Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I had expected that the Order of Business would be read into the record and that when there were no proposals to put to the House we would have proceeded, whereupon I was going to raise a point of order. While I do not have the same facilitation as other party Leaders in the Opposition vis-a-vis Leaders' Questions I, too, wished to refer to the fact that Sinn Féin has tabled a motion on the Order Paper which has not made its way to the scheduling of business for today. That motion relates to the position of the Ceann Comhairle.

It is our intention that our motion will stand. While I accept that I have no way of pressing to have this motion taken in the House - I spoke about this matter to the Chief Whip last evening - it was our wish that this matter be dealt with today. We are not happy with the deferment of the Ceann Comhairle's resignation. It should take effect as of today, which is the appropriate time in this regard. The Ceann Comhairle would subsequently have had ample opportunity to address outstanding issues in the tidying up of his affairs in that office. It is not appropriate that this matter is being allowed to continue on for another week. That is our position.

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