It is proposed to take No. 25, statements on European Council, Brussels, pursuant to Standing Order 102A(2)(b). It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. and adjourn on the adjournment of Private Members’ business; No. 25 shall be taken following the Order of Business and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 85 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: the statements shall be made by the Taoiseach and the main spokespersons for Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group who shall be called on in that order and who may share their time and shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case, a Minister or Minister of State shall take questions for a period not exceeding 20 minutes, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called on to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; and the order shall resume thereafter with Topical Issues; and Private Members' business, which shall be No. 47, Charities (Amendment) Bill 2014 - Second Stage, shall be taken on the conclusion of Topical Issues or at 7.30 p.m., whichever is the later, shall adjourn after 90 minutes, and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 January 2014. Tomorrow's business after Oral Questions shall be motions re appointment of the chairperson and ordinary member of the Standards in Public Office Commission; and Local Government Reform Bill 2013 - amendments from the Seanad. It is also proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the motions re appointment of the chairperson and ordinary member of the Standards in Public Office Commission shall be debated together and the following arrangements shall apply: the opening speech of a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons for Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group who shall be called on in that order and who may share their time shall not exceed five minutes in each case, and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called on to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed five minutes.

There are four proposals to be put to the House. Is the proposal for the late sitting agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 25 agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members' business agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with the motions tomorrow agreed to? Agreed.

I seek clarification from the Taoiseach on the situation pertaining to Irish Water and ask him to give Government time for a debate on it, particularly given his remarks to me last week on Leaders' Questions, when he stated:

Second, in the matter, as I understand it, of a parliamentary question which was to have been sent to Irish Water, it did not go, and the Department has apparently apologised for that. In any event Irish Water will be the subject of proper responses to parliamentary questions in this House by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. Deputies can be clear on that.

That evening the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, came to the House and stated the complete opposite. He stated Irish Water would not be subject to questions on the costs of establishment or on its activities at all. Yesterday evening the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government apologised to Deputy Barry Cowen because a response had not been given to his parliamentary questions, and she confirmed what the Minister of State had stated - that Irish Water would not be subject to parliamentary questions. The Taoiseach stated that Irish Water would be the subject of proper responses to parliamentary questions in the House and that Deputies could be clear on this. I would appreciate if the Taoiseach would correct the record of the House if he misled the House last week when he told me Irish Water would be subject to proper responses. The Minister of State at the Department said the complete opposite, as did the Secretary General of the Department. I would appreciate it if the Taoiseach put straight the record of the House.

It would never be my intention to mislead the House. I expect that if a question comes to the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, or the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, about Irish Water they will contact Irish Water and have the answer given to the question through the House. This is what I would expect.

What does that mean? Does it mean the Minister in his name will give-----

The Deputy should try putting down a question to the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, for answer in the House and will see if he gets an answer.

The Taoiseach stated parliamentarians would get proper responses to any questions they tabled to a Minister, but he seems to be changing his position and now states Irish Water will write to Deputies. The Secretary General is stating this. The Taoiseach needs to be correct and very clear and transparent about what will happen. The big objection last week was that Deputies were kept in the dark for 12 months.

No.

We cannot have a debate.

They did not get any reply.

The Deputy continuously decides what I say.

Deputy Micheál Martin kept the people in the dark.

I am sorry-----

Do not mind the Minister of State.

I answered questions when I was a Minister.

The Deputy never answered one on health.

The Taoiseach stated we would get answers to any questions we tabled here for Irish Water.

Could I intervene? Parliamentary questions are subject to the Standing Orders of the House. If the Deputies want to do things, they must change Standing Orders. The Deputy has got his answer from the Taoiseach. There is a method of getting a reply.

I did not get an answer from the Taoiseach.

The Deputy knows the Standing Orders as well as I do.

The Taoiseach said one thing last week and he was contradicted by the Minister of State. He is coming in here with weasel words, getting out of it and not being straight with me on the issue. Will the Minister answer questions on Irish Water?

The Taoiseach has given the Deputy an answer.

Will the Minister give information that he has in his possession if he is asked for it?

I am sorry, but the Deputy continuously deliberately misconstrues what I stated. I did not state two minutes ago that Irish Water would write to the Deputy. I stated that he should table a question to the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, on Irish Water and see whether he gets an answer.

