Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

First, I acknowledge the work that has been done by the Leader and the leaders of the other groups in the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. I welcome the establishment of the Seanad Public Petitions Committee. In the course of the first session of this Seanad we have made progress on changing how we do our work. They are small steps but it is important that we get the foundations right. I commend the Leader on his commitment to this. I also commend the other group leaders and the members of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.

Last week, I put down a proposed motion on the recognition of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders. Although a week has passed, I have not yet received a response to it from the Government parties. I have received responses from the other groups, and I thank them for those. It is a non-political, cross-party motion. It is crucial that we deal with it as the Dáil rises this week and the Seanad rises next week for the summer recess. What progress has been made on the Government side on this? Does it support the wording of the motion?

Regarding the business ordered for this week, the Electoral (Amendment) Bill is an important Bill that will be brought before the House on Second Stage tomorrow. Committee and Remaining Stages are being held on Thursday. This Bill is very important as it confers powers on the new Constituency Commission, which I believe did a very poor job the last time it drew up the boundaries of Dáil constituencies. It paid no heed to county boundaries even though it was supposed to do so. My concern is that the Bill is being dealt with on Wednesday and Thursday, with no time between Committee and Report Stages which are being taken on the same day. My party will table a number of amendments. This brings us back to the point which I and other Members have raised about the proper scrutiny of legislation. I believe the reason this is being done on Thursday is that the Dáil is not sitting next week, so the Bill is simply being run through the Seanad. It shows the Government's, although not the Leader's, scant regard for the Seanad.

In recent weeks many valid points on health have been raised in this Chamber, specifically on local hospitals and services. The Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, has still not attended the House to answer questions on who is managing the health service. Is it the Minister or the HSE? The Minister attended the House to deal with a Bill on female genital mutilation which had cross-party support and was non-contentious. However, he has not seen fit to attend the House since then. Is the reason that his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, was discommoded somewhat when he came into the Chamber? I note with interest a letter in which the Minister, Deputy Shatter, complained about the way he felt he was treated in this House.