One of the functions of the Labour Relations Commission, as provided in the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, is to prepare codes of practice on various areas of industrial relations. Earlier this year I suggested to the Labour Relations Commission a number of issues, including essential services, on which codes might be prepared and the commission had already begun work in this area. Arising from the recent dispute in the ESB, priority is being given to the preparation of a code of practice on dispute procedures and levels of cover to be provided in relation to disputes in essential services. In drawing up the code the commission will consult employer and union organisations and it is expected that the code will be finalised within months. The Act empowers me on receipt of the code from the commission to make an order declaring that the code is a code of practice for the purposes of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.