Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 9: To ask the Taoiseach his legislative priorities for the first half of 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48415/09]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 10: To ask the Taoiseach his legislative priorities for the remaining period of the 30th Dáil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3467/10]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 11: To ask the Taoiseach his legislative priorities for the remainder of 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8821/10]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together.

The legislative priorities of Government for the current Dáil session are set out in the Legislative Programme published on 19 January 2010. The Government will as usual publish its legislative programme at the beginning of each session throughout the remainder of the 30th Dáil.

My Department has no legislation planned for the current Dáil session.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In respect of legislative priorities, has the Government decided yet on a date for the referendum on children's rights and the reinstatement of the criminal offence of statutory rape? I commend the members of the committee dealing with children's issues which has produced and finalised its report, statements on which will be heard in the Dáil.

Given the litany of failures by the State, evidenced in the recent past, with more to come, will the Government prioritise the introduction of child protection guidelines? Will Children First will be put on a statutory basis and if so, when that might happen?

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Ceann Comhairle)
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Some of the Deputies questions may relate to other Departments.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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On the second report, no decision has yet been made in regard to when legislation will be introduced. The Government has decided to go the legislative route in respect of the matters raised by the Deputy. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs obtained Government approval on 8 December last to prepare the general scheme of a Bill implementing the recommendations, including the recommendations of the majority of members where there was no unanimity on the second interim report. The Bill will deal with the issues of absolute and strict liability that arose in the context of the Supreme Court judgment in the CC case. The general scheme work has begun, but there is no date on either its publication or when it will be enacted. Obviously it will need to be proceeded with as soon as practicable.

On the other matters, a specific question to the Minister in question might be the best way to get an accurate reply. However, I welcome the fact that the accountability mechanisms, which are now in place like the Health Information and Quality Authority, are bringing forward as a result of audits conducted by the HSE the need to deal with its procedures in a transparent way and improve public confidence. It is precisely because we have improved the accountability mechanisms and because the work of HIQA is ongoing that we are getting to a position where we are able to address issues that would not be brought to our attention in the absence of those accountability mechanisms. That is the benefit of what is being done and it proves that the more modern framework that we have of inspection and the quality authority is drawing out these issues and ensuring that we have a structured and comprehensive response to these issues.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Is the Taoiseach happy that the HSE has the capacity to respond effectively and in an accountable fashion here? Obviously prioritisation of the publication of HSE reports leaves much to be desired. Has the Government firmed up on its intention to hold a referendum on children's rights, given all the information now in the public domain? Will it take place some time in 2010?

Following Michael Somers's appearance before an Oireachtas committee last summer when he made comments about Government policy, it now appears that legislation published, including the National Asset Management Agency Act and the Inland Fisheries Board Bill, contain a specific section stating:

In carrying out duties under this section, the chief executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such policy.

Is this to be a standard feature in all legislation where this might apply? Are we in the position where a chief executive or a person in an area of responsibility is being told in law that he or she cannot make any kind of comment or express an opinion on the merits or otherwise of a Government policy or a Minister or on the merits of the objectives of such policy?

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Ceann Comhairle)
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We had a previous ruling on this matter. Quotations at Question Time are not to be encouraged.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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You are not going to-----

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Ceann Comhairle)
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They are to be positively discouraged.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I shall quote it by rote if you want. We had this before.

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Ceann Comhairle)
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I shall ask the Taoiseach to disregard the quotation.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Sure he is reading his quotations.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I refer to a section in the legislation which states that the chief executive shall not make any comment about any member of the Government or about any objective of a Government policy. That provision has been included in the National Asset Management Agency Act and the Inland Fisheries Board Bill. Is it now to be standard practice that chief executives cannot express an opinion on the merits or otherwise of the Government, a Minister or the objectives of a policy? I am sure that is in order.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I do not believe it is a standard feature of all legislation.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It has been since last summer.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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However, where it is necessary it can form part of the legislation. The important issue that arises here is that the general principle of governance applies where in the event of people working for Government, the Government sets the policy and people implement and operate the policy. That is a basic principle that is often stated. If there are, for reasons of commercial sensitivity, issues arising particularly in terms of how Government policy is understood externally or outside the country, that coherence of approach is certainly important to establish.

I made the response to the Deputy previously that we were going down the legislative route in regard to one of the reports on the children issue. It is best if specific questions are asked. I do not have full information on all of that detail apart from what I can recall from memory in many respects. I will try to correlate some of the information I have here if it is of any relevance but the questions relate to the legislative programme in my Department specifically. If there are questions about the legislative programme generally it is best to address them to the line Department, certainly in regard to getting accurate answers to parliamentary questions.

