Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Deputy is aware of the purpose of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Bill. It will allow the State to provide a certain guarantee and to underwrite the finances of the Rugby World Cup bid. I can guarantee the House that if there was simple legislation that we could rush through the Dáil to eliminate waiting lists or homelessness we would do it. However, those are not problems that can be dealt with by legislation alone. To compare the Rugby World Cup 2023 Bill with complex problems such as homelessness or waiting lists is not to make a fair comparison.

I had a look at what is going potentially to get through the Houses of the Oireachtas this week and next week. There are nine Bills, including the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, the Mediation Bill, the Minerals Development Bill, the Rugby World Cup 2023 Bill, which was mentioned, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Bill, the National Shared Services Office Bill, the Adoption (Amendment) Bill and the Independent Reporting Commission Bill as well as Deputy Browne's Mental Health (Amendment) Bill.

With the co-operation of the House ten Bills could be passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas by the end of next week, which would bring the total for this year so far to the high twenties. That does not reflect a Dáil that is not passing legislation. Potentially there could be 27 or 28 Bills enacted so far in 2017. The total was approximately 40 in many years in the past, but obviously if the Government had a majority it could get far more legislation through. However, it does not and the process of getting legislation through-----

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