Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Labour Party cannot agree to this motion being taken without debate. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, has existed since the 1970s. The National Economic and Social Forum, NESF, was established with a wider remit. Some time later, the National Centre for Partnership and Performance was established. Then the Government decided that it would establish an umbrella body for the three organisations, the National Economic and Social Development Office, NESDO. This required legislation, which took years to trundle its way through the House. Now, we are apparently being presented with a formula in which the umbrella will be kept and the bodies under it will be amalgamated.

There is probably a good rationale for doing this, but we should hear it. The Minister with responsibility should state the case in the House and provide an opportunity to Opposition parties to comment on whether we support or disagree with the rationale or whether the Government got things wrong in the first place by having a multiplicity of bodies that, in some instances, deal with the same public business. Having set up all of those bodies through legislation, it is not acceptable for the Government to tell the House that it wants to dissolve them without debate.

My objection is to the proposal that No. 20 be taken without debate. If the Taoiseach will say that an hour or whatever will be provided for a debate, the Labour Party will be happy to have it taken, but we will not agree to it being taken without debate.

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