The issue of the sale of alcohol Bill has been mentioned today and I raised the matter with the Taoiseach during the debate on the increase in excise duty in the 2012 budget. At the time the Taoiseach said it would be brought before the House within a matter of months. Some three years have passed and today the Tánaiste has said this legislation will be before the House in the middle of 2015. How can we on this side of the House be confident that this will be the case?

Can the Tánaiste update the House on when the Government intends to publish the wind energy guidelines? She will be aware that members of her parliamentary party in the Dáil and Seanad have published legislation on wind energy policy but it has been on the shelf gathering dust for some years. When will the Government finally come forward with regulations on this issue?

Prior to the Easter recess of 2011 I asked the Taoiseach about the possibility of facilities for tabling and answering parliamentary questions while the Dáil is in recess. The Taoiseach informed me that by the summer recess arrangements would be in place for the tabling and answering of parliamentary questions while the Dáil is in recess. Four years have passed and we still do not have the facility to submit parliamentary questions to the various Departments while the Houses are in recess. Many Opposition Deputies find that parliamentary questions are the only way to get answers from Departments in some cases.

That was also the case back when Fianna Fáil was in power.

What of the democratic revolution?

As I said, the legislation on the sale of alcohol is anticipated to come before the House in the middle of next year. I do not have an exact date for the wind energy guidelines as Ministers have changed in both of the relevant Departments.

Does that mean there has been a change in policy? Has there been a change in direction?

Both Ministers have met communities and organisations and have travelled the country to talk to people on what is a very sensitive and important issue.

Has there been a change in direction?

I am not aware of any commitment the Taoiseach made to Deputy Troy on parliamentary questions but I do know that my Department uses a great deal of its resources, at a cost of several million euro per year, to answer parliamentary questions in their many facets and formats. I think my Department answers the largest number of individual parliamentary questions and my staff, at all levels, give a very dedicated service to Members of the Dáil and Seanad. A great deal of work is involved in answering the volume of questions received and we try to give detailed answers.