Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to raise three issues. On the business before the House, will the Taoiseach confirm that no legislation will come before the House today or tomorrow and that the Dáil, on its return, has no legislative proposals before it? I understand the House will deal with the Constitutional Convention tomorrow. That Members will debate three reports in one day and at the 11th hour, in other words, at the end of this Dáil, speaks volumes about the degree of commitment and respect the Government has shown to the Constitutional Convention whose reports were allowed to languish, without debate, for a long time after its work had been completed.

A significant number of the Bills on the Order Paper are on Second Stage, Committee Stage or Report Stage. Will the Taoiseach confirm that the House will sit for three days next week? Will legislation come before the House for debate next week? Is it the Government's intention to bring some of the Bills on the Order Paper before the House next week? I refer to legislation such as the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill and Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, which are on Committee Stage in the Seanad. Will the Taoiseach give some indication of what legislation we can expect next week?

Before Christmas, I discussed with the Taoiseach a ground-breaking drug on the market for cystic fibrosis, Orkambi. Given that time is being provided for statements on many issues, it is important to debate the issue of frontier drugs and new technologies in medicine that can make a fundamental difference to people's lives. I disagree with the Government's policy approach on this issue. Orkambi has been described as a game-changer for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, yet many patients cannot avail of it. I ask the Taoiseach to provide time next week for a debate on this drug and the wider issue of the availability of drugs of this nature.

I had to highlight drugs such as Soliris and others on Leaders' Questions a number of times in the past year. The impact of these drugs on the people concerned was dramatic but they met official resistance until we raised the issues on the floor of the House. As the country with the highest prevalence of cystic fibrosis and where the various strains are of the greatest severity, it is incumbent on us to be at the forefront of developing new drugs in partnership with industry and to have them on the market and available to patients as quickly as possible. Will the Government consider providing time to discuss this issue?

The third issue relates to correspondence the Taoiseach sent to me late last evening concerning the commission of investigation into Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. This follows on from the meeting just before Christmas between the Taoiseach and leaders of the Opposition as well as Deputy Catherine Murphy and others. The documentation outlines potential heads of a Bill. This would be new, bespoke and separate legislation rather than a simple amendment to the Commissions of Investigation Act and would be for the specific purposes of the investigation into IBRC, the sale of Siteserv and Topaz and other transactions that occurred. The Taoiseach, in his correspondence, states that he would be grateful if we could treat this paper in a confidential manner. This statement creates a difficulty for us in that this is a matter for transparent public debate. Will the Taoiseach indicate the reasons he believes the subject matter of this documentation should be confidential given that it relates to potential legislation? As the Chief Whip was unable to do so on "Morning Ireland" earlier, will the Taoiseach indicate whether it is the Government's intention to submit a Bill or heads of a Bill to a committee before the Dáil is dissolved or will this be done after the general election? Will it fall to a new Dáil or Government to do this or does the Government intend to have the heads of a Bill discussed by a committee before the end of this Oireachtas term?

This is an important issue and serious public concern has arisen regarding the issues covered by the commission of investigation, which has been dragging on for one and a half years. It began with parliamentary questions that were not answered properly or to which full answers were not given.

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