Good morning,
By the end of the month, we will have two more reports to add to the growing stack of paper dedicated to RTÉ's finances, culture and corporate governance. If it were a TV drama, the rolling scandal at the national broadcaster is now well into its difficult third or fourth season: shorn of its main star, die-hard fans are now the only ones who can really follow a plot so complex that it threatens to collapse under its own weight. And yet, the politics of the scandal remain potent. One of its many offshoots will take centre stage in the Dáil this evening when Sinn Féin put down a motion calling for the TV licence fee to be scrapped.
In some ways, the TV licence fee issue is separate to the scandal that erupted last summer: the future funding of the broadcaster was something the coalition was going to have to grapple with in any event. However, the payments to Ryan Tubridy, the barter account, the musical: all this has shaped the environment the decision will be made within, ratcheted up the public pressure and attention, and most importantly, driven down licence fee payments to the point that it has made the current system almost defunct and its replacement more urgent.
The decision is also a point of division within the coalition: Catherine Martin’s preference for direct exchequer funding seems as clear as Micheál Martin’s firm opposition. Ms Martin believes she has the support of Eamon Ryan, and it seems the Taoiseach is leaning in her direction. She has invested a lot of political capital in stating that a decision will be made quickly after the delivery of the next two reports she commissioned, due by the end of February. There is a desire in some quarters to kill the issue before we are much further into an election cycle - however, her resolve may be on a collision course with coalition colleagues.
Dáil live updates: Verona Murphy the favourite to be elected ceann comhairle in secret ballot today
Dáil returns with dramatic vote
Ceann comhairle election key task as 34th Dáil convenes for first time
Ceann comhairle vote: Harris urges TDs to support Verona Murphy despite his previous concerns over ‘stoking’ of ‘unfounded racist fears’
All this makes it ripe ground for the opposition to eke out points against the government, and for Sinn Féin - which is now seeing a serious loss of momentum in the polls – the benefits of a political attack are clear.
Elsewhere, Fine Gael stalwart Paul Kehoe became the latest TD from that party to indicate he will not contest the next general election. The Wexford TD called time on a 22-year career that saw him take up the reins from Ivan Yates and act as chief whip for the party and government for a combined 12 years, spending almost 10 years at the cabinet table.
His retirement underscores the difficulty facing Fine Gael where long-standing TDs have been stepping down. In his Wexford constituency, the party went into the last general election with two sitting TDs and Ministers of State in Kehoe and Michael D’Arcy: now it faces down the barrel of a fight to retain the Wexford seat without an incumbent while taking a seat in the new Wicklow-Wexford constituency.
Best reads
Fintan O’Toole on the contradictions in the government’s pension policy
The government’s mammoth Planning Bill continues its stately progress through the Oireachtas – but Sinn Féin is warning it could do more harm than good
From Cape Town, Bill Corcoran ponders the prospect of a diminished ANC in South African politics as another important overseas General Election comes over the horizon
And for the day that’s in it: the recipe for perfect pancakes
Playbook
Cabinet meets in Government Buildings at 9.45AM – it’s a relatively light agenda, but here’s what Ministers will be discussing
One to watch: at 11am the High Court will hear a case brought by PBP TD Paul Murphy seeking to quash the decision by political ethics watchdog Sipo not to investigate allegations of a breach of the code of conduct by the Taoiseach, arising from his leaking of a draft GP contract with the IMO to a rival GP group.
A protest on the housing crisis in the Gaeltacht is to be held outside Leinster House at lunchtime.
In the afternoon, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will meet his German counterpart, Christian Lindner, in Government Buildings.
Hot on the heels of Fine Gael, which launched its campaign on Monday, Fianna Fáil will launch its campaign for the Referendums on Family and Care at 2pm.
Dáil
Dáil action commences at the same time with Leaders’ Questions, followed by the Order of Business and the introduction of new legislation on trade union subscriptions. Taoiseach’s questions is at 3.10pm, followed by the Second Stage of the Road Traffic Bill. In the evening, Sinn Féin’s motion on scrapping the TV licence fee will be heard at 6.36pm.
Norma Foley takes oral questions in the evening, followed by Topical Issues.
Read the full Dáil schedule here
Seanad
The Seanad gets under way at 1pm and will work its way through a range of legislation, including on Social Welfare and the directly elected Limerick Mayor.
The full Seanad schedule is here
Committees
Over at the committees, the Assisted Dying Committee will hear from officials in the Department of Health and HSE, while the Further and Higher Education Committee will discuss North-South student mobility. The Environment Committee will discuss fish migration. All those committees have an 11am start.
In the afternoon, the Committee on Children will have an engagement on the protection of children in the use of Artificial Intelligence. That’s at 3pm. At 4pm, the Justice Committee begins a marathon double header on the use of recording devices and Facial Recognition Technology. Cormac McQuinn has the inside track on what will be said ahead of time
The full schedule for Tuesday’s committee hearings is here
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