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, the Seanad and in the various Oireachtas committees today.

DÁIL

The week begins at 2pm with environment minister Phil Hogan taking ministerial questions, before the usual high-profile batch of Leaders’ Questions at 3:15pm.

When Topical Issues are finished with at about 5:55pm, the Dáil will hear its opening statements on the Report of the Expert Group on the A, B and C versus Ireland ruling on abortion – with statements from the health spokespersons of each main bloc in the Dáil.

When that’s done the Dáil will see out its day by discussing proposed amendments to the new risk equalisation system for health insurance – with a 90-minute interruption at 7:30pm to debate a Fianna Fáil motion calling on the government to provide the necessary services to facilitate people with disabilities.

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

SEANAD

There’s two main items on today’s agenda: a general debate on new legislation to regulate the credit union sector, at 3:45pm, and proposed amendments to the personal insolvency legislation at 6pm. Seanad proceedings can be watched here.

COMMITTEES

The first day of a four-day week brings with it four committee meetings:

• The Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine meets at 2pm to discuss five EU legislative proposals – relating to fisheries agreements and the production of honey, among other things – before hearing from Food Harvest 2020 on the possibility for growth in the Irish agricultural sector. (Watch here.)
• The Committee on the Environment will discuss possible new regulations for energy efficiency in new buildings, with SEAI’s Brian Motherway, before hearing from the top civil servant at the Department of the Environment to hear about the current draft regulations. (Watch here.)
• The committee on EU Affairs will hear about developments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, from three people based in Sarajevo: Kurt Bassuener from the Democratisation Policy Council; Mary-Anne Hennessy from the Council of Europe; and Tija Memisevic from the European Research Centre. (Watch here.)
• Richard Bruton will pop into the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at 1:30pm to discuss a forthcoming meeting of European trade and competitiveness ministers in Brussels. (Watch here.)

TheJournal.ie‘s one to watch

Most of the business today is fairly low-profile, in keeping with tomorrow’s big Budget announcements, but the Dáil statements on the Expert Group on the A, B and C ruling may give a major hint as to the government’s intended plan of action on which of its options it intends to follow-through. Who knows: with tomorrow’s newspapers devoted to Budget affairs, the government could look to make a terse and divisive announcement of its intentions tonight…