Host Hugh Linehan is joined by Jen Hogan and Cormac McQuinn to look back on the week in politics:

· Political parties are eagerly pitching eye-catching measures ahead of Budget 2025 with 50 per cent of respondents in the latest Irish Times / Ipsos poll saying they want the Government to prioritise ‘immediate help’ with the cost of living.

· Has Simon Harris reached peak popularity? The Taoiseach’s surging personal approval ratings mirrors that of his predecessor Leo Varadkar who enjoyed similar peaks, but endured troughs not long after - could Harris be in for similar?

· The Dáil resumed this week with Sinn Féin going on the attack during leader’s questions, highlighting children with scoliosis and spina bifida awaiting surgery, and the “gold-plated” pension pots of the well-heeled that are set to get a boost.

Plus, the panellists pick their favourite IT reads of the week:

· Miriam Lord on the extremely expensive bijou bike shed on Leinster lawn.

· Carl O’Brien wrote about new research from Maynooth University that showed the benefits of much shorter homework tasks.

· And Emer McLysaght swapped tales of air fryers and steam mops on a group holiday to Spain.

Produced by John Casey.

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Support for Fine Gael has increased, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos opinion poll, with approval ratings for Taoiseach Simon Harris surging since the last poll in early summer.

Support for Sinn Fein has fallen since the last poll, while the personal rating for party leader Mary Lou McDonald also declining sharply.

Pat and Hugh analyse all the findings of the poll.

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Jack Power and Derek Scally join Hugh Linehan to discuss developments in European politics:

Michael McGrath was handed the EU Commission's justice portfolio when commission president Ursula von der Leyen assigned roles this week. How did Ireland end up with this particular job?

Von der Leyen's consolidation of power at the centre of the commission may be good for reaching consensus. But as Europe faces an uncertain future in a range of areas from the economy to technology and security, does this approach help?

Another feature of the new commission is the presence of a far right politician for the first time, Italy's Raffaele Fitto. Meanwhile in Austria an imminent general election looks likely to return a far right-led government. As Europe's politics evolves, is the EU capable of evolving with it?

Jack Power is Europe Correspondent. Derek Scally is an Irish Times journalist based in Berlin.

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