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

• Why did the GAA opt to sign a broadcasting contract with SKY Sports? Liam O’Neill and Páraic Duffy, President and Director General of the GAA respectively, will be asked that question by the Communications Committee in Room 4 at 12 pm.
• Following on from their appearances at the Finance Committee last week, the CEOs of Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and Allied Irish Bank will all be before another Oireachtas committee this week – this time they’ll be discussing access to finance for SMEs with the Jobs Committee. BOI’s Richie Boucher is first up in Room 2 at 1.45 pm, followed by Ulster Bank’s Jim Brown at 2.30 pm and AIB’s David Duffy at 3.15 pm.
• Taoiseach Enda Kenny is back into the thick of it after his visit to London last week as part of President’s Higgins’s historic State visit to the UK. He’ll be fielding queries from the Opposition during Leaders’ Questions at 3.15 pm.

Everything else that’s happening in the Dáil

• Jobs Minister Richard Bruton will be answering questions related to his department at 2 pm.
• Enda Kenny will be answering questions related to the Department of the Taoiseach at 3.36 pm.
• The Order of Business will be read at 4.36 pm.
• The terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation into a number of issues surrounding An Garda Síochána, including the taping of phone calls at Garda stations, will be reviewed at 5.06 pm.
• Topical Issues will be discussed from 6.06 pm.
• A Bill that proposes changing the Electoral Act 1992 and the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 to allow people declared as bankrupt to run for election will be will be debated at 6.54 pm.
• Fianna Fáil will table a motion to discuss “nationwide concern and disquiet about the provision of ambulance services” during Private Members Business at 7.30 pm.
• The Dáil will adjourn at 9 pm.

Everything happening in the Seanad

• The Order of Business will run for an hour and 15 minutes from 2.30 pm, where a wide range of issues will be discussed.
• The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013, which looks at revising the law on the ownership, registration, and sale of Irish ships, will be debated at 3.45 pm.
• Afterwards, Matters on the Adjournment will be discussed.

Everything else that’s happening in the Committees

• Voting rights of EU citizens will be the focus of conversation for the European Affairs Committee in Room 1 at 2 pm.
• Representatives from the Federation of Irish Fishermen and lobster-shellfish/inland fishing groups will make submissions before the Agriculture Committee in Room 3 at 2 pm on fishing industry losses caused by recent storms.
• Members of the Circle Voluntary, Clúid and Respond housing associations will attend the Environment Committee in Room 4 at 2.45 pm to discuss the current housing demand. Representatives from Focus Ireland, the Simon Community and the Community Action Network will make contributions at 4.15 pm.
• The Health Committee will discuss a Bill that proposes banning people under the age of 18 years from using sunbeds in Room 2 at 5.15 pm.
• Minister Michael Noonan will brief the Finance Committee on updates to the government’s Stability Programme in Room 3 at 7 pm.

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

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