Order of Business.
It is proposed to take items Nos. 7 and 8. Private Members' Business shall be No. 24.
Comment on this
Is it now proposed to publish the Report of the Commission on the Electoral Boundaries which I understand this week the Government, as a Government, to quote the Minister for Finance last week, have now received, rather than having received it as individuals, or whatever way they received it last week, or will it be published today?
Comment on this
May I ask a related question? In view of the fact that there was a precedent set by the publication by the Government on 25 April 1980 of the then Report of the Dáil Constituencies Commission, which had been received four days earlier, perhaps the Government would indicate whether they might be prepared to follow that precedent by publishing, even in typescript form, the present report which I gather was presented to the Minister on Friday last?
Comment on this
I received the report from the Chairman of the Commission on Friday last. It is my intention to publish the report today. It will be circulated to Members later on with a view to giving political parties, interested parties outside the House and the general public an opportunity of considering the report. In due course I will formulate my submissions to the Government on the matter.
Comment on this
Will the report be circulated to all Members of the House today? Has the report been considered and decided on by the Government?
Comment on this
Immediately after the Order of Business, it is my intention to have copies of the report lodged in the Library of the House and it will then be circulated to the spokespersons of the political parties. That will be later on this evening, because of the printing problems attached to it and the maps accompanying the report, but all Members will have it in their pigeon holes before 6 o'clock. The Government have not considered the report, I am publishing it.
Comment on this
I do not like to put the Minister for the Environment under too much pressure but he promised he would issue the smoke control order in relation to Ballyfermot. When will he issue this order?
Comment on this
I wish to ask the Tánaiste if and when the Government will provide time to debate in the House a report of the Committee of Public Accounts in respect of the role and functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of which 40 recommendations were made by the committee. Will he agree to give time to debate this report in view of the importance of adequate control of public spending in this area?
Comment on this
Can I take it that the Tánaiste is favourably disposed, in general terms, to such a debate and that it is simply a matter of agreeing on a time suitable to the Government?
Comment on this
Yes, we are very anxious that all these reports should be debated in the House. It is a question of allocating time.
Comment on this
I submitted a Private Notice Question relating to the curious situation in which Scoil Fhursa finds itself, where the boys' school is not regarded as disadvantaged but the girls' school is. You ruled the question out of order notwithstanding the fact that the school is to lose two teachers——
Comment on this
That was two bites at the cherry so I would now like to raise the matter on the Adjournment.
Comment on this
I understand that the Government propose to introduce two Supplementary Estimates tomorrow morning in relation to sums of money for the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Will the Tánaiste arrange to have information on those Estimates circulated as I am not aware of what precisely is involved and what the money is for?
Comment on this
When leave has been given to introduce the Estimates they will then be debated immediately?
Comment on this
Will the Tánaiste inform the House when the new, promised legislation updating the Road Transport Act, 1932, will be introduced?
Comment on this
I appreciate that but we do not have a draft Bill to hand yet. I will follow up the matter for the Deputy and get more precise information for him. It is on the general list of business to be taken.
Comment on this
The Minister for Transport and Tourism promised the House that it would be introduced before Christmas.
Comment on this
We will make every effort to have it debated but there is a lot of other very important business, including legislation in respect of the building societies, planning, the Central Bank and so on. It is a question of taking its place in the queue. However, we will certainly introduce it before Christmas.
Comment on this
Are the Government in a position to advance Committee Stage of the Building Control Bill? This Bill has been languishing on the Order Paper since the House resumed after the last general election. The Tánaiste may recall that I raised this matter last week.
Comment on this
I will give priority to this Bill. Obviously we should take Committee Stage as it is a very important Bill. I will ensure that it gets to the top of the list.
Comment on this
Will the Tánaiste and the Government agree that it is the only legislation on the Order Paper which has been permanently at Committee Stage since the commencement of this Dáil?
Comment on this
Will the Tánaiste give an undertaking that Committee Stage will start before Christmas?
Comment on this
I am anxious to proceed with this Bill as it has been hanging around since 1984. I agree with the Tánaiste that we will do what we can to see if it can be taken.
Comment on this
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the refusal of the Minister for the Environment to amend the local government officers, (widows and orphans), contributory pension scheme in view of the outrageous anomalies that have come to light in cases of desertion and judicial separation.
Comment on this
Have the Government considered the implications of the industrial dispute in the ESB and its eventual outcome?
Comment on this
I wish to ask the Tánaiste a question that is close to his heart. As, apparently, smog will become an endangered species following an announcement at 5 o'clock today and as it is already extinct in the United Kingdom, did he bring Sir Geoffrey Howe to see smog in Ballyfermot——
Comment on this
I requested a copy of the Supplementary Estimates for the Department of Finance at the end of last week and I am still awaiting receipt of it. Is there any particular reason why the Deputies in the House who are interested in these Supplementary Estimates cannot receive a copy of them before the debate starts?
Comment on this
I have requested a copy of it and I have not received it. Is there any reason why the House should not receive copies of it?
Comment on this
There is no reason. The Deputy will receive it in as quick a time as possible and if the Deputy is being incommoded I apologise.
Comment on this
The Deputy has made her point. She may not elaborate now. Deputy Andrew Boylan has been called.
Comment on this
I seek to raise on the Adjournment as a matter of urgency the atrocious and scandalous conditions under which hundreds of families in my county have to live because of the total collapse of county roads.
Comment on this
On two occasions in the last two weeks I tried to raise the issue of the changes in the national fuel scheme which have led to hardship for many people who were in receipt of this benefit in previous years and who have been cut off this year as a result of the new scheme. You already have a list of submissions for the Adjournment. Perhaps the Minister — he must have a flood of complaints — might indicate if he has any proposal to change the scheme?
Comment on this
The Minister has indicated that there is no problem with this matter but he is seriously out of touch with it. There are immense problems and I wish to raise it on the Adjournment.
Comment on this
You disallowed a Private Notice Question that I wished to raise. I now ask if I can raise on the Adjournment the circumstances whereby a male psychiatric patient was found dead in a ditch, having died some weeks ago, beside a psychiatric hospital in Dublin last Sunday.
Comment on this
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the relegation of County Louth as a Border county and its inclusion as a midland county for EC classification.