And we will see what happens.

I will not get an answer.

I want to see that Deputies get answers to questions they ask.

Correct.

In this House.

In the same way the Deputy asks questions of the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, on the HSE or a hospital, he will get an answer in the House. There will be no difference in this case.

No; that is different. The Taoiseach is moving the goalposts again.

We are not having a debate. I call Deputy Adams.

You guys say anything to suit the moment.

That is not what I stated and it is not the first time the Deputy has done this.

The Taoiseach got away with it last week. For God's sake, the Secretary General contradicted the Taoiseach. The Minister of State contradicted him that evening.

I ask the Deputy to, please, resume his seat.

The Taoiseach will say whatever he wants to get out of any corner he is in and it does not mean anything. It is lacking any sincerity. The Taoiseach has no sincerity.

The Deputy codded the people for 15 years.

I have called Deputy Adams. Please respect the Chair.

The Government has made a very clear commitment to enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace, airports and related facilities for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law. The Government has also been very clear in committing to move away from prison sentences and towards less costly non-custodial options for non-violent and less serious offenders. In this context I wish to raise the imprisonment of peace activist Margaretta D'Arcy regarding protests about the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.

The Deputy cannot raise that issue on the Order of Business. It is a matter for a Topical Issue, which will be dealt with later.

I am asking the Taoiseach about the Government's stated commitments. This woman suffers from Parkinson's disease, is reliant on the use of a Zimmer frame and undergoing cancer treatment. She is quite elderly. She is not a criminal and poses no threat or danger to the public. Is Limerick Prison an appropriate place for a woman of her age and health condition?

We have rules on what can be raised on the Order of Business.

Nobody in the House has any function, good, bad or indifferent, with regard to the competence of the Judiciary and the courts to make their decisions. We have no hand, act or function in it. We had interference before and the Deputy knows what it led to.

The Minister for Justice and Equality-----

The Taoiseach gave a commitment that Irish Water would be included under freedom of information legislation.

We dealt with that issue.

The Taoiseach has given a commitment for legislation-----

Is this about promised legislation?

The Taoiseach has given a commitment that Irish Water-----

To what promised legislation is the Deputy referring?

Freedom of information.

Is it the freedom of information Bill in the name of Deputy Barry Cowen?

This has nothing to do with Fianna Fáil Private Members' legislation. The Taoiseach has given a commitment to include Irish Water under freedom of information legislation.

Correct

That is welcome and I also welcome the change in approach. When the freedom of information legislation was discussed in the House prior to Christmas, the Minister rejected this approach. When will legislation be published to cover Irish Water?

Second, legislation relating to EirGrid is promised. Will a similar provision be made to include the company under freedom of information legislation?

In respect of the first question, I am glad to note that the Minister confirmed that Irish Water would be included under the Freedom of Information Acts. The Deputy will be aware that Report Stage of the Freedom of Information Bill 2013 is awaited. The question is whether one includes the company under that Bill or under the original Act. I have spoken to the Minister about this and it might be more amenable to do the latter but he will make his choice on that and deal with it quickly. Irish Water will, therefore, be included under the Freedom of Information Acts. The Minister is responsible for that and I will convey the Deputy's thoughts to him about EirGrid.

I refer to a number of Bills. The first is the housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. In April 2012, it was promised for publication later that year but it is still awaited. The legislation is due to be published this session. Will the heads of the Bill be published and submitted to committee under the new system in order that a committee can deal with it and take representations from local authorities and organisations that are interested in addressing the crisis in housing and homelessness? It is urgent that the heads of the Bill be forwarded.

Prior to Christmas, the gender recognition Bill was in committee and its publication was expected either this session or mid-2014. The legislative programme states, "Publication not possible to indicate at this stage". Will the Taoiseach explain the delay, given the committee has finished its deliberations on the Bill and has submitted a report to the Department?

The civil registration (amendment) Bill was also promised this session. This is a long promised Bill which will address a number of issues but one that has disappeared from the description in the legislative programme is the registration of deaths of Irish persons who die abroad. What is the reason for this change?

