I move:

Tuesday's business shall be Statements on Policing and Community Safety (to adjourn after 2 hours).

Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Guaranteeing Right to Education in Irish to All, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday's business shall be:

- Statements on Policing and Community Safety (resumed) (not to exceed 1 hour and 32 minutes)

- Statements on the Irish Language to mark Seachtain na Gaeilge (to be taken no earlier than 3.45 p.m. and to conclude within 2 hours and 25 minutes)

- Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023 (Committee and remaining Stages) (to be taken no earlier than 5 p.m. and to adjourn at 8.31 p.m. or after 2 hours and 30 minutes, whichever is the later)

Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Addressing Government Waste and Oversight in Public Expenditure, selected by the Independent Technical Group.

Thursday's business shall be Statements on International Women's Day (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes).

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 extent that private members’ business may be taken earlier than 6.12 p.m. and shall, in any event be taken on the adjournment of the Statements on Policing and Community Safety, or where those statements conclude within the available time, on the conclusion thereof, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business, namely, oral Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Transport, and topical issues, and on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil; and

2. the proceedings on the Statements on Policing and Community Safety shall be interrupted and stand adjourned after 2 hours and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(i) the arrangements for the statements shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(ii) any speaking slots which are not reached may be taken on Wednesday in accordance with the agreed sequence; and

(iii) 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) Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken, and the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) shall commence at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Government business; and

(ii) the weekly division time may be taken earlier than 8.45 p.m., and shall in any event be taken on the adjournment of proceedings on the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023, or where those proceedings conclude within the allotted time, on the conclusion thereof, with consequential effect on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil;

2. the resumed Statements on Policing and Community Safety shall not exceed 1 hour and 32 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(i) the speaking slots from Tuesday’s arrangements for the statements shall be continued from the point at which they were adjourned;

(ii) following the statements, 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;

3. the proceedings on the Statements on the Irish Language to mark Seachtain na Gaeilge shall be taken either at 3.45 p.m. or on the conclusion of the Statements on Policing and Community Safety, whichever is the later, and shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(i) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(ii) following the statements, 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; and

4. the proceedings on Committee and remaining Stages of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023 shall be taken either at 5 p.m. or on the conclusion of the Statements on the Irish Language to mark Seachtain na Gaeilge, whichever is the later, and shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned either at 8.31 p.m. or after 2 hours and 30 minutes, whichever is the later.

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

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

(I) no motion for a Committee report pursuant to Standing Order 111 or private member's Bill pursuant to Standing Order 169 shall be taken; and

(II) topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on International Women’s Day; and

(ii) the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of topical issues until 2 p.m. on Wednesday 19th March, 2025; and

2. the Statements on International Women’s Day shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(i) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(ii) following the statements, 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.

Are the proposed arrangements for the week's business agreed to?

Not agreed.

We will take contributions in party order. Deputy Doherty, as briefly as possible.

At the end of January the Government gave its word on the floor of the Dáil that it would work with the Opposition to find a resolution to the impasse relating to the status of the Michael Lowry group of Independent TDs that would be acceptable to both Government and Opposition. It has gone back on its word now and has proposed to put a motion before the Dáil that puts Michael Lowry and his group in the centre of Opposition, giving them Opposition rights such as Leaders' Questions and others. It does that at a time when Taoiseach himself will reduce Taoiseach's Questions by half to only one day per week instead of two days per week. We need to find a resolution to this. Everybody knows - the dogs in the street know - that Michael Lowry is a Government TD. It is as simple as that, and they need to deal with that fact.

We have.

Will the Taoiseach do what the combined Opposition leaders have asked of him? They have written to him and asked him to sit down to let us find a solution to this that is sensible, practical and common sense. The Government needs to show a bit of common sense on this issue.

Leave up the nonsense so we can carry on with the work of the House.

On that issue, the Labour Party and other groups in the Opposition have submitted a private notice question under Standing Order 44 to ask the Taoiseach to explain the actions of the Government Chief Whip at the Dáil reform meeting last Wednesday, actions which were incredible for those who were there. I have just found out in the past two minutes that this request has been rejected. I am upset by that, and I think others will be. I would like an explanation as to why it was rejected.

There is also the matter of our request for the international security situation to be discussed in the Dáil. We made a request as a party for it. It is not on the Order of Business.

We need an urgent discussion on that as well.

