The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, was accused of breaching the faith of the ESB trade unions by failing to bring forward privatisation legislation for the electricity supplier. Mr Emmet Stagg, Labour's transport and energy spokesman, said the Minister had promised legislation since the Government was formed in 1997. He said the unions had clearly stated they would not engage in further negotiations about reducing staff by another 2,000 until the legislation was available as promised. Ms O'Rourke said the legislation was expected to be published in 2001. It was unfortunate that there had been a delay, but "there are five Bills to enact in this term alone. I do not want to delay anything but this will be a massive Bill. It takes time to prepare such things."