I would like to touch on two items briefly and perhaps the Leader can help us. The Minister for Education and Skills is about to introduce a Bill on the education and training boards but it has been brought to my attention that there is no seat on that board for the further education sector. We know that the education and training boards means the reduction of 33 VECs down to 16. A core component and key part of their work is adult education. It would be outrageous if no seat was provided on the board for people that represent adult education, adult literary and further education. I ask the Minister to flag the issue now but Members will raise the matter during the debate on the Bill. Ideally, the legislation needs to be amended beforehand to include the provision. It would be good if the legislation arrived here already drafted.

We have raised the following matter before when we debated the Civil Registration Act with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. We need to table an amendment to help Irish families whose loved ones die abroad to have their deaths registered at home. We only think of the matter when it affects ourselves but there are quite a few families in Ireland who are upset. Examples that come to mind are those people whose young sons have died while on a working visa or during a summer abroad or their husbands died in the Middle East. We need to put pressure on the Minister. I was assured by the registrar that a memo was being sent to Cabinet last spring but that has still not happened. Resolving both of the issues that I raised would greatly help a lot of people.

I support Senator Healy Eames in her call for the adult education service to be afforded a place on the new ETBs because it is an important matter. The adult education sector provides training for tens of thousands of people on a yearly basis throughout the 26 counties and is due a place on the education and training boards. Adult education officers provide an excellent service to people who were not afforded the opportunity of an education heretofore. I support the Senator's call that they should be represented on the education and training boards.

I call on the Leader to contact the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade about the Passport Office which provides an excellent service for the general public but delays arise at peak times. Trips have been cancelled because passports were not issued in time. We are told by the Passport Office that members of the public that use the postal system are guaranteed a passport within ten working days but that is not the case.

Another difficulty that I discovered during the summer was where a constituent contacted me stating that he or she had lost or mislaid his or her passport and therefore was not entitled to avail of the excellent emergency service provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In fact, there is a rule in operation for the last 18 months or so whereby if one loses one's passport one must wait a minimum of five days before it will be processed. That must be examined and I ask the Leader to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to see if that difficulty can be overcome. While he is in contact with the Department he might inquire if the Oireachtas passport system could be reinstated. It has been very valuable to our constituents.