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

WELL, IN THIS BRAVE new world in which we have woken up – in which Barack Obama has secured himself another four years as the leader of the free world – it’s back to the humdrum of everyday life in Leinster House, as the Seanad resumes its business and the committees get into full swing. […]

THE DÁIL’S WEEK is largely wrapped up with finalising the Personal Insolvency Bill 2012, but the committee schedule is unusually packed out in order to compensate for the less-than-chaotic Seanad timetable. 1:30pm – Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation – The week begins in Room 2, where members dissect EU plans to regulate the the […]

THE DAIL formally starts talking about last week’s events in Brussels today, and (perhaps by design, perhaps by coincidence) spends the rest of the next two days discussing the state of the Irish economy. Still loads elsewhere, though… 10:00am – Committee on Education and Social Protection – In Room 3 the TUI and other teaching bodies […]

[Updated, 10:21am] WITH JAMES REILLY having survived last night’s vote of confidence, there’s little respite for the Department of Health, whose performance is one of the main items on the agenda today. 9:30am – Committee on Health and Children – In Room 2, the Department’s secretary-general Dr Ambrose McLoughlin briefs members on how the Department has […]

THE RECESS comes to a total conclusion today with the Seanad coming back, but again all eyes will be on the Dáil to see whether any members of the government parties break ranks on the vote of no confidence in James Reilly. 9:30am – Committee on Transport and Communications – The day starts in Committee Room […]

AS A WARM-UP of sorts before the two Houses of the Oireachtas get back into the swing of things next Tuesday, there’s two committee meetings today – one probably more high-profile than the other. 10:00am – Justice Equality and Defence – In Room 2 (web stream here, Facebook stream here) Alan Shatter talks members through the Personal […]

AFTER YESTERDAY’S business in the Seanad – when the government was beaten no fewer than three times – there’ll be quite a lot of attention upstairs, while the Dáil wipes out thousands of old bills and the PAC deals with welfare overpayments. 9:30am – Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation – Another early start for the newly-constituted jobs committee […]

AS WITH YESTERDAY, the committee schedule is an unusually crammed one as some of the slew of new fragmented committees elect their chairpersons. Elsewhere, there’s the wrapping up of EU Treaty legislation and legislation offering a new credit guarantee scheme, and other bits and bobs. So – on we march… 10:00am – Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation – […]

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 […]

Tomorrow’s half-day means today is the last day of full business before the St Patrick’s Day break, so again the business is largely tied-up with getting bits of legislation packed up and sent off. 9:30am – Jobs, Social Protection and Education – Members meet in Room 3 to discuss Ireland’s spending of EU globalisation retraining funds, […]