Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As I stated last week in the House when asked questions on this matter, we have been able to find a legislative way forward on soft information. A proposal came forward from Deputy O'Rourke's committee and a legislative response was found for that as well. In recent weeks a report has come from the committee dealing with this area that has been asked to see if it is possible to build a consensus around the issue that there were divergent views. That will be examined by the Minister of State with responsibility for children and he will report to the Government on it.

From our perspective, the Ryan report provides an opportunity for the Government to consider all its recommendations. As the Deputy knows, we will hold a special meeting on it this evening, and these matters will be considered by the Government in the context of how we respond to the Ryan report.

See this speech in context