Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The very first Bill on the A list for the summer session is the forestry Bill, which promises to support the development of a modern forestry sector which enshrines the principle of sustainable forestry management and protection of the environment. Of course, the privatisation of our forests would conflict with all that. When will that Bill be published? We were told very recently by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, that the Cabinet would make a decision very shortly on the future of Coillte, which manages our forests, and particularly whether the Government would press ahead with the privatisation of Coillte or think better and not do so. Can the Taoiseach tell us if that decision has been made and how it relates to this Bill?

I am also interested in the electoral (amendment) Bill and the local government Bill, which are also high on the list, at numbers five and seven. Can the Taoiseach confirm that the local and European elections for next year will be brought forward from June to May and that these Bills will enshrine the changes in constituencies or local electoral areas? When might we have sight of this legislation?

In regard to the Seanad, the Taoiseach said - if I heard him correctly - that the Bill for abolition of the Seanad would be published next week. Does that mean it will be taken in this session and concluded before the Dáil rises for the summer? What is the agenda?

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