Order of Business 28/09/2011

Order of Business

28^th September 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik (Deputy Leader of Seanad Eireann): I thank Senators for their contributions. A number of common themes emerged. I will depart slightly from tradition before responding individually to them.

A number of colleagues called for two debates and it is my intention to ask the Leader to arrange them as soon as possible. One is a debate on domestic violence, which Senators O'Donovan, Keane, MacSharry and Leyden called for. Senator O'Donovan proposed an amendment to the Order of Business. Unfortunately I cannot accept it today but, as Senator MacSharry said, I am deeply concerned about the Safe Ireland report. The Senators who called for an urgent debate on the issue are quite right but we cannot have it today. We cannot have it today because Dr. Maurice Manning is coming in and we have our programme set. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, has been a very regular and frequent visitor to this House - he spent most of last week in here. I do not believe there would be any difficulty in getting him in as a matter of urgency to discuss the responses of the State regarding domestic violence. I will personally ensure we have that debate. During the last Seanad we had an excellent debate on domestic violence responses, in which Senator White and others were very active, but we are due to have another one given the figures published today. I thank Senator Keane for a very constructive contribution on the matter in which she spoke of the need to link the refuges which are full with empty NAMA buildings.

Senators Keane, Paul Coghlan and Barrett called for a debate with the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Penrose, on NAMA, which is one we should have as a matter of urgency. Senator O'Neill called for a debate on the housing situation more generally, which can be linked with a debate on NAMA, which would be a very useful debate to have.

Senator O'Donovan asked for an update on the constitutional convention, a matter in which I am personally very interested and on which I have been pressing the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. He recently established the Department that will be overseeing this and it is hoped that the convention will be established within the next couple of months. I would like it to be sooner and I will continue to press for that as, I know, will others. The Senator also spoke about the children's rights referendum. As he knows there has been a difficulty with the wording, but it is a priority for the Government and for the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, as she has made clear.

Senators O'Donovan, Mullen, O'Neill, Leyden, Cullinane, Paul Coghlan and Mullins all congratulated our colleague, Senator Norris, on achieving a nomination to contest the presidential election. On behalf of all Members of the Seanad, I offer congratulations to Senator Norris and good wishes to all seven candidates for the presidency although, as Senator Cullinane said, not in equal measure and for my part, I am backing Mr. Michael D. Higgins. We wish that it will be a very constructive and positive campaign.

As I said, Senator O'Neill called for a debate on the housing situation and we debated a Labour Party Private Members' motion on mortgage arrears in June, but we are due to have another debate on the issue.

Senator Mullen spoke of the opening of the LauraLynn hospice, which deserves the support of us all. I had the privilege of attending a fund-raising dinner for that hospice some time ago and heard the parents, who established the foundation, recount the tragic story of the loss of both their daughters. That hospice for very sick children is worthy of the support of us all. The Senator also called for a debate on the procedure by which presidential candidates are nominated, which would be a useful debate for us to have in this House. A number of other Senators backed his call.

Senator Harte raised the allegations made by Senator Byrne yesterday and I believe he clarified the source of the information he received, which was covered in the newspapers yesterday and today. Senator Harte has indicated he will speak to the Cathaoirleach about how to address the matter.

Senator Leyden called for ongoing debates on job creation which is a constructive proposal. The Labour Party Private Members' motion to be taken today at 3 p.m. can be regarded as a start of that. I am glad to say that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, will be in the House for that debate. Any Senator who has constructive job creation proposals of the sort Senator Leyden made should be able to raise them in this afternoon's debate. The debate primarily addresses the situation in TalkTalk and the tragic loss of more than 500 jobs in the Waterford area, but it also raises questions about job creation. We deliberately drafted the motion so that it would not only encompass collective redundancy protection for workers, but also job creation strategies. Any colleagues with constructive ideas should be able to put them to the Minister today.

Senator Quinn spoke of strikes in Greece. I am grateful for the Senator's very positive message despite the description of the strikes. He is right to point out it is worth celebrating the establishment of a digital cluster in Ireland, the good news on Twitter and the fact that there is still some positivity despite the economic crisis.

Senator Cullinane called for a debate on the sale of State assets. No assets have yet been sold. There is an ongoing debate at Cabinet and we should have a debate in this House when we understand more clearly what is being envisaged. I take his point that we might hold off on invitations to Northern Ireland's First Minister and Deputy First Minister. In any case I do not believe that invitation could have been issued this term. He also called for a debate on the nomination process for President. With fewer Deputies and reform or abolition of the Seanad envisaged, we will in any case need to consider how we deal with nominations for the presidency.

Senator O'Sullivan called for clarification on the constitutional convention and it is hoped that will be established shortly under the Minister, Deputy Howlin. The Senator also spoke about voting rights for people living abroad, which might be raised with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government or could even be raised today during the question and answer session we have with Dr. Maurice Manning, who is president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, given that the right to vote is a matter of human rights.

Senator Mullins spoke of the need to revisit the tourism tax in light of the positive figures on visitors to Ireland and increased tourism traffic. That would be a useful debate to have with the Minister and could also form part a more general job creation debate and might be worth raising in this afternoon's Private Members' debate.

Senator Barrett suggested that the Minister for Finance should include the supervision of NAMA within the supervisory role of the Central Bank, which is a constructive suggestion that could be made in the course of a debate with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton. I will speak with the Leader to confirm that the Minister for Finance will be in the Seanad some time this term as it might be more appropriate to raise it with him. The Senator also pointed out that this is the third anniversary of the ill-fated bank guarantee, which brought the country to its knees. The Labour Party was the only party to oppose that guarantee.

Senator Daly wanted to invite the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House. I will ask the Leader if it is envisaged - I am sure we will be able to get him in at some point this term. It is not fair for the Senator to suggest there will be no impact from this afternoon's motion on TalkTalk. I have already said the Minister, Deputy Bruton, has indicated he will attend for that debate. It represents a good opportunity for all of us to make suggestions on job creation and how best to protect workers in collective redundancy situations. As we will have the ear of the Minister, it will not have zero impact - far from it.

Senator White spoke of positive ageing week and the issue of access to mammograms for women over 65. I am grateful to the Senator for raising the matter. As the Leader indicated yesterday, the Minister for Health will come to the House some time in coming weeks and it should be raised directly with him at that time.

Senator MacSharry spoke about domestic violence to which I have responded and he also supported Senator Daly. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, of which I am a member, has very active input on EU legislation and I know the same is true of other committees. It is not just about what happens on the floor of the Dáil and Seanad, but also about the committees having a role in the preparation of EU legislation.

I wrongly said we were dealing with No. 2 in Private Members' business. That should have been No. 12, motion No. 7, to be taken from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.