Ministers receive St Patrick's Day travel assignments today

Separately, the Tánaiste and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue will update Cabinet on the introduction of new UK import requirements for Irish exporters to Britain, which come into effect on Wednesday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Ministers will today be told where they are to be sent for St Patrick's Day.

Foreign Affairs Minister and Tánaiste Micheál Martin will bring the list to Cabinet ahead of a full announcement of where State representatives will be sent.

The 2024 St Patrick’s Day programme is expected to match last year's in terms of scale.

Last year saw the largest St Patrick’s Day programme to date, with 77 programmes, in more than 70 cities, across 41 countries.

Sources said the theme for 2024 will be Ireland’s Future in the World, with a "focus on young people, and building on progress during the first century of our independence".

Separately, the Tánaiste and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue will update Cabinet on the introduction of new UK import requirements for Irish exporters to Britain, which come into effect on Wednesday.

At a Brexit stakeholder forum on Monday, the Tánaiste spoke with Irish businesses directly impacted by the UK's move to introduce new import controls on goods from the EU, including Ireland. For Irish operators, this will add an administrative and logistical hurdle to exporting goods to Great Britain as well as for using the UK landbridge.

The new requirements will apply to trade between Ireland and Great Britain only, not North-South trade.

Also at Cabinet, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney will bring a memo topping up the amount of money available to the humanitarian schemes approved by cabinet after storms Babet and Ciaran in October and November. 

The storms badly damaged businesses in Cork, Louth, and Galway in particular, and the €5.3m scheme is to be topped up by an additional €5.7m, bringing the total fund to €11m. While the pot is doubling, the level of payments to businesses will remain the same.

Meanwhile, Mr McConalogue will bring an Action Plan on Women in Agriculture to Government. This follows a National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture last year to examine gender equality in the sector chaired by the former Tánaiste Mary Coughlan.

The Action Plan has 12 actions including increased promotion of agriculture as a viable career for women and young girls.

Currently, some 18,000 or 13% of all farmholders in Ireland are women, and around 72,000 farm workers.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris will bring a memo updating Government on the ongoing efforts to address core funding in higher education where he will confirm €100 million has been provided to address the core funding gaps in the sector.