The Cabinet will hold its second meeting of the new year outside the capital today when the Taoiseach and his ministerial colleagues meet in Hollyhill in Cork.
Along with a full Cabinet meeting, Ministers will discuss development issues with the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly, which has been established to consult on the allocation of the latest tranche of EU structural funds within the 13-county region.
At the meeting, the Cabinet is expected to approve the nomination of Mr Justice Ronan Keane as the new Chief Justice.
Ministers will meet at 10.15 a.m. at the offices of the Hollyhill Youth Project in Cork.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, will brief his colleagues on the latest situation on the dispute between farmers and beef-processors.
The Cabinet will also discuss the Government's legislative programme for the forthcoming Dail session, which begins tomorrow.
Among the legislation due to be published and debated in the House over the coming sessions are the Minimum Wage Bill and the Local Development Bill.
At 2 p.m. the Taoiseach and his colleagues will meet the regional assembly of the Southern and Eastern Regional Authority, which takes in 73 per cent of the population in the State.
The format for the afternoon is similar to that in Ballaghaderreen last week, when Ministers met the assembly members of the Border, midlands and western region.
The Southern and Eastern assembly is made up of councillors from the region. Among the issues which will be given priority will be tackling urban congestion; assisting development outside Dublin; and promoting social inclusion.
At 3 p.m. Ministers will attend "consultation fora" with local councillors, representative of relevant State agencies and local government officials.
These meetings will examine economic and social infrastructure and employment.