asked the Minister for Labour the present position on the implementation of the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Act, 1977.

The present position about implementation of the Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Act, 1977, is that I shall be signing the regulations about the conduct of elections under section 9 of the Act next week.

I hope to bring forward very shortly for approval by the Oireachtas the relative affirmative orders under section 23 of the Act reconstituting those State boards where agreement has been reached to proceed with elections under the scheme.

Which are the ones the Minister sees involved earliest in the scheme?

At this stage I hope to have as many as possible initially, but I am of the opinion that there may be difficulty in having them all in.

Does the Minister know which are the earliest?

The information is not on the file.

They have got very lax.

There are some interesting comments from the Deputy on that file. The Deputy was not very committed to it.

The Minister should withdraw that remark. That was Government policy which I subscribed to. Is the Minister going to withdraw that remark?

The Deputy heard what I said. There was no commitment.

Is it in order for a Minister to come in and say that I did not subscribe to the policy of the previous Government? He should with-draw that remark immediately?

I said the Deputy had no commitment.

What does the Minister mean by saying I had no commitment?

The Minister was sensitive enough.

That is a typically sneaky remark which the Minister cannot back up.