Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)

Inview of the near habitual overrun in recent times, which on a given day can create a perceived lack of balance, I feel obliged once again to remind leaders of the strict time limits laid down in Standing Orders for Leaders' Questions. The time limits are as follows: the leader of the party, two minutes; the Taoiseach, three minutes to reply; leaders' supplementary question and the Taoiseach's final reply, one minute each, with an overall time of seven minutes.

As I readily acknowledged previously in correspondence, Leaders' Questions is regarded as one of the more visible and lively features of Dáil proceedings, enabling topical issues of the day to be raised early in the sitting day. In the spirit of the relative spontaneity of the procedure, as Ceann Comhairle, I rarely intervene at Leaders' Questions. However, in view of the overrun in time, I ask the leaders to co-operate with the Chair in ensuring that the time limits laid down by the House are adhered to. It is not necessary to remind the House that Leaders' Question Time is confined to the leaders of the Fine Gael and Labour parties, the designated leader of the Technical Group and the Taoiseach. All contributions by others by way of interruption are not in order.

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