If I might just say at the start of the Order of Business, I would like the House to know that I have informed the Opposition leaders, Deputy Martin and Deputy Adams, that I intend to make an announcement later today, along with the Tánaiste, on the appointment of Mr. Tom Arnold to chair the constitutional convention.

It is proposed to take No. 18, statements on European Council, Brussels; No. 19, statements on the economy; and No. 13, motion re Tribunal of Inquiry into the Fatal Shootings of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan, to be taken at 7.05 p.m. tonight.

It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. tonight and shall adjourn not later than 10 p.m., and the suspension of sitting under Standing Order 23(1) shall take place at 1.30 p.m. or on the conclusion of the opening statements of No. 19, whichever is the later, until 2.30 pm; the proceedings on No. 18 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 85 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: the statements shall be made by the Taoiseach and by the main spokespersons for Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order and who may share their time, and shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case, a Minister or Minister of State shall take questions for a period not exceeding 20 minutes, and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; the following arrangements shall apply to No. 19: the opening statement of a Minister or Minister of State and of the main spokespersons for Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order and who may share their time, shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case, the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes and such Members may share their time, and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed ten minutes; the proceedings on No. 13 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: the speech of a Minister or Minister of State and of the main spokespersons for Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order, and who may share their time, shall not exceed five minutes in each case, and a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; Private Members’ business, which shall be No. 69 – motion re statutory sick pay (resumed), shall be taken at 7.30 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 13, whichever is the later, and shall be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes.

There are five proposals to be put to the House. Is the proposals that the Dáil shall sit later than 9 p.m. tonight agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 18, statements on the Brussels European Council agreed to?

It is not agreed. My party Whip spoke to the Chief Whip on the issue yesterday. Unusually, because of the issues around the Council meeting there is a need for questions. Is the Taoiseach prepared to answer questions on the issues that emerged from the meeting at the conclusion of the debate? Given the seriousness of the issues, perhaps such an opportunity should be available. My party Whip spoke to the Chief Whip yesterday evening to ask that questions would be facilitated.

Twenty minutes are provided for a question and answer session.

Is that with the Taoiseach?

I do not know what my schedule is but I have no problem answering questions.

The Taoiseach says that repeatedly but invariably he never turns up to answer questions.

We are busy people.

The Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, answers the questions.

I have a few questions for Deputy Martin as well.

That is fine. I will answer them a lot better than the Taoiseach will.

Deputy Martin will not because he cannot.

Perhaps we could involve the Chair in the discussion.

They are taking over the Whips' job.

Given the issues that have arisen in terms of dealing with the debt, the Taoiseach should answer questions for 20 minutes after the debate. That is all I seek.

I do not have a problem with answering questions from anyone on the European Council meeting.

But will the Taoiseach do so?

I do not know whether I have meetings scheduled but I will try to facilitate the House by being present.

That was simple.

Is the proposal for dealing with No. 19, statements on the economy agreed to?

It is not agreed. This is a welcome opportunity to debate the state of the economy. I welcome the fact that the Minister for Finance will make the opening statement and thereafter spokespersons will have an opportunity to contribute. However, the intention is that other Ministers will then take part in the debate, which will be disjointed because there will not be an opportunity for spokespersons to respond to each Minister. The debate will be back and forth. No timetable has been supplied for when the other Ministers will contribute so it is difficult for the Opposition to line up spokespersons to reply in turn. I raised the issue last week at the Whips meeting. It would be a better use of the time and would allow for a better and more focused debate on the economy. At the very least it would be reasonable for us to be given an approximate time for when the other Ministers will address the Chamber in order for the debate to be more structured.

We do not like debates to be disjointed. As Deputy Ó Snodaigh is aware, the Chief Whip made it perfectly clear last week that given the schedule of events in Ministers' diaries that if Opposition spokespersons contact the Chief Whip's office they will receive the best estimate of when each Minister will make a contribution on the economic debate. That will give Sinn Féin and the other parties opposite time to adjust the speaking time of spokespersons in order that they can respond to individual Ministers. The speaking times will be available from the Chief Whip's office.

Is the proposal for dealing with No. 13, motion re Tribunal of Inquiry into the Fatal Shootings of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members' business agreed to? Agreed.