Given that the reintroduction of third level fees is a non-starter, I will address a separate issue. Last week I welcomed the Taoiseach's statement that he is in favour of the rights of representatives of people in the Six Counties to have access to this House to participate in debates concerning the Good Friday Agreement and other related issues. Does the Taoiseach share my concern that people in the Six Counties who aspire to national democracy rather than to the link with Westminster are now left with no parliamentary forum in which to be represented? They are doubly disenfranchised by the suspension of the Assembly and the cancellation of the elections which were to take place on 29 May.

Does the Taoiseach accept that there is no apparent disagreement among the parties in this House regarding this proposition? Given that there is unanimity that it should apply to all MPs north of the Border, the House must be put on notice that Sinn Féin will utilise its Private Members' Business time in the coming week to facilitate a debate on the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement and related matters. In light of that, will the Taoiseach progress his commitment of last week and seek the agreement of all party leaders in this House to invite the presence of all the MPs elected in the Northern constituencies? There is no other step required. The matter is firmly in the Taoiseach's hands and he has the opportunity to proceed. I would like him to confirm that he will avail of this opportunity to move matters forward with the alacrity that the present political vacuum in the North requires and demands.

I replied to Deputy Ó Caoláin on this matter last week. The Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution reported on it well over a year ago and all parties outlined their positions at that stage. There were some procedural issues to be resolved, as I understand from the report prepared at that stage by the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and Deputy Jim O'Keeffe. There was all-party agreement in the House.

The procedures have to be put in place – they are unlikely to be put in place by next week – and, as I indicated last week, I agree with them. If they can be put in place over the next period, we should be in a position by the next session to have the participation of people in debates on the Good Friday Agreement and other relevant issues in the House and committees, as per the agreement set out in the Lenihan report, as it became known. I have no difficulty with that. We had a debate to discuss the issues, but I have no difficulty with and welcome another next week.

The Taoiseach's response indicates that there is a lesser likelihood of the accommodation of Northern representation here in the coming week. Will the Taoiseach re-examine that because all that is required is confirmation from the leaders of all the parties in the House and for him to instruct the House to make the necessary facilitation for the visiting Members of Parliament from the north of Ireland. What is required, therefore, is the political will and determination to proceed without further delay. I do not believe that circumstances in the North, owing to the suspension of the Assembly and the cancellation of the elections, are helped by further delay in accommodating the representatives of the disparate opinion in the North. Will the Taoiseach undertake to contact the British Prime Minister to request and demand, on behalf of the people of this island, that the elections that have been cancelled be rescheduled for a date before the end of June 2003?

I have already disagreed with and expressed my disappointment at the decision of the British Government to postpone the elections. To remind the Deputy, I do not have the power to instruct the House on the matter but can only make suggestions and proposals to it. In this case, an all-party committee, with which we have all agreed, has provided the blueprint according to which the House should proceed. There is political agreement on that already but to accommodate the Deputy's proposal, the House would have to make some quite significant changes in its normal procedures that have not been set out previously, although I agree with the House making these changes. However, I cannot change the position over night. In the Government's view and, I think, the view of everybody else in the House it was wrong to cancel the elections. I agree with the principle of representation for Northern parties in this House and in committees to debate the Good Friday Agreement and other issues, which is what the report is about.

Will the Taoiseach press for an election in June?