The House has agreed that, for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency only, the rapporteur's report on the Order of Business shall not be read out but shall be taken as read. There are two proposals to put to the House today. Is the proposal for dealing with Wednesday's business agreed to?

I emailed Government and Opposition Whips, the Ceann Comhairle and the officials of the Business Committee earlier today to request that the Minister for Education come before the House tomorrow to make a statement and take questions following the chaos that has emerged with regard to providing school services to children with special educational needs. I understand that can be facilitated tomorrow. Will the Government clarify how this is to be done?

We support that call. There is no need to elongate the debate on it. It is important that the Minister comes before the House to facilitate questions on this important matter.

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I also support that request. We have to get this sorted. As we know, it is a very sensitive issue. I hope it will be a case of third time lucky. I hope that all of us together can sort out this issue and that this very important cohort of students can be brought back into education with the agreement of all groups. We need some time to debate the matter.

Everybody would welcome the opportunity to have the Minister, Deputy Foley, and, it is to be hoped, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, in the House tomorrow. The length of time being given to debate on one of the most pressing issues in the country and that being given to debate the vaccine is not sufficient. Some six hours had been dedicated to Brexit this week. I understand that has now been reduced to five. It needs to be reduced further so that we can debate the things that matter most to the people in this country, including educational access for children with special needs. We also need to end the scapegoating of special needs assistants, SNAs, teachers and management and to put clearly on the table what it is the Minister intends to do. We need more time to discuss both this matter and the roll-out of the vaccine programme. We object to the Order of Business.

I understand that the Government has responded positively to this call.

Indeed it has. The Minister will be in tomorrow. I believe this proposal has been circulated. There is to be a statement by the Minister for Education and questions and answers on the issue of the day regarding special education from 4.24 p.m. to 6.04 p.m. There is also to be a debate of nearly two hours on the vaccine programme comprising a fixed 100-minute debate and a ten-minute wrap-up.

In light of this information, is the proposal for today's business agreed?

I reiterate that this question of educational access and what has happened regarding teachers and SNAs is the most pressing issue in the country.

It is to be debated tomorrow.

We need more than the 100 minutes or hour that is being given to deal with it. We should spend less time on Brexit and more time on this. It is pressing. Brexit will go on forever but this is absolutely pressing.

We had understood there was broad agreement on the proposal. We are leaving it at that. It was a reasonable and generous response. The Minister is quite prepared to come before the House to deal with this.

The Minister is coming in for longer than an hour or whatever Deputy Bríd Smith had been looking for, as I understand it.

Is Wednesday's business agreed to?

No, it is not.

I point out to the Deputy that Thursday is the day on which the Minister for Education is coming in. We are talking about today's business. Is today's business agreed to? Agreed.

Is the proposal for tomorrow's business when education will be debated agreed to?

Níl.

As only one teller can be produced by the Níl side, I must, in accordance with Standing Order 82, declare that the motion is carried and Thursday's business is therefore agreed to.

On the Order of Business, I call Deputy McDonald.