Tax, housing and water to top the agenda as Dáil returns from summer break

It is the first day back for the Dáil after the summer break.

Tax and water will be in the spotlight as the Dáil returns from its summer break today.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe wants to widen tax bands in the budget and he has got the backing of business group, Ibec.

Fine Gael wants to widen the bands to stop people hitting a high rate of tax too early.

Fianna Fáil says cutting the Universal Social Charge (USC) has been agreed and is set down in the Confidence and Supply Agreement between the parties.

On Tuesday, Ibec's chief economist Fergal O'Brien told the Budgetary Oversight Committee that altering the tax bands is the way to go.

Minister Donohoe and Fianna Fáil are due to meet later this week.

Housing will also be covered with a debate on whether families could get trapped in so-called homeless 'hubs'.

Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar will face each other when the Dáil resumes at 2pm.