As I said last week, the timing of business and the amount of time the House sits are not determined by the Government. They are determined by public health advice. That was made clear last week, and health and safety-----

So we cannot debate public health advice because-----

Deputy, please let the Taoiseach respond.

I am talking about the length of time the Dáil sits. There are constraints on what can be debated and what can be facilitated within the time constraints provided as a result of public health advice in the context of Covid-19 and the health and safety advice that the Oireachtas provided - not the Government, not my office, but the Oireachtas. Also, I understand there were communications from staff associations as well. We are in a difficult wave of Covid-19 with the new variants, so that is probably without question informing that advice. That said, I am not-----

All the more reason to hold the Government to account for this shambles.

The Minister for Health will be in here all week on the quarantining Bill. The demand from - maybe not Deputy McNamara - most Members of the House has been for this Bill to be introduced and for this issue to be dealt with as expeditiously as possible because people want a mandatory quarantining regime to be put in place from a legislative perspective.

We are told it will not be for weeks.

I am open to the House in relation to the timelines for the Bill. I understood this was an agreed process and that people were anxious to get this through but the Whip may want to discuss the issue with others. I am not going to be accused of guillotining legislation of this kind but there is a time pressure on this. Let us be honest about that. People may have different views on the legislation but I believe it is proportionate, balanced and grounded in public health. There are protections in it from a civil liberties perspective, about which Deputy McNamara might have genuine concerns.

When will it be implemented?

There is pressure on it, of course there is.

If the Government is not going to implement it straightaway, what is the rush?

Immediately after the legislation is passed, we will have to work up the regulatory framework and get it up and running. The legislation is key to enabling one to do that.

With regard to Deputy Paul Murphy's point, there is no blind eye being turned to meat plants. That is not the case at all.

Why is there still no sick pay?

We debated this on Leaders' Questions and the Deputy's view is that there should be a longer lockdown. That is what he would prefer, without question. This week, the quarantining legislation is the priority. Last week, the Minister for Health and his Ministers of State were before the House. Every week, issues pertaining to Covid have been debated in the House. My understanding is that there will be additional hours next week, as Deputy Ó Lochlainn said. I think the Business Committee is considering that matter and it is one for that committee. We have facilitated a debate this afternoon on Northern Ireland, which was requested and which the Government was happy to facilitate. There are constraints, which are there because of Covid-19 and not because of any Government provision.