I wish to return very briefly to the issue raised by Deputy McDonald on the Constitutional Convention and the outstanding reports. The convention was launched with great fanfare and the timescales were set by the Government. The citizen members, in particular, made a phenomenal commitment to the whole endeavour, and their sense of pride in their participation was obvious. The problem and what bothers me is that this level of commitment by the citizens is not being reciprocated by the Government. I ask the Taoiseach to impress upon the Departments that have not yet reported to him the vital nature of the work done. The Departments should accord to the endeavour the same priority that the Taoiseach and citizen members accorded to it.

The Whip has already written specifically to each Department to deal with the recommendations and the requirement for the Departments to respond. We addressed that in the report discussions here just a few weeks ago.