Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Deputy Reilly can attend to the whole Government Front Bench if necessary. Arising from the conclusion of discussions in the Dáil and the Seanad last night and this morning, we now have one hour to agree on the amendments from the Seanad. The Oireachtas has responded to a crisis which erupted in Irish banking circles. For the moment, the response has dealt with that crisis. We hope the terms, conditions and regulations will be sufficient to cope with the detail of the working of that legislation in the interests of a strong economy and a strong banking system. Given that it will be necessary to continue the flow of credit through the banking system in future, can the Tanáiste indicate what other legislation is envisaged to enable a situation continue where the banking system is strong and where credit can continue to flow through the banks for business and normal purposes? Is the Government considering the possibility of legislation that may arise in the context of any mergers that might occur in the Irish bank system? The Tánaiste might outline her views on that.

Second, I note that the outstanding opportunist we have on the Government benches, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, said today that a new data protection Bill will be brought forward to deal with the sensitive issue of personal data being stored and, in some cases, being lost. That is not on the Government's legislative programme. Will the Tánaiste indicate if this is a piece of work currently being drafted by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform? When is it likely to see the light of the Oireachtas? If it takes him as long to draft that legislation as it does to do many other things, would she consider accepting from the Opposition a Bill in this area which has already been prepared by Deputy Simon Coveney?

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