Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Since the Government took office on 14 June 2007, 12 Bills have been enacted. To date this year, six Bills have been published. Legislation is regularly listed as a priority in Departments but it can take longer from the time the heads of a Bill are agreed, to drafting and dealing with legal issues that inevitably arise. Some of the Bills go back to Departments a number of times when trying to finalise agreement. The senior parliamentary counsel can be occupied full-time on some of the major Bills. For example, every year the Finance Bill takes several months of work following the budget. It is four months from budget day to the date of completion of the Bill. The work of the parliamentary draftsman, together with amendments on Committee Stage, and Report and Final Stages take up so much time. The Immigration Residence and Protection Bill, for example, can tie someone up full-time for several months and therefore other Bills can lose out in the pecking order, although they are important to the relevant Departments. Another example is the broadcasting Bill, which will be coming through shortly. The preparatory work on that legislation has been long and detailed. As I said here two weeks ago, there is a range of legal issues surrounding the fair deal legislation, which has taken time. A small number of Bills therefore can take an enormous amount of the parliamentary draftsman's time, with the result that other Bills are delayed. Most of the Bills on the list, however, will come through over the next month or so.

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