The Government’s legislative programme, which was published on 18 September, sets out the Government’s legislative priorities for the current parliamentary session. The programme sets out 61 Bills for priority publication and drafting across many areas, including maternity protection, housing, criminal justice and electoral reform, among many others, during the autumn Dáil session.

Since the Government came to office in June 2020, 220 Bills have been published and 206 have been enacted. During the current Dáil session, we will build on that work through the priority publication of 29 Bills and the drafting of a further 32. The current legislative programme does not include any Bills in preparation in the Department of the Taoiseach, as there are no legislative matters under the Department’s remit that require to be prioritised at this time. The Department will continue to play a central role in supporting effective co-ordination and prioritisation of policy and legislation across the Government through Government meetings, Cabinet committee structures and the Government legislation committee.

I thank the Chief Whip for that summary. Is there a timeframe for the occupied territories Bill? Regarding the Finance Bill’s scheduling, there are reports that the Bill will go to the finance committee on 5 November. Will the Chief Whip give us a guarantee that this schedule will be adhered to? If she is not able to give us a cast-iron guarantee, what procedures would the Government use to accelerate the process and how would that be notified to the House?

Those are matters for the Bills’ respective line Ministers, so the Deputy might raise them with those Ministers directly.