EACH WEEKDAY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you a comprehensive guide to what’s happening in the political world.

Everyone’s talking about… 

Phil Hogan, an outgoing TD, whose colleagues are not happy with the utility he helped set up. Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

As public representatives, TDs are expected to have a bit more influence when it comes to  dealing with state agencies. For example, the HSE has a special hotline dealing with queries from deputies. In turn these agencies are expected to reply promptly and satisfactorily, but in the case of Irish Water it appears some deputies are so frustrated with a lack of engagement – they are only able to email the utility – that they have to use Twitter.

Yesterday, we reported how Fine Gael’s Noel Harrington and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty were tweeting Irish Water with questions. This morning, the Irish Independent reports that a stormy FG parliamentary party meeting last night heard warnings that the lack of engagement from the utility could yet turn this into another medical card fiasco.

The agenda

• What’s the government doing to minimise the risk of ebola coming to Ireland? The chief medial officer and Health Minister Leo Varadkar will be telling the Health Committee from 11.30am. 
• Expect the fallout from the Budget, or maybe Irish Water, to dominate Leaders’ Questions at midday.
• Talks on resolving longstanding legacy issues in Northern Ireland are getting underway at Stormont this morning. 

What the others are saying… 

• A Fianna Fáil councillor in Kildare has had to resign over financial irregularities at a voluntary housing association where he was a director. Mark Dalton was also a parliamentary assistant to TD Seán Ó Fearghaíl, the Irish Times reports. 
• There’s a Cabinet split over the Central Bank’s plans to insist that mortgage borrowers have 20 per cent of a deposit, the Irish Daily Mail says. 

• The antiques dealer at the centre of the dispute with Fine Gael TD Seán Conlan over a €10,000 diamond ring has queried his version of events, according to the Irish Independent. 

In case you missed it… 

• Michael Noonan insisted that Budget 2015 was not a series of “smart-alecky tricks”.
• Joan Burton said she was, in fact, delighted that people have expensive phones and cameras. 
• Gerry Adams denied claims about a meeting with a rape victim. 
• Micheál Martin wasn’t happy with Brendan Howlin and Michael Noonan for tweeting about their ties.

On the Twitter machine… 

Ah would you look…

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