My predecessor as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform brought forward the scheme of a defamation Bill, which was agreed by the previous Government in December 2001. However, while that proposal is still extant, its progress has been influenced by developments, not least by the passage of time, the appointment of a legal advisory group and the commitment in the programme for Government to bring about change to bring Irish law into line with that prevailing in other countries in the context of reform of the law on privacy and the establishment of a statutory press council.