Seanad debates
Tuesday, 11 October 2005
Order of Business.
2:30 pm
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, motion re the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business and to conclude no later than 5.30 p.m., with the contributions of spokespersons not to exceed 15 minutes and those of all other Senators not to exceed ten minutes and the Minister to be called upon to reply no later than five minutes before the conclusion of the debate; and No. 2, statements on the Clare Street initiative and traffic calming measures, to be taken at 5.30 p.m. and to conclude no later than 7.30 p.m., with the contributions of spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes and those of other Senators not to exceed eight minutes and the Minister to be called upon to reply no later than five minutes before the conclusion of the statements. Senators may share time.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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We agree to the Order of Business. Over the weekend, we yet again saw the appalling tragedy of the waste of eight young people's lives on our roads. These were young people who had everything to hope for and their families and communities are shattered as a result of their deaths on our roads. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Transport to come to the House to give us a full audit of the national road safety strategy. This strategy has been in place since 1998 and while there was a reduction in the number of road fatalities and injuries following the introduction of penalty points, unfortunately, we have gone in the other direction since then. More people died this year on our roads than last year. This is a crucial issue that we must address on an all-party consensus basis to ensure measures are taken to improve safety on our roads. Despite the Government's commitment to introduce a Garda traffic corps, only 33 garda officers have been deployed for this purpose. I understand that ten speed cameras are currently working despite the fact that the Government said that speed cameras were in place around the country. We need to beef up considerably current deterrents and safety measures to ensure this ongoing tragedy is stopped quickly. I ask the Leader whether such a debate could be organised very shortly.
The Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Gallagher, attempted to fillet our good friend and colleague, Senator Dardis, on yesterday's "Morning Ireland". The Minister of State did so because Senator Dardis had the courage to look for reform in the entire area of drift net policy and salmon resources.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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There is plenty of reform going on over here.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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We all agree that the depletion of salmon resources in Ireland must be addressed.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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I understand that a joint committee, on an all-party basis, welcomed the kind of measures Senator Dardis had the courage to outline last week. Can we ask the Minister for State with responsibility in this area, who seems to have more of an eye on his own constituency than on the country's affairs, to come to the House to give us the actual Government position? We must take a position on this issue within the next month so that we can ensure this marvellous resource is kept in this country. Drift netting is a relatively recent phenomenon, having commenced only 25 years ago. Where one of our colleagues, even one from the other side who is causing the Government considerable blushes, has the courage to stand up, he needs our support. I request a debate on this matter.
Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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As a native of a small fishing village, I have a great deal of sympathy for the points made by Senator Brian Hayes and I congratulate Senator Dardis on the extraordinarily good work he does in the area in question. The Independent Senators have a motion on the Order Paper which deals with that issue but it might be more ecumenical and Catholic of us——
Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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——if we were to simply table a motion welcoming the policy statement and agreeing with the conclusions and proposals in Senator Dardis's paper. We could adopt an all-party approach to this matter. I ask the Leader to consider holding a discussion on Senator Dardis's policy paper on fishing with a view to the Seanad supporting it and taking a vote on that basis.
Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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To do so would show a proper cross-party and cross-grouping approach to a difficult issue. This is a matter about which the Government does not need to be told about our business. We can go ahead and do it. This is within the House and we should carry out our business and make the Government respect us.
We should send a vote of thanks to the OECD for announcing yesterday that while life expectancy might increase to 150 years within the foreseeable future, we will not be asked to work for 150 years. It is extremely good of the OECD to highlight this fact. However, its proposal that people should work until age 80——
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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The proposal is that they should work until age 85.
Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I apologise, the proposal to work until age 85 must be discussed.
Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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As a contributor on this issue for many years, I have always been unhappy with the outcome of debates. However, I wish to request another debate. The difficulty with debates at OECD and European level is that the approach taken is broad brush or blunderbuss. In other words, if we have a problem here we should shoot over there. There is no finesse or attempt to get matters right. During the past ten years I have continually stated that the period between full-time work and full-time retirement should be extended and should include measures such as flexi-time, half-time, part-time and working for half the time and receiving half a pension. These proposals have worked well in other jurisdictions and I ask that they be adopted here.
The parliamentarians from Canada who are visiting us today have a view on this and put two extremely good ideas to me. The Government of Canada is inclined to select, propose and appoint Independent Members to the Canadian Senate and its Senators are appointed for life. Even though they are appointed for life, they are required to retire at 75 years of age. Perhaps this issue could be examined with the others.
