Millions of Americans go to the polls in mid-term elections today, to determine the political make-up of the House and Senate.
The vote is widely seen as a referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump.
Just one-third of Senate seats are being contested, but it is thought unlikely that the Republicans will lose their control of the upper house.
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TDs will have a chance to bring amendments to the proposed abortion laws at the Oireachtas Health Committee.
Debates will take place at three marathon sittings over the next few days.
Proposed changes include a number from the pro-life TD lobby who have called for it to be put into law that a woman seeking an abortion should be offered an ultrasound image of the foetus or to listen to its heartbeat.
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Education Minister Joe McHugh will brief a Dáil committee on the latest in the school buildings controversy.
He will update TDs on his department's efforts to identify and resolve construction faults.
A review has been ordered into how the department awards school building projects after defects were discovered at 22 sites.
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A 66-year-old man is due in court in Dublin later in relation to the murder of two soldiers in the north in 1972.
His arrest by Gardaí in Donegal follows a joint operation with the PSNI.
Lance Corporal Alfred Johnston and Private James Eames died when a device exploded in a car they were checking on the Irvinestown Road in Enniskillen in 1972.
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The British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet her cabinet today to discuss a possible Brexit deal.
It is thought she has secured concessions from Brussels to keep the whole of the UK in a customs union after Brexit - avoiding a hard Irish border.
But the she admits there is still work to do.
