I move:

Wednesday’s business shall be:

- Motion re First Report of the Committee of Selection and appointment of Cathaoirligh (any division claimed to be taken immediately)

- Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Members to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (any division claimed to be taken immediately)

- Motion re Dissolution of Select Committee on Subsidiarity (European Union Legislative Scrutiny)

- Statements to mark Europe Day (not to exceed 2 hrs 25 mins)

- Statements on the Farrelly Commission Report (resumed) (not to exceed remaining time)

Wednesday's private members' business shall be Motion re Childcare, selected by Sinn Féin.

Thursday's business shall be the Motion re Extension of Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021 (to conclude within 60 minutes).

Thursday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Parental Choice in Education, selected by the Social Democrats.

Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business:

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 extent that, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 34(1)¯

(a) the Dáil may sit later than 10.48 p.m.;

(b) the only Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) which may be answered shall be those under the aegis of the Government Chief Whip, with consequential effect on the time for commencement of Government business;

(c) private members' business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on the Farrelly Report;

(d) Parliamentary Questions to a Minister other than the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken; and

(e) topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members’ business;

2. the proceedings on the Motion re First Report of the Committee of Selection and appointment of Cathaoirligh shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;

3. the proceedings on the Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Members to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;

4. the proceedings on the Motion re Dissolution of Select Committee on Subsidiarity (European Union Legislative Scrutiny) shall be taken without debate;

5. the Statements to mark Europe Day shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(a) 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);

(b) 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

(c) members may share time; and

6. the resumed Statements on the Farrelly Commission Report shall not exceed the time remaining from last week’s arrangements, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(a) the speaking slots from the arrangements for the statements from Thursday, 1st May, 2025, shall be continued from the point at which they were adjourned;

(b) 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

(c) 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 following extent:

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

(b) the Questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) which were to be taken on Thursday, 10th April, 2025, shall be taken immediately following the SOS, without any change to the allocation of priority Questions to the Tánaiste and not otherwise affecting the current sequence of Ministers or rota for priority Questions as ordered by the House;

(c) private members' business pursuant to Standing Order 168(1) and Standing Order 176 shall be taken for 2 hours on the conclusion of the Motion re Extension of Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021; and

(d) topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members' business, and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of topical issues; and

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Extension of Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021 shall be taken no earlier than 3.30 p.m. and, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:

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

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

speeches by representatives of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Independent Technical Group – 7.5 minutes per party or group;

speeches by non-party/group members – 7.5 minutes in total; and

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

(b) members may share time.

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

Not agreed.

I remind Members they have 30 seconds to pose their disagreement. I call Deputy Mac Lochlainn.

It has now been 19 months of genocide and slaughter in Gaza. It has been more than two months of blockades, blocking food and humanitarian aid to the beleaguered people of Gaza. We now have the outrage upon outrage of Netanyahu making it clear he intends to assume full control and displace so many people. We need an emergency debate in this Chamber this week. We need the Minister and questions. We need to send a clear statement there will be sanctions and a price to pay.

Hear, hear.

Thank you, Deputy. I call Deputy Sheehan.

I would like to agree with and be associated with Deputy Mac Lochlainn's remarks.

The Minister for housing needs to come in to the Dáil this week to answer questions relating to both the current and future funding of Uisce Éireann, the role of the so-called "housing tsar" and the strategic housing activation office.

The principle of a strategic body to unblock the issues around housing development is an idea that definitely has merit and deserves consideration provided it is underpinned by legislation, as was set out by the Housing Commission.

There have been 19 months of devastation and evil on a scale not witnessed in many centuries. We have watched annihilation being afflicted upon Gaza. We now have the calls from Netanyahu and those who follow him for ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. We have heard the words of the Taoiseach and the talk of the Tánaiste last week. We need to know when there is going to be action and consequence. Can we have statements immediately on the situation in Gaza and can we finally understand what Ireland is actually going to do beyond words?

Last week I asked for a debate on the Government's housing policy or lack of it. Since then, the Government's credibility has collapsed even further with the debacle over the housing tsar. We need an emergency debate this week on housing. Does the Government agree that it is untenable for Brendan McDonagh to remain as head of NAMA when he has been using different aliases in legal documents submitted to the Land Registry and in planning applications and when he is charging more than €10,000 a week to rent a property short term without planning permission in a rent pressure zone, RPZ?

For the past five weeks or so I have been looking for a debate on agriculture weeks relating to the ACRE payments. There are 9,000 farmers waiting for their payments in respect of 2023 and 2024. Some 2,000 have not received payments for 2023. We also have a crisis with tuberculosis, TB, which is costing farmers €150 million with the highest rates of TB since 2003, up 36%. We also need to debate water quality in relation to agriculture. The derogation has improved and we need a debate on this immediately, this week. The Chief Whip has-----

I thank the Deputy; 30 seconds are 30 seconds. Are the proposed arrangements agreed to?

Under Standing Order 35(3)-----

Will the Deputy state the amendment?

Regarding an amendment to provide for the debate on Gaza. Israel is committing war crimes. There is a genocide under way. Palestinians starve-----

Will the Deputy read the amendment?

The international community sits on the sidelines and others actively arm and facilitate this horror. We need a debate here this week on this matter.

I call the Chief Whip to respond.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I note the requests from the Opposition Whips. They can be discussed at the Business Committee tomorrow morning. I informed Deputy Collins last Thursday that the debate on agriculture will take place next week. That has not changed. In regard to the amendment, the Government will not accept it.