Brendan Ryan (Labour)
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It is probably a commentary on the length of time that Senator O'Toole and I have been here that I was going to raise this delightful idea from our Canadian colleagues regarding people being Senators for life until they reach the age of 75. Perhaps the OECD would try to persuade them to continue until they reach 85 years of age.
Senator Brian Hayes raised the issue of the horrible accidents in County Donegal. I have raised this issue on many occasions and have tried to do something about the fact that virtually no heavy goods vehicles on our main roads observe the legal speed limit. Those vehicles are supposed to have speed governors fitted. When I come across these vehicles on the road, I record their details and write to the companies involved. Every one of them writes back with a hand-on-heart assurance that speed governors are fitted to their vehicles. All of these trucks cruise along at 60 mph even though their speed governors are supposed to ensure that they cannot travel at more than 55 mph. The hand-on-heart assurances I receive inform me that there is no problem but it is usually stated in the final paragraph that it is possible the driver removed the fuse from the governor, thereby bypassing it. What is the point of having a technological device meant to regulate the speed of a heavy goods vehicle if it can be bypassed by simply removing a fuse? Either it is there or it is not. I will not allow companies to put the blame on their employees. It is up to the companies to ensure their vehicles operate in compliance with the law. The excessive speed of heavy goods vehicles on our inadequate roads is a contributory factor to accidents. The statistics show they represent 3% of all registered vehicles which are involved in 10% of fatal accidents. That has nothing to do with the awful tragedy in Donegal but it is one of the contributors to the slaughter on our roads.
I wish to ask the Leader about two issues I previously raised; one was in regard to aeroplanes landing here that apparently do not have to provide manifests of who or what is on board, and how that is reconcilable with our law and with international obligations; and the second matter related to the absence of country of origin labelling on products coming from some of the most nefarious and obnoxious countries in the world, including Burma in particular. The Leader was to find out about those matters and I am sure she is endeavouring to do so but I just want to remind her.
A long and serious debate in this House on health is overdue. Over the weekend the Tánaiste and the chief executive of the Health Service Executive announced that 3,000 new acute beds were no longer on the agenda because we did not need them. It was decided after years that we did not need them because, apparently, other countries survive with fewer. This morning we discovered there is something close to chaos in the ambulance service in Dublin. The Tánaiste has not taken any decision on a report which she has had for six months, which should have been implemented by now, to try to sort out the fact that there are two parallel ambulance services. On occasion, two ambulances have arrived at the same incident because they do not communicate very well.
The Competition Authority is involved in a daft exercise to try to get away from a fixed level of consultants' fees, as if sick people would go shopping around for the cheapest consultant when they desperately need the best. We are getting involved in a succession of issues such as the partial privatisation of hospitals and other such matters. Last week many health board employees received a letter telling them of the wonderful computer system they had, which was very good at organising their salaries and what they could do if they had a problem. The health service is in a state of complete chaos. Nobody is responsible. Nobody is taking decisions. Adequate time must be provided for a major debate on the state of the health service.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Members on every side of the House were in deep sorrow over the appalling tragedy that occurred over the weekend and we extend our sympathy to the families involved. It would be useful to discuss road safety and related aspects in the Seanad at a later stage.
In a feeble attempt to ingratiate myself with the Cathaoirleach, regarding Senator O'Toole's remarks on the Canadian procedures, he should have added that the Cathaoirleach should be returned without opposition to the next Seanad——
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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——as part of the reforms. I am sure the Cathaoirleach would agree with that.
