agenda.ie a guide to what's going on in Leinster House

A decent framework of bones in the Dáil and Seanad today, with plenty of meat added in an early flurry of committee meetings.

9:30am – Health (sub-committee) - There are two ministers seeking extra money for their Department running today, and both of them are in Room 2. James Reilly is first in, seeking extra allotments for the Department of Health as well as the HSE.

9:30am – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - It’s a little more downbeat in Room 3, meanwhile, where the agriculture committee talks about plans to eliminate late payments in the Dept of Agriculture, and hears about that department’s six-monthly update for the EU.

10:00am – Public Accounts Committee - In Room 1, members discuss spending at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources as well as the Office of Public Works.

10:00am – Justice, Equality and Defence - Today, May 17, is the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. To discuss the current situation in Ireland, members will hear from BeLonGTo, Linc, Outhouse, Transgender Equality Network Ireland, Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, Marriage Equality, and An Garda Síochána.

10:30am – Leaders’ Questions - It’s Thursday, so Eamon Gilmore will be taking the leaders’ questions against the deputy leaders of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the technical group.

10:30am – Order of Business - The Seanad’s day begins with the usual 75-minute free-for-all on anything and everything.

10:51am – Order of Business - TDs get 20 minutes to check up on the status of some of the government’s promised measures.

11:11am – Statements on 44th Plenary of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly - The biannual congress of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, a body consisting of members of the Houses of Parliament and Tithe an Oireachtas, took place on Monday and Tuesday. Here, there will be two hours of general feedback and thoughts on the findings of the meetings.

11:45am – Companies (Amendment) Bill 2012 [Seanad] (second stage) - This relatively benign piece of legislation will amend the accountancy rules which companies must abide by, and generally tweaks other minor provisions in company law.

11:45am – Children and Youth Affairs (sub-committee) – Frances Fitzgerald follows James Reilly into room 2 to secure extra Budget allocations for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

1:11pm – Credit Guarantee Bill 2012 (second stage resumed); European Arrest Warrant (Application to Third Countries and Amendment) and Extradition (Amendment) Bill 2011 (second stage resumed) - Two pieces of legislation to fill up the Dáil’s day; the first is on the government’s plan to offer a guarantee for loans for SMEs; the second extends the countries to which an EU arrest warrant applies, and makes some changes to extradition laws enforcing those warrants.

1:45pm – Discussion on the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monitory Union - It’s free rein in the Seanad: with no ministers around to lead any formal discussion, the members are left to their own devices to hold a debate (curiously, on the schedule it’s down as being infinitely long with no ‘end’ time) on the merits or demerits of the Fiscal Compact.

3:42pm – Topical Issues – Four newsworthy items are discussed for 12 minutes apiece, with ministers on hand to respond.

3:45pm – Matters on the Adjournment - Whenever the Seanad’s Fiscal Compact chat is done -we’re arbitrarily giving it two hours here – Senators discuss a few miscellaneous items before clocking off for the week.

4:30pm – Questions (Minister for Defence) – Alan Shatter brings the week to a close with questions to the Minister for Defence; he will answer inquiries on the future of the Reserve Defence Forces, the role of Irish troops bound for peacekeeping duty in Syria, and the cost of running Air Corps flights to monitor any illegal turf-cutting below.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream

The Dáil and Seanad sittings kick off late to allow for events elsewhere, but when they do kick off, there’s a high-profile committee showdown as well as some other weighty bits being put through the Houses.

9:30am – Jobs, Social Protection and Innovation - The rest of the houses are taking a relatively late start, so the day starts with a busy meeting in Room 3: Martin Murphy of HP Ireland discusses plans for tackling youth unemployment, there’s talk about Ireland’s spending in the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, and there’s review of plans for new EU laws in the right to collective industrial action.

12:00pm – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - In what will probably be billed as the biggest deal of the day, RTE chairman Tom Savage and director-general Noel Curran join the BAI’s Michael O’Keeffe in briefing the communications committee on the latter’s investigation into the Prime Time Investigates Mission to Prey debacle. The hearing will offer the first chance for Savage and Curran to face questions from non-journalists. Room 2.

12:30pm – Order of Business – There’s 75 minutes of general free-for-all chat to kick off the Seanad’s day…

1:45pm – Statute Revision Bill 2012 (second stage) – …before discussion of a housekeeping bill which abolishes no fewer than 4,000 old pieces of legislation dating from pre-independence. It’s part of an overall ambitious plan to purge obsolete legislation from before 1922.

2:30pm - Questions (Minister for Health) - James Reilly is the minister on duty to take questions today; he will face inquiries on the review of the Fair Deal scheme, the compensation for people who contracted Hepatitis C from blood products, and the methods by which new drugs are appraised as being ‘value for money’.

2:30pm – Transport, Tourism and Sport (sub-committee) - In Room 1, Leo Varadkar guides TVs through his new legislation which overhauls the minimum standards for commercial vehicles.

3:00pm – Justice, Equality and Defence - Some weighty matters being discussed in Room 2, with Alan Shatter on hand to oversee a discussion approving the EU and USA’s plans to share passenger name records, an independent report into the deaths of three soldiers in the Lebanon in March 1989, and a general overview of the work of the Reserve Defence Forces.

3:00pm – Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform - Given how the matter of government debt is so central to the debate on the Fiscal Compact, this Audit of Irish Debt from the University of Limerick troika (heh)  of Dr Sheila Killian, Dr  John Garvey and Ms  Frances Shaw could make for interesting viewing. Room 4.

3:30pm – Statements on Symphysiotomy – Following on from Dáil statements before Easter, the Seanad spends an afternoon discussing the overused – and often barbaric – practice of symphysiotomy, whereby pregnant women would have their pelvises sawn open in order to facilitate giving birth. It left many women incontinent or unable to walk.

3:45pm – Topical Issues – Four newsworthy items are discussed for 12 minutes apiece, with ministers on hand to respond.

4:33pm – Leaders’ Questions - Given that the day is starting late, it’s only now that Enda Kenny takes the usual high-profile grenades from Micheál Martin, Gerry Adams and Shane Ross.

4:54pm – Order of Business - TDs agree to the day’s agenda.

5:15pm – Foreign Affairs and Trade - Eamon Gilmore continues a week of ministers seeking extra departmental funding, popping into Room 1 to ask for extra operating funds for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

5:24pm – Credit Guarantee Bill 2012 (second stage) - The Dáil’s evening is occupied with a main part of the government’s Action Plan for Jobs: allowing for a state guarantee scheme for small businesses to access credit. Richard Bruton will lead the debate.

5:30pm – Education (Amendment) Bill 2012 [Seanad] (Dáil amendments) – The Seanad considers procedural amendments to legislation setting up a new Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority before sending the Bill off for Presidential signature.

6:30pm – Matters on the Adjournment – The Seanad will debate a few matters of topical importance at the conclusion of the day.

7:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Fianna Fáil] – Regulation of Debt Management Advisors Bill 2011 - Private time falls to Fianna Fáil, which resumes debate on its bill requiring debt management companies to be regulated and licenced by the Central Bank. The legislation is motivated by recent cases where commercial budgeting services went belly-up, taking clients’ cash with them. Debate ends at 9pm and will pick up again tomorrow. If the government wants to oppose the plan for now, it’ll call a vote at 9pm.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream

THE LEGISLATION in both Houses of the Oireachtas this week has a strangely financial tint, but there’s also some pretty beefy committee materials on the way.

Kicking off the week…

1:30pm – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - The day begins in the usual Room 3, where the agriculture committee continues its hearings on the reform of the CAP. Offering their input will be the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, and representatives from Macra na Feirme.

2:00pm – Questions (Minister for Children and Youth Affairs) – Frances Fitzgerald is the first minister up for questioning this week; she will face inquiries on the intended timeframe for the children’s rights referendum, a 24-hour child protection services, and illegal adoptions.

2:00pm – Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (sub-committee) – It’s a busy week of committee meetings this week, with quite a few ministers having to go in front of their appropriate committees to seek the release of extra Budget funding. That may sound quite salacious, but really it’s relatively routine: Departments are usually given a conservative estimate of how much they might need, with the expectation that they will then go back to the committee later and seek more. The first up is Richard Bruton, who needs extra cash for the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. He’ll be in room 2.

2:30pm – Order of Business – The Seanad kicks off its day with the usual 75-minute session of anything and everything.

2:30pm – Health and Children - It’s a busy day in Room 1, too, where there’s a lengthy set of hearings on the implications of the Children First legislation. First up will be a Q&A session with children’s ombudsman Emily Logan, before a later session with Irene Gunning, Chief Executive Officer, Early Childhood Ireland; Ciairín de Buis, Director, Startstrong; and Patricia Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Childminding Ireland.

3:15pm – Leaders’ Questions – Enda Kenny takes the marquee event of the day, facing questions from Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin or the technical group.

3:36pm – Questions (Taoiseach) – Among the matters up for Kenny’s written rostered questions: reviewing the programme for government, his Department’s role in fighting the jobs crisis, and the meetings of the Economic Management Council.

3:45pm – Statements on Mortgage Arrears – The sole item on the Seanad’s agenda is a visit from Brian Hayes, who will lead two hours of discussion on how to tackle mortgage arrears.

4:36pm – Order of Business – TDs sign off on the day’s agenda…

5:06pm – Topical Issues – …and then raise four topical issues for 12 minutes apiece.

5:45pm – Matters on the Adjournment – The Seanad discusses topical issues of its own before calling it a night.

5:54pm – European Arrest Warrant (Application to Third Countries and Amendment) and Extradition (Amendment) Bill 2011 (second stage) – There’s a little over 90 minutes left to discuss some housekeeping legislation; this one tweaks the process for extraditing people under the terms of European Arrest Warrants, and also extends the provisions of the existing laws to certain non-EU members.

7:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Fianna Fáil] – Regulation of Debt Management Advisors Bill 2011 - Private time falls to Fianna Fáil, which puts forward a bill which would require debt management companies to be regulated and licenced by the Central Bank. The legislation is motivated by recent cases where commercial budgeting services went belly-up, taking clients’ cash with them. Debate ends at 9pm and will pick up again tomorrow.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream

It’s the first Friday of the month on which the Dáil has been around to sit, so it’s time for some opposition legislation…

10:30am – Private Members’ Business [John McGuinness, Fianna Fáil] – Comptroller and Auditor General Bill 2012 (second stage) – John McGuinness’s legislation comes with an extra oomph, because he’s the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the body at which the Comptroller and Auditor General does most of his work. McGuinness’s work proposes to extend the C&AG’s remit to extend to local authorities as well as central governmental agencies. If the government opposes the Bill it’ll call a vote which will be held on Tuesday.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our Dáil streams for web and Facebook.

The legislative agenda today is largely concerned with putting away longstanding bills, though there’s room for one crucially important bill in the Seanad agenda while the committees have a plethora of visitors.

10:00am – Public Accounts Committee - Thursday begins, as usual, in Room 1 where the Dáil’s highest-profile committee discusses spending on transport, rural roadbuilding, and the budget of the National Roads Authority.

10:00am – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - Over in Room 4, there’s a communications function where the committee meets Siún Ní Raghallaigh, the chairperson-designate at TG4, before hearing from the National Dairy Council on that most thorny of subjects: the proposed ban on advertising cheese to children.

10:30am – Leaders’ Questions - It’s Thursday, so Eamon Gilmore will be taking the leaders’ questions against the deputy leaders of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the technical group.

10:30am – Order of Business - The Seanad’s day begins with the usual 75-minute free-for-all on anything and everything. Read the rest of this entry →

The Seanad’s back from its long weekend, while the Dáil takes care of some overdue business and the committees get on with the usual nitty-gritty.

9:30am – Jobs, Social Protection and Innovation - The day begins in Room 3 where officials from the Department of Social Protection will offer their thoughts on the practicalities of changing the child benefit system.

10:30am – Leaders’ Questions - Enda Kenny takes the usual high-profile grenades from Micheál Martin, Gerry Adams and Shane Ross.

10:30am – Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht - Some unusual circumstances mean two ministers sitting in at the same meeting: Jimmy Deenihan and Michael Ring both offer their thoughts on the upcoming European Council meeting dealing with Education, Youth, Culture and Sports.

10:51am – Order of Business - TDs sign off on the day’s agenda…

11:21am – Statements re ‘Looking forward to Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union; January to June 2013′ - …and then sink their teeth into 95 minutes of discussion on Ireland’s presidency of the European Council in the first half of next year.

12:30pm – Order of Business – The Seanad begins its day with its standard 75-minute free-for-all allowing members to raise matters of varying prominence – which is then followed by a sos of 45 minutes…

12:56pm – Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011 (Seanad amendments) - There’s a little over 30 minutes left before lunch, so the Dáil will wrap up its final considerations of the legislation giving equal rights to agency workers, before sending it on its way to President Higgins.

2:30pm - Questions (Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport) - Leo Varadkar is the minister on duty to take questions today; he will face inquiries on the future of Shannon Airport, the reintroduction of the ‘nine year rule’ on taxi ages, whether reforms to urban transport licences will have an impact on Bus Eireann, proposals to raise clamping charges, and updates to the rural transport systems.

2:30pm – Review of the White Paper on Irish Aid – Statements and Questions and Answers – Joe Costello leads a two-hour Seanad discussion on Ireland’s overseas aid programme, and takes questions from senators on how Ireland’s funding programmes abroad.

2:30pm – Foreign Affairs and Trade - Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade wander into Room 1 to give an update on Ireland’s financial input into the EU External Action Programme, and the European Development Fund.

2:30pm – Justice, Defence and Equality - It’s a crowded house over in Room 2, meanwhile, with a wide range of bodies in to give their thoughts on the forthcoming Mediation Bill. Among those in attendance: CEDR Ireland; Family Mediation Ireland; the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association; Irish Commercial Mediation Association; Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; and Mediate Ireland.

3:45pm – Topical Issues – Four newsworthy items are discussed for 12 minutes apiece, with ministers on hand to respond.

4:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Prof John Crown] - Protection of Children’s Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012 (second stage) – Opposition legislation this week is one of those questions which will either prompt accusations of a nanny state, or be seen as heralding a new advance in healthcare. Prof John Crown brings forward legislation, backed by Jillian van Turnhout and FF’s Mark Daly, which would make it illegal to smoke in a car wherever children are present.

4:33pm – Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad] (second stage resumed) – The afternoon is devoted to the resumption of debate on the bill which requires political parties to ensure that at least 30 per cent of their candidates in the next general election are female.

6:30pm – Matters on the Adjournment – The Seanad will debate a few matters of topical importance at the conclusion of the day.

7:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Technical Group] – Motion on Domiciliary Care Allowance - The usual slot of time falls to the Technical Group, which resumes debate on a matter which was a hot topic shortly after the Budget. The Domiciliary Care Allowance is the allowance paid to disabled people under the age of 18, which under the last Budget was due to be rolled back to 16 (though this change was ‘paused’ pending review). Rather than make piecemeal changes, the technical group – led by Catherine Murphy – tables a motion outlining a much more comprehensive review. A vote on the government’s amendment will follow at 9pm.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream

THIS WEEK is a relatively quiet one in the Oireachtas – with only a smattering of committee meetings as members prepare for a long weekend.

2:00pm – Questions (Minister for Justice and Equality) – Alan Shatter gets the ball rolling in the Dáil; his rostered questions will deal with matters including aggravated burglaries, reform of probation services, reform of citizenship applications, and plans for any legislation making an exceptional example of people convicted of the manslaughter of on-duty Gardaí.

2:00pm – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - In Room 3, the agriculture committee will resume its hearings on the upcoming reform of the CAP, today hearing from the Irish Dairy and Creamery Farmers’ Association.

2:15pm – Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht – In Room 4, meanwhile, the transport committee will consider the running of rural transport schemes and whether the current offerings are providing value for money. Senior figures for the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority will be on hand.

2:30pm – Health and Children - Over in Room 1, at the same time, members of the interdepartmental group on the introduction of the Children First legislation will offer their thoughts on the draft bill as it currently stands.

3:15pm – Leaders’ Questions – Enda Kenny takes the marquee event of the day, facing questions from Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin or the technical group.

3:36pm – Questions (Taoiseach) – Among the matters up for Kenny’s written rostered questions: a bilateral investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane, and other matters (trade, the fiscal compact), relating to meetings with David Cameron; a financial transaction tax, and progress on the Programme for Government.

4:36pm – Order of Business – TDs spend 30 minutes agreeing to the day’s agenda…

5:06pm – Topical Issues – …and 48 minutes discussing four of the day’s newsworthy topics for 12 minutes apiece.

5:54pm – Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012 (second stage) – Given the ongoing discussion about Cardinal Seán Brady, Ruairí Quinn’s legislation is all the more topical. In 2002 the State agreed a deal with the 18 religious orders who managed residential institutions where residents were abused. This deal splits the bill 50:50 between the state and the institutions. The bill is now at €1.36 billion, and the institutions still owe €470m. Quinn’s Bill would create a statutory fund where individuals could apply for compensation, to be funded by a particular €110 million tranche of payments from the institutions.

7:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Technical Group] – Motion on Domiciliary Care Allowance - The usual slot of time falls to the Technical Group, which returns to a matter which was a hot topic shortly after the Budget. The Domiciliary Care Allowance is the allowance paid to disabled people under the age of 18, which under the last Budget was due to be rolled back to 16 (though this change was ‘paused’ pending review). Rather than make piecemeal changes, the technical group – led by Catherine Murphy – tables a motion outlining a much more comprehensive review. The debate will continue until 9pm and pause then for the night.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream

The day is a quiet one, as stuff windows down for the long weekend, but nonetheless there’s still a few interesting bits and bobs going on…

9:30am – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - In Room 3, Pat Rabbitte will put a procedural vote to win more powers for Sustainable Energy Ireland, before visitors from the Irish Farmers’ Association offer some input into the forthcoming renegotiation of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

10:00am – Public Accounts Committee - In Room 1, meanwhile, the usual Thursday festivities will deal with spending at the CSO and the general funding of the Department of the Taoiseach.

10:30am – Leaders’ Questions - It’s Thursday, so Eamon Gilmore will be taking the leaders’ questions against the deputy leaders of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the technical group.

10:30am – Order of Business - The Seanad’s single-item day will, as usual, take 75 minutes to agree to. Read the rest of this entry →

The Dáil’s day is tied up with relatively routine government business, but in the Seanad there’s a very LGBT-heavy day.

9:30am – Jobs, Social Protection and Innovation - An early start in Room 3: Ruairi Quinn drops in to discuss next week’s meeting of EU education ministers, while officials from his Department will discuss concerns raised by the Children’s Ombudsman in a recent audit of public administration in Ireland.

10:30am – Leaders’ Questions - Enda Kenny takes the usual televised attacks from Micheál Martin, Gerry Adams and the technical group.

10:30am - Order of Business - The Seanad begins its day with its standard 75-minute free-for-all allowing members to raise matters of varying prominence.  Read the rest of this entry →

THIS WEEK is a relatively quiet one in the Oireachtas – with only a smattering of committee meetings as members prepare for a long weekend.

2:00pm – Questions (Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) – Jimmy Deenihan gets things going in the Dáil, beginning the week with his usual rota of parliamentary questions. Among the ones up for discussion are inquiries on the role of Udaras na Gaeltachta, the site at Moore Street. the 1000-year celebrations of the Battle of Clontarf, and the status of protected bogs.

2:00pm – Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture - It’s a big week for the agriculture committee, which today begins the first of two weighty meetings on the proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Before that is discussed, members will talk about EU plans to legislate for the transition of house pets between countries. Room 3.

2:00pm – Health and Children - An unusual Tuesday sitting for the health committee in room 1, as it hears the thoughts of Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay, the ISPCC’s Caroline O’Sullivan, and Tanya Ward of the Children’s Rights Alliance to offer their thoughts on the draft Children First Bill, which was published last week.

2:15pm – Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht – In Room 4, it’s a housekeeping meeting: members will be given two six-monthly progress updates, presented by the chief civil servants at the Departments of the Environment and Transport.

2:30pm – Order of Business – Notwithstanding that there is only one item of business in the Seanad agenda for the day, members will still spend 75 minutes signing off on their agenda and discussing what else they may talk about in the future.

3:15pm – Leaders’ Questions – The usual marquee event of the day will see Enda Kenny trade barbs with Micheál Martin, Gerry Adams and whichever of Messrs Pringle, Boyd-Barrett and Ross feels up to it.

3:36pm – Questions (Taoiseach) – Having finished those ones, the Taoiseach then deals with more rudimentary written questions, today including matters like the ‘Blue Star’ programme in primary schools, European matters, his meeting with Angela Merkel in February, and the restructuring of bank debt.

3:45pm – Statements on the Report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector – The sole item on the Seanad’s agenda is a two-hour chat, led by Ruairí Quinn, on the findings of the forum into patornage and pluralism, which recommended that the State gradually seek to divest primary schools from Church patronage and ownership.

4:36pm – Order of Business – 30 minutes is spent discussing the rest of the day’s business…

5:06pm – Topical Issues – …before four newsworthy items are discussed by backbenchers, opposition and ministers for 12 minutes apiece.

5:45pm – Matters on the Adjournment – With the Mahon Tribunal all talked out, the Seanad discusses topical issues of its own before calling it a night.

5:54pm – Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Bill 2012 [Seanad] (second stage) – The Dáil’s week is largely occupied with dealing with piecemeal parts of other legislation; this piece, which will fill up the gap between topical issues and Sinn Féin’s private time, is a housekeeping piece from Leo Varadkar updating the criteria for commercial vehicles. It passed the Seanad without much hassle last week.

7:30pm – Private Members’ Business [Sinn Féin] – Protection of Employees (Amendment) Bill 2012 (second stage) - Sinn Féin’s time is devoted to legislation from enterprise spokesman Peadar Toibín: his legislation would increase the minimum notice period which employers would have to observe if they want to lay off a significant number of people within a certain period. There’ll be a debate until 9pm, before it pauses and resumes tomorrow.

All of the day’s business can be viewed on our streams:

• Dáil: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Seanad: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 1: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 2: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 3: Web stream, Facebook stream
• Committee Room 4: Web stream, Facebook stream