On a point of clarification, all of these votes will pass today and we will not have another chance to debate this. I want clarity. Are we agreeing a Friday sitting? If the Taoiseach is insisting on going ahead with the mother and baby homes legislation on Wednesday and Thursday – I assume he is insisting on going ahead with that – we need Friday cleared now for business. If we get a commitment from the Taoiseach now that we will sit on Friday, then we will not push this matter to a vote on the Order of Business.

The Taoiseach can do that. He can make that call.

There is the Taoiseach's schedule there. He gives it to us every week.

No, there is a majority.

I accept that.

It is not agreed, on the basis outlined.

The Minister of State may recall that in the previous Oireachtas the producer organisations and the inshore fishing representatives presented to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Their presentations were stark but one of the game-changers was the map I am holding, which clearly defines the exclusive economic zones. Essentially, what is marked in red on the map are British fishing waters or British territory as they would see it which, like our own exclusive economic zone, are subject to the C…

It is not. This is the motion on Thursday's sitting. Could the Leas-Cheann Comhairle clarify whether we are taking Thursday and Friday together? Are they separate?

It is not.

I want to read into the record the experience we have had in Letterkenny University Hospital in Donegal. It is our major acute hospital, the sixth largest in the State. It dealt with more than 24,000 inpatients last year. One would not know it, however. I will talk about that in a moment. I want to use the example of our major acute hospital to demonstrate the utter failure of Governments over the past decade to invest adequately in our health services and how that utter failure has led us to be uniquely exposed to…

I urge the Minister to think about the average working family in rural counties such as County Donegal. Such a family typically has a car that is six, seven or eight years old. Those living in Donegal who wish to travel to a job or a place of study cannot do so by public transport. As such, they must drive a car and fill it with diesel or petrol. The average family in such areas cannot afford an electric car. God forbid. It is just out of reach. Even if they could afford such a car, it would not be practical becaus…

Can I clarify whether we are dealing with the business for next week, now or next?

I will say a few words on this proposal. On Tuesday, the matter was raised by a range of Members, including myself, and the Taoiseach stated that we would have statements on Friday and that he would be there. That is on the Dáil record. On what is being offered tonight, I had proposed earlier that we would have statements similar to Thursday last where we would have ten minutes across the board with statements and questions. I will be fair and acknowledge that the Government has compromised to agree to that. Howeve…

Regarding Wednesday's proposal, our party cannot accept the schedule for leaders' statements as laid out - the Taoiseach at 30 minutes, the Tánaiste at 30 minutes and the Green Party at 20 minutes, which is a run of an hour and 20 minutes. We again propose that their contributions be interspersed. It is in the public interest to have back and forth. We propose that the schedule be the Taoiseach at 30 minutes, Sinn Féin at 30 minutes, the Tánaiste at 30 minutes, the Labour Party at 15 minutes, the Green Party at 20 …

May I respond to that?

My understanding is that, historically, we would not have a Government slot of an hour and 20 minutes for leaders' statements. It would be a very long time before the Opposition could respond. It is too long and unwieldy. I ask that the Government reconsider.

Not agreed.

It is not agreed.

There is breaking news from Portlaoise. Kilminchy Lodge nursing home has confirmed 31 cases, 21 of whom are patients. This is deeply disturbing. The entire State has gone into level 3. I appreciate that we meet every Thursday to try to agree a Dáil schedule for the week ahead but there are developments happening that require urgent adaptation by this House, and there needs to be accountability to this House from Ministers. I am calling, on behalf of the Sinn Féin Party, for the schedule to be changed to make space …

On Thursday's business, the Taoiseach would have to agree that there have been extraordinary developments in recent weeks that we could not have foreseen at the Business Committee on a Thursday. One of them is the issue of calculated grades. I appreciate that we had the Minister for Education and Skills before us last Thursday night. The chance to have statements was welcome but there was a missing element, namely, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I emailed the Busine…