The President of the Senate granted leave of absence to Sen. the Hon. Bridgid Annisette-George. Sen. Foster Cummings was sworn in to replace Sen. Annisette-George during her absence from Trinidad and Tobago.

The President of the Senate ruled that while a Minister could not be compelled to answer a Question in the Senate, and that it is understandable that events may overtake an answer, Ministers should take care that neither posed answers nor information requested in the answer be disclosed publicly before being answered in the Senate.

Four Papers were laid. Two are in the name of the Minister in the Ministry of Finance (Sen. the Hon. Mariano Browne), one in the name of the Minister of Local Government (Sen. the Hon. Hazel Manning) and one in the name of the Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources (Sen. the Hon. Arnold Piggott). The last Paper was reviewed by the Statutory Instruments Committee of the Senate.

The voluminous response to Question 13 was circulated, after the Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs sought leave of the Senate to read the answer in its entirety. The President of the Senate directed that it be circulated and apologized to the Minister for permitting the question for oral answer instead of written answer. See the Order Paper for details.

See the Order Paper for details.

The Minister of Energy and Energy Industries (Sen. the Hon. Conrad Enill) continued his wind-up of the debate, indicating that the Government was prepared to consider the arguments for three committees instead of two. The Motion was amended to incorporate proposals made by Sen. Prof. Ramesh Deosaran and Sen. Gail Merhair and later approved.

The Minister of National Security (Sen. the Hon. Martin Joseph) moved the Second Reading of the Bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives on February 29, 2008. He was followed in the debate by Sen. Wade Mark, Sen. Basharat Ali, the Minister of Health (Sen. the Hon. Jerry Narace), Sen. Mohammed Faisal Rahman, Sen. Dana Seetahal SC and Sen. Dr. Jennifer Kernahan. The debate was suspended during the contribution of Senator Dr. Kernahan.

The Senate then adjourned to Tuesday May 13, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. On that occasion the Senate will continue debate on the Immigration (Advance Passenger Information) Bill, 2008 and, time permitting, begin on a Motion in the name of the Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources to acquire lands for a public purpose. This Motion was approved in the House of Representatives on Friday April 4, 2008.