Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I am not at all clear on what the Taoiseach has stated. Take, for example, the Whistleblowers Protection Bill 1999 that his Government supported when I introduced it in the House in June 1999. If employees in those circumstances had statutory protection, surely this would have come to light earlier. It is almost beyond belief, leaving out the professional affinity between professional colleagues such as anaesthetists who apparently never brought this to the attention of the institute. Other health personnel would have done so if there had been statutory protection.

The Taoiseach stated he will deal with this on a sectoral basis. At the same time he has never explained why he reinstated my Bill to the Order Paper after the 2002 general election, and it is still on it. If he thinks it is not appropriate and ought to be superseded by sectoral legislation, why does he not take it off the Order Paper? He cannot have it both ways. He is stating, on the one hand, it is unsuitable. Every time something like this arises, the response is that the sector was not covered.

I presume this report will be the subject of a major debate in the House and will then be referred to committee where we will need to deal with some of the complexities in it because it is not a simple matter.

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