THE Taoiseach has rejected a suggestion that the Bill to put the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal on a statutory basis should be published immediately, with consultations continuing afterwards.
Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central) said that in light of the hepatitis C crisis "there is a huge onus on the Government to publish the Bill and to proceed with the legislation without undue delay and there is delay on this matter".
She called on Mr Bruton to publish the legislation and have the consultation "proceeding apace after the publication of the Bill".
Mr Bruton said such a move would be "an unnecessary dilution of the value of the consultation that is taking place".
The issue was raised during the Order of Business by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, who asked why his party had not been circulated with draft heads of the Bill which the Minister for Health had issued to Positive Action and some other groups.
Mr Ahern said the Government had set out three options in the draft heads. "Perhaps the Taoiseach will tell the House which option the Government prefers?"
Mr Bruton said consultation "in its detailed form" only commenced on Wednesday night when "the Minister gave on a confidential basis the documents which he had been working on" so that the people directly affected, could make their input.
Mr Bruton said there would not be a definite Government proposal until the Government made a decision and that would not be done until the consultations had been completed.