I call the Leader to respond.

Senator Thomas Byrne, the leader of the Opposition, called for a debate on the hospital groupings and the report which was published yesterday. This theme has been echoed by quite a number of Members in the House this morning. No later than last night, I asked the Minister for Health to come into the House to debate this issue. While I have not got a date from him yet, he has indicated he is agreeable and, in early course, he will be coming into both Houses to debate the reports that were published yesterday.

Senator Byrne, as well as Senators Kelly and Mullins, called for a debate on the price of fuel and its impact on businesses in particular. I will certainly ask the Minister to come in for a debate on that issue.

Senator Bacik and other Senators referred to the review of oil and gas production and the benefits which can accrue to the State. Senator Mooney quite rightly asked me why a debate on the joint committee's report could not take place in this House and said it would have been normal that this House would have dealt with these matters. I wish to inform him that we debated the report in question, which was debated in the Dáil yesterday, on 27 June 2012 and he took part in that debate.

It was an error on my part.

We are a year ahead in debating the joint Oireachtas committee's report on offshore resources.

Senator Bacik welcomed the expansion of the dublinbikes scheme, which Senator Noone welcomed yesterday and which is of tremendous benefit to everybody. Senators Quinn, Kelly, Conway and Noone spoke about people being jailed for not paying their television licence fees. A Fines Bill was before the House in 2010 but it only dealt with community service orders and money being taken in instalments from people. I understand the heads of an amendment Bill, which will provide that fines can be deducted from people's earnings from whatever source, were approved by the Government in 2012 and that the Bill will be published before the summer recess. We will see some movement in that regard. I share the Senators' concerns about people being jailed for not paying their television licence fees while others who caused many of the problems in which we find ourselves are still free and living lavish lifestyles.

I note Senator Quinn's point on low energy street lamps and the situation in Scotland. It is an issue Senator Brennan raised more than a year ago. There is a need for a debate on that issue because significant savings can be derived for local authorities. We should examine the savings and benefits by reducing carbon emissions also. We can arrange a debate on that.

Senator Comiskey, Senator Ó Domhnaill and others welcomed the work of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, in regard to the negotiations on discards which took place last evening. It is an issue which has been debated in this House on several occasions and I am sure we all welcome the wonderful work the Minister has done in this regard which will be of benefit to our fishermen.

Senator Cullinan welcomed Professor Higgins's report. I am glad he welcomed the fact services in his local hospital, Waterford Regional Hospital, will be retained and enhanced. However, that is a matter for another day when we debate the report. Senator Harte referred to VAT charges for insolvency services in the UK and queried whether we should have a similar situation here. He also sought clarification on issues in regard to the local property tax which I will try to get for him.

Senator MacSharry referred to the hospital groupings. On the Order of Business yesterday, he asked that I contact the Standards in Public Office Commission in regard to a complaint he made. The following is the reply I received from the Standards in Public Office Commission:

The Standards Commission has a number of functions, one of which is to supervise the Electoral Act 1997, as amended. In this regard, it wrote to various Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas in early March, whom it was alleged were in receipt of donations for political purposes and had travelled to the US upon receipt of those donations. The letter reminded those Members of their obligations in relation to the maximum donation permitted under the Electoral Act 1997, as amended. Reminders issued on 24 April 2013. The names of those Members were mentioned in various media articles in the last few weeks. The Standards Commission also wrote to the Committees on Members' Interests of Dáil and Seanad Éireann on 12 March 2013 to ensure awareness of the new disclosure thresholds and donation limits that came into effect on 01 January 2013.

On Monday 13 May 2013, a member of staff of the Secretariat of the Standards in Public Office Commission, Ms Jacqueline Moore, spoke to Mr Juno McEnroe of the Irish Examiner and in response to various questions in relation to this matter about to whom the Standards Commission had written and from whom replies had been received, information was provided indicating from whom no replies had been received and a general indication as to the responses from those from whom replies had been received. The Standards Commission receives many calls from the media and is always happy to provide answers, albeit on the proviso that the information is not confidential, and does not come within the prohibition on release of information provisions in section 35 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.

The Standards Commission rejects the allegation made by the Senator.

That is the reply I have been asked to furnish to the House.

Senator Clune expressed concerns about Pfizer and the fact 130 jobs are under threat there. We all hope the job losses will be minimised and that replacement jobs will be found for those who will lose their jobs.

In response to Senator Norris, there are two Bills on the Order Paper today. We will debate and examine legislation thoroughly as we get it. In regard to a debate on human rights violations, I will ask the relevant Minister to come to the House as it is quite some time since we had a debate on human rights issues.

