The Order of Business today shall be as follows No. 15a, motion re the appointment of ordinary Members to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission; No. 15b, motion re the referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a draft Council decision concerning the signature of the agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway; No. 5a, Road Traffic Bill 2003 – Order for Second Stage and Second and Subsequent Stages; No. 2, European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad] – Second and Subsequent Stages and No. 4a, Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003 [Seanad] – Second Stage.
It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that: (1) the Dáil shall sit later than 4.45 p.m. tonight and business shall be interrupted not later than 7.30 p.m.; (2) Nos. 15a and 15b shall be decided without debate; (3) the following arrangements shall apply to No. 5a: (i) the proceedings on Second Stage shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 65 minutes; the opening speech of the Minister for Transport and of the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case; Members may share time; and the Minister for Transport shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; (ii) the proceedings on Committee and Remaining Stages shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 25 minutes 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 Transport; (4) the following arrangements shall apply in relation to No. 2: the proceedings on Second Stage shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2.30 p.m.; the opening speech of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and the Technical Group, who shall be called upon in that order, shall not exceed 15 minutes in each case; the speech of each other Member called upon shall not exceed ten minutes; Members may share time; a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; and the proceedings on the Committee and Remaining Stages shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 3.30 p.m. 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 Foreign Affairs; (5) the Dáil shall sit tomorrow at 10.30 a.m. and shall adjourn not later than 4 p.m., there shall be no Order of Business within the meaning of Standing Orders 26(2) and 26(3), the taking of any divisions shall be postponed until immediately after the Order of Business on Tuesday, 2 December 2003, and accordingly, the following business shall be transacted in the following order: No. 4a, Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003 [Seanad] – Second Stage (resumed), which shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2.30 p.m.; and No. 23, Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003 [Seanad] – Second Stage (resumed), which shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 4 p.m.