Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is not correct to say that we stopped that. The heads of two very substantial Bills were put out last year. That helped the Charities Bill, which was one of the largest Bills passed by the House in recent years, and the Broadcasting Bill, which was dealt with by way of a consultation process on the Internet. I am in favour of publishing the heads of Bills and having consultation on them. It is suitable in many areas although it may not be so in others. It is a good way of having consultation and it is usually done when working with the social partners. We do it for the reason that it leads to proper consultation. It was done in respect of a number of Bills last year and it is a good way of doing business.

When legislation leaves the Cabinet, further teasing out of policy issues often takes place. When that legislation is drafted, it must bear reference to any legislation in this area. That can be quite difficult when there is no consolidated Bill because one must examine Bills that go back to God knows when, such as pre-1922 legislation. That happens with many Bills before us, including justice Bills — I think we discussed 1935 legislation last week. The amount of checking of chronological statute tables that must be done is complicated. It might not be so complicated in an area involving a standard Bill where there is regular updating of legislation. Case law is also involved. Much of the legislation is difficult to deal with and, when dealing with large Bills, it holds up the system, as we saw recently with the Finance Bill, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill and the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill. Those three Bills are highly complex legislation and that affects others that are coming through the system. The delay is not always on the Parliamentary Counsel side, it is often because issues have not been completed in Departments.

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