Senator Landy referred to voluntary housing groups. There was a requirement that these groups would register voluntarily but given that so few have responded, there may be a need to put this on a statutory basis. It is an issue we can raise with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who will be in the House shortly.

Senator Leyden referred to the hospital groupings, which we will debate. Services in Roscommon hospital have been enhanced over the past 12 months. There are safer services and more procedures-----

A colleague of the Leader resigned from his party over the hospital.

Safer services and more procedures-----

The Leader cannot say there are enhanced services.

The Leader, without interruption

-----have taken place in a safer environment.

On a point of order-----

It is not a point of order.

There is also the issue of transplants and dialysis, which should be discussed in the House.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh called for a debate on the Green Paper on climate and energy policies. The heads of the climate change Bill are being debated by the relevant Oireachtas joint committee at present.

Yesterday I read out a statement on legislation and at no stage did I say that the Office of the Attorney General was under-resourced. I did not say that. I said that the extensive amount of legislation has naturally had a knock-on effect on the work of the draftspeople in that office. As Senator Ó Clochartaigh will be aware, the previous Government introduced an embargo on recruitment to the public service in 2008. I have no doubt that the parliamentary draftspeople are working at full capacity. They do an excellent job in preparing legislation to be brought before the House. We all would agree that rushed legislation is bad legislation. I shall continue to schedule Bills when they are ready and shall allocate as much time as is necessary to debate them in the House.

Senator Kelly mentioned the cost of diesel and fuels. The issue has been raised by several Senator. I shall try to arrange a debate on the matter, plus one on the attachment of earnings which I addressed previously.

Senator Barrett called for a debate on the McCarthy report on health insurance that was issued yesterday. There are quite a number of reports that require examination by the House. The Senator called on the Minister for Health to redouble his efforts to introduce universal health insurance. I also noted his comments on the undermining of Parliament and the need for reform in that regard.

Senator Conway stated that over 40,000 people participated in the Darkness into Light walk organised to raise funds for Pieta House. I will organise a further debate on mental health soon. As he knows, we have already had quite a number of debates on the issues of mental health and suicide and the conversation shall continue in the House.

Senator Ó Domhnaill welcomed Minister Coveney's work on fish discards. The Senator asked a question on hospital groupings in the Higgins report. I suggest that he examines the sharing of resources and cross-Border linkages envisaged in the report. We will debate the report at a later stage.

Senator O'Sullivan, as Senator Brennan did yesterday and Senator Paul Coghlan did today, welcomed the work done by the Labour Relations Commission and commended all of the parties involved in trying to reach an agreement on Croke Park II.

The Senator also requested a briefing on Traveller accommodation and I shall endeavour to arrange same. He also mentioned the review of the local authority boundaries. I think I stated some months ago that it would be published at the end of the May. I have been told that it will be published on 30 May so the information that I relayed to the Senator was not too far out.

Senator Noone called for a wider debate on sentencing and she also drew our attention to the tax on smartphones and tablets in France that is used to fund arts projects. The Minister for Finance always welcomes information on new taxes that he can introduce to help projects.

Senator Mooney mentioned the drop in farm incomes and the difficulties faced by the farming community. I agree with him that we should be updated on the crisis. As he stated, the Minister has come into the House on numerous occasions and I have no doubt the Minister will continue to do so.

Senators Walsh and Paul Coghlan mentioned the late Donal Walsh. We paid tribute to him during yesterday's Order of Business.

Senator Walsh called for a debate on youth unemployment. We have had a number of debates on the matter. We arranged for the European expert Professor Christopher Pissarides to attend a debate here on the matter. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and his Minister of State, Deputy Perry, have also attend here on an ongoing basis. I agree with the Senator that youth unemployment is a very serious problem and the Ministers will continue to attend here to update us on the issue.

Senator D'Arcy mentioned that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement will be attended by the Warrenpoint and Dundalk chambers of commerce tomorrow to outline the benefits of the Narrow Water bridge. Senators D'Arcy, Brennan and Moran have raised the issue on numerous occasions. I hope that a solution will be reached and that the building of the bridge will commence.

Finally, Senator Paul Coghlan saluted the ongoing work being done by the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the many problems related to industrial disputes.

Senator Thomas Byrne tabled an amendment to the Order of Business, "That a debate be held on the small hospital framework and the proposed hospital groups". Is the amendment being pressed?

In light of what the Leader said about his discussions with the Minister for Health, I will not press my amendment. I hope that the Leader will provide an update tomorrow morning. I seek a specific date, as early as possible, regarding the matter.

It is worth repeating what the Leader said about the Sinn Féin Party welcoming the report because it will be news to many people around the country. I am sure that it was welcome news for the Government.

The Senator shall not re-open that debate. The amendment is not being pressed today.