I watched the Taoiseach on "The Late Late Show" on Friday evening when, in his rush to defend the unjustifiable, he made a comparison between the deal he struck behind closed doors with Michael Lowry and the deal made between one of his predecessors and Tony Gregory in 1982. I will be very clear: the Gregory deal of 1982 was published. It was there for all to see. The public knew exactly what was going on. The Taoiseach should not compare it to the shoddy little deals he has made with Michael Lowry.

Hear, hear.

We know what happens with Michael Lowry behind closed doors because we have reams and reams of a tribunal report, a report that uses words such as "insidious" and "profoundly corrupt". Do you know what word it does not use? It does not say "altruistic". There is nothing about making deals and expecting nothing in return. The Taoiseach must step back from the precipice because we are heading into uncharted waters as regards how we conduct business in this Parliament and he is bringing us there.

What the Taoiseach is attempting to do with this stroke with the Lowry group of Independents is an authoritarian manoeuvre.

It is.

It might not be comfortable for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their supporters in the Lowry group to hear that truth but this is about diminishing the capacity of the Opposition to hold the Government to account.

The Opposition has not lost one slot.

Something that has not got much coverage in this-----

Government Members can try to shout me down but the Taoiseach and the Government propose to halve the number of Taoiseach's questions in any given week.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

At the same time as he pretends to be standing up for the rights of backbenchers, the Taoiseach is halving the opportunities that exist for backbenchers and others. Why is he doing that? It is because he wants to play this game of allowing people to pretend they are in the Opposition when they are in the Government. It will be resisted.

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, the ICSA and the Irish Rural Association are today protesting about GAEC 2 at Agriculture House. If this is not stopped, it will mean more regulations acting against Irish farmers. They need an urgent meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Instead of giving these genuine farmers debate time today, I am asking the Taoiseach to meet with Opposition leaders to talk about the speaking row in this Dáil. Last week, Dáil reform became Dáil dictation. After four hours of what we felt to be progress, this document of destruction was waved at us. After some confusion, a vote was called. If we are honest, that was always on the cards that night. On the one hand, the Taoiseach wants to give the Lowry group eight minutes of extra time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and six minutes on Thursdays for priority questions. He says that they and Government TDs have a right to speak. On the other hand, in the same document, it is proposed to change Standing Order 48 so that Government and Opposition questions to the Taoiseach will take place for only 45 minutes a week instead of twice a week. Can we meet with the Taoiseach at the end of this day to discuss this matter and to try to bring it to a proper conclusion?

Deputy Doherty is not interested in a resolution. In a strange way, he is enjoying this and will keep it going for as long as he possibly can. I have got many letters from the leaders of the Opposition parties. I recall the night I was meant to be elected Taoiseach. We saw what happened then. I remember ringing Deputy Bacik, who had written a letter and told RTÉ, Virgin Media and everybody else that she was desperately seeking a meeting with the leaders of the Government parties. It transpired that Deputy Bacik was out on "Prime Time". When we then rang Deputy McDonald, she was at home.

The Taoiseach should deal with the issues.

Deal with the issue.

Meanwhile, the Tánaiste and I were waiting above in the Sycamore room. Where were the leaders of the Opposition parties?

On a point of order, we indicated that we would come back.

They were nowhere to be seen. They dispatched a letter, told the media they had done so and then went off doing what they were going to do anyway.

This has happened on more than one occasion. The last time I got a phone call from Deputy Bacik, I was at a meeting in Brussels.

These tales are so interesting.

She asked whether we could meet. A half an hour later, on the 9 o'clock news, I heard that Deputy Bacik had written to the Taoiseach seeking an urgent meeting.

This is completely out of order.

This kind of play-acting keeps going on.

The Taoiseach had rejected my original proposal.

To be fair, Deputy Gannon said we are in uncharted waters and we are. We are in uncharted waters across the world, where the most profound and grave challenges are facing people. There are terrible wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

This is a diversion.

There is a terrible war in Sudan and there are very significant economic headwinds coming. Let us be frank; the situation is very serious.

So why are you doing this?

It is very uncertain and very uncharted.

With respect to the Chair, eight minutes on a Wednesday-----

For your friend.

For Michael Lowry.

-----in addition to what was already there and eight minutes on a Thursday, pales into insignificance-----

Remember little Maddie.

-----with what we are facing collectively as a country.

It is time to cop on here, and have a bit of common sense and proportionality.

We have a mandate too.

The presentation from the Opposition is very disproportionate.

Are the proposed arrangements agreed to?

Not agreed.