Alex White (Labour)

I do not see the necessity for the proposal in respect of the Order of Business having to be agreed in the manner suggested by the Leader. I agree with those speakers who stated this matter was not resolved in the previous session. I would not have thought there would have been a major problem with the matter being left to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to be discussed further.

In case I am giving the impression that I believe there ought to be a change, previously I expressed the view that 40 minutes is a reasonable duration. I want to be straight about what my view is. I do not see why other Members, on both sides of the House who need those extra minutes on the Order of Business should not have them. The CPP might like to see us having a further debate about it to get the duration right. I do not see the problem with sending it back to that committee. I disagree with the Leader that the matter must be resolved in such a quick manner at the beginning of the session. I support it being returned to the CPP.

On a related matter, a debate has taken place during the past 24 hours on the amount of legislation being presented by the Government to the Houses of the Oireachtas. It raises a real credibility issue for both Houses. It is remarkable how little legislation has been proposed by the Government since the Houses first sat last autumn. The Government Chief Whip made the point that it is early days for the new Government and this is what happens. Perhaps there is something to this. Legislation proposed by the Opposition, however, such as a Bill on climate change or witness protection, gets short shrift from Ministers coming to the House who politely tell us where to put our proposals. We know legislation can be produced quickly and put through the Houses as we saw prior to Christmas when the Government believed it needed to have legislation passed to deal with what it saw as a crisis.

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to come to the House and explain his proposal to issue a directive in respect of the retention of all e-mail and Internet activity by citizens of the State for a period of three years? This should be done prior to the issuing of such a directive so at least we can have some debate before such a far-reaching measure is implemented.

We know a basis exists for orders being made to preserve this type of information, as we have seen in high-profile criminal cases where the Garda needed such information preserved. We all support that. However, this is a blanket provision for the retention of records of all e-mails and exchanges over the Internet of every citizen of the State. Surely this should be the subject of legislation and debated in both Houses. It may be justifiable although I doubt such a blanket provision can be justified. Regardless of whether it is justifiable, it is amenable to a debate in this House during which people can express their views. It is not suitable for the Government to put it through by way of ministerial order without public debate.