the Summer session for 2000.

Most wide-ranging is the approval of dental health insurance coverage for Government workers, retired Government workers and Parliamentarians themselves.

Government workers will now contribute $7-a-month each into the Government Employees Health Insurance programme,.

And with a matching yearly contribution from Government of $750,000 some 9,000 workers and their families now have dental coverage. Not included in the coverage are extra costs for restorative and orthodontic work which are more expensive.

The House also passed the new Postal Rates incorporated in the Post Office Amendment Regulations.

But Opposition MPs took the opportunity to complain about the length of time for "snail mail'' to reach the Island.

And they encouraged the Finance Minister to negotiate with the American authorities for greater priority of Bermuda bound mail. Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons said: "What we are finding is that the rates are going up and we're sticking our heads in the sand with regard to the length of time of delivery.

"We need a better and faster way of getting mail and I don't think the Post Office is working aggressively enough to speed up airlift and improve the handling of mail at Kennedy,'' he added. Government Whip Ottiwell Simmons said: "I'm surprised the former Finance Minister criticised the current Finance Minister so vehemently for allegedly doing nothing to speed up the mail,'' he added. "The problem is not in Bermuda it's in New York.'' Also getting approved was the $33 fee for vanity licence plates and the $250 fee for setting up Segregated Account companies with a cap on the tax of $1,000, but no limit on the number of accounts.

While Opposition members were put off at the late tabling of a resolution by Mr. Cox to allow Lawrence Limited to defer payment for a new sightseeing catamaran for two years, they supported the measure. Lawrence Limited can now operate the boat, once the Governor signs the resolution, as are his powers under the Industrial Development Act.