I refer to legislation about which I have asked every session since the Government took power and which is close to my heart - the national paediatric hospital development board Bill. It is still not possible to indicate when this will be published, despite the Government announcing that the hospital would be built. The development board is obviously urgently required in order that work can be undertaken. An interim body is in place but it does not have the powers that this legislation would confer. I urge that the Bill be published within days, if possible, in order that work can continue.

The heads of the housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill were cleared in December. I attended a Cabinet sub-committee meeting yesterday that dealt with the housing assistance payment issue, which for one or other reason, had taken some time to get a focus. That matter has been attended to and, therefore, I expect the heads of the Bill will be sent to committee as is normal practice.

I will have to come back to the Deputy on the national paediatric hospital development board Bill. I discussed this with the Cabinet sub-committee yesterday along with a number of other boards. I do not want to mislead the Deputy. I will give him the up-to-date position.

The registration of deaths of Irish persons who die abroad was on the original list. I cannot give the Deputy the detail as to why it is not on the list of 41 Bills to be taken but I will send him a note about it.

Hospitals are finding it impossible to get clearance to transfer patients because HSE patient transport vehicles are not available. I refer to the health reform Bill in the light of the fact that a patient was left waiting for 30 hours in Beaumont Hospital for an ambulance transfer which tied up a high dependency neurological bed that could not be accessed by anyone else. Can we have joined-up thinking across the health service to ensure patients are transferred in a timely manner and can get the treatment they require? This is not only an issue in Beaumont Hospital; this is happening across the country.

The legislation is listed for this session. A number of issues are being worked out. I had a case given to me by a Deputy last week. The Deputy brought a relative to hospital because an ambulance could not leave the hospital as it did not have a trolley. I do not understand this. Good management would ensure a number of spare trolleys would be available to allow ambulances collect people.

All the patients are on them.

The Minister for Health is hiding them-----

It is a question of hospital management looking at what beds are available to be transferred. Nobody should wait 30 hours for an ambulance transfer, thereby tying up a bed.

When will the sale of loan books to unregulated third parties Bill be published? This will cater for the sale of loan books by regulated financial institutions to unregulated institutions.

We are not having a debate.

Institutions are selling off debt and companies are setting up overnight to buy it for little or nothing.

When is the Bill due?

If the borrower cannot pay the debt in the first place, how can he or she pay it under the terms set down by a third party? Legislation is needed. I am sure many Members have had representations about this issue.

The Bill is not due until next year.

I echo Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh's comments about the housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. When will the remedial works programme for 2014 be announced? Approximately 30 years ago, Dr. Garrett FitzGerald approved the first tranche of funding to redesign Darndale estate in Dublin Bay North. We are still working on it and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has a plan for the final redevelopment of 35 houses on the estate for the past three or four years. Could that be expedited in the remedial works programme?

Money has been allocated. I will bring the Deputy's question to the attention of the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and she will communicate directly with him.

There is huge inconsistency in vehicle clamping throughout the country with different management companies and local authorities operating their own schemes. The regulation of vehicle immobilisation Bill will provide some consistency in the private clamping industry. When will this be published?

I reiterate the question posed by my party leader regarding Margaretta D'Arcy.

The Deputy will not.

I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to intervene. I acknowledge what was said about not interfering but in this case, on humanitarian grounds, will the Taoiseach please do that?

The issue will be dealt with during the Topical Issue debate.

I suggest the Deputy should take the Ceann Comhairle's advice.

The vehicle clamping Bill is due for publication this session.

I refer to the industrial tax agreements Bill, which is important in the context of our image at home and abroad, and the credit guarantee Bill, which relates to the availability of credit. Have those Bills been cleared by Cabinet? When are they likely to come before the House?

Neither of these two Bills has reached the heads approval stage yet and, therefore, I cannot give an approximate date for publication. However, I will convey to the Deputy the scale of work that has been done to date in preparing the heads of the legislation.

The health (transport support) Bill will provide a scheme for making individual payments towards transport costs for people with severe disabilities who cannot access public transport. The medical practitioner (amendment) (medical indemnity insurance) Bill will make it mandatory for registration purposes for all medical practitioners to have adequate medical indemnity insurance. When can we expect these Bills to be published?

The latter Bill is due to be published this session. The health (transport support) Bill is due to be published later in the year.

In regard to the Children First Bill, the referendum on children's rights and the findings of the Supreme Court, will we have a debate on the court's findings and, if so, when will it be held? The matter has been ongoing for a long time.