The report produced this morning by the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources on the future of our salmon stocks reflected a great deal of hard work and a genuine attempt by the members of the committee to come to grips with the matter. It is a report that should be dealt with in the House. I am reminded of the phrase about damning with faint praise.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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It was a very sincere attempt on the part of the Opposition.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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With friends like that, what would it lead to? We should debate the report. I was struck by something said by the Chairman of the committee, Deputy O'Flynn, this morning. He made the point that the survival of the species was too important an issue for the Irish people, with which I fully agree. There is no disagreement about that. He said it is a very complex issue, with which I also agree. That is why we might well debate it. However, there are aspects of the report with which I do not agree and I would be happy to debate those in greater detail on the floor of the House at a later stage. Deputy O'Flynn also said he did not want the argument to descend into a squabble about who gets to kill the salmon. I differ with him on that; the squabble is about who gets to save them.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Rather than debating the matter now, it is an issue to which we should return. The report by the joint committee should be debated and I would be quite happy to debate it in full.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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Now that the group leaders have made their contributions on the Order of Business, there are many Senators offering to contribute. There is little more than a quarter of an hour remaining so I ask them to be brief.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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I am a member of the sub-committee of the relevant Oireachtas committee that produced the report on salmon fishing. Much work was done on the report by the sub-committee. I agree with most of the findings, which were based on consensus. Like Senator Dardis, I, too, would have placed a ban on drift net fishing. If the enthusiasm exists at Government level to respond to the recommendations in the report, my proposal is achievable. After all, it is not so long ago since there was a blockade at Rosslare Port by the scallop fishermen. We all know what emerged within four weeks. Under the chairmanship of Padraig Flynn, a report was produced——
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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Padraic White, I am sorry. Some €45 million was allocated towards decommissioning part of the fleet. In that context, it is surely possible to allocate a sum of money to achieve this objective. On the basis of the advice that exists, it will cost much less than €45 million. I hope the Government will commit itself to responding to the report.
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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Will the Leader consider a debate next week on the free fuel allowance for the elderly? There are some 285,000 people in receipt of such allowances, but costs have spiralled. The cost of 1,000 litres of oil is now €660, a bag of coal costs €6.50 and a bale of briquettes costs €2.85. The allowance amounts to approximately €9 per week. Revenue is accruing from oil and petrol sales and this should be redistributed, not to us but to those who need it most. This would be the quickest way to gain support. This will be the winter of discontent unless something is done for the elderly, who need the fuel allowance more than anybody else. How could one of us live on a fuel allowance of €9 per week if spending——
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Senator's party has been in Government for many years but has done nothing about it.
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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We could not rely on Fine Gael or the Labour Party to-——
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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We are the socialist party in this country and we have backed all the people——
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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They can never rely on that shower over there. They provided for an increase of €1.60 per week——
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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We cannot have a debate on the Order of Business.
Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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——while the old age pension is now at almost €200 per week.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Senator to resume his seat.
Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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An event occurred yesterday which deserves attention, that is, the swapping of forces personnel among the PSNI and the Garda Síochána. There were two areas in which it happened. Superintendents are now working both in Belfast and Dublin in plain clothes. We should recognise this as a very worthy step, particularly in light of a point made in the House some time ago but which we have not heard recently, namely, that penalty points issued in Northern Ireland do not apply in the rest of the United Kingdom and that penalty points issued in the Republic do not apply in Northern Ireland. The Minister should be able to tell us the degree of co-operation between the two traffic corps. We brought this matter to his attention a year ago and he said he would look into it, but we have not heard from him since. It seems so logical and sensible that there should be an all-Ireland penalty points system if we are to curb, in some form or another, the horrific deaths that are occurring on the roads.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I join other Senators in calling for a debate on the joint Oireachtas committee report on salmon drift netting, draft netting and angling. I, too, am a member of the committee and believe it has produced an excellent report. The House was admirably represented by Senator Kenneally on the sub-committee, which did most of the work on the report. This deserves mention this afternoon. The five recommendations in the report are balanced, more so than some of the draconian suggestions advocated by some.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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Senator O'Toole mentioned we wanted all-party consensus on this issue. The report was produced by an all-party committee. If any particular party did not participate in that committee, this would have been through its own choice rather than a decision implemented by anybody else.
On a second point——
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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We should call in a marriage counsellor as soon as possible.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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There is no need for a counsellor here.
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I join others in calling for a comprehensive debate on road safety. Young person after young person is being killed on our roads week in, week out, and no points system or camera on any road will solve it. We may, as Senator Ryan stated, be obliged to examine the possibility of introducing draconian measures such as speed governors on cars operated by people under a certain age or those who may not have undergone the appropriate training.
Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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Members will sadly be aware of the aggressive plant disease known as sudden oak death, which has the potential to wipe out or totally devastate Ireland's oldest remaining oakwoods in the heart of Killarney National Park. I refer here to the oakwoods in the area of Derrycunihy. Traces of this disease have been found at Torc and on Ross Island. Hopefully, that is as far as it will spread. The disease has only affected some rhododendron bushes, which park staffs are busy removing, to date. Signs have been placed at the entrance——
Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I am asking the Leader if she could——
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator is seeking a debate about bushes.
Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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No, this could be worse than foot and mouth disease. Let us be serious for a moment. Traces of the aggressive plant disease, sudden oak death, have been found at both Torc and on Ross Island. What precautionary measures and serious steps are being taken? I would like the Minister to inform the House about the matter and I should be grateful if the Leader would arrange that.
John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)
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Will the Leader request a debate, prior to the budget, on poverty in Ireland? We all take particular pride in the achievements of recent years. Economists have pronounced this to be the best country in the world in which to live. Our success was achieved with the help of friends in North America and the UK who, through the years, invested in this country and helped it develop. In later years, it was helped greatly through our own efforts. Many Irish people have gone as far west as Vancouver and to the east as far as Vladivostok to do business and we are proud of that. The Government has a very proud record in reducing poverty in this country. However, there is always a need to refocus efforts and I request the Leader to arrange a debate on this issue.
David Norris (Independent)
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I shall try to observe the Cathaoirleach's ruling about being as brief as possible. However, many people will agree that this is the most interesting and exciting time of the day. It is the period that is covered most in the media. We should respond to the realities by being flexible and invite as many Members as possible to contribute to this very important part of the day.
I support colleagues in calling for a debate on the situation as regards salmon. I am sure our distinguished friends from Canada will sympathise with us,. I recall what happened some years ago when the great cod banks were being fished out and when the Canadian trawlermen stood up powerfully against the Spanish invaders. Much of that initiative was held to be illegal. I was one of the few here who said that while it might be illegal, they were perfectly right. We have the same situation here because we have drifted. Governments have drifted and allowed this to happen. Senator Ross and I have tabled a motion in support of our colleagues. We have pursued this matter during the past five or six years. The motion in our names is very detailed and does not limit itself just to the issue of driftnets. However, I warmly salute the work done by Senator Dardis. The PDs have played a very important role politically. During the week, one their Members in the Lower House indicated that she would vote against the Government on this issue. That type of pressure had a salutary effect.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Senator Brian Hayes is trawling.
3:00 pm
David Norris (Independent)
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I am also seeking a debate on the rolling scandal involving computer technology in various Departments. I was speaking at a dinner last night. One of our really excellent entrepreneurs and businessmen who operates in this area discussed the matter with me. I was left wondering why we did not have a trade mission to this country to sell our own computer expertise. Why do we go to big foreign conglomerates? We have a reputation for being at the front end of research and design in this area, along with numerous other small countries. Why do we not source this type of material here? They would be far less likely to make a bags of it. Big companies, on the other hand, are responsible for damage to a major pharmaceutical concern in the US. They have done the same to the British health service. Then they come to us. A local company, however, would be afraid to move from an estimate of €9 million to one of €400 million. Will the Leader request from the various Departments figures on how much of our information technology is domestically generated?
Senators will take the next issue I raise to their hearts. I listened to people discuss the Residential Institutions Redress Board on radio this morning. It is important the Leader arrange for a debate to take place once the board has reported because many people believe its remit should have been extended. Despite a Government commitment to pay the legal expenses of all those involved, solicitors are taking €15,000 or €20,000 from compensation payments before they are passed on to people who have already been damaged by the institutions of the State. This is a scandal. The House should review the issue when the Residential Institutions Redress Board concludes its work.
James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I support the call for a debate on road safety, an area on which we must step up action. I was shocked to learn recently that a small device available for sale in the United States and, I am sure, elsewhere can detect speed checks from a distance of three miles. This apparatus needs to be outlawed and the practice condemned. I ask that the Minister for Transport come before the House to inform Senators whether the use of such devices is a criminal offence and, if so, what penalties are available for those caught in their possession. This equipment, which is being used by the young and not so young, will have a serious impact on efforts to overcome our road safety problems. The hatchet needs to be taken to the issue.
Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health and Children to the House to debate the conditions under which some doctors and nurses must work in accident and emergency departments at weekends? Some accident and emergency units resemble war zones. Doctors and nurses are employed to provide a professional service, not to act as security personnel or mediate in rows. It is shameful to learn what happens in accident and emergency departments, which require additional security, particularly at weekends.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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I endorse the comments made on salmon drift netting, although the conversion has been belated on the part of many. Nevertheless, I am delighted it has taken place because drift netting is a vital issue. The Independent Group has raised it for many years but our concerns have fallen on deaf ears. I join Senators in congratulating Senator Dardis and hope he will join a picket on salmon drift netting at the Fianna Fáil Party Ard-Fheis next week.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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Senator Dardis is a man of great principle who will no doubt be able to display his independence a long way from his constituency. Before the Cathaoirleach goes for his gavel, Senator Norris's comments on the Order of Business are correct.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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Why did the Senator not discuss it when it was being decided at the first meeting of the session? My role is to implement the decisions made by the House.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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That is correct and I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on performing that role so effectively.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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I ask him to use the discretion available to him to curtail the contributions of the party leaders on the Order of Business and give ordinary Senators a little more time for their contributions.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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We have had zealous and over-zealous cathaoirligh in our time and although the current incumbent is one of the most effective to date, I detect an inclination on his part to reach for his gavel more quickly in the case of those of us he wrongly describes as leaders of our groups than in the case of others.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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It is on record that the leaders get more latitude.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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When Senator Ross is a leader, he will be given the same latitude.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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May I finish, a Chathaoirligh — you are proving my point?
David Norris (Independent)
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Senator Ross, without interruption.
Shane Ross (Independent)
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If the Cathaoirleach could curtail the other group leaders and give us a little more time, he would not have as much trouble from these benches.
Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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Over the past two and half to three years we have been promised an extension of the medical card system. The most recent one, for which we have been waiting two and a half years, is the extension of the doctor-only medical card. It is shameful in the extreme. I ask the Leader to request the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, to exempt people who have been diagnosed as being terminally ill from a means test for a medical card as a matter of urgency. It is shameful that spouses and family members must go through the application process, be means tested and be told that their means exceed the limit and then, only at the discretion of the appeals officers, be granted the medical card. I ask the Leader to immediately ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children to use her discretion in exempting people who have been classified as terminally ill, especially those suffering from cancer, from a means test.
Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I agree with the previous speakers who spoke of the tragedy in County Donegal at the weekend. The tragedy has caused a sense of numbness in the Inishowen Peninsula. Five young people from Inishowen and one young person from Derry have lost their lives. Inishowen is a close knit community and this has sent shockwaves through the peninsula, but the families and the community in general affected by road death in Donegal feel something must be done. I am in agreement with Senator MacSharry in terms of calling for a debate in this House. Such a debate would be appropriate and timely.
Geographically, Inishowen is inextricably linked to Derry, which is the fourth largest city in Ireland. When Garda resources are deployed to Inishowen account is not taken of the fact that Derry is a neighbouring city. Inishowen receives a great deal of car traffic from Derry and we do not have Garda resources. Our sympathies are with the families who have lost loved ones.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator's points would be more appropriate to a debate.
Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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Resources are the key factor for Inishowen. It is important that this is done sooner rather than later.
Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I support Senator Coghlan's point about the danger to the oak forests, especially in Killarney National Park, because that dreaded disease is already in the rhododendrons. I support his call that we keep a close watch on that and get some indication from the Minister on how it can be dealt with.
I would welcome a report on the decline of salmon stocks. It would be useful to debate that matter and I support the call for such a debate. It would be naive to believe that the mere banning of drift netting will halt the decline of salmon stocks. That would be a foolish assumption to make because there are other issues that need to be tackled as well, and it is important that we debate them.
Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)
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I ask the Leader to try to arrange a further debate on decentralisation. The budget, in five or six weeks time, will mark the second anniversary of the Government's announcement of decentralisation to 50 or 60 towns across the country. Unfortunately, the debate has moved from doubt to ridicule. The problem is people do not believe that the decentralisation project is going ahead.
It is important that we get the Minister for Finance or the Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Parlon, to the House to explain and debate the direction the decentralisation programme is taking. We are all mature enough to accept that what was originally promised will not be delivered. We have a hub and national spatial strategy. If we put all our strategies together, we could ensure that decentralisation is practised as well as preached. It is ridiculous that two years after its announcement no progress has been made. We need a debate on the issue now.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry I cannot call on all the Senators who wished to contribute on the Order of Business as I must now call on the Leader to reply.
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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I am always open to listening to Senator Ross, so I hope he would give me the same welcome.
