Government red-faced over TD shortage

THE Government was embarrassed yesterday when it failed to muster enough TDs to prevent the day’s Dáil session collapsing.

In a surprise move at 3:30pm yesterday afternoon Labour's environment spokesperson Eamon Gilmore caught the Government by surprise by calling a quorum.

Under Oireachtas rules the Government must have 20 sitting TDs in the Dáil when a quorum is called. However, the best the Government could manage was 12 including the Taoiseach.

Apart from a bemused Bertie Ahern who rushed from his office to the chamber and slipped into the back benches there was no other Cabinet member present.

The deeply embarrassing incident is the first time in decades a sitting Government has failed to have enough TD's present to justify a Dáil sitting.

It also comes just a day after the Government was accused of having contempt for democracy by making the Dáil sit on Fridays to rush through legislation without bothering to turn up in numbers itself.

And earlier this week Justice Minister Michael McDowell apologised after he was found to be in the Dáil bar during a debate on the controversial death of Corkman Adrian Moynihan.

Deputy Gilmore said the incident called into question the Government's approach to Dáil business.

"A series of government speakers came in today to attack the Labour Party and to say how important the Protection of the Environment Bill was. However, clearly they did not think it was important enough to ensure the presence of 20 government TDs," he said.

Fine Gael environment spokesman Bernard Allen called on the Taoiseach to apologise to the house.

"If the Government cannot run the business of Dáil Éireann they certainly do not have the ability to run a modern economy. Today we have ministers running around the country while the most important business in the parliament is being gutted," he said.

Afterwards a clearly phased Government chief whip Mary Hanafin sat down on the carpeted steps outside the Dáil chamber and accused the opposition of squandering Dáil time.

"They wanted more time to debate legislation and look what they did with it," she said.