Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Acting Leader to the House. It is good to see that the Progressive Democrats have finally taken control and we wish him every success today. In light of the excellent debate last night, in which many Government Members managed to do a complete U-turn on their support for the Hanly proposals, would it be possible to provide additional time in the coming weeks as an allegation was made that some Government Members were muzzled and not allowed to speak last night because their comments were so dangerous to the life of the Government? We need more time to debate this matter.

The smoking ban underlines the need to ensure the Northern Ireland Assembly gets up and running again. The Scottish Parliament has decided to ban smoking in pubs, soon to be followed by the Welsh Assembly. The Secretary of State for Health in Britain, Mr. John Reid, will introduce a ban in some shape or form. There will, however, be no ban in Northern Ireland because the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland wants to see if the institutions can be re-established, with local politicians making local decisions. If ever there was a need for joint action on the part of both Governments, it is on this issue. I wish both Governments well as they give their best estimate of the current process to two of the parties concerned.

When will the Government introduce legislation to put into effect the recommendations of the Boundary Commission? The commission produced its report seven months ago and it is unusual that the primary legislation to give effect to the boundary changes in advance of the next election is yet to come before the Houses.