I move:

Tuesday's business shall be:

- Revised Estimate for Public Services 2024 [Vote 23] and Further Revised Estimates for Public Services 2024 [Votes 16 and 34] (to be moved together and decided without debate by one question).

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regulations and a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on international protection, asylum and migration (debate on Tuesday to consist of two speaking rounds; proceedings will then stand adjourned until Wednesday; first speaking round on Tuesday 202 minutes; second speaking round on Tuesday 100 minutes).

Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Carers, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday's business shall be:

- Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 (Second Stage)

- Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024 (Second Stage)

(if not previously concluded, debate shall be interrupted on these Bills either at 4.30 p.m. or after 2 hours and 16 minutes, whichever is the later).

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regulations and a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on international protection, asylum and migration (resumed) (to consist of a single speaking round not exceeding 210 minutes, following which proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion).

- Employment Permits Bill 2022 (Amendments from the Seanad) (to commence no earlier than 6 p.m. and if not previously concluded, to adjourn after 60 minutes).

- Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2024 (Report and Final Stages) (if not previously concluded, to adjourn after 60 minutes).

- Charities (Amendment) Bill 2023 (Report and Final Stages) (if not previously concluded, to adjourn either at 11.30 p.m. or after 90 minutes, whichever is the later).

Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Hospitality and Tourism Sector, selected by the Rural Independent Group.

Thursday's business shall be:

- Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 (Second Stage, resumed, if not previously concluded)

- Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024 (Second Stage)

(if not previously concluded, debate shall be interrupted on these Bills either at 6 p.m. or after 4 hours and 16 minutes, whichever is the later).

Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Mortgage Interest Rates Cap Bill 2023.

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 may sit later than 10.32 p.m.;

(ii) the time allotted to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regulations and a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on international protection, asylum and migration;

(iii) private members’ business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the adjournment of Government business, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; and

(iv) topical issues pursuant to Standing Order 37 shall not be taken and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of oral Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth;

2. the Motions for Revised Estimate for Public Services 2024 [Vote 23] and Further Revised Estimates for Public Services 2024 [Votes 16 and 34] shall be moved together and decided without debate by one question, which shall be put from the Chair; and

3. on Tuesday, the debate on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regulations and a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on international protection, asylum and migration shall consist of two speaking rounds and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:

(i) the arrangements for the speeches on the first speaking round shall be in accordance with the arrangements agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, for 200 minutes, and the Resolution of the Dáil of 20 September, 2023, providing for two minutes for non-aligned members;

(ii) the arrangements for the speeches on the second speaking round shall be in accordance with the arrangements agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30 July, 2020, for 100 minutes;

(iii) on the conclusion of the second speaking round, the debate shall stand adjourned; and

(iv) members may share time.

In relation to Wednesday'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 may sit later than 9.30 p.m. and shall adjourn on the conclusion of the weekly division time, which may be taken later than 8.45 p.m., and shall in any event be taken either on the adjournment of the Charities (Amendment) Bill 2023, or where that Bill concludes within the available time, on the conclusion thereof: Provided that if there are no deferred divisions, the Dáil shall adjourn on the adjournment of the Charities (Amendment) Bill 2023, or on its conclusion if it concludes within the available time; and

(ii) the only Taoiseach’s oral questions to be taken pursuant to Standing Order 46(1) shall be those within the remit of a Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach;

2. in relation to Second Stage of the Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024, and, if reached, Second Stage of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024, the following arrangements shall apply:

(i) the proceedings shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned either at 4.30 p.m. or after 2 hours and 16 minutes, whichever is the later;

(ii) the proceedings shall not be resumed on Wednesday; and

(iii) any divisions claimed on the proceedings shall be deferred until immediately prior to Committee Stage of the relevant Bill;

3. on Wednesday, the resumed proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Regulations and a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on international protection, asylum and migration shall be brought to a conclusion after 210 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:

(i) the arrangements for the speeches, not including the Minister’s response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30 July, 2020, for 200 minutes;

(ii) on the conclusion of the speeches, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(iii) members may share time;

4. the proceedings on the amendments from the Seanad to the Employment Permits Bill 2022 shall be taken no earlier than 6 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 1 hour, and shall not be resumed on Wednesday;

5. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2024 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 1 hour, and shall not be resumed on Wednesday; and

6. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Charities (Amendment) Bill 2023 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned either at 11.30 p.m. or after 90 minutes, whichever is the later, and shall not be resumed on Wednesday.

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 following extent:

(i) topical issues pursuant to Standing Order 37—

(a) may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the adjournment of proceedings on Government business, or where Government business concludes within the allocated time, on the conclusion thereof; and

(b) may be taken for 96 minutes, and more than four topical issues may be taken; and

(ii) Thursday evening business, i.e., Second Stage of the Mortgage Interest Rates Cap Bill 2023, may be taken earlier than 8.12 p.m., and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of topical issues, with consequential effect on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil; and

2. in relation to Second Stage of the Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024, and, if reached, Second Stage of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024, the following arrangements shall apply:

(i) any proceedings, resumed or otherwise, shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned either at 6 p.m. or after 4 hours and 16 minutes, whichever is the later;

(ii) the proceedings shall not be resumed on Thursday, and

(iii) any division claimed on the proceedings shall be deferred until immediately prior to Committee Stage of the relevant Bill.

Is that agreed?

