Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There is no Bill relating to the third matter. As for the fines Bill, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is preparing a fines Bill, for which I understand the Minister shortly will seek Government approval to publish. It will include provisions, with some redrafting, that were addressed in the Fines Bill 2007. Such provisions will be aimed at giving the courts new powers to deal with a person's failure to pay a fine by the due date for payment. As the proposed new Bill will incorporate redrafted provisions contained in the Fines Bill 2007, it appears sensible to withdraw the latter from the Order Paper on publication of the Bill being drafted at present. This is the reason the Fines Bill on the Order Paper has not been proceeded with. The new Bill should be ready for publication during the coming Dáil session.

On the health information Bill, a wide-ranging public consultation exercise, using a detailed discussion document prepared in the Department, was initiated last June. Many submissions were received, including several received in late October 2008. All those who made submissions were invited to participate in a major feature on the Bill at the annual conference of the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland on 19 November last. The event proved highly successful and the level of consultation is considered to be essential given the complex and sensitive nature of the Bill. The Department is working towards finalising the heads of the Bill, which are expected in April.

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