Order of Business (Continued)

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Dáil Éireann Debate
Vol. 786 No. 3

Question put: "That the proposal for dealing with No. 5 be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 84; Níl, 46.

Tá	Níl
Bannon, James.	Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Barry, Tom.	Broughan, Thomas P..
Breen, Pat.	Browne, John.
Burton, Joan.	Calleary, Dara.
Buttimer, Jerry.	Collins, Joan.
Byrne, Catherine.	Collins, Niall.
Byrne, Eric.	Colreavy, Michael.
Carey, Joe.	Cowen, Barry.
Coffey, Paudie.	Crowe, Seán.
Conaghan, Michael.	Daly, Clare.
Conlan, Seán.	Doherty, Pearse.
Connaughton, Paul J..	Donnelly, Stephen S..
Conway, Ciara.	Dooley, Timmy.
Coonan, Noel.	Ellis, Dessie.
Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.	Flanagan, Luke 'Ming'.
Costello, Joe.	Fleming, Tom.
Coveney, Simon.	Grealish, Noel.
Creed, Michael.	Halligan, John.
Daly, Jim.	Healy, Seamus.
Deasy, John.	Healy-Rae, Michael.
Deenihan, Jimmy.	Kelleher, Billy.
Deering, Pat.	Kirk, Seamus.
Doherty, Regina.	Lowry, Michael.
Donohoe, Paschal.	Martin, Micheál.
Dowds, Robert.	McConalogue, Charlie.
Durkan, Bernard J..	McDonald, Mary Lou.
English, Damien.	McGrath, Mattie.
Farrell, Alan.	McLellan, Sandra.
Feighan, Frank.	Murphy, Catherine.
Fitzgerald, Frances.	Naughten, Denis.
Flanagan, Charles.	Nulty, Patrick.
Gilmore, Eamon.	Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
Hannigan, Dominic.	Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Harrington, Noel.	Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
Harris, Simon.	Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Hayes, Brian.	O'Brien, Jonathan.
Hayes, Tom.	O'Dea, Willie.
Heydon, Martin.	O'Sullivan, Maureen.
Hogan, Phil.	Pringle, Thomas.
Humphreys, Heather.	Ross, Shane.
Humphreys, Kevin.	Shortall, Róisín.
Keating, Derek.	Smith, Brendan.
Keaveney, Colm.	Stanley, Brian.
Kehoe, Paul.	Tóibín, Peadar.
Kelly, Alan.	Troy, Robert.
Kenny, Seán.	Wallace, Mick.
Kyne, Seán.
Lawlor, Anthony.
Lynch, Ciarán.
Lyons, John.
Maloney, Eamonn.
Mathews, Peter.
McCarthy, Michael.
McEntee, Shane.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
McNamara, Michael.
Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
Mulherin, Michelle.
Murphy, Dara.
Nash, Gerald.
Neville, Dan.
Nolan, Derek.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Mahony, John.
O'Reilly, Joe.
Perry, John.
Phelan, Ann.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Pat.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Brendan.
Sherlock, Sean.
Spring, Arthur.
Stagg, Emmet.
Stanton, David.
Tuffy, Joanna.
Twomey, Liam.
Varadkar, Leo.
Wall, Jack.
Walsh, Brian.
White, Alex.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg; Níl, Deputies Seán Ó Fearghaíl and Aengus Ó Snodaigh.

Question declared carried.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Is the proposal for dealing with No. a1 agreed to?

Deputy Micheál Martin:   No. The House is being treated in an appalling manner. There is no doubt what the dominant question of the week is. It should be the Social Welfare Bill. In a constructive manner, I suggest the Credit Union Bill and the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill be put back to next week. Having Question Time this evening at 8.45 p.m. is farcical.

Deputy Paul Kehoe:   In the Deputy's time we would have finished today and gone away on our holidays.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Order, please.

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   Deputy Paul Kehoe would have been the first out the door back then.

Deputy Billy Kelleher:   This shows the Government's arrogance.

Deputy Paul Kehoe:   In Deputy Micheál Martin's time we would have finished today.

Deputy Micheál Martin:   No. There was many a time when the Chief Whip was given extra hours for debates when he was in opposition.

Deputy Paul Kehoe:   Check the record.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan:   Pity Deputy Micheál Martin did not spend as much time debating when he was in government.

(Interruptions).

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Order, please.

Deputy Micheál Martin:   We are fundamentally opposed to the entire schedule. Having Question Time at 8.45 p.m. is ridiculous. It is an appalling organisation of the business of the House. The only issue that matters for the people is the Social Welfare Bill. People would logically think the House would be given a reasonable timeframe to discuss the measures included in that Bill. That is all we are asking for on this side of the House. We are looking for a reasonable amount of time to discuss, amendment by amendment, the issues to do with child benefit.

