When is it expected to introduce the pharmacy Bill? Will that Bill, which concerns a trade where numbers are restricted, be amended to take account of the High Court and Supreme Court decisions in regard to similar restrictions in the taxi industry?
Order of Business (Resumed).
This is a major item of legislation which is designed to update and rationalise the Pharmacy Acts, 1875 to 1977. It will take a long period to agree the heads, not to mention the detail, of the Bill. It will be some time before it is introduced.
Will it take into account the new jurisprudence of the Supreme and High Courts which dealt with number restrictions in a business?
We cannot discuss the contents of the Bill on the Order of Business.
It is clear that the position which obtains in relation to taxis should also obtain in the case of pharmacies. Will the Bill take account of that fact?
I suggest that the Deputy table a parliamentary question.
For most people, Christmas comes in December. However, some workers have been informed that it will not arrive until January. I refer to jobs initiative employees who have been told that their Christmas bonuses will not be paid until January.
That is not appropriate to the Order of Business. Does the Deputy have a question which is relevant to the Order of Business?
Will the Taoiseach and the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs take action to ensure that jobs initiative workers will be paid their bonuses at Christmas? Some of these people have been told they will not receive bonuses while others were informed that they will not receive them until January. That is not good enough.
I call Deputy Neville.
Deputy O'Sullivan's question is important and deserves an answer.
What is the position vis-à-vis legislation dealing with the mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect? The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Fahey, when he was Minister of State with responsibility for children, promised to introduce such legislation. When will that legislation be introduced?
The legislation is not on my list. However, I recall replying to a question from Deputy Neville about that matter on a previous occasion. I will check the position and communicate further with him in respect of it.
I do not know if the Taoiseach is aware that on foot of a programme about accident and emergency services, 4,000 telephone calls were made to a radio station.
The Deputy should not make a statement.
What arrangements has the Government put in place, particularly as we are heading into the Christmas recess, to ensure that accident and emergency departments in hospitals will be able to cope with the number of patients presenting for treatment and will not leave them lying on trolleys for three days?
The Deputy is out of order in making a statement.
Does the Government have any plans to ensure that the accident and emergency services will be able to cope over Christmas?
Is there promised legislation?
The heads of a Bill designed to update the Medical Practitioners' Act, 1978, are expected early in the new year.