The Budget and cost of living are set to dominate the Dail agenda later as TDs finally return to Leinster House after a two month summer break today.

The Dáil hasn't sat since July 17th, but will resume at 2pm.

A Sinn Fein motion on special education school places will be debated this evening.

Donegal Sinn Fein TD Padraig MacLochlainn  says a decision not to continue with energy credits will be a big focus this afternoon:

Leitrim County Council will be addressed today by independent's aiming to win their support to enter the race for the Aras.

Galway and Wicklow County Councils opted against nominating anyone yesterday.

Sligo County Council is to consider nominating a candidate on Monday.

Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council and Fianna Fail Cllr Paddy Farrell has been outlining the state of play to Ocean FM news:

Tributes have been paid to former Mayor of Sligo, Tommy Cummins who passed away on Tuesday.

Mr Cummins was a Fianna Fail member of the Borough Council from 1999 to 2004 and was elected Mayor of Sligo in 2002.

He also hugely involved with GAA and soccer in the county - he was the goalkeeper on the Sligo Senior Football GAA team which won the Connacht Championship in 1975.

Fianna Fail Cllr Tom MacSharry says Tommy served with distinction as a councillor and as Mayor:

Concerns have been raised over significant overgrowth from the Sligo - Dublin rail line encroaching on residential properties.

Residents say briars and nettles are spilling into their gardens, making outdoor spaces unsafe and unusable.

Cllr Higgins criticised Irish Rail for failing to respond to repeated complaints over the summer.

Speaking to Ocean Fm news, Cllr Higgins says Sligo County Council will now write to Irish Rail urging them to cut back the vegetation from Treacy Avenue to the Strandhill Road Bridge.

The Government is facing increasing pressure to provide a timeline for a new Garda Divisional Headquarters in Sligo.

While a suitable site had been purchased in Caltragh several years ago, the project has experienced a number of delays.

This is was primarily due to initial plans to merge the Sligo/Leitrim Division with Donegal which did not materialise.

Cathaoirleach of the Sligo Drumcliff MD Cllr Marie Casserly says that following OPW Minister Kevin Boxer Morans visit to Sligo yesterday, there is an expectation that it will finally get off the ground:

Over 17,000 people are now on waiting lists at Sligo University Hospital according to the latest National Treatment Purchase Fund report.

More than 2,500 patients have been waiting over a year for their first outpatient consultation.

Dermatology is the most delayed service, with over 1,200 adults facing year-long waits.

Speaking to Ocean FM News, Cllr McSharry says a lack of consultant cover last year led to the backlog.

'Passionate pleas' have been made to the OPW Minister over coastal erosion in Strandhill.

It comes as another meeting is to take place in the coming weeks to ascertain what will be best suited to combat the issue in the area.

OPW Minister Kevin Boxer Moran heard presentations from the local committee and members of the community over how coastal erosion will affected Strandhill in the years ahead.

Fianna Fail Cllr Tom MacSharry says the Minister left in no doubt the seriousness of the situation:

It’s been claimed that vehicles are parked ‘all over the place’ at the Carrowmore Megalithic cemetery in Sligo.

Concern has been raised once again over a lack of car parking at the site, with money already spent this year to improve the visitor centre.

It’s also thought along with creating extra spaces, that there should be a set down area established for the local link.

Sinn Fein Cllr Thomas Healy says it’s about attracting people to Sligo, and if they can’t get parked they will move on:

The Taoiseach has been accused of attacking his own staff in Sligo and elsewhere.

It comes as Michael Martin criticised some council chief executives who are not opting to increase the supply of land for housing.

He has indicated that the Government will move to directly zone land if local authorities do not comply.

But local Cllr Michael Clarke has launched a counterattack on the Taoiseachs comments, saying he is talking out of both sides of his mouth and that Council staff in Sligo are working around the clock to deliver housing:

There are renewed hopes for a new Garda Divisional Headquarters in Sligo.

The project has suffered numerous delays due to initial plans to merge the Sligo/Leitrim Division with Donegal and other issues.

A suitable site had been purchased in the Caltragh area of the town several years ago.

OPW Minister Kevin Boxer Moran paid a visit to the current station on Pearse Road yesterday - a building which has been deemed no longer suitable to meet the future needs of An Garda Siochana locally.

Junior Minister Marian Harkin think that real progress can be made now: