I move:
That, in accordance with the recommendations under Standing Order 107(1)(a) of the sub-Committee on Dáil Reform, and with effect from 13th February, 2019, the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business be amended as follows:
(a) by the adoption of the following Standing Order in substitution for Standing Order 22:
‘22.(1) (a) If, a quarter of an hour after the time appointed for the meeting of Dáil Éireann (or such longer time as the Ceann Comhairle may, at his or her discretion, decide) a quorum is not present, the Ceann Comhairle shall, because the meeting of the Dáil cannot proceed in the absence of a quorum, postpone the meeting of the Dáil until a later time on the same day.
(b) Where, following the lapse of a quarter of an hour after the time appointed under paragraph (a) for the postponed meeting of Dáil Éireann, a quorum is still not present, the Ceann Comhairle shall postpone the meeting of the Dáil to the next sitting day.
(c) Where the Ceann Comhairle postpones a sitting under paragraph (a) or (b), he or she shall take the Chair and announce such postponement from the Chair: Provided that the fact of the postponement, and the names of the members attending in the Dáil chamber at the time of the postponement, shall be entered in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Dáil for the postponed sitting.
(d) For the avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) “Ceann Comhairle” includes the Leas-Cheann Comhairle but does not include a member of the panel of Temporary Chairmen nominated by the Ceann Comhairle under Standing Order 18.
(2) If at any stage in a sitting of the Dáil, other than while a private member’s Bill or motion or a Committee report under Standing Order 91 is under consideration or while a matter brought forward in accordance with Standing Order 29A is being discussed, any member calls the attention of the Chair to the fact that a quorum is not present, or if on the report of a division, such fact shall appear, the division bells shall be rung for a period of not less than three minutes, and if after an interval of not less than three minutes, a quorum is still not present, the Ceann Comhairle shall suspend the sitting to a later hour to be named by him or her, or shall adjourn the Dáil without question put until the next sitting day; and no decision shall be considered to have been arrived at by such division; and the hour of such adjournment, as also the names of the members present, shall be entered in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Dáil.’;
(b) in Standing Order 23, in paragraph (1)(c), by the substitution of ‘not later than 8.03 p.m.’ for ‘not later than 7.48 p.m.’;
(c) in Standing Order 28, in paragraph (3), by the deletion of ‘on a Wednesday and 15 minutes on a Thursday’;
(d) in Standing Order 29A, in paragraph (3)(c), by the substitution of ‘not later than 5.15 p.m.’ for ‘not later than 5 p.m.’; and
(e) in Standing Order 70, in paragraph (2), by the substitution of ‘1.02 p.m.’ for ‘12.47 p.m.’.