It is proposed to take items Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 13. It is also proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that: (i) Nos. 4, 5 and 6 shall be decided without debate; and (ii) Private Members' Business shall be No. 23 and the proceedings thereon shall be brought to a conclusion at 8.30 p.m. tonight.
Order of Business.
Are the proposals for dealing with items Nos. 4, 5 and 6 satisfactory and agreed? Agreed. Are the proposals for dealing with Private Members' Business satisfactory and agreed? Agreed.
Will the Taoiseach comment on the conflict of interest of his programme manager vis-à-vis the pull out of GPA from Shannon Aerospace?
That does not arise now. There are many ways and means open to Members to raise such matters.
There is a clear conflict of interest.
(Interruptions.)
Will the Taoiseach tell the House why the Government dropped the job performance clause for Shannon Aerospace?
That is a matter for Question Time.
Is it now Government policy to unceremoniously rescind appointments made to State boards by previous administrations?
Do not make appointments when going out of office. That is a mistake.
Is that now Government policy.
If there is nothing further relevant to the Order of Business I shall proceed to the Business of the House proper. I call Deputy Harney.
Is the Taoiseach happy with the message he is sending to those who serve on State boards that they can be unceremoniously dismissed from office in this fashion?
Your heart is not in it.
You need to be in Fine Gael to get a job now.
The Government passed legislation to create them.
There were 5,000 jobs.
There is no job for Deputy Rabbitte as he is not a member of Fine Gael.
The Deputy is wedged in.
Dermot O'Leary had a good sense of honour.
(Interruptions.)
Will the Deputy print it?
Perhaps Deputy Byrne will allow the business to proceed. I have called Deputy Harney.
Hypocrisy is alive and well——
You are the hypocrites.
Political scumbag.
Let us be careful of the words we use. The word "hypocrite" is not in order.
Deputy Cowen used outrageous language and should withdraw the remark.
It is accurate.
There should be some standards in the House.
Yes, and the Deputy should sit down.
Calling another Deputy a scumbag is not helpful and the remark should be withdrawn.
The Minister of State is not helping the Chair to bring order or decorum to the House. If Deputy Harney does not proceed now I will call another Deputy.
Accuracy is an offence.
If I am to proceed I am entitled to be heard.
The Chair is doing its best. The Deputy ought to conform.
I am not blaming the Chair but I should be allowed time to be heard. As the Leader of the only party which did not get any jobs when they were divided out recently I hope the decisive decision made by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications is in the interests of providing us with a better public transport service. If that is the case I welcome what he did.
Do not pursue that.
(Interruptions.)
Yesterday I expressed disappointment at the transfer of so many legitimate questions put down to the Taoiseach relating to comments he made to other Ministers. Will he respond to that and take legitimate questions addressed to him as Taoiseach so that we can have a relevant Taoiseach's Question Time?
This is repeating yesterday's proceedings.
Matters of Government policy are dealt with departmentally and if a question is asked about an area of policy which is the responsibility of a particular Minister it is appropriate that that Minister answer it. Obviously from time to time in the course of his or her public duties the Taoiseach will attend functions where it is appropriate for him or her to speak about policy matters that come within the purview of another Minister. If that were to be used as a basis for tabling questions about every Department to the Taoiseach, he or she would answer for the entire Cabinet. That is not desirable.
I tabled a question to the Taoiseach——
The Deputy will agree this should not give rise to debate or argument now.
——regarding the Attorney General joining in legal action on the issue of Sellafield. The Taoiseach is responsible to the House for the Attorney General. I also asked the Taoiseach about comments he made in Cork about Irish neutrality. I do not believe it is right to transfer such matters to other Ministers.
Cork was unfortunate.
It was unfortunate for the Deputy's party also if I recollect correctly. You lost the run of yourselves the day of the count.
What about the promises made in Cork? Where are they now? Insults. It is dangerous when the Taoiseach laughs.
The Deputy should not amuse me then.
When is it intended to proceed with the Court and Court Officers Bill or does the Government, in line with recent policy, intend to fill every conceivable vacancy in the Judiciary and create new posts prior to proceeding with the Bill?
The Deputy is using this to raise other matters.
A Deputy
The Bill is on the Order Paper.
I understand that Bill is before the Dáil, that consultations are taking place between the Whips on the matter and that a number of amendments are contemplated. Those will be made available to the House as soon as possible.
Is it the Government's intention to fill every vacancy in the Judiciary and, perhaps, create new posts prior to proceeding with the Bill?
That matter is hardly relevant now, Deputy.
