asked the Taoiseach when the report No. 47 of the National Economic and Social Council, entitled Alternative Strategies for Family Income Support will be circulated to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and when this report was received by the Government.

This report will be circulated to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and published on Tuesday, 29 April 1980. It was received by the Minister for Economic Planning and Development on 25 October last.

Will the Taoiseach indicate the reasons for the delay in publishing this report?

There were some changes in the allocation of functions between different Departments which regrettably meant the examination of the report took longer than normal.

Can the Taoiseach say by which Departments the report was examined and why it took six months to examine it?

As I indicated in the reply, the report was submitted to the former Minister for Economic Planning and Development. The initial examination commenced in that Department. Subsequently it had to be transferred and because of the change in the allocation of functions between the different Departments, the examination of the report, I regret, took longer than normal.