Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

This is an example of what happens when a Government is in office for 13 years. We are left with a national debt which has tripled in the past two and a half years to €100 billion, with a deficit this year of more than €20 billion, and a situation where the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister of State with responsibility for children are unable to answer a simple but serious question about the number of children who died in the care of the State over the past ten years. We have had all this spin and waffle, along with the meeting that took place yesterday, and suddenly answers can be given. As I pointed out yesterday, the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2000 requires that incidents be reported to the NTMA. In terms of numbers, that information should have been available at the push of a button. It is disgraceful that the Government is unable to get its act together and confusion is the order of the day, both within Government and the HSE. Members of the Tánaiste's party have said it is now a "dysfunctional Frankenstein".

I was interested in the Tánaiste's comment to the effect that legislation pertaining to the wording of the referendum will be available by the end of June. We have about 17 working days left before the House proposes to rise for the summer. The Tánaiste has said this is of such importance that it should be a stand-alone matter. Let us see whether the Government is prepared to back up her words.

Finally, the Tánaiste said, in response to my question about the authority to be given to the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out the audit in respect of Dublin Docklands Development Authority, that it would be done by statutory instrument. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, wrote to the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts on 22 September 2009, stating:

The Minister for Finance has indicated to you that it is not possible, arising from a Supreme Court judgment, to extend the remit of the C&AG by way of ministerial order, as originally provided for under section 21 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993.

Amendment of primary legislation is a matter for the Dáil, and in this instance amending legislation would be required to give effect to the Committee's request.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has responsibility for the Comptroller and Auditor General in this matter and he states in his letter of September 2009 that primary legislation will have to be amended, and that legislation is required for that to happen. The Tánaiste, however, says it is being done by statutory instrument. The Minister with responsibility for the area says it requires legislation. The Minister for Finance says it requires legislation. Will the Tánaiste now correct the record and indicate when this legislation will come before the House?

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