Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It needs to be said that at the Business Committee yesterday, all Opposition members registered their dissent to the arrangements and to the matter of the speaking rights for the technical groups. The proposal is for us to come back on 5 February, in two weeks. That proposal cannot proceed until we have resolved the issue of the technical groups' speaking rights. Notwithstanding what she said in her few words before we heard from the Government Chief Whip, I ask the Ceann Comhairle to state on the record of the Dáil that this is a temporary arrangement just for today - again, we dissent to it - and to acknowledge that there is deep division out there. Contrary to what the Tánaiste and incoming Taoiseach says, the public are angry about this.

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