Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The revised programme for Government as agreed between the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party, or both parties together, contains commitments across several areas for new legislation. None of that promised legislation has yet been published. None appear in the programme of legislation for the current term. What arrangements exist between the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party to introduce the promised legislation in the revised programme for Government? Is there any direct engagement between the two political parties in terms of the production and implementation of the commitments contained in the revised programme, which allegedly took some considerable time to pull together?

I will give the Taoiseach three examples in terms of those commitments. They include the establishment of an independent electoral commission, a Bill to make FÁS more accountable to the public and the Dáil and measures to protect the family home from financial institutions. Having scanned through the revised programme, those are three critical areas yet there is no indication that work is even under way on any of them. I can cite several more from the document on which the Taoiseach signed off. What process is in place to progress these commitments to new legislation? Is there any direct engagement between the two leaders of the component parts of the current coalition to agree priorities in terms of bringing forward those commitments to new legislation?

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