Labour wants Dáil to work longer and harder

THE Dáil should sit for four days a week rather than three and increase its total number of sitting days by 50% a year, a comprehensive policy document on Dáil reform has argued.

The Labour Party document was unveiled by party leader Pat Rabbitte yesterday, at a time when Oireachtas members are coming under fire for taking a week-long break just a month after the Dáil returned.

With over 100 proposals, the document calls for fundamental reform of the Dáil, the procedures of which, Mr Rabbitte said, had remained largely unchanged since the first Dáil in 1919.