When Members broke for the recess in 2011 on this day two years ago, the Taoiseach gave a commitment that parliamentary questions would be allowed over recesses. Nothing has been pursued in this regard and, again, no Deputy will have the ability to question Departments between now and the middle of September. Has there been progress in this regard or are there plans to do anything about it?

First, on the issue raised by Deputy Tuffy, when responding to this issue earlier I had in mind the performance of the Opposition rather than the performance of Members on the Government side. However, I did not wish to be unduly adversarial in my response.

When did that ever stop the Tánaiste?

I agree that on the issue of the involvement of all Members of the House, the principle of equality of treatment of all Members of the House must govern the manner in which Dáil reform is considered. In response to Deputy Ó Cuív on the number of Bills, 12 Bills have been published thus far. Four Bills have been approved by the Cabinet and are awaiting publication and five Bills that were not on the A list have been published thus far. I answered in respect of the consumer and competition Bill earlier but the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel provided revised drafts of the Bill on 28 June relating to the amalgamation of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority. Some legal issues are being examined and, as I mentioned earlier on the issue of media mergers, a number of detailed questions are being considered jointly by the two Departments concerned. Preparation of the Bill is at an advanced stage. As for the housing Bill, which was raised by Deputy Lowry and to which Deputy Kitt's question also relates, the Bill in question is due to be published next year. In response to the issue regarding replies to Dáil questions, this issue must be considered in the context of wider Dáil reform.