Trump remarks and criminal legislation
Micheál Martin condemns Donald Trump’s proposed Muslim ban and asks when related criminal justice and Red Cross legislation will proceed; the Taoiseach rejects the remarks and gives a timetable for the Bills.
I know that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, laid out the red carpet for Donald Trump recently in County Clare, but I take it the Government will not lay out the red carpet for the disgraceful and inflammatory remarks Mr. Trump made in the course of the American presidential election about banning Muslims from coming into the United States.
Comment on this
I am coming to that. That is incitement to hatred and it is important that the Government formally makes it clear to the Republican Party in the United States that such remarks are viewed with abhorrence in Ireland and are something we would not tolerate in our democracy. In that context, when does the Taoiseach believe the criminal justice Bill will be brought forward? The remarks warrant a Government response to Mr. Trump and to the Republican Party in America, because it is a new low in terms of normal democracy.
Can the Taoiseach indicate when the Red Cross (amendment) Bill is to be published, given the role the Red Cross will be given in assisting with the horrendous flooding across the country? Can he indicate when we can expect the consumer rights Bill? It is stated in the programme for Government that this will deal with the fact that consumers are being ripped off across the board in many areas. Can the Taoiseach tell us when the public health (retail licensing of tobacco products) Bill will come forward? Although e-cigarettes are being sold in most shopping centres and main streets across the country, there is no licensing system. The legislation has been promised, but when will it be published?
On page 3 of the programme for Government there is a very clear commitment that it will give schools, hospitals and other public service bodies new freedoms, within strict budgets and new accountability systems, to set their own staffing needs, automate routine processes and adapt work practices to local staff and customer needs. That is just one commitment in the programme for Government that reflects what a great book of fiction it was when it was published back in 2011.