It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 10 (resumed), 6, 7, 4, 8, and 9 and to take Private Members' Business between 7 p.m. and 8.30 p.m.—No. 23 (resumed).
Order of Business.
Last week I asked the Taoiseach if he had any idea of when we might expect the White Paper and he said that since I had not given notice of that question, he was not in a position offhand to let me have an answer. Perhaps he is now in a position to inform the House as to whether he knows any more about the prospective date of the publication of that document.
The Deputy has put that question in a way that is not absolutely accurate. I did not complain last week about not being given notice of the question but I said that since the Deputy had given me notice I would make the information available to him.
Sorry.
The information has been made available to the Deputy but he is asking the question again.
I wish to acknowledge that I received by way of telephone message this morning from the Private Secretary to the Minister of State the information sought. I thank the Minister of State for that. I told the Private Secretary that I intended raising the matter again in the Dáil in order to give the Taoiseach an opportunity to say openly what he had the courtesy to have conveyed to me in private. I am not trying to embarrass the Taoiseach in any way.
The Deputy makes ranges of mountains out of the smallest molehills. I told him last week that I would check in regard to the question he asked and that I would have the information made available to him. That has been done but surely he is not haggling about the manner in which the information was conveyed to him.
As the Taoiseach has left it to me to give the information to the House the position is that the White Paper is expected to be published at the end of November. It is the Taoiseach's job, though, to say that.
I thought the Deputy was looking for something else to crib about.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
If the Taoiseach insists, we shall take over.
Instead of listening to Deputy Kelly's niggling complaint, I have something more interesting to tell the House, and this is that by agreement the House will not meet next week until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday and will not meet in the following week until Thursday, that is 8 November, at 11.30 a.m. The House will sit on that day until 8.30 p.m. and will sit also on the following day from 10.30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Another molehill which I should like to scratch over briefly concerns a question put down by me on 17 October but which was ruled out of order.
The Deputy may not question the Chair's ruling.
My complaint concerns not your ruling but the fact that the ruling was communicated to me today at 10.30 a.m. when I arrived at the House. That was only four hours before the House was due to sit. Effectively this means a delay of another week in putting down an important question, a question that concerns the behaviour of the Government Information Services. Surely it is not beyond the bounds of the capacity of yourself and your officials to decide at once whether a question is in order and to let the Deputy know the decision instead of informing him of the outcome six days later so that he must wait another week to have a shot again at extracting the information concerned. This is the second time that this has happened in regard to the same subject matter.
The General Office process these questions as quickly as possible. They have instructions to that effect, but certain research must be done and information ascertained and with the huge number of questions on hand at any time it is not always possible to give an immediate decision.
The Deputy is happy only when he is complaining.
This was the second time that I had tabled a question in respect of the Taoiseach's Department. The question was taken off, too, the previous week.
I have not got any responsibility regarding the disallowing of questions.
Is the Taoiseach not responsible for the GIS?
The Deputy must always have a grievance.
When is it intended to take the Committee Stage of the Safety in Industry Bill, 1978, or have the Government shelved that Bill entirely?
It is a pity that the Deputy did not ask that question earlier when the Minister concerned was here. Offhand I do not know the answer, but I shall have the information conveyed to the Deputy.
There is a good deal of pressure from industry to have the legislation enacted but it has been more than a year since the Bill was discussed last.
The Deputy will be informed of the situation.