asked the Minister for the Public Service the progress which has been made in establishing executive offices within the Civil Service.

As announced in the recent White Paper on the Public Service, Serving the Country Better, I intend to introduce legislation under which Ministers will be enabled to transfer to separate executive offices blocks of purely executive work. This legislation is currently being prepared and I am confident that we will see real progress in this area once the legal constraints on the setting up of executive offices separate from Government Departments have been removed.

Would the Minister give a date when this legislation will be before the House? Will he assure the House that these executive offices will not take away the responsibilities under the Ministers and Secretaries Acts that Ministers are ultimately responsible for functions carried out by civil servants?

As far as the proposed date for the introduction of the legislation is concerned, that is the subject matter of the next question. In my view the content matter of the legislation ought to await publication.

27.