Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Government to confirm its position with regard to the proposed takeover of Aer Lingus. I record that for the past number of years my party has been opposed to the sale to Ryanair of the remaining stakeholding in Aer Lingus on the grounds that it would not be good for the consumer, and it is certainly not good for competition. We believe the stake the Government holds is a strategic stake held on behalf of the people. I would like to know when the Government will make a statement on its position.

I ask that we arrange for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, to come to the House before the summer recess to discuss a number of issues on the environment side, not just the household charge and how the Government intends to proceed with the collection of non-payments. I understand the report on the Government proposals on the new property tax will be published next week. Those must be teased out here in great detail with the understanding that the vast majority of people cannot afford a property tax that would run to thousands of euro per annum, but it would be useful to have that debate. The debate should be broad ranging because I want to ask the Minister about his plans in the next two years for water and environmental infrastructure. This year, the Department has set aside €386 million towards the provision of additional wastewater treatment. I have been trying to tie the Minister down with regard to why we have wasted €17 million so far on consultants' fees for the imposition of a monster wastewater treatment plant in north County Dublin to service the greater Dublin area and why a strategic environmental assessment, SEA, was not part of the consultation process. It would be useful to have the Minister, Deputy Hogan, come to the House for a broad-ranging debate on these issues. I believe the report of the Constituency Commission will be available tomorrow, so that debate would also provide an opportunity.

We gave a guarded welcome to the announcement the week before last that the Government intends to proceed with the constitutional convention. However, the convention will only deal with two issues, first, the proposed reduction in the term of the President from seven to five years, which I do not view as major political reform, and, second, an assessment of whether the voting age should be reduced from 18 to 17. All of us would agree that is not a heavy load of work for the convention. The most significant political reform the Government has proposed is the abolition of the Seanad. Any right-minded person in or outside this House believes this issue must be teased out in greater detail. With that in mind, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business today that motion No. 9, which was tabled by me and signed by the leaders of all groups, apart from the Labour Party and Fine Gael, be taken first. This motion calls for Seanad Éireann to call on the Government to include Seanad reform in the constitutional convention. We have discussed this issue at length as colleagues across the House. I am not making a political point on this, but the Seanad should stand up and insist that a major reform such as the proposal to abolish the second House of the Oireachtas should, at least, be discussed in the constitutional convention.