I move:
That the following be adopted in substitution for Standing Order 106 of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business:
"106. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of this Standing Order a group shall mean —
(a) any Party which had not less than seven members elected to the Dáil at the previous General Election or which, if it had less than seven, attained the number of seven members as a result of a subsequent bye-election, or
(b) a majority of the Members of the Dáil who are not members of a group as defined in paragraph (1)
(a), being not less than seven in number, who request formal recognition as a group in writing to the Ceann Comhairle: Provided that such request shall be signed by all such members. The Ceann Comhairle shall grant formal recognition as a group to such members as soon as possible thereafter.
(2) A group shall cease to be a group within the meaning of paragraph (1) for any period in which its membership falls below seven members, (or below a majority, in the case of a group within the meaning of paragraph (1)(b)), save where such membership falls by reason of a vacancy in the membership of the Dáil, the provisions of this paragraph shall not take effect until such time as the said vacancy has been filled.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2)——
(a) if at any time, it appears to the Ceann Comhairle that, in the case of a group within the meaning of paragraph (1)(b), the membership of the group has fallen below seven members or a majority specified therein, he or she shall write to each member of the group seeking confirmation of their continued membership of the group. Unless at least seven members forming the said majority confirm their membership in writing within two weeks of the date of issue of the Ceann Comhairle's letter, the group shall cease to be a group within the meaning of paragraph (1)(b); or
(b) where the Ceann Comhairle is notified in writing by a member of a group within the meaning of paragraph (1)(b) that such member no longer wishes to be considered a member of such group, and the membership of the group falls below seven members or a majority specified therein as a consequence, the group shall cease to be a group within the meaning of paragraph (1)(b).
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall prejudice the right of Members to seek formal recognition as a group under paragraph (1)(b).
(4) Each group shall have the right to nominate a private member of the group to present a Bill provided that there is not before the Dáil another Bill presented by a Member nominated by the group.
(5) Each group shall have the right in rotation to nominate a private member of the group either to move a motion standing in his or her name or to proceed with a Stage of a Bill in the Dáil. The order in which the right may be exercised by the various groups shall be determined on the basis of the numbers of members in the groups, a larger group having precedence over a smaller one. In the case of an equality of numbers precedence shall be determined by lot.".