30 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement in respect of each of the individual recommendations of the all-party review committee on the Constitution; if the Government is broadly in favour of the recommendation or otherwise; if otherwise, the reasons therefor; if there are technical difficulties with the recommendation; if so, if he will identify these difficulties; the Government Departments to which the recommendation has been referred for further study and action; the study and action that has occurred so far; and his general approach regarding the taking of constitutional amendments arising from the report concerning the procedure to be adopted for putting them before people, either in composite form or individually. [24157/01]

31 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the recommendations of the all-party review committee on the Constitution which have been implemented; the recommendations which the Government has decided not to implement; and the recommendations which the Government is still considering; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26414/01]

32 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach the position in respect of the implementation of the recommendations of the all-party committee on the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28471/01]

33 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the status of the recommendations made by the all-party review committee on the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28549/01]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 33, inclusive, together.

The all-party Oireachtas committee on the Constitution has, to date, produced five reports, the first dealing with general recommendations, the second dealing with the Seanad, the third dealing with the President, the fourth dealing with the courts and the Judiciary and the fifth dealing with abortion. In these five reports the committee has recommended 55 items for constitutional amendment, of which 16 are of a minor-technical nature.

The committee's recommendations in relation to the Referendum Commission and local government have been acted on while its recommendation in relation to the abolition of the death penalty in the Constitution was put to the people on 7 June and passed that day.

I am circulating in the Official Report two tables, one dealing with 39 recommendations contained in the five reports and one dealing with the 16 minor-technical recommendations. The Government is broadly in favour of these recommendations and tried to move forward earlier this year on the recommendations in the fourth report on the courts and the Judiciary, but could not get agreement from the parties in the House. The first report was circulated to all Departments for observations, the fourth to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the fifth to the Department of Health and Children.

As I have said in the House on previous occasions, a way of putting these amendments to the people, in either an omnibus form by grouping them or individually, is being considered by my Department. However, this is not an easy task as the Deputies will appreciate.

Summary of Recommendations of Five Reports

Does the Taoiseach accept that in respect of the sixth report of the committee chaired by his party colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, which was published earlier today, the Government is in significant breach of one of its recommendations regarding the treatment of referenda legislation coming before the House, specifically with regard to the Committee Stage debate on the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill? Is the Taoiseach aware of the conclusion on page 37 of the report which I was unable to outline earlier due to interruptions that in order to ensure widespread understanding across the citizenry of this Republic there is an onus on the minority of those of us engaged directly in politics to ensure there is a full and comprehensive debate? Does he not believe the removal of the Committee Stage debate on the Bill in question from the floor of the House to a committee room in the bowels of Leinster House runs contrary to the spirit of that recommendation?

On a related matter, in order to address that deficit, which perhaps cannot be done by reversing a decision of the order of the House today, does the Taoiseach intend at any stage to speak in the House on the referendum? Does he intend to outline his views on the matter? Does he intend to campaign as vigorously as he did in the Nice treaty referendum?

I canvassed vigorously in the Nice treaty referendum as did some other Members of the House, although not many did.

I will be good enough not to refer to the Minister, Deputy de Valera, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Cuív.

And the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy.

In relation to the report, all its recommendations are being examined. With regard to the recommendation to which Deputy Quinn referred, I will not return to political points of the issue. I served my time well on various committees. I recall it was Deputy Quinn's suggestion many years ago, with which I agreed, that parliamentary committees should be used to facilitate more detailed debate. Prior to that the House tended to go through a small section of a Bill on which the debate finished with the tabling of a question on an omnibus of amendments. The Deputy suggested that many more hours debate on Committee Stage would be gained through his initiative. I believe that as I am sure he does and will not cross swords with him again on it.

A committee of the House may be convened when an issue is interesting enough. We have seen this with regard to CIE related issues. I watched some of its proceedings, as I am sure many others have. That was also the case with the DIRT inquiry which was conducted by a committee. The nation tuned in to watch its proceedings. Unfortunately, not all the proceedings of the committees nor of the House get the same attention.

I have been present in the House during the years debating various legislation, probably boring myself and others to tears, when there has been an empty Public Gallery and Press Gallery and only a few Members present. There is a view that taking Committee Stage of a Bill in the House will mean that all Members will be engaged and give it their full attention which will lead to a more comprehensive and meaningful dialogue, but I am sure there will be an interesting debate on the amendments about which we talked this morning.

Will the Taoiseach speak in Committee?

We had far better and more comprehensive debates on Finance Bills in the House than we had in Committee. I am sure the Taoiseach's memory stretches back that far. We discussed more amendments and sections.

A committee of the full House.

I had that experience four times.

The time allocated for Taoiseach's questions has been exceeded.

I remember precisely the time in 1992 when the position changed. I remember there were Schedules to a Bill which, if I recall correctly, related to changes in energy tax, which probably motivated Deputy Quinn's initiative. We would not have reached those Schedules under the normal arrangement because it was an enormous Bill. It was for this reason that the move was made. At the time a committee of the House met in the Seanad chamber. I do not think we have lost anything as a result of that change.

Several recommendations have been brought forward by the committee. It has done an enormous amount of valuable work, but most of its findings will fall to the next Government to implement. A number of referendums have been held during the lifetime of this Dáil. Useful work has been done, but the major issue is to develop a method of having omnibus referendums. I will try to bring it to that stage in the next six months, but if we deal with the issues in separate refer endums we will never get the programme of constitutional reform that is necessary. The only way to do it is by holding omnibus referendums.

As the Taoiseach will visit my constituency tomorrow, he might outline to the House the announcements he proposes to make in County Kerry.

That is a separate question.

No doubt the Deputy will be the first to know.

Martin Ferris and—

It is all right. Deputy Deenihan will not be the target.