It is proposed to take two items on the Order Paper. They are No. 1 and, with the agreement of the House, No. 2.
Order of Business.
I should like to ask the Leader of the House when he proposes to take No. 13, which is a motion dealing with the College of Nursing. The Taoiseach has been referring to this in the newspapers over the past three or four months. This motion has been down in the names of Senator Boland, Senator Reynolds and myself, since 3rd July, 1970, long before the Taoiseach ever thought of it. I would ask the Leader of the House when he proposes to take that motion.
I should like to ask the Leader of the House when it will be possible to take No. 21. This is a rather topical motion at present and it is one to which many Members of the House would like to have an opportunity of contributing.
It is proposed to take Nos. 21 and 11 on 18th of this month.
I should also like to ask the Leader of the House if he could give any indication of when he would be able to take motion No. 23. The reason I ask this is because I consider it rather important that we take it before January, 1972, as some of the recommendations involved and included in the report on equal pay deal with the meeting of the employer-labour council in January, 1972. It is important that this House should have the opportunity to debate the report before then.
No. 18 also has some topical implications at the moment for those involved in local government. I have previously suggested that the views of this House must be made available to the Minister to assist him in any decisions which he makes in this regard. Perhaps the Leader could tell us when it might be taken.
The Leader of the House has proposed that item No. 2 be taken today. This is a Bill which only passed through Dáil Éireann at a late hour last night. Ordinarily Members on this side would object to the taking of a Bill at such short notice. I speak now to make it quite clear that it is only because of special circumstances that there is agreement to take this Bill in a matter of a few hours' notice. It is because Members deplore the present situation in the College of Art, and because they hope that the speedy passage of the Bill will lead to an early amelioration of the position, that they agree to take No. 2 today, but we would not want it taken in any sense as a precedent in the future. This Bill has been with the other House for more than six months. If business were better ordered in the other House—though I hesitate to criticise their procedure— this Bill might have been with us long ago, if not in the beginning.
There are two matters to be considered. First of all, is it agreed that we take No. 2 at less than the three days' notice provided in the Standing Orders?
Yes.
In the second place, is the Order of Business agreed— Nos. 1 and 2?
Order of business agreed.