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 regular Wednesday spectacle of Leaders’ Questions begins the day at 10:30am, before a more sedate discussion on the rest of the day’s agenda in Order of Business just before 11am.

It’s a heavy day of legislation, with four draft laws on the agenda, dealt with as follows:

• The Non Use of Motor Vehicles Bill, changing the rules on motor tax so that drivers must declare in advance if their car will be off the road at the expiry of its tax disc
• The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill, which addresses the ‘Dunne ruling’ and clears the way for banks to repossess homes in major mortgage distress;
• The Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) (Amendment) Bill, which expands the remit of Science Foundation Ireland to fund events north of the border, and also to fund advanced research as well as basic work; and
• the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2013, a housekeeping bill which eases the transition between two models of calculating rent for local authority tenants. Changes were provided for in law in 2009 but haven’t yet been implemented because of a difficulty in transitioning between the two.

There’ll be interruptions for all of the following:

• Lunch at 1:30pm
• Answers from Phil Hogan to Questions to the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government at 2:30pm
• Discussion on four Topical Issues at 3:45pm
• 90 minutes of debate on a Technical Group motion calling for an opt-out system of organ donation, rather than an opt-in, and the compilation of a Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, at 7:30pm, with a vote due at 9pm when the Dáil adjourns for the day.

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

SEANAD

There’s the usual 75 minutes of discussion on the world at large in Order of Business at 10:30am, before Simon Coveney is in at 11:45am to win Seanad approval for a few Dáil amendments to the new Animal Health and Welfare Bill, which then goes to the Áras for signature.

At 2pm members hold a two-hour debate on the Seanad’s role in overseeing the introduction of European laws – a discussion which will no doubt touch on how little interrogation it offers of proposed European directives, a right given to it under the Lisbon Treaty.

The independent Taoiseach’s nominees then get two hours to debate a motion on regulation and oversight of charities, following up on a long-running government promise to enforce accountancy standards in non-profit organisations.

That’ll bring us to 6pm, when three newsworthy matters are discussed to round out the day.

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

COMMITTEES

There are five committees meeting today…

• Only the one early meeting today – the Communications committee gets together at 9:30am to meet Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller, who will appear in his guise as the incoming chairman of An Post. (Watch here.)
• The Education committee meets at 1pm when Ruairi Quinn deals with proposed amendments to the Further Education and Training Bill, which disbands FÁS and sets up the new SOLAS in its place. (Watch here.)
• The Justice committee gets together at 2pm to discuss proposals for EU laws on how to combat counterfeiting of the Euro. Alan Shatter will attend. (Watch here.)
• The Foreign Affairs committee, at 2:30pm, meets the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland to discuss how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade can better encourage international trade to the benefit of Ireland. (Watch here.)
• Finally, the Public Service Oversight and Petitions committee meets at 5pm to examine the latest matters on which the public has demanded action. (Watch here.)

Explainer: How does a Bill become a law?

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