asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy when it is proposed to publish the Film Industry Bill.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Film Industry Bill.
29.
I am still, in consultation with my Cabinet colleagues, considering proposals for the development of the film industry in Ireland including the question of appropriate legislation. I would hope to be in a position to indicate my intentions in this regard at an early date.
Does the Minister realise that on 8 February I asked the Taoiseach when the Film Industry Bill, which was already on the Order Paper, would be circulated? He said that he expected that that Bill, and a second Bill bearing on films, would be introduced during this session, perhaps within two months. That was over four months ago. What is the reason for the delay?
I do not have a Film Bill on the Order Paper. The Deputy is mistaken in what he states.
I am sorry if I was wrong in what I said about the Order Paper. The Government signalled in various ways a Film Industry Bill, and the Taoiseach, more than four months ago, said that two Bills on this subject would be introduced during this session, within two months. What is the reason for the delay?
The reason for the delay is interdepartmental consultation and examination of the heads of the two Bills.
Would it be any harm to ask which Department, other than the Minister's Department——
I have no intention of informing the Deputy on that.
I suppose it is the Department of Defence——
No, it is not the Department of Defence.
Is there any other Department with a serious interest in this area, with the exception of the Department of Finance, that would be entitled to hold up this Bill for four months?
The Minister might as well tell us.
I expect the heads of the two Bills to be examined by the Government within the next week. The drafting of the Bills can then commence and it should be possible to publish them during the summer.
Will the Minister allow the two or three different groups which are professionally interested in this matter to consult with officials of his Department when the drafting is in progress?
Various groups which have different points of view have already had consultations on several occasions with officials of my Department.
Will the Minister get his officials to keep in contact with them during the drafting process?
It is not the practice to show the draft of a Bill to people outside the public service before it is published. I am sure the Deputy realises that there are good reasons for that.
I was not asking the Minister to show them the draft; I was asking him to keep in touch with them during the drafting process.
The drafting process, in the sense I mean it, is the legal drafting by the draftsman. From the point of view of the principles that are involved, that will have been decided when the Government adopt the heads of the Bill.
I take it there is no longer any hope of publishing this Bill before the Dáil rises?
Unhappily not. The matter is much more complicated than one would have thought at first sight and two Bills are necessary. They are quite different and have been time consuming.
Would the Minister describe that as a negative approach?