Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur mar gheall ar phíosa reachtaíochta a thagann faoi chúram an Taoisigh ina ról mar Aire Cosanta. I want to ask the Taoiseach, in his role as Minister for Defence, to state when the defence (amendment) Bill is likely to come before the Houses of the Oireachtas. According to the Government's legislative programme, the Bill relates to "the deployment of military personnel overseas", which is laudable, but will it deal with medical issues such as the dispensing of the anti-malaria drug Lariam and other issues that often arise when Irish soldiers and Naval Service personnel are deployed overseas? The legislative programme does not explain what types of matters will be covered in the Bill, when the heads of the Bill will be agreed or whether the Bill will come before a committee for pre-legislative scrutiny. Perhaps it will come straight to the House for Second Stage debate.

The heads of the defence (amendment) Bill are under preparation. Quite a deal of work has been completed on them. I will give the Deputy an update on where exactly they stand. The Minister of State, who has devolved responsibility in this area, is looking seriously at the question of Lariam and the medical prescriptions for members of the Defence Forces who are sent overseas, particularly to countries where malaria might be prevalent. I will advise Deputy Ó Snodaigh in that regard also.