Alex White (Labour)

I support what Senator Fitzgerald said. Unless it is necessary, nobody wants to hold the Minister of State to precise dates and so on. However, this is a very urgent matter and one of huge concern to many people. The Minister of State indicated that he hopes there will be contact with the Vietnamese or that there will be a trip to Vietnam within days or weeks. Will he indicate which will be the case so that we can give some measure of clarity to people who get in touch with us and, I am sure, with him? There has been a serious delay, although I am not accusing anybody of foot-dragging in this regard. The bottom line is that there has been an inordinate delay in resolving this matter about which there is grave concern. The draft has been sent to the Vietnamese. Has the Minister of State considered any leverage that can be brought to bear? What is likely to be the next stage? He mentioned that there would be contact and perhaps a trip there. We are not asking the Minister of State to reveal any specifics of the draft. What does he envisage happening next? What steps, if any, does he intend to take to try to avoid further delay or any delay at the Vietnamese end? As it is a bilateral agreement, both sides need to want to make an agreement. It is not possible to have one that is just pushed by one side. What sort of leverage is available and what does the Minister of State believe he might be able to do to push the matter along at the other side, as it were?

I do not find persuasive what the Minister of State has said in opposing the amendment. He stated that he did not believe it was appropriate that the negotiating position of our Government would be revealed publicly. I have just re-read the amendment and it does not propose that that would occur. The amendment states that the report should indicate whether it is proposed to conclude an agreement and the steps taken to date to conclude an agreement. While it might touch on the contents of the agreement it does not really comprehend the contents of the agreement. The amendment also states that the report should indicate the steps proposed to be taken to conclude a new bilateral agreement with the relevant country, which is the same point again, and the date it is hoped that a new bilateral agreement will be in place. Section 81(2) refers to another report outlining whether it is proposed to conclude a new bilateral agreement with the relevant country, the steps taken to conclude an agreement and the date it is hoped that a new bilateral agreement will be in place. None of those points relates to the contents of an agreement but simply to the fact of an agreement or whether one is to occur.