Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Following on from Deputy Kenny's questions and the answers given by the Tánaiste, I do not understand what the Government is considering. There is all-party agreement on the wording for this referendum. Do I understand from the Tánaiste that the Government is reconsidering the wording of the referendum or is the issue the date for holding the referendum? If it is just the date for holding the referendum, what is the delay if it is not, as Deputy Kenny said, simply that the Government cannot settle on a date for the referendum because if there is a date for the referendum then the by-elections will need to be held and the last place the Government wants to be is before the people in an election contest?

On a related matter, the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, chaired by Deputy O'Rourke, in its report of 11 September 2008 recommended that there should be legislation dealing with soft information and that legislation should be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas in "the upcoming parliamentary session" - in other words by the end of 2008. I assume the national vetting bureau Bill is the relevant legislation on the legislative list. According to that list the heads of that Bill have not even been approved by the Government yet. What is delaying the preparation of the legislation that was promised in 2008 and was considered to be urgent? When will it be before the House?

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