Promised bills failed to appear before Dáil, claims Labour

HALF of the new bills promised by Government in the last Dáil session failed to materialise, the Labour Party said yesterday.

When the Dáil returned in late September 2005, the Government Chief Whip, Tom Kitt, announced that 14 new bills would be before the Oireachtas between then and December 15 - the last day of the Dáil before the Christmas recess.

But Labour’s whip Emmet Stagg said that only seven of those bills have appeared so far. He called on the Government to increase the number of sitting days each year to clear the backlog.