I move:

Tuesday's business shall be:

- Motion re Excess Vote relating to 2024 [Vote 14] (without debate)

- Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to conclude within 3 hours and 34 minutes)

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

Wednesday's business shall be:

- Statements on Online Safety (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes)

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann for a Council Decision to sign the Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (to commence no earlier than 5.20 p.m. and to conclude within 1 hour)

- Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad] (Committee and remaining Stages) (to conclude within 1 hour)

- Motion to Instruct the Committee on the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 (to conclude within 1 hour and any division claimed to be taken immediately)

- Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Committee and remaining Stages) (if not previously concluded, to conclude either at 12.22 a.m. or after 4 hours, whichever is the later)

Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Second Stage of the Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025, selected by Social Democrats.

Thursday's business shall be the Motion re Restoration of Private Members’ Bill to the Order Paper (without debate).

Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024, sponsored by Deputy David Cullinane.

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:

(a) the time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 10.48 p.m.;

(b) Oral Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken and Government business shall commence at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken; and

(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 Second Stage of the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business, namely, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Finance and topical issues;

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Excess Vote relating to 2024 [Vote 14] shall be taken without debate; and

3. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall be brought to a conclusion after 3 hours and 34 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:

(a) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(b) on the conclusion of the first speaking round or where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; and

(c) 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:

(a) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 9.30 p.m.;

(b) the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) shall be taken immediately following Taoiseach’s Oral Parliamentary Questions pursuant to Standing Order 47(1), which shall be taken at the time when the SOS would normally be taken;

(c) in the event the Statements on Online Safety conclude before 5.20 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 5.20 p.m. when the order of business shall resume with the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann for a Council Decision to sign the Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; and

(d) the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025, and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of the weekly division time;

2. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours;

3. the Statements on Online Safety 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;

4. the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann for a Council Decision to sign the Third Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters shall, 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 Other Members – 7.5 minutes in total; and

speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and

(b) members may share time;

5. the proceedings on Committee and remaining Stages of the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad] shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 1 hour 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 Culture, Communications and Sport;

6. the proceedings on the Motion to Instruct the Committee on the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall, 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 Other Members – 7.5 minutes in total; and

a speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes;

(b) members may share time; and

(c) any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and

7. the proceedings on Committee and remaining Stages of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion either at 12.22 p.m. or after 4 hours, whichever is the later, 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 Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

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) pursuant to an Order of the Dáil of 2nd December, 2025, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall be taken for 96.5 minutes immediately following the SOS;

(b) topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science pursuant to Standing Order 47(1), with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024; and

(c) the Dáil shall adjourn on conclusion of the Second Stage of the Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024; and

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Restoration of Private Members’ Bill to the Order Paper shall be taken without debate.

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

Not agreed.

Not agreed.

I call Deputy Mac Lochlainn.

The reports into Operations Kenova and Denton expose a central role of the British state over decades in hundreds of targeted assassinations and murders of nationalists in the Six Counties. We need an urgent debate. Tomorrow there are statements on online safety, and I suggest to the Chief Whip that we have a debate on these reports tomorrow and deal with the seriousness of it, the central role of the British state and how it cannot dictate in terms of the legacy legislation and consider how it blocked co-operation with these reports.

We need an urgent debate on the crisis in emergency departments across the country. Last week 14 ambulances were stacked up outside Wexford General Hospital, with no access to the emergency department because it was already packed. Some 14 ambulances taken out of service, some for up to seven hours. We are facing an urgent crisis in the emergency department. Wexford needs a demountable unit to avoid this crisis happening again.

Over the weekend, a child of four years of age and his 60-year-old great aunt were murdered in their own home through an arson attack in a manner most despicable and most heinous. It is something which absolutely requires the immediate attention of this House. I cannot understand how the justice Minister is not here talking about how we are going to crack these gangs and how we were are going to confront drug-related intimidation that is destroying our communities. This warrants immediacy.

I joined disabled activists and disability groups in a protest outside the Dáil this morning. They were protesting over the fact that the recent budget has plunged them into poverty. One disabled person described how, for example, he has to sit down and consider whether he can put one bar or two bars on the gas heater that he sits beside. He described his own personal humiliation at having to go to food banks to get sandwiches because he cannot afford food. They were pleading with this Government for an emergency winter payment to be provided to deal with this and for a cost-of-disability payment.

Will the Minister respond?

I want to bring up the Galway West and Dublin Central by-elections and the fact that nobody is talking about them and the writs have not been issued.

The Mercosur deal is hugely important. We have a crisis in this country where we face, on 20 December, the Commissioner trying to push this ahead so that she can sell vehicles from Germany. There is a Fine Gael MEP and a Fianna Fáil MEP who state they support this shocking, terrible deal which will bring rotten meat into this country.

Thank you, Deputy. Time is up.

We need a clear statement form the Taoiseach. What is the stance of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs? Do they support the Mercosur deal or not?

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all the Whips for raising these important issues. We will take the opportunity on Thursday at the Business Committee meeting to discuss them further. The Order of Business stands.

Are the proposed arrangements for the business agreed?

Not agreed.