Seanad debates
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Order of Business
10:30 am
Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Bill 2006 — Second Stage, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, and to conclude not later than 1.30 p.m. Spokespersons have 15 minutes and other Senators ten minutes, and the Minister is to be called upon to reply not later than ten minutes before the conclusion of Second Stage; No. 2, Statements on Health Service Reform, to be taken at 2.30 p.m. and to conclude not later than 5 p.m. Spokespersons have 15 minutes and other Senators ten minutes, and the Minister is to be called upon to reply not later than ten minutes before the conclusion of the statements; No. 3, Mental Capacity and Guardianship Bill 2007, Order for Second Stage and Second Stage, to be taken from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. There will be a sos from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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Last week in the House I put forward a suggestion to the Leader, in the context of the proposed referendum on children's rights, that the Government consider agreeing a wording with all political parties in both Houses before the election, so that we could hold the referendum in the autumn or winter. The Leader regarded the suggestion as eminently sensible and I noted the generosity of her remarks at the time. It has emerged in the past 24 hours that the Government seems intent on holding the referendum, come what may. The leaders of Fine Gael and the Labour Party have told the Government they have no difficulty with a referendum on the same day as the general election on the principal issue of providing absolute legal protection for children in light of the CC case. However other issues, such as those involving the more fundamental review of rights for children under the Constitution, need to be dealt with in a more careful way.
I ask the Government, even at this late stage, to stop playing politics with our Constitution.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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There is a view that this referendum is being called for the basest of political motives.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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It is true and the Senator knows it.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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I ask the Government to deal with this issue sensibly.
Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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That is exactly what it is doing.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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We have too much experience of legislation being rushed for political motives, dating from the early 1980s when people on all sides of the House were bullied and pressurised into taking up positions they later regretted. I urge the Government to listen to and heed the advice of legal opinion, and of Members of both Houses, and pull back from holding the referendum at this stage. If we are to have a referendum, let it be on the same day as the general election because otherwise it will become entangled in that election campaign and the difficulties, particularly on the latter issue, will have to be sorted out at a later stage. From the Leader's discussions with the Government, is it likely that the 28th Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2007 will be taken in this session? I would be grateful if she could answer that question.
Yesterday we saw a Government U-turn on a commitment to the people of Cork in respect of Cork Airport. There was a second U-turn yesterday, where the same Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, broke his commitment to the people of Dublin along the M50. I was given an absolute commitment two years ago in this House that we would not have multi-point tolling along the M50. The Taoiseach himself said it in the other House.
Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister denied it on "Morning Ireland" this morning.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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Why is it the case, Senator Mansergh, that the company that won the contract to introduce barrier-free tolling on the M50 is tasked with looking at multi-point tolling? The Government will not decide before the election but it will do it afterwards. That is the U-turn we have exposed and will continue to expose.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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On the Order of Business questions should be addressed to the Chair and not to a particular Senator on any side. That will only cause interruptions.
Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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We can gather by the tone of proceedings that an election is in the offing.
Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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We look forward to it but perhaps without the same sprightly and innovative proposals that come from those seeking to evacuate this House to go to a different House following that election.
The pharmaceutical regulation Bill is to be introduced at some point. Some years ago I pointed out that doctors in Britain find it difficult to prescribe non-branded, generic drugs that are dramatically cheaper than branded drugs. The figures published yesterday in Britain indicate that £500 million sterling extra is spent because doctors, influenced by advertisers, prescribe branded drugs. We should highlight this matter to ensure that we take the steps necessary to make dramatic savings in health care costs. The Bill should be brought to the House as soon as possible.
Michael McCarthy (Labour)
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I support Senator Brian Hayes's comments on the children's rights referendum. This referendum could have been organised over the last ten years to allow for debate. The opportunity existed to reach consensus on an all-party basis, which is essential if we are talking about the legal protection of children and constitutional rights for them. That opportunity still exists with the leaders of the Labour Party and Fine Gael, as Senator Hayes pointed out this morning. It could be lost, however, if the referendum is rushed. There is no reason why it cannot be postponed until after the election if we cannot reach agreement. If that is the case, it would be provident to wait until there is all-party agreement because we should not politicise this. The children's rights referendum should not be held in a climate where domestic political issues take precedence in terms of the debate and direction of the election.
The Polish Prime Minister addressed the Forum on Europe yesterday.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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The remarks of the Polish Prime Minister——
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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——are not relevant to the Order of Business.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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We have no control of remarks made, they are completely irrelevant to the Order of Business.
Michael McCarthy (Labour)
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I accept the ruling but the remarks were unhelpful to say the least.
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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If we discuss every public comment on the Order of Business we will be here until the evening.
Michael McCarthy (Labour)
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The remarks were made in the Forum on Europe and that forum has been widely debated in this House and we recognise its merits in ensuring the success of the second Nice treaty referendum. It is opportune, right and proper that we, as legislators, display our intolerance of such comments.
Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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When the distinguished speaker addressed the forum, he spoke about combating an avalanche of lies and my reaction to that is: "Welcome to democracy".
Rory Kiely (Fianna Fail)
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We cannot discuss what happened at the Forum on Europe yesterday.
Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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We have had some examples of that this morning. The Taoiseach made it absolutely clear that he is not trying to rush any referendum and that he wants to achieve maximum consensus.
Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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The Senator should read the front page of The Irish Times.
Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Transport was unequivocal on the radio this morning about single point tolling.
Michael McCarthy (Labour)
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He could not be found for two years. He was hiding.
Maurice CumminsMartin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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All of us subscribe, although we may have differences of interpretation, to pluralism, which means that we object to any form of theocracy or religious ascendancy but equally to any form of secular totalitarianism. In this country we have a tradition going back 25 years of respect for people's consciences so that when one is talking about pregnancy advisory services, people should not be forced to engage in references that are against their conscience. I deplore attempts in Britain to force Catholic adoption agencies to act against their conscience. Given the Irish input into the Catholic church in Britain, representations should be made. We are talking about principles of civil and religious liberty that go back at least to the Glorious Revolution, which is fundamental to representative democracy. I worry that trend might spread to here. We must respect not just civil liberty but religious liberty as well.
David Norris (Independent)
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Rubbish. So we support religion in England if it is Irish? That is a very good idea.
Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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Late last year a committee of departmental and other experts was established to investigate electromagnetic fields and health concerns related to mobile phone masts and it is due to report in June. Yesterday Senator Scanlan mentioned An Bord Pleanála and this week in Kilmeady in County Limerick, where the council had turned down a mobile phone mast, the decision was overturned by An Bord Pleanála. The same has happened recently in Ballygunner in County Waterford and Ennis in County Clare.
In all three locations, the inspector from An Bord Pleanála upheld the councils' decisions and recommended refusal of the masts. In all three cases, the board itself overturned that decision. What is the point of having an inspector who goes out, inspects, considers the facts and comes back with a definitive assessment if his decision is then overturned by people who have not even seen the location or the mast? It makes a farce of An Bord Pleanála. That is why I fully support Senator Scanlan's call for An Bord Pleanála to come before the House. I would love to see those faceless people in that organisation try to answer the questions we encounter.