The other question raised by the Deputy was the referendum issue. Again, that is a matter that can be considered by the Government at any time but a direct question to the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs would elicit the accurate answers.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The revised programme for Government as agreed between the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party, or both parties together, contains commitments across several areas for new legislation. None of that promised legislation has yet been published. None appear in the programme of legislation for the current term. What arrangements exist between the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party to introduce the promised legislation in the revised programme for Government? Is there any direct engagement between the two political parties in terms of the production and implementation of the commitments contained in the revised programme, which allegedly took some considerable time to pull together?

I will give the Taoiseach three examples in terms of those commitments. They include the establishment of an independent electoral commission, a Bill to make FÁS more accountable to the public and the Dáil and measures to protect the family home from financial institutions. Having scanned through the revised programme, those are three critical areas yet there is no indication that work is even under way on any of them. I can cite several more from the document on which the Taoiseach signed off. What process is in place to progress these commitments to new legislation? Is there any direct engagement between the two leaders of the component parts of the current coalition to agree priorities in terms of bringing forward those commitments to new legislation?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To refer to the previous question, the purpose of programme managers is to assist in the monitoring and progressing of the programme for Government. It is not surprising, if the programme is passed in October or November, that the existing legislative programme is in place and therefore work must begin on any fresh commitments made in that programme. There are regular meetings between myself and the Green Party leader.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I will pass on any further supplementary questions.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The questions are to try to establish from the Taoiseach the Government's priorities for legislation in 2010. In his reply the Taoiseach has referred us to the legislative list that was circulated at the beginning of the session. There are 85 pieces of legislation on that list but even with enormously improved productivity, we will not get 85 Bills enacted. The last time we had a legislative list, which was in September, 20 pieces of legislation were promised to be published by the Government in that session, that is, the session between September 2009 and Christmas 2009. Only eight of the 20 were published. A number of pieces of legislation on that list of 85 have been around for some time. There is a judicial council Bill, which was to deal with the disciplining of judges.

The Taoiseach will recall some issue arose in that regard. The legislation was originally promised in 2004 but has still not been published. There is a national monuments Bill which first appeared on the list in late 2003. Even with a Green Party Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, we still have not seen sight nor light of it. A Curragh of Kildare Bill was on every list published from 2003 until September of last year but it has now disappeared from the list altogether. I wonder what has happened to it.

There are a number of Bills that are urgent. My colleagues have been asking repeatedly about the necessity for legislation to deal with the management of apartment blocks and private housing schemes. My colleague, Deputy Quinn, has been asking about urgent legislation promised with a view to dealing with the patronage of primary schools. Legislation is promised to deal with qualifications in education and training, which I would have believed is fairly topical given the report that was issued last week on grade inflation.

There is also legislation that might save the State some money, such as the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which has been published by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with a view to placing caps and controls on incinerators. This must be considered in light of the contradictory positions he and the Dublin city manager appear to have adopted regarding the incinerator proposed for Ringsend. We want to establish, in a general way, which of the 85 listed Bills the Taoiseach plans to have enacted by the end of the year.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will know the Bills are graded into three lists, A, B and C. List A is the most relevant for those who want to consider what legislative proposals will be coming forward rather than refer to Bills that obviously are not accorded priority or which are not in prospect of enactment in the near future. The Deputy will know that when promises are made in respect of legislation, the period in question is not from the beginning of a session to its end but from the beginning of a session to the beginning of the next session. One must consider the Bills published before the first day of this session when accounting for the list of 20 about which the Deputy spoke. There would be more than eight by that definition. That is generally accepted by the Whips as what is meant when one brings forward a list and makes a promise of publication.

I was asked about the priorities. Clearly, the priorities are those Bills that are on list A because they are more ready to go than the others referred to by the Deputy. Sometimes occasions arise when legislation must be drafted quickly. Therefore, Bills sometimes come before the House that are not on the list but which are necessary and urgent. Court cases or other issues may arise that leave a lacuna in the law and in respect of which the taxpayer would be put at risk were a change not implemented quickly.

The Chief Whip, as chairman of the Government legislation programme, has been bringing forward these particular Bills. With regard to the Department of Finance, the Central Bank Bill is to replace existing structures with a new single and unified Central Bank of Ireland commission. The Finance Bill, which is before the House, is obviously important and it is to give statutory effect to budget day decisions.

With regard to the Department of Health and Children, we have in prospect this year the nurses and midwives Bill, which is to modernise the regulatory framework for nurses and midwives. I understand the prescription charges Bill will be later this year. It is to enable charges to be imposed under the medical card and long-term illness schemes subject to a monthly cap.

Traditionally, a large amount of legislation is brought forward by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. There are a number of Bills pertaining to this Department on the list. Criminal law and civil law are the sorts of areas in respect of which legislation will be brought forward. This legislation includes the civil law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill.