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

• Dáil: Leaders’ Questions — Enda Kenny will take part in this usually heated exchange at 12pm.
• Dáil: European Council statements — Parities will make statements at 12.51pm ahead of next week’s meeting of the Council in Brussels. What mood will they be in after the bailout exit?
• Seanad: Private Members Business — Senator John Crown will discuss his Protection of the Public Interest from Tobacco Lobbying Bill at 6pm for the first time.

Everything else that’s happening in the Dáil

• Minister James Reilly will be taking questions on his portfolio bright and early at 9.30am. It’s likely the HSE Service Plan will be brought up.
• The final stages of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill begin at 10.45am. Some TDs think it is less than amazey-balls.
• What four issues will be raised today during Topical Issues? All will be revealed at 1.56pm.
• After discussion of both the Social Welfare and Water Services Bills continues in the afternoon, at 7.30pm the Technical Group’s bid to improve regulation of planning and development activities will be discussed again.

Everything else that’s happening in the Seanad

• Our Senators start off the day in the usual fashion with Order of Business at 10.30am.
• After it was dropped from yesterday’s schedule, the lightning-fast Appropriation Bill is up again at 11.45am. Whet your appetite beforehand by seeing how some forty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty six million, eight hundred and thirty five thousand euro outlined in the Bill would be spent.
• After that, the Public Service Management Bill, which would see a wide-ranging overhaul of the service, and the Companies Bill are both back from the Dáil with a few amendments.
• At 3pm, the ‘radical’ Local Government Bill will be scrutinised at committee stage.

Everything else that’s happening in the Committees

• The Education and Social Protection committee are meeting with Eddie Sullivan, the chairman designate of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board. This board oversees financial donations used to provide supports to survivors of residential institutional child abuse. That’s at 1pm in Room 3.
• Four other committees are meeting today, although they are private sessions behind closed doors.

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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