Today's business shall be No. 13, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the agreement between the member states of the European Union on the status of forces and of the NATO Partnership for Peace status of forces agreement, subject to the respective reservations, back from committee; No. 14, motion re Ireland's participation in a European Defence Agency project – military search capability building, referral to committee; and No. 1, Greyhound Racing Bill 2018 [Seanad] - Second Stage. Private Members' business shall be No. 213, motion re JobPath, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday’s business shall be No. 35, statements on CervicalCheck; No. 11, European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2019 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage; No. 1, Greyhound Racing Bill 2018 [Seanad] - Second Stage and No. 2, Companies (Amendment) Bill 2019 [Seanad] - Second Stage. Private Members' business shall be No. 214, motion re a fair start for every child, selected by the Labour Party.

Thursday's business shall be No. 36, statements on the fourth interim report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, and No. 2, Companies (Amendment) Bill 2019 [Seanad] - Second Stage. Thursday evening's business shall be No. 15, motion re report on tackling childhood obesity – Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.

I refer to the first revised report of the Business Committee of 4 February 2019. In relation to today's business, it is proposed that No. 13 shall conclude within 85 minutes and that speeches shall be confined to a Minister or a Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties and groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, which shall not exceed ten minutes each, with a five minute response from a Minister or a Minister of State, and all Members may share time; and that No. 14 shall conclude within 45 minutes and that speeches shall be confined to a Minister or a Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties and groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, which shall not exceed five minutes each, with a five minute response from a Minister or a Minister of State and all Members may share time. Private Members' business shall take place at 8 p.m. or at the conclusion of No. 14, whichever is the later, for two hours and the Dáil shall adjourn at conclusion of Private Members' business.

In relation to Wednesday’s business, it is proposed that there shall be no oral questions to the Taoiseach and that the sos, in accordance with Standing Order 25(1), shall take place at the conclusion of questions on promised legislation; that No. 35 shall conclude within two hours and that the statements of a Minister or a Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties and groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, shall not exceed ten minutes each. Following the statements, each party or group shall have five minutes each which shall consist of alternating questions and answers, with a five minute response from a Minister or a Minister of State and all Members may share time.

In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that, in relation to No. 36, the statements of a Minister or a Minister of State and the main spokespersons for parties and groups, or a Member nominated in their stead, shall not exceed ten minutes each and that the statement of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes each, with a five minute response from a Minister or a Minister of State and all Members may share time.

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

No. It would be a gross dereliction of its responsibility for the House to fail to discuss the nurses' strike this week. In the pelting rain this morning every nurse to whom I spoke expressed repeatedly his or her disbelief and fury at the failure of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to listen to the reasons nurses were striking and engage with them.

I do not believe the House should compound the failure of the Government to engage with the nurses, listen to them and actually discuss the issues that have led them out on strike-----

We cannot discuss them on the Order of Business.

It is why we need a debate. We need a full debate precisely because of what the nurses are saying that nobody is actually talking about the issues that have led them out on strike. If the Taoiseach wants to resolve it and the House wants to take its responsibility in trying to resolve it, it has to discuss the details of what is going on-----

The Deputy has made his case.

-----and end the spin and propaganda which the Taoiseach is using to evade his responsibility in the matter.

Does the Chief Whip wish to respond?

This issue was not raised at the Business Committee last week.

I contacted the Business Committee.

Two items were raised and they are being discussed this week. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, will be here tomorrow to debate CervicalCheck and there will also be a debate on Thursday on the mother and baby homes. The Minister will take Question Time today and be before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health tomorrow for a number of hours where I am sure this issue will be raised.

I do not think that is enough. It is not serious enough in the face of what is going on. The nurses do not want to be out. If the Taoiseach is serious about ending the dispute, we need to thrash out the issues fully.

I have answered several questions about the nurses strike already today and I am sure I will answer more in the coming days. The Minister for Health will be here to answer questions in the afternoon. He will also go before the health committee tomorrow. There will be ample opportunities to make speeches and statements on the strike, but it will not be resolved here. It can only be resolved through engagement at the Workplace Relations Commission-----

The Government is not engaging.

-----or the Labour Court.

For the purpose of clarifying the procedures-----

It is engaging the press machine.

-----the Business Committee, of which Deputy Boyd Barrett is a member, last year agreed to a protocol for dealing with industrial disputes. One of the provisos where a debate was requested was that it would not happen when an Oireachtas committee was already considering the issue. Our understanding is the Oireachtas committee will deal with it in the morning. If it does not do so, the Deputy will be quite in order to come back and say we need to have a debate, but my understanding is that is what the committee will do in the morning.

I am sorry; I am not trying to be disagreeable, but this issue is too serious. There is a need for a full Dáil debate on the issue-----

The Deputy's point has been made.

The House has decided to reject the proposed arrangements for the taking of today's business. I understand the Government Chief Whip has a proposal to put to the House.

As I indicated earlier, the Minister is to take oral parliamentary questions today and will be before a committee tomorrow for a number of hours. He will also attend the Dáil for statements on CervicalCheck. I propose that we defer to next week the oral parliamentary questions to the Minister which were to occur this week.

No way.

No. We could have a private notice question.

I will be here to speak about CervicalCheck tomorrow.

I propose that the Minister would come in today for two hours at 3.47 p.m. to discuss the matters relating to the nurses' strike, with oral questions scheduled for today deferred until next week.

While it is correct to say that the Order of Business has not received the approval of the House, nonetheless the rationale for that is to facilitate a debate on the nurses' dispute. I propose that we continue our activity in the order specified, Taoiseach's Questions and so on, and that the Business Committee would meet to reorder the schedule for the remaining days to accommodate a debate on the nurses' dispute.

That is fine as long as it is taken into account that it could be fitted in today at some stage.

I agree with Deputy Martin's proposal with one caveat. I am opposed to the removal of questions to the Minister for Health. Deputies have a range of health issues and are waiting for answers to them. I ask the Business Committee not to alter the parliamentary questions and to fit the health debate into another slot.

I agree if the Whip is agreeable to have it today. I am easy either way. I know it is important to have oral questions but if we want a debate today, we should have it today.

I propose that we have a meeting of the Business Committee immediately after this Order of Business and we will come back to the House with a proposal arising out of that. Is the proposal for dealing with Wednesday's business agreed to?

It is agreed subject to the outcome of today's meeting of the Business Committee.

I have to take it as it is.

It is difficult to agree until we have the new business from the Business Committee.

We accept it subject to what the Business Committee proposes.

It is agreed to subject to the Business Committee's proposal. Is the proposal for dealing with Thursday's business agreed to?

Subject to what the Business Committee says.

Subject to the Business Committee.

It is agreed, subject to what the Business Committee says.