The embattled chairman of the taxpayers' spending watchdog will face questioning from his own committee this morning.

Nearly 2 hours has been set aside for John McGuinness to answer questions about recent controversies surrounding his past as a junior minister.

John McGuinness will vacate the chair for this morning's session while members discuss the issue surrounding foreign travel.

It's after he argued that the taxpayer should pay for ministerial spouses to travel abroad in some cases.

He'll also be quizzed about the 2008 St Patrick's Day ministerial trip he, his wife and an official went on that cost €22,000.

The then Junior Enterprise minister and his wife travelled business class at a cost of more than €9,000.

While Fine Gael TD Simon Harris has questioned why the Fianna Fáil leader ever nominated Deputy McGuinness to the committee, it remains to be seen whether he or any of his colleagues will push for his resignation. John McGuinness is no stranger to controversy, as Newstalk's Louise Kelly explains in one minute: