Ahern cuts Dáil deal with Labour

THE Taoiseach will only appear in the Dáil for one-and-a-half days a week under a new Government proposal backed by the Labour Party.

The remaining opposition parties reacted angrily to the change in Dáil rules which ensures the Labour Party remains the second most powerful group on the opposition benches.

As a result of the formation of a technical group by the Greens, Sinn Féin, the Socialists and Independents, the Labour Party had been relegated to third position in the pecking order of opposition groups.