WHAT’S GOING ON in Leinster House?

Every day the Dáil and Seanad are sitting, TheJournal.ie brings you the most comprehensive guide to what our lawmakers are getting up to in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

So, here is what we can expect to be happening in the Dáil, Seanad and Committee rooms today…

3 things we’ll be keeping an eye on…

• 10.45am, the Dáil is due to hear who is replacing Alan Shatter for Minister for Justice and Defence. Who will be the lucky man or woman?
• Midday, the Dáil: Labour leader Eamon Gilmore’s likely to face a tough time of it today, as he deals with questions from across the chamber. You can bet yesterday’s shock resignation of Alan Shatter, and the contents of the Guerin report, will come up.
• 10am, Committee Room 1: John Moran, the most senior official in the Department of Finance, also announced his imminent resignation yesterday. He’ll be appearing before the before the Public Accounts Committee this morning to answer questions on his Department’s accounts… Shane Ross has first dibs on the opening question…

Everything else happening in the Dáil…

• 09.30am: Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is first on his feet this morning. The Fine Gael TD will be answering questions on issues pertaining to his department for an hour or so.
• 10.45am: There’s two bills up for discussion in advance of Leaders’ Questions: the Central Bank Bill 2014 and the Children First Bill 2014. Work continues on those pieces of legislation in the afternoon. 
• 4.42pm: It’s Topical Issues time, whereby TDs can bring up pretty much any issue they consider to be timely and deserving of the chamber’s attention. 

Everything else happening in the Seanad…

• We’ve ‘Order of Business’ at 10.30am
  
• 1.45am, the Seanad: The DNA database bill continues its progress through the Oireachtas today. As part of the measures, its intended criminals given a five year sentence or more will have their DNA logged.
  
• Senators get to bring up issues of concern to them at the end of the sitting day in their version of ‘Topical Issues’: the less-catchily titled ‘Matters on the Adjournament’.

Everything happening in the committees…

• 09.30am, Committee Room 2: The Committee on Health and Children will be addressing last year’s six-monthly check-ups by the EU on the Department of Health and Department of Children. 
• 10.15am, Committee Room 2: The peace process is firmly back in the headlines this week, following last week’s arrest of Gerry Adams. Today, the committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement will be addressing ‘women, peace & security’.
• Midday, Committee Room 3:  The TDs and senators who make up the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications will be hearing from a senior EU official, Eric Mamer, on the issue of EU Energy Policy.

Here’s how to watch what’s going on in Leinster House today

• Dáil Éireann
• Seanad Éireann
• Committee Room 1
• Committee Room 2
• Committee Room 3
• Committee Room 4
• To access streams on iOS, click here

Like politics? Then why not ‘Like’ TheJournal.ie’s Politics page?

Explainer: How does a Bill become a law?

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More