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 day’s business begins at 2pm when Simon Coveney takes Dáil Questions to the Minister for Agriculture, before making way for Enda Kenny – for whom he deputised last Wednesday – to take Leaders’ Questions at 3:15pm and Questions to the Taoiseach at 3:45pm.

Four Topical Issues are discussed just after 5pm, before attention turns to the slightly thorny matter of changing eligibility criteria for medical cards. There’s just over two hours of discussion on amendments, and a final debate, before they come to a vote at 8pm.

At 8pm there’s the first of two stints of debate on a motion from Fianna Fáil demanding a change of tack from the government on mortgage arrears, and the introduction of a Mortgage Resolution Office with the same powers as they themselves propose to give it. Debate is adjourned at 9:30pm.

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

SEANAD

The Seanad’s daily Order of Business discussion gets 75 minutes, from 2:30pm. At 3:45pm members will discuss possible amendments to the Education and Training Boards Bill 2012, which rationalises the number of VECs.

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

COMMITTEES

There are three committee meetings holding public sittings today:

• At 1:30pm, the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation meets Skillnets, a group of enterprise-led learning networks, to discuss its activities and the training needs of the Irish workforce. (Watch here.)
• At 2:15pm, the Environment committee hears from Kildare County Council to discuss the problems that some homes have in obtaining home insurance. (Watch here.)
• The committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine hears from representatives from Tesco and the Musgrave Group (Supervalu, Centra and Superquinn) at 3pm to discuss a range of food-related matters, including labelling, a code of conduct for grocery retailers, and selling local produce. (Watch here.)

Explainer: How does a Bill become a law?

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