Committee chairs set to be decided

Decisions on who chairs Oireachtas Committees as well as who takes the position of Leas Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil are expected to be decided later this week.

Control of the committees for the first time will be decided according to the d’Hondt selection process, where positions are divided according to the number of seats parties won in the election.

The chairmanship of the new budget committee will be one of the first decided and this will be discussed tomorrow.

Parties have been told to have their names ready for the committees this week, including who they intend nominating as chairpersons.

Elsewhere, Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan, Fianna Fáil’s Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher, Sinn Féin’s Sean Crowe and Independent TD Mattie McGrath will all compete in a vote for Leas Ceann Comhairle on Thursday.

Unlike the Ceann Comhairle vote, this will be an open selection process and not involve transfers.

While the winner requires the largest number of votes, as opposed to a majority of the Dail, some party sources say there may be a second or third vote for the position depending on who parties back or oppose during the vote.