It is proposed to take Nos. 1 and 7 and in No. 7 Vote 42 and Supplementary (resumed). By agreement the Minister for Labour will be called to reply to the debated on No. 7 not later than 4.15 p.m.

The Tánaiste announced in reply to a Private Notice Question on Tuesday that the parties in the bank dispute will be brought together under the chairmanship of the chairman of the Banks Joint Industrial Council. It is said in the newspapers that the Minister for Labour has intervened in the dispute. Is that correct?

It is not in order to raise this matter on the Order of Business. It is not a function of the Chair to receive prior notice of a question of this kind; it would be a matter for arrangement between the Government and the Deputies concerned.

I appreciate that, but the matter is of some importance. If the Minister for Labour is to negotiate in the bank dispute, is it not time that some member of the Government interviewed the Post Office Workers' Union?