It is proposed to take Nos. 12, 13 and 14. Private Members' Business shall be No. 33.

I should like to give notice of my intention to raise on the Adjournment tonight the decision of the Government to overrule the decision of the Dáil in relation to Barrington's Hospital in Limerick.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I wish to inquire from the Taoiseach when Item No. 28 on today's Order Paper will be taken in the House. This is the Report Stage of the Bankruptcy Bill. I understand that this matter was last considered by the House in May last year and has not been considered since. I understand also that the drafting of the legislation in question was initiated by the Taoiseach when he was Minister for Justice almost 20 years ago.

He must have been a young man then.

The Deputy has made his point.

It is a commentary on the slowness of our legislative system that it is still awaiting attention. Further, may I ask him if he will ensure that there will be no further delay like the delay since last May in considering this item?

I will see what can be done to expedite it. As the Deputy rightly pointed out I have a paternal interest in this legislation.

A grandfatherly interest at this stage.

Deputy Dick Spring.

I wish to give notice of my intention to raise on the Adjournment the matter of——

I am sorry Deputy Taylor but I have called Deputy Spring.

You should have known his back Mervyn, you are used to it.

You should be the last one to talk.

Given the many statements the Taoiseach has made both inside and outside this House about the importance of democracy in this House and the importance of the will of the Dáil, may I ask him if he will make a statement this morning as to how he reconciles the statement made by the Minister for Health last night in relation to Barrington's Hospital with the will of this House which voted by a majority vote two weeks ago to keep that hospital open?

Deputy Spring, that matter does not arise now.

I feel the Taoiseach should offer some clarification because many times he has been——

There are other ways and means open to Deputies, and indeed some Deputies have already indicated to me, their intention in respect of this matter.

Because of the importance of this matter and the importance which the Taoiseach has placed on the will of this House, I feel he has an obligation to explain the Minister's statement to the Members of this House.

That does not arise now. Deputy Seán Barrett.

May I ask the Taoiseach if he will make even half an hour available today for the Minister for Justice to make a statement in relation to the recent events involving the slashing of car tyres in view of the fact that there was another such outbreak last night?

That does not arise now Deputy.

If I may beg your indulgence a Cheann Comhairle, it is in relation to the fact that I am looking for time because the Minister for Justice——

There are ample ways and means open to Deputies for raising such matters.

I want to ask the Taoiseach if he is prepared to give time. It is not a question of asking him to give time on the Order of Business.

This is another way of circumventing the ruling of the Chair in such matters.

All I am asking is if the Taoiseach will make time available to make a statement. That is a request that is made here on a regular basis.

Perhaps it can be arranged among the Whips. It is not a matter for the Chair.

Would the Taoiseach agree to that meeting between the Whips?

The Whips can always discuss anything.

I wish to raise on the Adjournment the matter of the cancellation of all grants for sporting clubs and community groups in County Dublin.

I will communicate with Deputy Taylor in respect of that matter. Deputy Peter Barry.

A Cheann Comhairle——

I will call Deputy Andrews next.

I put down a question in relation to the Ballinora national school in my constituency to ask the Minister for Education if she would allocate funds to match the funds that had been collected by the local community there and you disallowed the question on the basis that it was a repeat of questions that had been asked on 11 February. The questions you referred to do not relate to my constituency, they do not relate to Cork nor to Munster. They refer to Mayo, Dublin, Louth, Meath——

I have communicated my decision in respect of this matter to the Deputy and I do not propose to be challenged on it now.

I fail to see how you could say it was a repetition of a question relating to schools in Mayo when the question I asked related to Ballinora national school.

I can assure the Deputy that in dealing with questions such as his own there has been no deviation from the normal decisions on such matters. There are good and cogent reasons as to why the question was turned down.

As long as I have been in this House it has been the practice for the Chair to allow questions to the Minister for Education in relation to individual schools in individual locations and the funding of them. I regret very much that you are departing from this. We have always been allowed this privilege.

I will be glad to discuss that matter with the Deputy but I resent very much his challenging my ruling on such matters and inferring that there is some ulterior motive in respect of the matter.

It is an unprecedented ruling.

I will be very glad to accept your invitation to discuss the matter with you but I must point out here in public that you are departing from what has been the practice of this House for as long as I have been here.

I absolutely reject that insinuation.

I think, Sir, any perusal of the Dáil Official Report will show that such questions were raised and answered by successive Ministers for Education, including myself.

I will not allow the matter to be discussed any further. I will conclude that matter with the Deputy.

I would like to raise on behalf of the other Dún Laoghaire Deputies and myself the recent damage done to St. Brigid's school in Blackrock arising from the storm, and the future plans for the development of the school.

You will not be allowed to ask it.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

A Cheann Comhairle, I wonder if you would give me an opportunity to raise a number of matters, with your permission, on the Adjournment. I want to give you as wide a choice as possible.

A number of matters? Only one matter can be raised on the Adjournment.

