asked the Taoiseach the items of legislation the Government intend to bring before Dáil Éireann during its October-December session.

The Order Paper for today already contains 19 proposals for legislation for consideration. As the Deputy is aware, the legislative programme, which may have to be changed urgently to deal with problems arising at short notice, is discussed regularly by the Whips. The Government Chief Whip has already indicated to the Opposition Whips the Government's legislative intentions for the coming session.

Is the Taoiseach aware that the programme circulated by the Government Chief Whip, for example, does not include any legislation in relation to the establishment of an environment protection agency about which we have heard a lot from the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of State at that Department? There is no reference to that in the Government programme. Is the Taoiseach aware that there is no reference to any equality legislation in the programme although the Taoiseach, in 1987, inherited the heads and quite a deal of work done on a new equality Bill? Is he aware, for example, that there is no proposal among those circulated by his Chief Whip for reform of the health service, or of our social welfare service, although there have been specific proposals on both before this House for quite a long time? For example, is he aware that the programme circulated by the Chief Whip includes no legislation for the review of Dáil constituencies? Would the Taoiseach not agree that, in those five areas at least, all the talk engaged in by himself and his Ministers over the past two and a half years — not just over the last couple of months — has been to the effect that they were about to bring in legislation, that they were just on the point of bringing in legislation, yet they cannot even say now whether we will have such before next Christmas?

The legislative programme we have put before the Dáil — 19 major legislative proposals — is not bad for a start. It is a fairly full programme for this session. At this stage I should like to point out to Deputy Dukes that this Government have before them five long, fruitful years in which to accomplish their programme.

Did the Taoiseach have discussions with the Progressive Democrats before making that statement?

It appears the programme is getting geared up. It went from four years down to two; now it is up to five.

A question, please, Deputy.

Is it not a bit disingenuous of the Taoiseach to say that 19 Bills, most of them inherited from the last Dáil — which should have been processed by that Dáil had it not been interrupted in the rather silly fashion by the Taoiseach in May last — are sufficient in themselves as a legislative programme because we know where we are going in respect of most of those? Does the Taoiseach not think it grossly unsatisfactory that so many commitments in the areas I have mentioned will not be lived up to by this Government this year?

We are having repetition and a tendency toward speech making.

We have put before the Dáil a legislative programme for this session which contains 19 major proposals. That is a very good record for this House. In my reply I said:

As the Deputy is aware, the legislative programme, which may have to be changed urgently to deal with problems arising at short notice, is discussed regularly by the Whips.

Even though we have 19 fairly important measures before the House, if the circumstances permit other legislation can be introduced and perhaps given priority. Alternatively, as the Deputy knows, in every session there are matters which come up which need urgent attention and which have to be coped with. If the Deputy studies the list of items put forward by the Chief Whip he will find that it is a very major programme of legislation for any one session of this Dáil.