I call Deputy Brendan Ryan to announce the Order of Business for this week.

Today's business shall be No. 20, motion re referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of Regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 and Regulation (EC) No. 1393/2007; No. 21, motion re parliamentary questions rota swap; No. 22, motion re sittings and business of the Dáil in budget week; No. 1, Mental Health (Renewal Orders) Bill 2018 [Seanad] - All Stages; No. 41, Home Building Finance Ireland Bill 2018 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; and No. 42, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018 - Second Stage (resumed). Private Members’ business shall be No. 62, Civil Liability and Courts (Amendment) Bill 2018 - Second Stage, selected by Fianna Fáil.

Wednesday’s business shall be No. 43, Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 - Report Stage (resumed) and Final Stage; No. 23, motion re Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures Order 2018, back from committee; No. 24, motion re Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital Gains) (Republic of Ghana) Order 2018, back from committee; and No. 42, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018 - Second Stage (resumed). Private Members’ business shall be No. 214, motion re housing, selected by Solidarity-People Before Profit.

Thursday’s business shall be: No. 24a motion re ministerial order relating to the Competition Act 2002, referral to committee; and No. 10, Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. No. 63, Second Stage of Deputy Jim O'Callaghan’s Civil Liability (Amendment) (Prevention of Benefits from Homicide) Bill 2017, shall be taken in the evening slot.

I refer to the first revised report of the Business Committee dated 27 September 2018. In relation to today’s business, it is proposed that:

(1) Nos. 20, 21 and 22 shall be taken without debate and that any division demanded shall be taken immediately.

(2) The proceedings on No. 1, shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 85 minutes and any division demanded on the conclusion of Second Stage shall be taken immediately. Speeches shall be confined to a single round for a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties or groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, which shall not exceed ten minutes each with a five-minute response from the Minister or Minister of State and all Members may share time. Proceedings on Committee and Remaining Stages shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 15 minutes by one question, which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Health.

(3) No. 62, shall commence on the conclusion of the Mental Health (Renewal Orders) Bill 2018 or at 8 p.m., whichever is the later, and shall conclude within two hours and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of Private Members’ business.

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

(1) No. 23 shall be brought to a conclusion after 45 minutes. Speeches shall be confined to a single round for a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties or groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, of five minutes each with a five-minute response from a Minister or Minister of State and all Members may share time.

(2) No. 24 shall be brought to a conclusion after 45 minutes. Speeches shall be confined to a single round for a Minister or Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties or groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, of five minutes each with a five-minute response from a Minister or Minister of State and all Members may share time.

In relation to Thursday’s business, it is proposed that No. 24a, shall be taken without debate.

There are three proposals to put to the House today. Is the proposal for dealing with today's business agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Wednesday's business agreed to?

It is not agreed. We have an issue with the motion regarding the sittings and business of the Dáil in budget week. I understand that, as a result of the Business Committee's deliberations, there will be no Order of Business next Wednesday or Thursday. I understand that is included in the proposition. We opposed that proposal at the Business Committee. The Order of Business is an important platform for Members, particularly those from the larger parliamentary parties, and only takes about 30 minutes each day. I do not see the necessity of eliminating it in budget week. I have no difficulty in agreeing to give as much time as Members want to contribute on the budget. However, I do not understand why the Order of Business has to be suppressed next Wednesday and Thursday. As a matter of routine, the Topical Issue debate should also continue but I understand some compromise has been effected on that. I ask that the House reconsider this matter. The Order of Business should be standard in sitting weeks of the House. I do not consider the budget to be a reason to eliminate it, particularly on the Wednesday and Thursday.

The proposal was certainly vehemently opposed at the Business Committee.

We do not have the d'Hondt mechanism for proposals made at the Business Committee.

No, we do not. The logic behind adopting the proposal before us is that it simply replicates what we did last year.

We do not agree with it.

That is fine.

The Order of Business is an important platform for Independents as well.

Yes, it is an important platform for Independents. Do we want to have a-----

I ask that the Business Committee reconsider the matter and add the Order of Business to the business on the days in question. It only takes 30 minutes each day.

The matter can be looked at and we will revert to the Deputy with our proposal in respect of it. Notwithstanding that, is the proposal for dealing with Wednesday's business agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with Thursday's business agreed to?

It is not agreed. Our party Whip has written to the Ceann Comhairle to request that additional time be made available this week, with perhaps a late sitting on Thursday and a sitting on Friday, to discuss the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill. Since the referendum, 1,500 women have travelled for terminations. It behoves us to treat this issue with the urgency that the referendum result demands. We ask that additional sittings be provided and that the Business Committee be reconvened to discuss that proposal.

The Business Committee can discuss that issue as well as the matter raised by Deputy Micheál Martin. It was discussed at length and I thought there was more or less unanimity on how we would deal with this particular-----

The Ceann Comhairle will have received correspondence on this.

I most definitely have had correspondence.

The Business Committee had agreed to waive pre-legislative scrutiny at the request of the Minster for Health. We will consult on that matter also and revert to the House tomorrow.