The tyre slashing in Shankill is one, Sir, and the proposed development of Dún Laoghaire harbour is the other. I would like to have an opportunity to raise either.

I want to raise that as well.

I will communicate with the Deputy in respect of these matters.

May I ask the Taoiseach, given his experience in the health area, whether the promised legislation on radiological protection will be sponsored by the Department of Energy, in view of the fact that they do not have the medical, public health or environmental skills appropriate to such sponsorship?

It is intended that it will be introduced by the Minister for Energy as it is within the remit of the Department of Energy. Naturally all relevant Departments will have an input into the legislation.

May I inquire whether there has been a change in policy whereby the Minister for Industry and Commerce is not allowed to answer questions about efforts by the IDA to site industries in particular towns? They were answered in full by every previous Minister and there seems to have been a change of policy.

I have no function in such matters, Deputy.

You refused a question.

This morning I received a communication from your office disallowing a question addressed to the Minister for Industry and Commerce re the grant assistance given by the IDA to the International Hide and Skin Company towards the development of a tannery in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. While I accept your ruling on the matter, may I raise it on the Adjournment?

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I wish to raise on the Adjournment the plight of the residents of Offington Manor, Sutton. Despite having carried out all the necessary works to vent methane gas, the residents are still the subject of a barring order from the Dublin Chief Fire Officer and since last November cannot enter their homes.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

May I ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food to clarify what action he intends to take regarding the hardship being caused to dairy farmers who are supplying co-operatives whose milk quotas have long since been exceeded and whether he is aware of those difficulties and intends to take any action?

Surely you could raise that in another way.

I apologise if I am a little hoarse. I have come straight from the smog in Ballyfermot——

It is a smoggy kind of place. I want to ask the Taoiseach for the 18th time when regulations will issue under the Air Pollution Act to enable grants to be paid to the residents of Bally-fermot to allow the area to be converted into a smoke controlled zone. Next Monday the city council are being asked to decide that part of the area should be declared a smoke controlled zone but councillors will not be in a position to do so in the absence of regulations governing grants and the availability of grants.

What is the position? Is legislation promised?

The legislation is already there and it is the regulations the Deputy is discussing. I will communicate with the Deputy as soon as possible.

Does the Taoiseach appreciate the urgency of the matter?

Yes.

I would like to ask the Taoiseach when the audit now being prepared in his Department on staffing levels in the Department of Agriculture and Food, AFT and ACOT will be published.

It does not seem to arise.

Will it be published? Perhaps that is the question I should ask.

This is a matter for normal parliamentary debate.

In view of the fact there are only nine sitting days left before the Easter recess can the Taoiseach say when the Social Welfare Bill will be brought before the Dáil? Is it true there are some difficulties in the drafting of the Bill at present? I understand it is to-ing and froing in the Department.

There is a split between the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Social Welfare.

The Bill will be circulated either on Friday or Monday, probably Friday.

Another Government meeting. Who will win: the Department of Finance or the Department of Social Welfare?

The most experienced Minister.

I am surrounded by all my senior colleagues.

The more experienced colleagues.

I would like to raise on the Adjournment the urgent requirement for a new school facility at Castlegregory, County Kerry.

Now you are talking.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

With your permission I would like to raise on the Adjournment the withdrawal of funding from the Rutland Centre which will have the effect of debarring medical card holders from treatment for different addictions.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

With your permission, Sir, I would like to raise on the Adjournment the question of a schoolboy in County Cavan whose parents have been told that, while it is recognised he has a serious dental problem requiring orthodontic treatment, no such treatment can or will be provided for him.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

May I raise on the Adjournment the failure of the Minister for the Environment to issue regulations under the Air Pollution Act and the urgency of the matter?

I will communicate with the Deputy.

A Cheann Comhairle, you may recall that last week I raised the question of taking Committee Stage of the Building Control Bill which is on the Order Paper. Is the Taoiseach now in a position to indicate to the House when this might be taken?

It is a matter for the Whips to decide when it can be taken in the House.

Arising from what the Taoiseach has said and having regard to what I suggested in the past, because of the sheer volume of legislation we have and the fact that this particular matter is not really contentious, would the Taoiseach again consider my suggestion of a select committee the terms of which, in relation to the understandable difficulties the Government might fear, could be negotiated? The building industry requires this clarification soon.

I will have the matter considered by the Whips.

Because of the confusion that has arisen as a result of a statement by the Minister for the Environment that a new home purchase scheme will be introduced and details circulated to local authorities, could the Taoiseach or the Minister for the Environment say now when it is likely that will happen?

The Deputy must find another way of raising that matter.

I think it comes under legislation which has been promised. A statement has been made to the effect that legislation will be forthcoming.

Legislation is promised in this regard?

As I understand the position, some amendment of the Housing Acts may be involved and, if so, I will endeavour to let the Deputy know when the amendments, if necessary, will be brought forward.