In regard to listed and protected buildings and the Scrap and Precious Metal Bill which I introduced as a Private Members' Bill, the Minister for Justice and Equality promised similar legislation. Buildings are being plundered. Even the Glengarra youth hostel was plundered last week. It is located in a lovely scenic part of County Tipperary. A significant number of buildings are being plundered and we need a Bill to provide for traceability in the industry. The Minister promised to introduce his own Bill more than two years ago. Is there any sign of this Bill or any chance of protecting listed buildings and our heritage?

I am not sure what has happened to it, but we will communicate with the Deputy. The Children First Bill is due to be published this session.

In regard to the White Paper on universal health insurance, the Minister for Health has undertaken to introduce universal health insurance at some point in the future. When will the commission established to look into this issue produce its report? The Minister has stated a report was imminent, but we are still awaiting it.

On a more urgent and serious issue, when will the patient safety authority be established on a statutory basis in view of the letter from emergency consultants to the HSE and HIQA setting out their concerns about patient safety in emergency departments? I remind the Taoiseach that it was only a couple of months ago when the CEOs of major hospitals expressed concern that hospitals were becoming unsafe because of cutbacks and the overwhelming number of cases presenting to emergency departments. The patient safety authority should oversee these services to ensure people can feel safe and confident when they go to a hospital, as opposed to consultants having to write letters to ask for resources.

I spoke to the Minister about the White Paper on universal health insurance. I expect it to be published in a maximum of three to four weeks. An enormous amount of work has been done on it. It is complex business.

I told the Taoiseach that three years ago, but he did not listen.

We will have plenty of time to discuss it in the House. The patient safety authority, PSA, is now in operation. I understand its establishment will be included in the work programme of the HSE and the service plan for 2014. The HSE expects to establish a board to oversee the PSA through its initial governance and operational arrangements. The post of chief executive of the PSA will be advertised in the first half of 2014. We will provide the Deputy with up-to-date information on the matter.

Some of the existing road transport Acts appear to be outdated and we need to take account of new policy requirements. When is the road transport Bill due to be published?

It is listed for publication next year.

All forms of bullying are cruel, but cyberbullying is particularly cowardly. We have seen too many instances of cyber bullying in recent times and observed how it has destroyed lives and even resulted in deaths in many parts of the country. It is increasingly common in schools, clubs and other such places. When will the criminal justice (cyber crime) Bill be brought before the House?

It is important that we make communities around the country safer by focusing on victims' rights and making life tougher for criminals. All of us have encountered cases in which criminals were better equipped than the Garda Síochána.

What is the second Bill?

When can we expect the criminal justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to be brought before the House?

The second Bill is due to be published in the middle of next year. In respect of cyberbullying, there is no date for publication of that Bill, but the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications will be discussed this Friday and the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will attend the discussion. That is progress and Members will have an opportunity to discuss the implications of their own report.

Will Deputy James Bannon be here on Friday?

I am always here on Fridays.

I previously raised the need for a debate in this House on the disappeared and the Smithwick tribunal's findings on the killing of two RUC officers south of the Border. Has time been made available for that debate?

In respect of promised legislation, what stage has the foreshore (amendment) Bill reached and when is it likely to be brought before the House? It is important legislation dealing with the development of ports and harbours around the country.

There is no unwillingness. The reason we have not held a debate is the Haass talks were ongoing in Northern Ireland. I suggest the Whip is aware of it and perhaps February will offer an opportune time to hold a debate. The foreshore (amendment) Bill is due to be published this session.

I ask the Taoiseach the status of the Garda Síochána compensation Bill. We do not want a repeat of the events that occurred in the past few weeks whereby members of the force were left out to dry by the Minister for Justice and Equality and had to face the courts at their own expense. They were let down by their Minister. What does the Taoiseach have to say about that matter?

The Garda compensation Bill is due for publication this session.

What about the way the members of An Garda Síochána were treated by the Minister for Justice and Equality in the past few weeks? The Taoiseach knows about it.

About which Bill is the Deputy asking?

The Taoiseach heard the question. There is nothing wrong with his ears.

What are we talking about?

I asked him a question.

I am not clear what Bill the Deputy is asking about.

The Garda compensation Bill.

It is due for publication this session.