Higgins, Joe

Business of Dáil (Continued)

Can we have a written copy of that please? It is a different version from what we were given at the door and there is a lot in it.

We need to circulate it now.

This was what was at the door for Deputies coming into the Chamber. I assumed this was the Government's programme. It is not what the Chief Whip read out.

I understood the arrangements for the motion of confidence. Then the other business for the day was gone through very quickly and it is important we know what is being proposed.

Correct, and then the-----

The Report Stage of the-----

It would have been helpful if all that had been in the paper we were given.

I oppose this proposal on two grounds. First, the debate should be tomorrow evening after tens of thousands of people have come onto the streets of Dublin to demand the abolition of water charges....

My second objection - I have a proposal in this regard - is that we need much more time for this particular debate. In the time allocated, it is impossible to unravel the totality of the posturi...

All weekend, for example, on platforms provided by her embedded friends in the media, the Tánaiste was working herself up into quite a state of fury about €280 million that was supposedly to be p...

Then we realised that this was the pair who for four years have shovelled billions of euro of little people's money into the maws of vulture capitalists, parasites and hyenas in the financial marke...

That is absolute mendacity.

That is only one issue that we need to expose here. The second issue that is of critical current importance is the policy concerning water charges.

The conservation crusade has disappeared and has turned into a save our political skins crusade.

We need an explanation as to the Government's change of policy on this. I am not talking about the housing crisis or hospitals.

Yes. I am drawing my remarks to a conclusion. I am explaining why we need far more time. I propose that the debate be extended to six hours as opposed to the three hours the Government is propos...

Yes, I move amendment No. 1:

That the debate be extended to six hours as opposed to the three hours the Government is proposing.

Voted Yes

Voted No

Confidence in Taoiseach and Government: Motion (Continued)

After four years.

The Tánaiste is over time in every sense.

Voted No

Economic Management Council Meetings

Asked the Taoiseach: when the last Economic Management Council took place.

Economic Management Council Meetings (Continued)

Will the Taoiseach explain how the Economic Management Council relates to the full Cabinet? Are there any written formulations in regard to what powers the Cabinet has given the council and whethe...

The Taoiseach referred to the two hapless Fianna Fáil Ministers who apparently did not know that secret discussions were going on behind the scenes in 2010 to bring the troika - the representativ...

Since she was appointed to that role, has the Tánaiste confided in the Taoiseach whether she is still experiencing the angst she previously referred to with regard to the working of the Economic ...

I am a little reluctant to start talking about water charges, but I will say that the Taoiseach should have listened to the people on this issue. He should have gone the whole hog, because his c...

The Taoiseach and his Fianna Fáil colleagues have a neck to portray themselves as water conservationists. Since Fine Gael went into Government in 1994, some 500,000 new homes have been built. I...

I hope the Taoiseach has taken note of these points and will come back to me on them one by one.

In the context of Jean-Claude Trichet, did the Taoiseach revert to the Cabinet before announcing in the Dáil that the bondholders would not be burned?

Order of Business (Continued)

Questions to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht have to be taken tonight. In fairness to all those who are responsible, Topical Issue Matters and Private Members' business have to b...

However, allocating one hour for the Committee Stage of the Water Services Bill-----

-----at midnight and going on until possibly 1 o'clock or after is completely unnecessary.

There is provision for a Friday sitting to finish the Water Services Bill. I say to the Taoiseach to put that hour to Thursday and Friday. Otherwise, he will have Deputies going home to their fam...

Some of the same Members must be back in here at 9.30 a.m. for committees and for questions. We are talking about making the Dáil more family-friendly, etc. That is a simple issue to resolve.

That is his legacy.

The Taoiseach is in charge.

It is Report Stage. It can be completed on Thursday and Friday.

A Cheann Comhairle-----

Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (Continued)

Voted No

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage

This amendment is part of the general noxious legislation the Minister is pushing through tonight. On that basis alone, it should be opposed.

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Continued)

Leading the charge.

It may be. The Deputy is absolutely right.

The fact that the Dáil is sitting after midnight, in the early morning of 10 December, to debate for one hour amendments to the Water Services Bill that could easily be debated in time allocated on...

The Minister is a young and mightily ambitious man in a mighty hurry, but young men in a hurry should make haste slowly. I can tell him now what his legacy will be if he persists along this road...

It is quite incredible that the Deputies in the Labour Party and Fine Gael, who obviously wanted no debate at this ludicrous hour of the night and having heard the very rational proposal on how t...

I support the amendments before us while wholly opposing the legislation. The idea that a buffer or blocks to the privatisation of Irish Water is included in the legislation is nothing short of ...

With regard to the privatisation issue, Deputy Naughten should note that not all of us made a mistake in regard to Telecom Éireann and Eircom. I was a member of this Dáil at the time in question...

I am about to. The Minister brought us here at this hour of the night so we will exercise our prerogative to the best of our ability in the time allotted.

Should a plebiscite be held, it should not be confined to the citizens of this State, as proposed in the legislation. My colleague, Deputy Ruth Coppinger, will move amendment No. 7. Why should ...

I hope Members of the Government parties who occasionally stand up and claim to have such a mantle of democracy support this extension of democratic rights to the residents and taxpayers of the cou...

Insolvency Payments Scheme Payments

Asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: the recourse available for persons (details supplied) to have their successful claim for unpaid wages against their former employer enforced; and if he will make a statement on the matter.