The House will recognise that the legislative process is necessarily a slow one. There are vacancies that need to be filled in the short term and these will be filled. Anybody who is familiar with the courts here will realise there is a shortage of judges to deal with cases and that it is important that judges should be appointed whenever a vacancy arises. That will continue to be the case until this legislation is passed. We have no apology to make for filling judicial positions in the meantime. We will continue to do so in order to assist in the pursuit of justice for litigants.
I call Deputy Quill.
With all due respect——
Sorry, Deputy O'Donoghue, I have called Deputy Quill and she will be heard.
It was agreed——
Deputy O'Donoghue, please desist.
——by the previous Government that no judicial appointments would be made. Perhaps the Tánaiste would confirm that and maybe the Taoiseach would have an apology to make then.
Will the Taoiseach say if the juvenile justice Bill will be published in 1995 and if any progress has been made in the drafting of that long overdue legislation?
Considerable progress has been made on the drafting of that Bill at this stage. I hope it will be possible to have it published before the end of the year but I will not give a guarantee on that.
When will the criminal law insanity Bill see the light of day?
As I said yesterday, work is well advanced on the preparation of a general scheme for the Bill, the heads of the Bill. As soon as those are approved by the Government it will then proceed to drafting.
I call Deputy Ellis.
As a follow up——
Sorry, Deputy, I have called Deputy Ellis. I have allowed the Deputy to raise the matter.
May I ask the Taoiseach for an assurance that Mr. John Gallagher a detainee in Dundrum, will not be released?
Sorry, Deputy, you are raising another matter. I am calling Deputy Ellis.
May I have that assurance? It is a matter for the Government.
In view of the Taoiseach's announcement last week in regard to——
May I ask the Taoiseach for an assurance that Mr. John Gallagher, a detainee in Dundrum, will not be released——
No, Deputy, this is not Question Time. I ask the Deputy to table a question at the appropriate time.
I asked a legitimate question.
You deserve an answer but this is not the appropriate time.
It is the appropriate time.
In view of the Taoiseach's announcement last week concerning a charter of rights for farmers in regard to dealings with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry will he say if the charter can be fully implemented by the Department?
I thought the Deputy had something relevant to raise.
Last night on the Adjournment the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry told me——
I facilitated the Deputy on the Adjournment last night in respect of this matter. He ought not to raise it again this morning.
Arising from last night's reply, the Taoiseach is misleading the public by saying he can do something——
(Interruptions.)
Given that the De Buitléir report was published in 1993 and that we have had numerous complaints over many years about the late payment of higher education grants, will the Taoiseach give an indication as to when the promised higher education grants (amendment) Bill, will be introduced? Given the list of published legislation it appears it will not be on the Statute Book prior to the next academic year. It is extraordinary, following publication of the White Paper, that there is not an education Bill on the Order Paper for this session?
Towards the end of 1995 that Bill will be produced.
It will be too late for the next academic year.
Is the Taoiseach aware that a draft Bill on the control of horses had been prepared by a member of Government and, if so, why did the Taoiseach say yesterday that the Bill is only at an early stage of drafting?
(Interruptions.)
The Bill to which the Deputy has made reference as having been prepared by a member of Government, was prepared as a Private Members' Bill. A Government Bill is now at an early stage of preparation in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. I cannot tell the Deputy the precise time it will be introduced.
A Deputy
That is a horse of a different colour.
On promised legislation, may I ask the Taoiseach, in view of the fact that one of his Ministers of State, at great expense to the taxpayer, travelled to the far side of the world in relation to freedom of information, when will the freedom of information Bill be published?
That Bill is under active preparation in the office of the Tánaiste. I believe it will be introduced within the next year. I wish to make the point that there are not that many jurisdictions where a freedom of information Act is in force. Before such legislation is introduced here it is important that we inform ourselves of how the Act works in practice in the very few jurisdictions in the world in which one is in force. That was the purpose of the worthwhile visit.
Will we be able to see the report of the Minister of State who travelled?
A Deputy
Would the Deputy read it?
On the Court and Court Officers Bill, I congratulate the Government on the recent appointment of another woman to the bench of the High Court. It was a very good appointment. Will the Taoiseach indicate the Government's intention on the long promised legislation on ground rents?
It is not promised.
Will the Taoiseach confirm that the Government will accede to the request by IBEC for an urgent meeting regarding their concern about the explosion in the level of Government spending?
That matter does not arise now.
It is a matter of serious concern.
Indeed it is, and it should be treated seriously and in accordance with the procedures of this House.