Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

If we are not permitted to oppose No. 4, we are entitled to ask the Tánaiste, given the dispute between the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dempsey, and the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, whether the Government will proceed with this Bill. When will No. 66 on the legislative programme, the criminal justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, be published? Will it provide for the protection of witnesses on a statutory basis?

Rather than making a matter of frivolity at a time when two warring gangs are feuding and risking public safety on the streets of this city, does the Tánaiste not agree that the photograph on the front page of today's edition of The Irish Times is, at minimum, an ill-judged tasteless stunt by a Minister——

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