Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Brian Hayes raised the matter of which Department will deal with the legislation on an agreement between the European Union and the United States that will be dealt with this evening. The legislation will be taken by the Department of Transport as it comes under its aegis. The Deputy's party spokesperson on transport who has just come into the Chamber will be in charge of dealing with that matter for his party.

Senator Brian Hayes also raised the matter of the SSIA scheme and the note I have received on that requires clarification. It states that the amount of income to be included in respect of SSIAs is the Government contribution earned on the savings in the relevant tax year, say up to April of last year or whenever. The note further states that this is the same position as has existed in the past in respect of similar savings products, including deposit accounts, post office savings certificates, life assurance bonds, etc. It further states that the treatment of SSIAs is consistent with the treatment of other similar investments over many years.

However, the SSIAs were a special savings product to encourage saving and the scheme was introduced for that purpose. The aspect raised requires clarification and I will seek to ensure the Minister for Education and Science comes to the House to deal with the matter.