentioned. We must be clear on where the programme for Government lies. We have already discussed the household charge and Fianna Fáil will use Private Members' time to allow for proper debate on the issue. There was a 10% cut to agreed SNA and resource hours in our primary schools and there are other issues, such as the fair deal nursing home scheme and the JLC rates. It would help the business of this House if we were to set aside a full day to discuss many of the elements in the programme for Government. Education was mentioned last week and a debate on the programme for Government can encompass everything from health to education to the banking sector. The sooner we fix a date for this debate, the sooner I will stop raising it on the Order of Business.