Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

The Leader of the Opposition, Senator Brian Hayes, asked if the Tánaiste would take questions during this afternoon's debate on stem cell research. I do not know, but I will find out. The request presented to the Tánaiste's office was for a debate. I note the other House sought a similar debate yesterday, but it was not granted. Perhaps a debate will take place there at some stage. However, I do not wish to talk about the other House.

Senator Brian Hayes also asked about the Book of Estimates. We hope to have a debate on this matter next Wednesday. It is scheduled for then and we await confirmation. He also alleged that everybody is now paying for the benchmarking agreement reached with the trade unions.