P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

First, I congratulate the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Tony Killeen, on their promotion to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I look forward to working with them and have known both of them for some time.

As for the Minister of State's reply, is he stating there has been no progress since the former Minister answered a similar question tabled by me in November 2007? This Bill has been in gestation since May 1998. I wish it a happy tenth anniversary, as ten years have passed since this Bill was first focused upon in 1998. While an elephant only takes 22 months to gestate and deliver her baby, ink has not been put to paper in respect of this Bill after ten years. This constitutes another fine example of paralysis by analysis. Is it not time this Bill was published? Will it be out of date by the time it is published? This measure seeks to update the Act of 1946, which is over 60 years old.

The Minister's party used the phrase "a lot done, more to do" in 2002. That was six years ago and this Bill is a case of "we have not seen a lot and we do not know how much more there is to do".

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