Vol. 907 Wednesday, No. 4 27 April 2016 DÍOSPÓIREACHTAÍ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DÁIL ÉIREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIÚIL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Insert Date Here 27/04/2016A00100Business of Dáil � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 2 27/04/2016F01350Ireland’s Stability Programme Update April 2016: Statements � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 12 27/04/2016Z00200Irish Water: Statements � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 52 DÁIL ÉIREANN Dé Céadaoin, 27 Aibreán 2016 Wednesday, 27 April 2016 Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 10�30 a�m� Paidir. Prayer. 27/04/2016A00100Business of Dáil 27/04/2016A00200Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Paul Kehoe): It is pro- posed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the following business shall be trans- acted today: No� 4a, statements on Ireland’s stability programme update, April 2016, and No� 4b, statements on Irish Water� The proceedings in relation to No� 4a shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2�30 p�m� today and the following arrangements shall apply: the statement of a Minister or Minister of State and of the main spokespersons for the Labour Party, Fianna Fáil Party, Sinn Féin, the AAA-PBP, Independents 4 Change, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, or a Member nominated in their stead, and a non-party Deputy, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed ten minutes in each case and such Mem- bers may share their time; the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes in each case and such Members may share their time; and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes. The proceedings in relation to No� 4b shall, if not previously concluded, adjourn at 6�30 p�m� today and the following arrangements shall apply: the statement of a Minister or Minister of State and of the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Fianna Fáil Party, Sinn Féin, the AAA- PBP, Independents 4 Change, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, or a Member nominated in their stead, and a non-party Deputy, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed ten minutes in each case and such Members may share their time; the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes in each case and such Members may share their time; and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed ten minutes� The Dáil on its rising today shall adjourn until tomorrow at 10�30 a�m�, when there shall be no Order of Business within the meaning of Standing Order 28� Accordingly, the only business to be transacted shall be, by order, agreed on that day� 27/04/2016A00300An Ceann Comhairle: There are three proposals to be put to the House� Is the proposal for dealing with No� 4a, statements on Ireland’s stability programme update, April 2016, agreed to? 27/04/2016B00100Deputy Eamon Ryan: I very much welcome the taking up of the suggestion to have this 2 27 April 2016 debate on the Stability and Growth Pact� However, I wish to make a point about how we do business in this Parliament� We got this document last night, with a minimal amount of time to read and assess it, and I do not believe that is in the nature of the discussions we are having in the Sub-Committee on Dáil Reform� We need to start changing the way we do business now� We should have received this document several days ago and have had time to conduct detailed research before speaking on it� I welcome the debate, but we need to start changing the way we do business, particularly in regard to finance issues and how we consider budgets. We must give them time here so that we can make a proper contribution� 27/04/2016B00200Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett: After eight weeks and five days - almost nine weeks - it would appear that the popular will of the people has finally broken through and forced Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at least towards the idea that the will of the people should be respected and that this House should honour its democratic mandate on the issue of water charges� 27/04/2016B00300An Ceann Comhairle: We are dealing with stability and growth now� 27/04/2016B00400Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett: I am speaking about the whole proposed Order of Busi- ness� We believe we should now go the next step and allow that decision to be made by taking motions today� A motion has been put down by 39 Members on the issue� We do not need a commission or more dithering or delay. If, finally, the principle that the democratic mandate that is operating on this House in regard to water charges is to be respected, we should take the next logical step and allow a vote to take place on this issue to finally put it to bed. People are fed up after eight weeks� They want to move on to other issues� 27/04/2016B00500An Ceann Comhairle: The issue is the statements on stability and growth� Either the Deputy is for or against that� Please let us not get into the debate on water� We can come to that later� 27/04/2016B00600Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett: What I propose is that on the Order of Business today we should allow for the motion that has been put down on the Order Paper and signed by 39 Depu- ties to be taken and voted on� 27/04/2016B00700An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy has made his point� Thank you� 27/04/2016B00800Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Like Deputy Ryan, I have a major problem with the proposal as put today, given that the documentation relating to this debate only appeared at 10 p�m� last night� It would have been reasonable to swap what is proposed for tomorrow’s business to proposed now in regard to the Stability and Growth Pact, because we cannot seriously expect Deputies to come into the Chamber and properly debate a major piece of work and present opinions in an informative manner rather than off the top of their heads� That is not going to happen in this space of time� Spokespersons and Deputies have not had enough time to exam- ine the material presented to them last night and some people did not even get it until now� It is a major job to consider it� I propose that we swap the statements on the EU migrants and refugees planned for tomorrow with the statements on the stability programme� This would be reasonable and would give people time to digest what is in the documentation that was circu- lated at 10 p�m� last night� 27/04/2016B00900Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly: Under the fiscal compact, every national parliament must consider the stability programme update and return it to the European Union� This matters� It sets parameters for the budget, is based on the growth forecast and comes from the Commis- sion. This is the first part in a very important part of the budgetary process. We got it at 10 p.m. 3 Dáil Éireann last night. We telephoned the Minister’s office yesterday, as soon as we knew statements were coming, but the officials refused to speak to us. We telephoned the Department of Finance and it refused to speak to us� This is a very pretty document in that it has had graphic designers, typesetters and printers, which means the data in the document has been available for a considerable period of time� It is completely unacceptable that graphic designers, typesetters, printers and civil servants have all had access to this document, which is a key part of the budgetary process, and that the caretaker Minister, the acting Minister, would put it in pigeonholes for Parliament to consider at 10 p�m� at night and say we can have a chat about it in the morning and he will then send it off to the European Commission� 27/04/2016B01000Deputy Mattie McGrath: I am of the same opinion� I did not get it in my pigeonhole last night� Up to 9�30 p�m� I had not got it� I make the same point as others� This is such an important document and the issues are so important, but we have not had enough time to deal with it now� It is incumbent on us to have read it in order to be able to come into the House and make statements on it� As Independent Members, it is hard enough for us to get enough time to debate all the issues and it is important that we know the issues� It is important we are fully aware of what is in this document and of the important decisions therein� I agree the debate on this should be delayed� 27/04/2016B01100The Taoiseach: First, in respect of the comments made by Deputy Boyd Barrett, a motion will not change the legislation that is required on that issue and there will be time for a debate on the issue on another occasion� It is good that we are talking about the economy this morning� Deputy Ryan asked for a debate on this issue a number of weeks ago and note was taken of that by the Whip� In respect of Deputy Ó Snodaigh, I received and read his letter and thank him for sending it to me� I would point out to Deputies Donnelly and McGrath that this paper was presented to the Cabinet yesterday by the Minister for Finance� It is strictly a technical and statistical paper� There is no policy change involved here� This paper would normally be sent to Brussels, with- out debate in the House� Yesterday, the Cabinet felt that in accordance with the current situa- tion and the changed circumstances, it was important for the Members of the Oireachtas to see this paper, which is purely statistical