Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Companies Bill 2012 is the longest piece of legislation ever to be proposed by a Government. It is important legislation and my party welcomes that Second Stage will take place today. On Committee Stage, I will look for an assurance that there will not be a guillotine or delay, and perhaps the Leader would look at some way to regulate the debate on Committee Stage. My party does not want to delay Committee Stage but it is important that the Bill, despite its size, is dealt with line by line. It may be possible to implement a suggestion I made some time ago that we allocate a specific amount of time for every section, if necessary, so as to allow full debate but not to allow filibustering. However, that is something the Leader can think about because the Bill will take a long time if we do our job as legislators properly.

The Fianna Fáil Party welcomes the tone and content of the statement of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Charles Flanagan, on the radio at lunchtime today about the Government decision to set up a commission of inquiry into the mother and baby homes. We will co-operate on a cross-party basis. We do not believe that it is a political issue. We should all work together on it and we will support every effort of the Government in that regard. The Seanad will have a role to play because a commission of investigation can be set up only with the consent of each House. We will have a strong role and I look forward to the Seanad debate in that regard. The Leader can expect nothing other than cross-party co-operation from us.

A couple of issues arise on that matter, including the privacy of the women involved in and the children who survived these institutions. This was mentioned by my colleague, Deputy Troy, on the radio today. I hope that will be a key concern. Some of them have been talking to colleagues and they have concerns. We are also looking for a helpline to be established for the women and surviving children who were in these institutions. That would be useful. We will give our full co-operation in that regard, both in the Dáil and here in the Seanad.

Another issue has arisen in the past couple of days in relation to the industrial wind turbines that are planned across the country by a number of companies. A few weeks before the election, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, announced that the project to export wind energy was cancelled and would not go ahead. In fact, he expressed his disappointment in that regard. In the past week, one of the companies involved in County Meath lodged a preplanning consultation document with An Bord Pleanála outlining that it proposes to apply for planning permission for 50 wind turbines in County Meath. I suspect that this will happen elsewhere. Given the political ramifications of this, including the international ramifications between Ireland and the United Kingdom and the secrecy of the negotiations that have been going on at all levels, whether commercial or international, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, come to the Seanad to explain what is going on in relation to industrial wind turbines in this country.

What is happening is a complete contradiction of what the Minister stated three or four weeks ago. It is causing considerable concern in County Meath and I am sure it will cause concern all around the country as these applications are made. The aspect that annoys citizens around the country is the secrecy of these deals. Secret deals are being done on the ground. There are secret arrangements between multinational companies and there seem to be secret arrangements between Governments. The An Bord Pleanála process is completely secret as well because all that has happened is that Element Power has written to An Bord Pleanála notifying it that the preplanning consultation under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 has commenced. I propose that the Order of Business be amended so that the Minister come in today to explain the position.