It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 10, 11, 3, 15 and 4. It is also proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that Nos. 1, 10 and 11 shall be decided without debate. Private Members' Business shall be No. 25, motion No. 13.
Order of Business.
Is the proposal for dealing with Nos. 1, 10 and 11 agreed to? Agreed.
Will the Taoiseach agree that he is responsible for the fact that his Ministers are behaving like sheep scattered in a fog on a mountainside in their dealings with the European Commission in regard to the National Development Plan?
We devoted much time to this matter a short time ago. It is out of order now.
Will the Taoiseach accept——
I will not have a rehash of the questions we have dealt with.
Will the Taoiseach agree to an early debate on the Estimates of the Department of Finance so that any revisions to the content or the timing of investments in this document, which is rapidly becoming a work of fiction, can be discussed?
The questions raised by the Deputy are inappropriate now. It might be a matter for the Whips.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Bruton, you may not ignore me.
The Taoiseach acknowledged that the appropriate Estimate is the Estimate for the Department of Finance. Will he agree to take that Estimate early so that this House can discuss any revisions to the content of this plan that, at the Government's request, we spent three days debating, even though it now appears that it is a novel and not a work of fact?
For the benefit of the House let me remind Deputy Bruton that those people who were thought to be lost in the fog came out of the fog very successfully, as will this plan.
(Interruptions.)
As one who helped to bring some of them out of the smog I ask the Taoiseach, in view of the change in the National Development Plan, to agree to a two-day debate on the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, on Thursday and Friday because the debate is dependent on the National Development Plan and a one-day debate would be restrictive.
That may well be a matter for the Whips to decide.
The Taoiseach was nodding his head. Perhaps he might like to say something.
I may have been nodding my head, but not in approval of what the Deputy was saying.
When will the Finance Bill be published, and is it likely to include measures to levy additional taxes to make up the shortfall in the National Development Plan? It is promised legislation. It is perfectly in order.
What legislation are you referring to?
The Finance Bill, Sir. There is one every year.
Go on, Taoiseach, face the music.
The Finance Bill will be published, as usual, during the Easter recess. We have no proposals, nor are any proposals necessary, to include additional taxation measures in relation to the subject Deputy Rabbitte speaks of.
Is the Taoiseach aware of the growing concern about the by-passing of normal Cabinet and Civil Service procedures when drafting legislation, and will he bring forward the Estimate for the Office of the Attorney General in view of the growing concern in the House that Bills are not getting due consideration and the likelihood of increasing numbers of meetings of the Council of State to look at legislation?
This could be pursued by way of an ordinary question.
I am asking if the Taoiseach will bring forward the Estimate for the Office of the Attorney General because of the concern about the way legislation has been prepared and rushed through the House. Will he do it as soon as possible? When are we likely to see this Estimate before the House?
This is a matter for the Whips. I reject Deputy Mitchell's insinuation that this Bill was rushed through this House. This Bill was the subject of extensive debate.
I am not talking about this Bill alone. This is the third Bill——
It is not for the Deputy to decide if it is constitutional. The Bill was not rushed through the House and it is a matter for other people to decide whether it is constitutional.
Now that it is almost three months since this House unanimously approved the Downing Street Declaration, will the Taoiseach provide time for a debate on Northern Ireland and the current state of play on the talks process?
The matter referred to by the Deputy is not in order now.
In the past you have allowed questions about a debate on Northern Ireland.
Inadvertently.
No, you accepted them. You were awake at the time and it did happen.
Reflections on the Chair are not helpful.
Will the Taoiseach agree that it is time we had a full debate on Northern Ireland, given that Sinn Féin/IRA are clearly incapable of bringing their violent campaign to an end and the necessity for talks to get under way?
When will the Bill be published to provide for the establishment of an independent electoral commission to revise Dáil constituencies as promised in the programme for Government?
It is almost ready.
It is nearly cooked.
Is it the policy of the Government to discontinue the timehonoured practice of publishing the annual report of the Department of the Environment? Is that part of the new programme for transparency and openness within the Government?
The Deputy should raise that matter at another time and in another way. There are ample opportunities for her to do so.
For the guidance of spokespersons on Justice, and other Members, when will an announcement be made in regard to the parts of the solicitors Bill which will be jettisoned and why?
The Lenihan initiative.
Deputy Rabbitte's agenda appears to be following all items that in his view are jettisoned. He will have ample opportunity to discuss the entire solicitors Bill when it is brought before the House and it is a matter for the Whips to decide when that will be.
Did the Taoiseach say the entire solicitors Bill?