WHAT ARE OUR politicians doing in the halls of Leinster House?

TheJournal.ie lets you know with our guide to what’s coming up to the Dáil, Seanad and various Oireachtas committees today.

DÁIL

The usual high-octane spectacle of Leaders’ Questions begins the day at 10:30am, before a more sedate discussion on the rest of the day’s agenda and an update on the government’s plans for legislation.

The rest of the morning will be occupied with the final debate on the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012, which introduces reference pricing for drug acquisitions and makes it legal for pharmacists to substitute a generic drug in place of a branded alternative.

If there’s time before 1:30pm, there’ll also be discussion on the Companies Bill – a mammoth, 1,200+ page bill which consolidates all existing company law into a single piece of legislation and also hopes to make it easier to set up a new company. (If there isn’t time before lunch, it’ll be discussed afterwards.)

Lunch at 1:30pm will be followed by questions to Joan Burton, the Minister for Social Protection, at 2:30pm and discussion on four topical issues at 3:45pm. There’ll be more discussion on the Companies Bill between 4:33pm and 5:30pm.

At 5:30pm it’s time for the first airing of the Non-Use of Motor Vehicles Bill 2013 – laws which would reform the motor tax system and require motorists to declare in advance if their car will be off the road, instead of doing so retrospectively and hoping to dodge a few months’ tax.

That comes to an end at 7:30pm, when debate resumes on a Fianna Fáil motion calling on the government not to implement unilateral pay cuts in the aftermath of Croke Park 2 collapse. A vote will be called at 9pm.

The day’s Dáil business can all be viewed here.

SEANAD

The opening 75-minute discussion on anything and everything will begin at 10:30pm, after which thoughts turn to the National Lottery Bill - which creates a new independent lottery regulator and paves the way for the sale of the lottery licence to an outside operator.

At 3pm Alan Shatter pops in to guide two hours of discussion implementing the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which gives effect to new EU rules on human trafficking and extends criminal charges for pornography rings related to this purpose.

5pm will see two hours of debate on a bill from TCD senator Sean Barrett – whose Financial Stability and Reform Bill 2013 is modelled on similar legislation already in place in the US and UK. It would, in short, hope to reduce the prospect of the state having to step in and bail out a financial institution that has gotten too big. It’s not clear whether the legislation will be accepted by the government – but it will offer a two-hour debate on how this can be managed in future anyway.

The day’s Seanad business can all be viewed here.

COMMITTEES

There are five committees meeting today – but more than five meetings.

• The Justice committee meets no fewer than three times today – with two hearings to discuss a value-for-money report on the Reserve Defence Force, and one to discuss the World War II deserters’ amnesty. Alan Shatter will be present to discuss the RDF (9:30am) and the World War II amnesty (11:15am); representatives from the Reserve Defence Forces members will discuss the former at 2pm. (Watch here.)
• The Transport and Communications committee also meets at 9:30am, where it again discusses the possibility of banning alcohol sponsorship for sporting events. This time there’ll be representatives from the Federation of Irish Sport, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, and Horse Racing Ireland – which would be particularly badly hit by a ban on alcohol sponsorship. (Watch here.)
• The Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform assembles at 2pm to meet the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and discuss its most recent report – which found that there is wiggle room in the Irish economy, but tells the government not to use it. (Watch here.)
• A former junior minister returns to Leinster House at 2:30pm, when Barry Andrews – now the chief executive of GOAL – meets the Foreign Affairs committee. He will discuss Goal’s work, while the work of the Centre for Global Development will also be discussed. (Watch here.)
• It’s a late meeting for the Finance sub-commmittee, which has to wait until 7pm to see Michael Noonan and discuss amendments to the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011, which beefs up the powers of the Financial Regulator‘s arm of the Central Bank. (Watch here.)

Explainer: How does a Bill become a law?

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