Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I apologise on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, who is away on Government business and was detained. On his behalf I thank Deputies from all sides of the House who contributed to an interesting and wide-ranging debate not alone on the Bill but also on child care. These issues are inextricably linked. The Government is acutely aware of the time and cost pressures on working parents. This Bill is before the House during a time of wide public debate on child care and I am confident that, in his budget next month, the Minister for Finance will respond by announcing new initiatives in this area. I will return to the issue of child care.

Deputies English and Morgan commented on the delay in enacting this legislation. As Deputies are aware, the Bill meets a commitment in the Sustaining Progress partnership agreement and I am hopeful that the Bill will be enacted in this session and before the expiry of Sustaining Progress at the end of the year. In the past 18 months alone, this Government achieved the enactment of four other pieces of equality related legislation, the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004, the Equality Act 2004, the Disability Act 2005 and the Adoptive Leave 2005. In this context, cries of delay from the Opposition benches ring hollow.

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