Today’s business shall be No. 7, motion re special meeting of joint committees to discuss issues experienced by people with disabilities accessing labour activation measures, without debate; No. 8, motion re twentieth report of the eighth committee of selection, without debate; and No. a25, statements and questions on CervicalCheck screening programme, to conclude within three hours and ten minutes. Private Members’ business shall be Second Stage of No. 46, Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2018, selected by Independents 4 Change.

Wednesday’s business shall be No. 25, Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Bill 2017 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; No. 26, Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017 - Report Stage (resumed) and Final Stage; No. 4, Markets in Financial Instruments Bill 2018 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage; and No. 9, motion re Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs report on the provision of foster care services in Ireland. Private Members' business shall be Second Stage of No. 47, Mental Health Parity Bill 2017 selected by Fianna Fáil.

Thursday’s business shall be No. 4, Markets in Financial Instruments Bill 2018 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage; and No. 9, motion re Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs report on the provision of foster care services in Ireland. Second Stage of No. 48, Famine Memorial Day Bill 2016, shall be debated in the evening slot on Thursday.

I will read the announcement of proposed arrangements for this week’s business. I refer to the first revised report of the Business Committee dated 1 May 2018.

In relation to today's business, it is proposed that:

(1) the Dáil shall sit later than 10 p.m. and shall adjourn on the conclusion of Private Members' business;

(2) the motion re special meeting of joint committees to discuss issues experienced by people with disabilities accessing labour activation measures and the motion re the Twentieth Report of the Committee of Selection shall be taken without debate and any division demanded shall be taken immediately;

(3) on the statements and questions on the CervicalCheck screening programme, the statements shall be confined to a single round by a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties and groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, and shall not exceed ten minutes each. Following the opening statements, there shall be questions and answers for 15 minutes for each Opposition party or group, comprising three rounds of 2.5 minutes for questions and 2.5 minutes for answers, respectively, with a five-minute response from a Minister or Minister of State, and all Members may share time; and

(4) proceedings on Second Stage of the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2018 shall commence on the conclusion of statements and questions on CervicalCheck screening programme and shall conclude within two hours.

In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:

(1) proceedings on Second Stage of the Mental Health Parity Bill 2017 shall conclude within two hours; and

(2) on the motion re the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs report on the provision of foster care services in Ireland, speeches of the committee Chairman, a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons and members of the joint committee, or a Member nominated in their stead, shall not exceed ten minutes each, with five minutes for all other Members and a five-minute response from a Minister or Minister of State, and all Members may share time.

There are two proposals to be put to the House. Is the proposal for dealing with Tuesday's business agreed to?

I welcome the debate on the CervicalCheck screening programme but I feel the time is too limited, particularly for backbenchers. As this is the most important issue this Dáil may ever have to deal with, every Member who wishes should be able to speak on it, I respectfully propose to the Business Committee that we extend it tonight as a matter of urgency and sit till midnight if we have to.

The Deputy has made his point.

I take what the Deputy says and it is important that everybody has an opportunity to air his or her view. The most important element however is that we hear from the Minister today. The rapporteur said the Minister would have ten minutes but I do not see how it could be possible for the Minister to answer all the questions in ten minutes.

It is open ended.

I would like as much time as is required to be provided to the Minister. How long approximately does the Minister intend to speak for?

It is open ended.

He should set out as much detail as possible for the House so that any follow-up questions can be based on factual information being given to the House.

Are there any other opinions?

How long does the Minister intend to speak?

The Minister is to take an hour and three quarters for questions and answers.

Yes but I understand that his opening statement is only ten minutes. He could not possibly set out all the facts in ten minutes.

If the House is willing to give me longer-----

I would suggest 20 minutes.

I would appreciate that.

If we give the Minister 20 minutes there is a proposal that we extend the debate. It is to go from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the moment.

It is important that we get on to questioning. Perhaps we could schedule business again for everybody else rather than sit till midnight tonight.

I do not have a problem with that I just want-----

If there are several Deputies who want to contribute and it is reasonable-----

What is the proposal?

The proposal as set out is that with 20 minutes for the Minister, ten minutes for the groups and 15 minutes per group for questions, the debate would take place tonight and that we might set aside time, on the proposal from others, to be able to contribute to this discussion tomorrow.

Can I say-----

We have got Deputy O'Dowd's proposal.

My proposal is that the debate continue tonight and we finish it tonight.

That will cut into the yapping tonight.

In fairness to the Chief Whip, and I appreciate the seriousness of the situation, we all agreed this in the Business Committee by telephone. In fairness to the staff and secretariat, all the Whips agreed to what I read out yesterday evening and this morning.

Nobody consulted the unfortunate backbenchers.

I am not saying that at all. I am talking about the ten minutes.

While it might be welcome that the Minister is to be given more time, what we are seeking is information, not lists, explanations and definitions.

Correct.

Ten minutes might be sufficient if he sticks exactly to the topic. If the intention is to provide a lot of context, that will not be very helpful.

The context would be exceptionally helpful.

On the final comment made by Deputy Mattie McGrath, my response to the telephone call about today's business was that the Labour Party view was that ten minutes would be insufficient for the Minister and that he should be allowed one hour to respond if he so wished, to which the response was that the Minister thought ten minutes would be enough.

That was the outcome of an incorporeal meeting.

Yes.

There are two proposals before the House, the first of which is that the Minister have longer than ten minutes, while the second is that the debate be extended beyond 9.15 p.m., on which there is no agreement as yet.

I would like to propose a compromise. Would 15 minutes be sufficient for the Minister's address?

Yes.

As a former Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin is aware of how speeches can be padded.

The Minister will have a script.

The Minister should have 15 minutes for his address. Questions and answers are vital. That is what the people want. A further 20 minutes could be provided for backbenchers.

Is it agreed that the Minister will have 15 minutes?

Yes.

There is no agreement as yet on the time allowed for questions and answers. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd has proposed that the Dáil sit later.

I am happy to support the proposal made by the Leader of the Opposition, but anybody who wants to speak should be able to do so.

Following the question and answer session.

Yes. I want my position to be on the record of the House.

I suggest a half an hour. We can reconsider the matter tomorrow. In fairness, almost 3.5 hours is being provided. We need to be reasonable.

That is agreed.

Is the proposal agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Thursday's business agreed to? Agreed.