It is proposed to take business in the following order: Nos. 5, 3 and 6 (resumed).
Order of Business.
No. 5—the Medical Practitioners Bill, 1977.
On the Order of business, might I ask the Taoiseach not to order No. 6 for today? This item may not be reached since there seems to be a good deal of material in the first two items. I protested in the House yesterday against the inclusion of an entirely unexpected and very detailed amount of information about the projected industrial development consortium in the opening part of the Minister's speech on a Bill that had no relevance to the consortium which will have the IDA only as one of its component parts.
We cannot have a discussion at this stage.
As spokesman on this matter for my party I want time to think about the consortium and to consult people about it. It is a matter on which I will have a lot to say. It is not fair that we should be asked to take this unexpected item today. Consequently, I am asking the Taoiseach to drop it from the Order of Business.
I have no intention whatever of asking the Minister to withdraw what he said last night. His references to the consortium were relevant to the Bill under discussion.
That is not the question I am putting to the Taoiseach. The point is that the Bill does not deal with this consortium. It does not provide a statutory basis for the consortium. Neither does it mention or envisage a consortium but the Minister used the Bill as a vehicle for producing statements about this consortium. We are talking of a matter of national importance——
The Deputy knows that he is totally out of order.
Having regard to my request last night through the Whips, I must protest against the inclusion of this Bill today.
We must move on to the first item.
Perhaps it would be appropriate at this point to ask the Taoiseach whether the British Government consulted the Irish Government before announcing the decision to float the £.
No.
Our Government, then, were not informed of that decision?
We are never informed in matters of that nature.
In regard to devaluation, was there not prior consultation?
So far as I know there was no such consultation on the last occasion but certainly during my time as Minister for Finance—about 12 years ago—and on the first occasion on which there was devaluation I was not told anything about it.
Would the Taoiseach not agree that on a matter which affects our economy so vitally it would be appropriate that there be prior consultation?
It was as a matter of courtesy that I allowed the Deputy to ask the question but he may not go on to have a discussion on it.
Was there no protest from the Irish Government?
I have already called the first item on the Order Paper.