The Order of Business is No. a1, motion re arrangements for the sitting of the House on Tuesday, 11 December, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of the Order of Business; No. 1, motion re opt-in under Protocol No. 21 to take part in a measure in respect of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, AMIF, back from committee, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of No. a1; No. 2, Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018 – Second Stage, to be taken at 12.45 p.m., with the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes each and those of all other Senators not to exceed five minutes each; and No. 2a, Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 - Second Stage, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 2, with the contributions of spokespersons not to exceed 12 minutes each and those of all other Senators not to exceed eight minutes each.

I welcome An Bord Pleanála's decision of 16 November confirming that the Player Wills site on the South Circular Road will remain on the vacant sites register. This site is valued at €100 million. The annual vacant site levy is 7% and this will be ring-fenced for local regeneration projects and is payable to Dublin City Council. I hope this decision will ensure that the site is developed expediently and that there will be proper planning, housing and amenities in this area, which needs attention from the Government. I look forward to seeing the plans and seeing movement on the site.

I have raised the issue of cyber and telephone scams on unsuspecting members of the public. The Revenue Commissioners have warned about a scam that involves an unsolicited call from people purporting to work for the Revenue demanding immediate payment of tax bills and being told that a criminal case will be taken against them if they do not pay their putative tax bill immediately. I understand no one has fallen victim to the scam yet but it is likely that somebody could, and people should realise that they should not give credit card or personal details over the phone, especially in response to an unsolicited caller.

Cybercrime is a major issue which is starting to affect more and more businesses, particularly in respect of malware and ransomware. According to Europol's fifth annual Internet organised crime threat assessment, ransomware was the greatest malware threat in 2018. Ransomware lockdowns can result in outages, financial loss and reputational damage. Large companies and public organisations were attacked by ransomware last year. Their systems were encrypted and locked down. Now this ransomware is not only affecting desktop computers and servers but is starting to attack people's phones. It is something that people need to be aware of to ensure all their software is updated and they have all their security settings on. If it is ignored, it goes away but it can be upsetting for people to receive, especially the ransomware-type emails because they feel vulnerable if they receive them. I would like people to make sure that all their security systems, particularly on their phones, are updated and that they ignore any ransomware-type messages that they receive by email.

Looking forward to the debate on the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 that is scheduled to begin later, I would like to indicate that this is a civilised House where there is usually a fair and reasonable discussion of all issues.

It is a House in which personal remarks are not normally entertained or made.

I know that there will be amendments in this debate, probably from both a pro-life and a pro-choice perspective. This is a revising Chamber and when we get to the Second Stage, nobody should be bulldozed out of the way. People on either side of the argument are entitled to make their points. We should also make adequate time available to deal with this legislation in order that nobody will feel that he or she is being shouted down or rushed off the points he or she is making simply because those points are unpopular or will delay what others want to happen. We have 13 days in which to complete our deliberations on this legislation and, if we make amendments - I do not know if we will - send it back to the Dáil for its further consideration by the Dáil. That will mean it can be dealt with before the end of this calendar year, which seems to be a priority for some people.

Nobody in this House is morally superior or inferior to anybody else.

Hear, hear.

I express hope on behalf of the Independent group in general that the debate will proceed on that basis. There is no need for ad hominem arguments to be made one way or the other and there is no need for anger or rancour to enter into this. Although deeply held moral convictions both ways are probably an issue, that does not mean they have to be shoved down other Senators' throats.

I appeal to the House not to consider the legislation in a manner which is unseemly or uncivilised or which, in view of the fact that the Dáil has already deliberated upon the Bill, ignores our duty to consider it carefully, listen to all points of view on it and examine whether it is in a proper form to be passed. We should not be deflected from that by preconceived notions as to where we stand on the issue one way or the other.

I agree with the Senator on the points he has just made. I would add that in terms of being a civilised House and how we treat each other, there will be people watching who will not be here to advocate for themselves. When we talk about not having any personalised attacks, therefore, Senators need to be very aware that people watching will be greatly affected by the comments that are made. When we make contributions, we should always think of those outside of this Chamber and not just insult each other. Our contributions will have a massive impact on those watching proceedings. I watched much of the debate in the Dáil and know that friends of mine who are familiar with fatal foetal abnormality and other issues had to turn off because they could not watch any more. We need to be able to stand up for them when they are being personally attacked, and not only each other.

I propose an amendment to the motion for the arrangements for the sitting of the House to the effect that, in addition to the change regarding Tuesday's sitting arrangements, the Seanad shall meet at 11 a.m. on Monday, 10 December 2018 and that Standing Orders 29 and 30 shall stand suspended.

We will obviously be taking Second Stage of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 this afternoon. We need to complete our deliberations on this important legislation for Irish women and return it to the Dáil before the Christmas recess in order to prevent undue delays. I propose that we take Committee Stage on Monday as well as on Tuesday. There is a pressing need to have this Bill passed in order to allow for services to start in January. However, we also want to ensure we have a chance to properly debate any concerns we may have regarding its provisions. Monday sittings are not unusual. We had one before the summer in respect of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill due to the Government's desire to see that legislation progressed quickly. Such a move can easily be justified in the context of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018. There is a chance that we could run out of time by the end of next week. I propose, therefore, that we make arrangements now to ensure that the latter does not happen. I propose that there be no Commencement debate on Monday and that the entire day be dedicated to the Committee Stage debate on the Bill, which is of significant public interest. I know the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, is supportive of such a scheduling change because he said so in his briefing yesterday. I hope to get agreement from this House on it but I look forward to the response from the Deputy Leader.

By way of clarification, the Senator's proposal will be an amendment to the motion rather than to the Order of Business. Is the Senator suggesting that we sit on Monday next at 11.30 a.m.-----

At 11 a.m.

-----and that there be no Order of Business or Commencement debate?

Yes.

Can a sitting without a Commencement debate be arranged now?

Yes, it can be done under Standing Orders but the House has to agree to it.

However, the House can only agree to it at the end of the business today.

Yes, the Deputy Leader will respond and it will be up to the House to decide. There may be a division on it or the Deputy Leader may accept it.

Will there have to be an Order of Business at that stage?

No, not necessarily.

Can we decide at the end of business today that there will be no Order of Business on Monday?

Yes, we can agree to that. Business would have to be ordered by the Deputy Leader but it would not be the full Order of Business with questions and answers. The Senator has made it quite clear that it is anticipated that Second Stage of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 will be completed today.

It will be brought to a conclusion, even if we have to stay here all night.

If that is to happen and if anybody has amendments to table, what will be the position given that the Bill, as passed by Dáil Éireann, has not been printed yet?

We will come to that in the response at the end of the Order of Business.

We cannot anticipate how the Deputy Leader will respond. We will not jump the gun; we will wait to hear what she has to say in due course.