I move:

Tuesday's business shall be:

- Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform on Rota for Leaders' Questions (without debate)

- Statements post European Council Meeting of 23rd-24th of March, pursuant to Standing Order 124 (not exceeding 130 mins, including 20 mins Q&A)

- Financial Motion by the Minister for Finance (to be taken no earlier than 5.30 p.m., to be brought to a conclusion after 30 mins and any division claimed shall be taken immediately)

- Finance Bill 2023 (Report and Final Stages) (to conclude within 90 minutes)

Private members' business shall be the Motion re Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Underspend and Reduced Delivery of Affordable Housing, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday’s business shall be:

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims (to conclude within 55 minutes)

- Courts Bill 2023 (Second Stage)*

- Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023 (Second Stage)*

Private members' business shall be the Motion re Vacant Homes Tax, selected by the Social Democrats.

*Please note: if not previously concluded, proceedings shall be interrupted on either of these two Bills at 6.30 p.m., or 3 hrs and 30 mins after the conclusion of the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, whichever is the later)

Thursday’s business shall be:

- Statements on Organised Crime (not to exceed 210 mins)

- Courts Bill 2023 (Second Stage, resumed)

- Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023 (Second Stage)

Thursday evening business shall be Second Stage of the Safe Deposit Boxes and Related Deposits Bill 2022.

Announcement of proposed arrangements for this week's business:

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

1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(i) the Dáil shall sit later than 10.30 p.m.; and

(ii) the time for Government business shall be extended for the purpose of allowing Report and Final Stages of the Finance Bill 2023 to conclude, with consequential effect on the commencement time for private members' business, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Justice, and topical issues;

2. the Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform on Rota for Leaders' Questions shall be taken without debate;

3. the following arrangements shall apply in relation to the Statements post European Council Meeting of 23rd-24th of March, pursuant to Standing Order 124:

(i) the statements shall consist of a single round, which shall not exceed 100 minutes, with arrangements in accordance with those agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, for that time, and shall be immediately followed by questions and answers which shall not exceed 20 minutes;

(ii) following the questions and answers, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(iii) members may share time;

4. the Financial Motion by the Minister for Finance shall be taken no earlier than 5.30 p.m. and shall be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes, and any division claimed shall be taken immediately; and

5. the proceedings on Report and Final Stage of the Finance Bill 2023 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Finance.

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

1. the ordinary routine of business as set out in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(i) Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 46(1) shall not be taken and the proceedings shall be suspended pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken;

(ii) Government business shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned, and the Dáil shall adjourn, at either 6.30 p.m. or 3 hours and 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, whichever is the later; and

(iii) no weekly division time pursuant to Standing Order 80(2) shall be taken; and

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 55 minutes, and the following arrangements shall apply:

(i) the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

- opening speech by a Minister or Minister of State - 10 minutes;

- speech by representative of Sinn Féin - 10 minutes;

- speeches by representatives of the Labour Party, Social Democrats, People-Before-Profit-Solidarity, the Regional Group, the Rural Independent Group and the Independent Group - 5 minutes per party or group; and

- a speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and

(ii) members may share time.

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

1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that, if not previously concluded, the proceedings on Government business shall be interrupted and stand adjourned and topical issues shall be taken at 7 p.m., with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Safe Deposit Boxes and Related Deposits Bill 2022 and on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil; Provided that in the event Government business concludes before 7 p.m., topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of Government business; and

2. the Statements on Organised Crime shall not exceed 210 minutes, with arrangements in accordance with those agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, for 200 minutes, following which a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, and members may share time.

Is the Order of Business agreed to?

It is not agreed. At the risk of being accused of point scoring, I raise the issue of facial recognition technology and the determination of the Minister for Justice to include this as an amendment to the bodycam Bill. We are not necessarily opposing facial recognition technology, but we are mindful that EU legislation is pending and that this recognition technology has been very problematic in places such as London and San Francisco. We require stand-alone legislation to deal with this comprehensively as well as pre-legislative scrutiny. We would like a debate on it this week. We do not feel the existing process the Minister is utilising for facial recognition technology will get the results we need.

We also have concerns about the same issue. Yesterday, the Tánaiste said he supported it. This is a step too far. We are supporting bodycams for An Garda Síochána, but we have concerns and issues about facial recognition and it needs to be debated and not by way of sticking it in as an amendment at this stage in the legislation, so we are opposing it.

I call the Taoiseach on the bodycams issue, I think.

Not bodycams, facial recognition.

This is still a matter under discussion in government. I think there is a place for facial recognition technology. At the moment the Garda needs to use enormous amounts of manpower looking back over old CCTV footage to try to identify people, identify perpetrators and help victims of crime. Using that technology makes considerable sense but there must be adequate safeguards because it is a new technology and it can be abused. It is still a matter under discussion in government. Certainly, before we make any proposals, they need to come to the House for legislation and for debate.

That debate does not necessarily have to take place this week. Are the proposed arrangements agreed to? Agreed.

I call Deputy McDonald on Questions on Policy or Legislation.