On a point of order, I must raise with the Chair the matter of a question that has been disallowed which related to asking the Taoiseach whether the Government are still meeting and acting as a collective authority——

The ruling is that when questions are ruled out of order Deputies may not question that. If the matter is not satisfactory the Deputy may come and discuss it with me but it cannot be raised now. That is the ruling of the House.

On a point of order in relation to that matter which concerns the collective responsibility of Government Ministers for Government policy, I should like to point out that I do not think it is within the competence of the Chair to rule out this question. I do that by referring the Chair to the relevant provision in the Constitution, namely, Article 28.4. in which the powers of Government——

We cannot have a debate on that matter.

I wish to point out to the Chair that under the relevant provision in the Constitution——

At Question Time Deputies are not allowed to read out quotations. The Deputy may send me a letter about it or come to me and discuss it but he may not raise it here. When a question is ruled out of order, that ruling may not be discussed in the House.

I submit that a constitutional provision that imposes a duty on the Government and on the Taoiseach of the day over-rides any orders or rules of the House. In this regard the relevant provision in the Constitution provides that the Government——

I cannot allow the Deputy to pursue the matter now.

I submit——

The Deputy may submit it to me and I will have another look at the matter. The Deputy is quite welcome to send me a note on the matter and I will pursue it further on his behalf.

In the context of what I have said, will the Chair reconsider the question as being resubmitted?

I will look at the matter again for the Deputy in the light of the new information supplied by him.

May I ask the Chair to look at Article 28.4 of the Constitution? With respect, I refer the Chair also to the very excellent chapter in the book written by my constituency colleague, Deputy Kelly——

If the Deputy comes to my office and shows me that I will be glad to go over it with him.