Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach arís. Tá sé gnóthach go maith leis a chuid reachtaíocht. Bail ó Dhia air. The Minister is very welcome. I welcome the chance to speak in this debate.

Many metaphors have been used to describe the legislation before us, but I would like to compare it to a smorgasbord of legislation. It covers 40 Acts with 15 Parts. Unfortunately, the Sinn Féin perspective is that this is a little like saying, "Eat your Brussels sprouts with the meat, gravy and potatoes that you like." Although we welcome most of what is being suggested in the legislation, there are a number of sections, particularly sections 10 and 11 and the section on the Official Languages Act, that we find very difficult to support. I will outline why this is so.

The discussion on the retirement age of the Taxing Master, 65 years, was interesting. It is a little unfair to compare this discussion to the one we had earlier in the week. The argument against increasing the retirement age to 68 years in the normal course of events is that certain individuals who might have been in blue-collar employment all their lives might have worked a lot harder than others, possibly physically. Many issues must be considered in this debate rather than just focusing on the circumstances of the Taxing Master.

I agree with a large number of provisions in this legislation, which I welcome wholeheartedly. I welcome, in particular, the Good Samaritan provision which Sinn Féin believes is a wonderful move forward. The provisions on maintenance payments and domestic violence are also welcome.

Sinn Féin also welcomes the provisions for the security industry, although some questions arise in this regard. If we had legislation such as this when the Corrib oil and gas controversy was occurring, some of the incidents might not have happened in that there would have been better vetting of the security firms used. The use of private security firms begs the question as to how one vets their staff. How does one take their experience into account, in addition to their places of origin and backgrounds? If they come from another jurisdiction or have experience in another country, how will this be taken on board?

How can those who work for private security companies be vetted? Moreover, if external inspectors are to be brought in to do the work of the agency, could that potentially be open to abuse? Who are the people concerned and from where will they come? Will they be connected to some of the companies that provide services, etc.? Sinn Féin considers this to be an issue that should be re-examined before Committee Stage.

On the issue of licensing laws, I have a particular interest in the subject of alcoholism and I strongly support the comments of previous Members, particularly those of Senator van Turnhout. Senator Mullen suggested that we would be staring down the barrel of a gun on this issue in the future but I disagree with him in one sense. We already have gone far down that barrel and Ireland already faces a crisis in respect of alcoholism that has been left unattended. Part of the problem concerns the lack of resources being devoted to the addiction services, which are completely underfunded and overstretched. People in communities who already suffer from these problems are unable to access services to help them in a timely fashion.

I agree with the call for the vintners to come back on board in respect of the MEAS organisation. It is important that the alcohol industry should live up to its responsibility in respect of alcoholism. However, as Senator van Turnhout noted, it should not simply be the industry that comes on board as all partners in society must do so to ensure that alcoholism is dealt with in a timely fashion with those who suffer from alcoholism being in the primary position.

Sinn Féin welcomes the developments in respect of bankruptcy law and I wish to turn the debate towards a different scenario. The important point concerning the bankruptcy issue in this debate is to consider what caused people to become bankrupt in the first place. Some people have entered bankruptcy through their own fault and as Senator Clune noted, have reached this position through their recklessness and failure to manage their affairs properly. However, many people have become bankrupt because of the actions of third parties and perhaps the legislation should address this point. Should banks be held to account because of their role in over-extending credit facilities to those who should not have been given access to so much credit?

As for third parties, I have in mind a number of scenarios pertaining to construction. For example, I am familiar with a number of small subcontractors in the Connemara Gaeltacht and the Galway area who found themselves bankrupt through no fault of their own. They had been working for larger companies and had done jobs in good faith but were either never paid or were underpaid for their work and are now bankrupt. What is to be done with those who created the conditions that made those subcontractors bankrupt? The crux of the issue is that there should be leniency in respect of someone who has become bankrupt through no fault of their own. In the opposite case, when someone has become bankrupt through their own volition because of their own recklessness and a failure to manage their affairs properly, this also must be taken into account.

Another point is that bankruptcy should not become an easy way out for people. One should avoid enabling people to become serial bankrupts, that is, where they get into a particular difficulty and go bankrupt but then return to the system two or three years later only to delve into reckless trading once again. I am sure the Minister will take into consideration such questions in the context of the legislation.

The area of the legislation under discussion with which Sinn Féin has greatest difficulty is Part 11, which pertains to immigration and which raises a number of issues. My party is concerned by the provisions in the proposed new sections 11 and 12 and in particular, wishes to express its concern and to raise questions on the provision to allow naturalisation fees to be charged on application. The State already charges an extraordinarily high fee of €950 upon approval of the application. The Minister should indicate whether two charges are to be levied or whether the approval fee will be removed. If not, this process appears to be prohibitively expensive. Will people be charged twice?

On the one hand, I concur with previous Members who spoke of aiding people who were trafficked here to get free legal aid and on how such people should be given representation. On the other hand, Part 11 provides that were such people to walk down the streets of Galway, Limerick or Dublin without passports or were they to have no passports through no volition of their own, they could be arrested for a criminal offence. Sinn Féin has great reservations about the use of enforcement measures by the Garda, as well as criminalising such people through a failure to carry their passports. Sinn Féin also has concerns regarding the potential undertaking of racial profiling under this provision.

Le filleadh ar mo theanga dhúchais, mar dhuine a labhraíonn Gaeilge de ghnáth, is minic a d'aithneofaí ar mo chuid Béarla nach bhfuil mo chuid Gaeilge ró-mhaith. Tá fadhb an-mhór againn agus cuireann sé as go mór dom an méid atá tarlaithe maidir le hAcht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla. Tugadh isteach é i gcás nó dhó roimhe seo agus is cosúil anois go bhfuil sé i gceist é a bheith mar ghnáth chleachtas ag an Rialtas neamhaird a dhéanamh ar mo chearta bhunreachtúla agus ar chearta bhunreachtúla phobal na Gaeilge, agus Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla a chaitheamh i dtraipisí. Aontaím leis an Seanadóir Ó Maoláin go bhfuil seo mícheart agus míchóir.

Tá an Rialtas ag dul in aghaidh a pholasí fhéin maidir le Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge, is é sin an Ghaeilge a cur chun cinn ar gach leibhéal. Munar féidir linn ceannródaíocht a thaispeáint anseo i dTithe an Oireachtais maidir le sin bheadh sé chomh maith an straitéis ar fad a chaitheamh i dtraipisi.

Chuir sé an-díomá go deo orm gur thacaigh an Seanadóir Bacik go hiomlán leis na moltaí atá á dhéanamh ag an Aire maidir le hAcht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla a chur ar leataobh nuair a thagann sé go dtí foilsiú Bille. Níl aon chruthúnas ann gur deineadh éagóir ar dhuine ar bith mar gheall ar Acht a bheith foilsithe níos deireannaí i dteanga oifigiúil amháin nó sa cheann eile. Bheinn ag iarraidh ar an Aire é seo a thógáil ar bord. Beimid á phlé arís nuair a thagan an Bille os ár gcomhair ar Chéim an Choiste. Beimid ag cur i gcoinne an Bhille seo ar an mbunú sin amháin, más gá sin, chomh maith leis na forálacha atá i gceist maidir le Roinn 11.