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Parliamentary Proceedings were yesterday brought to a temporal halt for about an hour following power outages in the House. While members were seriously contributing to motions to approve budget estimates for the various Ministries Departments and Agencies, power went off on some occasions which forced the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu to call on the first Deputy Speaker to halt proceedings for power to be restored before they continue. Mr. Mensah-Bonsu noted that they could not see members who were contributing to the motions to approve the budget estimates but could only hear voices, hence, the need to halt proceedings for power to be restored. The Speaker directed that proceedings be halted for an hour for power to be restored. But, prior to halting proceedings, the House approved the budget estimates for the Ministries of Information and Media Relations and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, as well as the National Labour Commission. The House approved GHC2, 378,174.00 for National Labour Commission, GHC100, 120,293 and GHC153, 953,029.00 for Information and Media Relations and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ministries respectively. Moving the motion for the approval of the Information and Media Relations Ministry�s budget estimates, the sector Minister, Mahama Ayariga said the ministry will continue to work effectively and ensure professionalism in the media. The committee, in its report, expressed disappointment with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for not being �able to generate even the small amount of IGF expected last year� and further advised that GBC to explore innovative ways of becoming self-sufficient. The committee also recommended that a Board of Trustees be established to solely administer the Media Development Fund in the future after it was informed that the GHC1, 000,000.00 left in the Fund was used in 2013 to strengthen various media groups across the country. It was also observed that about 50% of the Information Services Department�s vehicles have been broken down while others are in need of servicing. Contributing to the motion, Kwaku Kwateng, MP for Obuasi West, noted that it was time government considered making some institutions such as GBC operate on their own without subventions to help address other critical areas. On the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the committee observed a huge increase in the 2014 budgetary allocation as compared to 2013 but still fell short of the estimated amount of GHC176, 741,924.92 the ministry requested to help implement its programmes and policies. The committee also recommended that while efforts are being made to improve the IGF capacity of the ministry, �efforts should be made to release all the funds for the year under consideration without the usual delay.