Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What happened yesterday does not reflect well on the House at all.

I wish to refer to a serious matter which was raised yesterday by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, namely, the ban on political canvassing in direct provision centres. This ban, which was introduced by the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, prevents residents who have a right to vote in the local elections from making informed decisions. It is an absolute disgrace. We are already denying the people of many of their other democratic rights but the right to vote is one of the few they have. RIA has directed that no one connected with the political parties, etc., is allowed to speak to residents at the centres. The Immigrant Council of Ireland has stated that "canvassing is an opportunity to inform residents, who in many cases have limited or no access to the web and other media, to find out what each candidate stands for. For some asylum seekers the local poll could be their first opportunity to take part in fair and free elections". This matter must be addressed immediately by the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Justice and Equality, who have responsibility for elections and RIA, respectively.

Will the Leader also raise with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2014, Second Stage of which was agreed in the Dáil? Will he seek to discover when the Bill is going to be progressed through the Lower House in order that it might be brought before us? Perhaps we might engage in a debate on the Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland while we are awaiting the Bill, particularly as we are all concerned about the issues involved. The Wind Turbine Regulation Bill, if passed, would prevent any questionable developments from being progressed in the interim.