Deputy Emmet Stagg:   That matter was decided by the Whips.

Deputy Micheál Martin:   Will the Deputy stop acting the bully, as he does all the time here? He is at it all the time. He does not run the House.

Deputy Emmet Stagg:   I am terrified.

Deputy Micheál Martin:   I make a plea to the Tánaiste to reorganise the schedule to have the Social Welfare Bill as the main item for debate for the remainder of the day.

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   We want to help Government backbenchers.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Deputy Mattie McGrath wants to raise a point of order.

Hurray.

Deputy Mattie McGrath:   On a point of order, I think the Tánaiste has misinformed the House. I was here last Friday when the Government Whip said there would be no sitting on the following Monday. He accused the Opposition, but it was he who cancelled the sitting. The Tánaiste should correct the record.

Deputy Pat Rabbitte:   It is like an audition for a pantomime.

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   The Minister would have the lead role in it.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett:   The points have largely been made. However, I make one last appeal to the Tánaiste not to play the political games that he accuses us of playing when, in fact, he is playing them.

Deputy Martin Heydon:   The Deputy plays them all the time.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett:   It was the Government's decision to allocate 20 hours to the Savita Halappanavar debate.

Deputy Noel Harrington:   The Deputy is wrong.

Deputy Patrick O'Donovan:   That side of the House needs a new Whip.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Order, please.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett:   That was not asked for on this side of the House. It is now apparent that it was a cynical manoeuvre on the Government's part to truncate the time allowed to debate the budget and the Social Welfare Bill.

Deputy Emmet Stagg:   It was agreed to by the Whips, including the Deputy's Whip.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett:   All we are asking for is for the Government to adjust the Order of Business to allow sufficient time to discuss the specific provisions included in this Bill and the amendments submitted by the Opposition in order that we have an opportunity to scrutinise all aspects of the Bill as we are supposed and obliged to do in the House. The Government is preventing us from doing this.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   I remind the House that we are discussing the proposal for dealing with the Credit Union Bill 2012.

The Tánaiste:   This is about the arrangements for dealing with the Credit Union Bill. It involves the amendments made to the Bill in the Seanad in which seven amendments were made at the request of Fianna Fáil.

Deputy Brian Hayes:   And Sinn Féin.

The Tánaiste:   The amendments are being brought before the House as we are required to do.

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   We can deal with them next week.

Deputy Mattie McGrath:   We will sit next Monday.

Deputy Sandra McLellan:   We are happy to deal with them next week.

Deputy Brian Hayes:   They were the Opposition's ideas.

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   It is the ordering of business with which we have an issue.

The Tánaiste:   The debate arranged for last Friday and Monday was on the issue of the A,B and C report. Several weeks ago Members, including some of those who have just spoken, told us how important it was to have a reasoned debate on the matter. We complied with that request.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett:   We wanted the Government to pass legislation on the matter.

The Tánaiste:   What we are getting is classic Fianna Fáil hypocrisy. This is the party that cut €936 from child benefit in its budgets, €850 from jobseeker's payments-----

Deputy Timmy Dooley:   Why does the Tánaiste not extend the time allowed to discuss the budget?

Deputy Billy Kelleher:   If the news is so good, why can we not debate the budget?

Deputy Barry Cowen:   Ours was the party that increased benefits.

Deputy Micheál Martin:   We are only debating this issue until 2 p.m.

The Tánaiste:   Fianna Fáil took €850 from carer's allowance. It even cut the blind pension.

Deputy Barry Cowen:   We want a debate. Go back to North Korea and to your roots.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin:   Will the Tánaiste sit down?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Order, please.

The Tánaiste:   Fianna Fáil Members are now making complaints about a budget that is fair and reasonable. Can I make one request of Sinn Féin? Please, do not come here and talk about conscience. It is in no position to talk about it.

(Interruptions).

  Question, "That the proposal for dealing with No. a1 be agreed to," put and declared carried.

Deputy Billy Kelleher:   We have learned one thing anyway - big majorities make one arrogant.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:   Is the proposal for dealing with No. 6 agreed to?

Deputy Micheál Martin:   No. We are not agreeing to anything today. The Tánaiste can play politics and all the games he wants, but the bottom line is that we have until 2 p.m. to debate the Social Welfare Bill. There is no urgency attached to dealing with the Bill. We can deal with it next week. Instead of dealing with the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill, we could use the time allowed to discuss the Social Welfare Bill. It is that simple. The Tánaiste did not respond to that request in his last contribution.