Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

On a point of order, I wish to raise the matter of the refusal and transfer of a priority question and a substitute question that I submitted. One question sought the Minister's view on trends in the housing market on which the Central Bank has commented widely, but that question was transferred to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local government, which is not acceptable. The Minister has a legitimate point of view to express in this House.

The second question related to the changes needed in the way in which we consider the Financial Bill, given that his year we succeeded in examining in committee only two thirds of the amendments or the original sectors. That was deemed not to be a matter for the Minister. We need to be a bit more reasonable if we want reform and if we want Ministers to play a role in dealing with important issues in the housing sector and in the way in which we deal with taxation. These questions should not have been disallowed in one case or switched by the Minister in the other.

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