The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 - referral to committee, to be taken on the conclusion on the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025 - Second Stage, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. and to conclude at 1 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed eight minutes, the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, those of all other Senators not to exceed four minutes, on which Senators may share time, and the Minister or Minister of State to have not less than eight minutes to reply; No. 3, Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 - Committee Stage (resumed), to be taken at 1 p.m. and to adjourn at 3 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 3a, Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 - Second Stage, to be taken at 3 p.m. and to conclude at 4.30 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, with the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, those of all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, on which Senators may share time, and the Minister or Minister of State to have not less than ten minutes to reply.

As Members will have seen, it was reported yesterday that the US customs and border protection is adding social media as a mandatory data element of the electronic system for travel authorisation applications which tourists from dozens of counties, including Ireland, require when travelling to the United States. The data element will require applicants to provide their social media for the last five years. The criteria as cited on the US federal register are so wide-ranging that tourists or business visitors could be stopped based simply on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok posts critical of the US. There has already been a great deal of criticism of this proposal and it is clearly warranted. This is a massive overreach from a country which has long prided itself on free speech. Given the close economic ties between Ireland and the United States, with US companies employing 245,000 people in Ireland, this is obviously particularly important for us. Those economic ties have been built on free travel between our countries with very few restrictions. We must ensure that remains the case. It is important to note that currently, this is only a proposal. In the notice published regarding it, custom and border control said it would accept public comments on the proposal for the next 60 days before a final decision is made. Having said that, it is potentially a very damaging proposal. We need to use that timeframe for an EU response. It needs to be made clear at that level that this proposal is unworkable and illogical. I would be grateful if the Leader of the House would raise this with the Department of foreign affairs and the relevant Ministers.