Not agreed.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach said the consensus was emerging among many EU leaders to back Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term. I listened carefully to his comments a few moments ago. It will be a concerning development for people in Ireland, notwithstanding what he said about Ursula von der Leyen. She has not rowed back from her initial unqualified support for the Netanyahu regime, as we see the genocidal death toll in Gaza rising. I ask that we have a debate on her reappointment as Commission President in this House so we can highlight and insert some transparency to the process, to see who from Ireland will be backing her in this attempt to become Commission President for a second term.

On the EU migration and asylum pact, we had asked for as much time as possible and to take whatever time is needed on this. It is a matter of serious concern among the Opposition that, while the Government has granted more time, it will be scheduled to conclude tomorrow. I again ask the Government to consider allowing this to take as much time as possible and to adjourn until Thursday, or next week. We clearly need more time in the Oireachtas to demonstrate we have had the fullest debate and the fullest opportunity before we vote on the matter.

The Taoiseach will recall that as Minister for Health in 2017 he committed to introduce a statutory right to home care. In 2020, he said the scheme was nearly ready and the new Government would introduce it. Here we are, four years later, and we are no nearer to having a statutory scheme for home care. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, admitted as much last week when she said the nut of funding that scheme had not been cracked. This failure to follow through on that broken promise has huge implications for the care of older people, as more older people are being forced into nursing homes because of the absence of such a scheme. Will the Taoiseach allow time this week to discuss the implications of that for a large number of older people who have been let down by this Government?

The Women's Aid annual report is a chapter of horrors, with 40,000 disclosures of abuse against women and children, which is the highest recorded since the charity's inception 50 years ago. It is noteworthy that 86% of abuse was committed by a current or former male intimate partner. It is also interesting that 48% of women who reported abuse to An Garda found gardaí to be unhelpful. That needs to be discussed. I propose that the Business Committee put this issue onto the Dáil schedule as soon as possible.

As the Ceann Comhairle knows, at last week's Business Committee meeting, I forcefully put across my opposition to the imposition of a guillotine this week. I made the point that every Member who wishes to speak on the migration pact should be, and must be, facilitated to do that. I have been in contact with the Taoiseach's office and that of the Chief Whip. I know additional time is being provided and that is welcome.

If that happens, I will not oppose the moving of the debate today.

The Ceann Comhairle knows well I have raised this for several weeks at the Business Committee, and the fact the Government deceitfully hid this pact until after the local and European elections. Now, we are debating a red herring here because it is already adopted in Europe, we are told. The Government has changed the wording of it. We need ample time to discuss this. Indeed, the Taoiseach promised us we would have ample time to debate it on the floor of the Dáil, as did the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, and the Minister for Justice. It is a pact that took ten years of gestation in Europe and we are going to dispense with it with a guillotine here after maybe six and a half hours. It is outrageous. We in the Rural Independent Group are fundamentally opposed to it. We have been trying to get debates on this issue for almost 18 months - we are the only party or group that has been – and we continue to do so. This is being rushed after, as I said, it was hidden away from the people until after the elections. The Government did the same with the referendums, for which it did not divulge the Attorney General's advice. We want to see the Attorney General's advice regarding many issues and many aspects of this pact. We are fundamentally opposed to it.

I thank the Deputies. First, in respect of Deputy Bacik's point, I am not sure this always come across in our domestic debates on European positions but four posts are currently being considered in Europe - the European Parliament President, the President of the Council, the President of the Commission and the High Representative for foreign affairs - and the different political groupings at a European level are involved in that, including the Deputy's own group, the Socialists and Democrats. Based on the conversations I had yesterday, my understanding is the S&D group is very actively involved in these discussions, and I have yet to see any sort of red flags or opposition be raised by the S&D to President von der Leyen at a European level. The European Council will meet again next Thursday and Friday, when I hope the Council will be in a position to make a decision on a name to go to the Parliament, and then it will be up to each MEP, including our Irish MEPs, in a secret ballot, I believe, to vote yea or nay on whatever name is sent there. I am not sure, in all truth, whether the House will be able to facilitate a debate in advance of that, but I am open to it and have no difficulty with that.

In regard to the issue of the EU migration pact, I think there were some sensible suggestions from Deputy Naughten and others, and I do not disagree with what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said. There is no deceitfulness going on. We did say we would provide ample time on this. I think eight and a half hours are scheduled between today and tomorrow, from my recollection. What we are clearly saying today in the Dáil is that if time is running out tomorrow on the EU migration pact debate and if there are still people who have indicated they wish to speak, the Whip will come back to the House and make a new business proposal on the floor to extend the time. Every Member of Dáil Éireann, therefore, who wishes to speak on the pact will have time to do so. To clarify, anyone who wants to speak on the pact will have time to speak on the pact, and I think that is the definition of ample time, where everyone will have an opportunity.

On the issue of statutory home care, for that reason, it is unlikely there will be an ability to have a debate on the statutory home care scheme this week, but I am happy that we would facilitate a debate on it. It will not be this week because of the time we are passing over, but I am happy for it to be pursued. There is an update I can give to the House on a lot of the good work that is going on, including the legislative piece recently receiving Cabinet approval, but let us schedule that debate for as soon as possible.

Similarly, on the Women's Aid report, there is no difficulty from our perspective on having a debate on the work of Cuan, the Women's Aid report and our zero-tolerance strategy. Again, it is just that the timing will need to be agreed by the Business Committee.

I thank the Taoiseach. Are the proposed arrangements agreed to?

Not agreed.

How many times do you want to speak on it? Are you voting against the arrangement to allow every Deputy to speak on it?