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Brian Hayes raised the matter of the number of road deaths over the past weekend and wants a full audit of the national road safety strategy. We were all shocked at the loss of so much potential in such a short period. We will seek a full debate on road safety and strategy. The Senator also raised the matter of salmon policy and the reform sought by Senator Dardis. He wants the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Gallagher, to come to the House to discuss the policy. We would be delighted to arrange that.
Senator O'Toole welcomed Senator Dardis's statement. He also welcomed the OECD report. He would like to be appointed for life, as would we all.
Senator Ryan spoke about the Donegal accidents and the lack of governors in large trucks, which seem constantly to travel over the speed limit. It seems foolish that the governors can be disabled by removing a fuse. He also raised the matter of airline manifests. I intend to put forward an Adjournment matter, which will hopefully be taken on Thursday, which will seek this information, because I cannot seem to get it otherwise. The Senator also commented on the reported chaos in the ambulance system in Dublin.
Senator Dardis welcomed the joint committee report on salmon stocks and agrees it is a complex area. Senator Finucane is a member of the committee and agrees on the need for debate. Senator Leyden wants a debate on the inadequacy of the free fuel allowance for the elderly in the light of the current price of fuel. I admire his humanitarian nature.
Senator Quinn talked about swapping of personnel between the Garda and the PSNI. He suggested swapping knowledge and strategies and the establishment of an all-Ireland penalty points strategy to improve road safety. Senator MacSharry wants a debate on the committee report on salmon drift netting and angling, of which committee he was a member. He also seeks a debate on road safety strategies.
Senator Coghlan is concerned about the threat to oak trees in Killarney National Park by the aggressive plant disease known as sudden oak death. Senator Hanafin wants a debate on poverty prior to the budget.
Senator Norris agrees with the call for a debate on the salmon strategy. I did not quite get what he had to say about computer technology because somebody was laughing. I agree with him that it is a scandal that solicitors are taking up to €20,000 from compensation payments made by the Residential Institutions Redress Board to people damaged by State institutions. I heard a solicitor say on the radio yesterday that any such solicitor would be struck off the roll.
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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Senator Bannon seeks a debate on road safety and a greater Garda presence on the roads. He also mentioned a device that can discern the presence of a speed check from a distance of three miles. I did not know of this device, but it should not be allowed. Senator Bannon also called on the Minister for Health and Children to come to the House to address the issues in accident and emergency units. The Senator reported that doctors and nurses have to face war zones.
Senator Ross spoke about salmon drift netting, which is the subject of a motion in the names of the Independent Members. The Senator said that he would like to come to Killarney. I extend an invitation to him to come to the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis in Killarney.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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I am not sure that the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis is relevant to the Order of Business.
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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I will not know Senator Ross if he turns up in Killarney — I will keep away from him.
John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)
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Senator Ross can join the Leader and Senator Coghlan in the Great Southern Hotel.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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They can discuss the matter over some salmon.
Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I ask the Leader of the House to revisit Dinis Cottage, which has not been renovated.
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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We were there a few years ago. We should go somewhere else this time.
Senator Ross also spoke about the sessional orders. As the Cathaoirleach said, the matter was on the agenda at the first meeting of the new session. I appreciate that people may not always be in a position to attend such meetings. The Senator said that "ordinary Senators" like him should be given more speaking time. I would never call Senator Ross ordinary — it would be more appropriate to call him extraordinary, in the nicest way.
Senator Ulick Burke called for the extension of the medical card system to people who are terminally ill. In my experience, if one contacts a person in an office, he or she will deal with one's case sympathetically. While Senator Burke is aware of that, he thinks people will terminal conditions should be given medical cards automatically, without having to make such contact.
Senator McHugh is from the area in which last Friday night's accident took place. I can imagine how he feels about it. As he said, Inishowen is near Derry. The Senator called for increased measures in this area. I am not sure about how effective they would be. I heard someone on the radio yesterday saying that if a garda could be deployed in every bush in Ireland, it would still not be enough to stop the awful road deaths from taking place. Such accidents constitute a waste of human potential.
Senator Daly supported Senator Coghlan and called for a debate on this country's salmon stocks. I will try to ensure that such a debate takes place next week.
Senator Bradford asked for a debate on decentralisation. He alleged that the decentralisation programme has gone from doubt to ridicule. He mentioned that the national spatial strategy has been published since the initial announcement about decentralisation was made. I will endeavour to arrange a debate on the matter.