In view of the fact that there was little or nothing for people with disabilities in the budget announced yesterday, will the Taoiseach tell me when, if ever, the Government intends to restore the mobility allowance?

The Taoiseach has promised on a number of occasions to introduce legislation to extend the university franchise beyond the National University of Ireland, NUI, and Trinity College Dublin in order that graduates of the University of Limerick and regional technical colleges, including the one in his own home town, will be able to vote in Seanad elections.

Can the Taoiseach tell us if that will be in place? Will those people be in a position to vote to elect people to the Seanad from university seats in the next election?

Will the Deputy repeat that question?

The Government promised to introduce legislation to extend the university franchise for Seanad elections beyond NUI and Trinity College so that people who graduated from the institutes of technology and places like the University of Limerick will be in a position to vote in the election of those six university Senators. Will that be in place in time for the next Seanad election?

I cannot see it being implemented before the next election.

The mobility allowance is a complex area, as the Deputy is well aware. The important thing is, first, to protect the people who are in receipt of the mobility allowance. Detailed work has been done on this to introduce a subsequent scheme which would be as broad as possible. There are degrees in this that are very complicated. The first thing is to protect people who are in receipt of it and this is being done. The drafting is under way in respect of making a broader-based scheme that would accommodate the various needs that are there.