It is proposed to take Item No. 6—Votes 38, 56, 57, 67, 68, 69, 29 to 37 inclusive, 58, 59 and 39 to 46 inclusive.
Order of Business.
Before the Order of Business is decided, might I inquire of the Taoiseach what are the functions of a Parliamentary Secretary to the Government? I do not think such an office has ever existed in our institutions before and I think a good many Deputies yesterday thought that the Taoiseach said "Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government" and so did not inquire, but for interest sake I should like to know what exactly are the functions of a Parliamentary Secretary to the Government as distinct from a Parliamentary Secretary to a Minister such as it has been the practice to appoint heretofore?
The Deputy will notice that in the 17 points indicated as the basis of Government Policy——
After the election.
The basis of our policy all the time and as a Government in particular.
We shall leave that to later on.
We can deal with that. I was dealing with the interruption. As to the question I was asked with reference to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Government, the answer is this: In these 17 points we indicated that there is to be a permanent body set up presided over by a Parliamentary Secretary, responsible to the Government, to deal particularly with the Gaeltacht and the congested areas. If the Deputy looks up the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, I think he will find that one of the Parliamentary Secretaries referred to there is a Parliamentary Secretary to the Executive Council, that is, to the Government. Naturally, we thought that that was a very suitable way in which to get the Parliamentary Secretary required.
Deputy Bartley has been superseded before he is appointed.
I inquired yesterday of the Tánaiste when it was proposed to take the Agricultural Workers (Weekly Half-Holidays) Bill and was informed that I might be enlightened to-day.
We will take it next week. We are accepting the amendments which have come from the Seanad.
Might I ask the Tánaiste, in view of the fact that such a long discussion took place on the Estimate for the Department of Agriculture previous to the general election, why is it now being put at the end of the queue?
Because there is a new Minister.
That is fair enough.