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

Wednesdays begin as they always do – with Leaders’ Questions at 10:30am – with the rest of the morning wrapped up by debate on the Finance Bill, which makes some of the Budget’s moves (like increasing excise duties and reforming Capital Gains Tax) a permanent reality.

Lunch at 1:30pm is followed by Eamon Gilmore taking Questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade at 2:30pm, and discussion of four topical issues at 3:45pm before discussion returns to the Finance Bill at 4:33pm.

At 7:30pm there’ll be the second of two 90-minute sessions debates on Sinn Féin’s motion calling for action on mortgage arrears, with a vote taken at 9pm. When that’s wrapped up, there’s a further 90 minutes of discussion on the Finance Bill to end the day.

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

SEANAD

The Seanad’s day also begins at 10:30am, with 75 minutes of debate on the day’s agenda. At 11:45am there’ll be the final consideration of a procedural bill that makes the Oireachtas (and not the government) responsible for translating existing laws into Irish.

At 12:30pm junior education minister Ciaran Cannon leads a Seanad discussion on the future of Ireland’s further education and training sector. At 4pm, meanwhile, a private bill from Fine Gael’s Colm Burke will discuss a requirement that all doctors have indemnity insurance.

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

COMMITTEES

Wednesday is usually the busiest day of the week in Leinster House; today is no different, with five public events:

• At 9:30am the Transport and Communications committee gets to discuss everyone’s favourite financial punchbag – RTÉ – when it hears from the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland. They’ll be discussing the use of public funds to create a balanced broadcasting sector to serve the interests of communities around the country. (Watch here.)
• At 11:30am the Justice committee discusses a series of procedural motions about the rights of people from non-EU countries to return and reside within the EU. (Watch here.)
• At 1pm the Education and Social Welfare committee is briefed on the latest status of social welfare appeals (and the backlog in processing them) and also meets with Sylda Langford, the designated chair of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board. (Watch here.)
• At 2pm, the Finance committee meets the head of the Credit Review Office, John Trethowan, to talk about the ability of small businesses to get loans. (Watch here.)
• At 4pm the Foreign Affairs committee welcomes the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce which will discuss how the Department of Foreign Affairs can take an active role in stimulating trade and an economic recovery. (Watch here.)

Explainer: How does a Bill become a law?

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