It is proposed to take Nos. 6, 7 and 1. Private Members' Business will be No. 16.
Order of Business.
I should like to direct the Taoiseach's attention to the fact that just one week before the budget the Government still have not published the Economic Background to the Budget, the pre-budget tables or the full Book of Estimates. I should like to ask the Taoiseach when we can expect these very important documents to be published.
They will be published in accordance with normal procedures. The full Book of Estimates will appear after the budget, as has been the case in recent years.
I did not get the Taoiseach's reply. There are three documents involved, the Economic Background to the Budget, the pre-budget tables, and, most important of all, the full Book of Estimates. As yet we have only had the abridged Book of Estimates.
The full Book of Estimates will be published after the budget with any adjustments that may arise.
What about the other two documents?
They will be published before the budget in the usual way.
There is a need for them now. Are the Government capable of doing anything?
That is the period within which they are normally published and the Deputy is well aware of that.
The Deputy followed that procedure himself.
With the permission of the Chair, I should like to raise on the Adjournment the question of the pensions of former employees of Irish Shipping.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
(Limerick West): I should like to ask the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on the claim by the EC Commission that our procedure in regard to the super-levy case before the European Court of Justice was inappropriately presented.
That does not arise on the Order of Business.
(Limerick West): It is an important issue and it is time the Government clarified the position.
I am not taking issue with the Deputy on the importance of the matter but I am telling him that it does not arise in this way.
(Limerick West): Will the Chair inform me how I can raise the matter?
The Deputy has been around here for a while and should know. I refer him to Standing Orders.
The Deputy is asking for a statement.
(Limerick West): Is the Taoiseach prepared to make a statement in regard to this?
That does not arise in this way.
(Limerick West): I should like the permission of the Chair to raise the matter on the Adjournment.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
The Deputy got it right at last.
Is the Taoiseach in a position to state with any precision when the legislation governing a national lottery will be before the House?
No. The question has to go before the Government in the light of consideration of various proposals which have been put forward. Obviously, the Government will have to consider those proposals first and take a decision on them before legislation can be drafted. They will be before the Government fairly soon but legislation will have to follow after that.
Did the Taoiseach have any proposals before him when he made a decision to hold such a lottery?
Various proposals have existed and it is the Government's concern to have them properly evaluated before taking any decision. An objective evaluation as to what approach to this will be the most effective from the national point of view and in the national interest will take place.
The Taoiseach indicated yesterday that perhaps company law legislation on the Fourth Directive might be introduced this session and I should like to know if he is in a position to state if any new legislation is pending concerning the business of insolvency of limited liability companies?
That is a matter that should be raised when the Bill comes before the House.
It is promised legislation.
The Taoiseach, and the Minister concerned, want to answer the Deputy's question.
The Deputy is asking about details of the legislation.
The question put by the Deputy may have led to some misunderstanding. The Deputy was not speaking about something arising from that Bill but about a separate Bill.
I understood that he wanted to know about the contents of the Bill.
No, about different legislation.
The heads of that legislation have been considered by the Government and it is being drafted. It is very complex legislation and it will be some months before it is available.
May I take it that it will not be circulated this session?
I would not be certain that it will be. It could be circulated towards the end of the session or shortly afterwards.
It is very complex legislation.
It will take some months and it is unlikely to be available for discussion in the Dáil given the amount of other legislation scheduled to come before us in this session. I hope to have it published before the end of the session.
This is a bankrupt Government.
The Deputy has had a lot of experience of judging that.
On 23 October the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism indicated that the heads of the Bill had been circulated and he expected it to be circulated in the House early in this session. It appears that it will not be published during this session.
That matter has been dealt with.
It is an important matter.
Will the Taoiseach indicate when the Bills on illegitimacy and family planning will be brought before the House?
The Deputy should not be asking those awkward questions.
Are they awkward for Deputy Haughey? I am sorry to hear that Deputy Haughey finds them awkward.
They are awkward for the Taoiseach.
The Bills will be brought forward in this session.
Where is the Tánaiste this morning? Is he having difficulty about the National Development Corporation. Minister Bruton pulled a quick one there.
The fact that Minister Barry Desmond is sitting in the third row probably has something to do with it.