It is proposed to take Nos. 8, 5, 9 and 10. It is also proposed that the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. today and business shall be interrupted at 10.30 p.m. It is further proposed that No. 5 shall be taken without debate.

Private Members' Business shall be No. 22 and it is proposed that the proceedings thereon shall be brought to a conclusion at 8.30 p.m.

Is the proposal for a late sitting today agreed? Agreed. Is it agreed that No. 5 shall be taken without debate? Agreed. Is it agreed that the proceedings on No. 22, that is, private Members' Business will be brought to a conclusion at 8.30 p.m.? Agreed.

Would the Tánaiste or the Minister for Health inform me when the Government intend to bring in the Estimate for Health? Will the Government be making additional funds available to the health boards at that time?

It is expected before the recess.

Will there be adjustments made?

With your permission, I would like to ask the Tánaiste——

Deputy Avril Doyle is in possession. Let this banter cease.

The Deputy can be heard now if she wishes to proceed.

I would like to ask the Tánaiste to ensure that time is made available to the Minister for Agriculture and Food to make a statement to this House on the recently concluded farm talks in Brussels.

I will be very glad to.

Could we have an indication as to when that might take place?

We could have a meeting of the Whips where it could be considered.

There is a precedent where previous Ministers for Agriculture fully informed the House of the outcome of the talks.

We may not debate the matter now. I am calling Deputy Yates.

Previous Ministers had a lot to say and were prepared to come forward with their statements without being asked.

Again, I request to raise on the Adjournment the question of the circumstances in which the bodies of two psychiatric patients were found in a psychiatric hospital last week.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I must apologise for speaking in English on a subject in the Gaeltacht but I do so because of the disinterest in the House and the country in the Irish language.

I should correct myself by saying among the elected political people rather than the people. Again, I would like to raise the disgraceful conditions at Gairmscoil Colmcille in Indreabhán where children have to cross the road to rented factory buildings for educational space.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I would like to raise on the Adjournment the inadequacy of the funds provided by Dublin Corporation for their refurbishment programme this year and next year and the scale it will be next year with particular reference to the Ballymun area.

I will be in touch with the Deputy concerning that matter.

I wish to raise on the Adjournment the crisis that is now hitting second level schools because of the failure of the Minister for Education to make proper provision for the successful introduction of the junior certificate course in our schools next September.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I should like to raise on the Adjournment the implications for the port of Waterford and the south-eastern region in general of the recent decision taken by the North Atlantic Shipping Conference Lines to delete the port of Waterford as a base port at which they would accept containerised cargo and also the decision increasing the level of arbitrary charges by 10 per cent.

I will communicate with the Deputy. Deputy Proinsias De Rossa.

Thank you. I thought for a while I was invisible. I have on a number of occasions raised the question of the Child Care Bill and when it will be processed in this House. I understand from press reports that there is a problem with regard to establishing a committee to deal with it. Could the Tánaiste indicate to the House what precisely is going on in relation to this Bill, if a committee is being established and, if so, can he ensure that all parties in this House, including The Workers' Party, are represented on it?

I am not so sure this is a matter for the Order of Business but if the Tánaiste wishes to respond, he may.

Just to facilitate the Deputy, we have suggested that this matter be put into committee. This has been discussed among the Whips. Failing that, we will try to get a full debate before the summer recess, but the committee procedure would appear to be a useful suggestion.

I am not objecting to the committee procedure. What I am saying is that, first, this House has not been informed of this procedure. Not everybody in the House is involved in Whips' meetings. I am concerned that all parties in this House who have an interest in this Bill would be included in the committee.

I think the Deputy has made his point.

In relation to promised legislation I wish to ask the Tánaiste or perhaps the Minister for the Environment when the legislation to give effect in legal terms to the National Roads Authority will be introduced in this House.

Hopefully before the end of this term. It is progressing very satisfactorily at present.

Have the heads of the Bill been circulated to other Departments?

No, but they are at an advanced stage of preparation.

I wish to refer to the legislation promised by the Minister for the Environment in the House some time ago concerning the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on Electoral Strategy. Is it the Government's intention to reintroduce legislation in this regard and if not, what is their intention concerning the disparity between boundaries as indicated by the commission?

The Deputy has repeated this question on a number of occasions.

I asked it yesterday but I got no reply.

There ought to be another way of dealing more effectively with the matter.

It is promised legislation as I demonstrated very clearly from the record of the House on the last occasion that I raised this matter. I am now asking what is the Government's intention in this regard. Do they intend to introduce the legislation as promised?

No legislation has been promised.

I would like to know——

Sorry, Deputy Stagg. The Deputy may not utilise the time by raising this matter consistently.

You ruled on a previous occasion, A Cheann Comhairle, that there was——

I have to accept the Tánaiste's statement that no legislation has been promised in this area.

You ruled on a previous occasion——

Will Deputy Stagg please desist?

I will raise the matter again tomorrow and I will bring your own ruling to your attention.

Deputy Stagg, you may not intimate to me that you will cause further disorder tomorrow.

Before the meeting tonight of the all-party committee which was set up to deal with lottery funds, would the Minister for Finance say whether consideration has been given to the report of that committee before he considers what further action he will take in the absence of any report from the Government?

This is not appertaining to legislation, Deputy. You must raise the matter in another way.

It is being considered.

I wish to raise on the Adjournment this evening the position in An Bord Pleanála which is resulting in enormous delays and the failure of the Minister for the Environment to streamline the procedures and to make additional staff available to that body.

I will communicate with the Deputy.

I wish to ask the Minister for Justice whether progress is being made in his Department with regard to legislation to deal with the statutory basis of the legal aid service. Could the Minister indicate if that legislation is progressing and, if so, when it might appear on the Order of Business of the House?

Is this legislation promised?

It is being prepared but it will not be ready for this session.

Nor this Government.

Could the Tánaiste indicate, as it will not be ready for this session, if it is likely to come before the House in the coming session?

It will certainly be taken before the end of the year.

Which year?

This year.

In view of the very unsatisfactory nature of the Government's reaction to promised legislation, could I suggest to you, Sir, that you consider a new category about which we might ask questions here, that is, the category of threatened legislation. The Government seem to threaten the House with legislation on various issues and then it just disappears out of the machine once the immediate crisis has passed.

I am calling item No. 8.