Unemployed body slams TDs’ short time in Dáil

THE revelation that TDs are paid over €500 for each day the Dáil sits provoked calls yesterday from organisations representing the unemployed that politicians should spend more time there.

Opposition parties were also up in arms over the Government’s refusal to get the Dail to sit more than the average 90 days this year.

The Government voted down a Labour proposal that the Dáil shorten its three-week Easter break amid sharp exchanges with the Tánaiste, but the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU) says this is scandalous, declaring that politicians were elected to legislate, not spend time in constituency clinics.

“Our politicians will have to become more proactive and put more time into legislating for better social inclusion, an increased minimum wage and sorting out the National Development Plan,” said INOU general secretary Eric Conroy.

Mr Conroy said the average person works two and half times more than TDs who only have to attend the Dáil for an average of 90 days a year.

The average worker gets €100 a day whereas, if the TD’s pay was based on the number of actual days he worked as a legislator, it would work out at €511 a day.

If the same principle was applied to the Taoiseach, he would get €1,488 for every day the Dáil sat; Tanaiste Mary Harney would get a €1,277 a day; and ministers would get €1,188 a day.

While the INOU accept that the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and ministers also have responsibilities of Government, they still believe they should have to spend more time legislating.

“Most of our Cabinet leaves the country for a week around St Patrick’s day. No other parliament in the world does this,” Mr Conroy said.

However, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte who was pushing for the Dáil to shorten its Easter holidays stressed that TDs have a large workload outside of Dáil sittings.

Mr Rabbitte also supported the INOU’s call for the Dáil sittings to be extended, but he stressed that it should also sit during more normal working hours.

The Labour leader said that he saw no reasonable explanation for the House not meeting again for another three weeks and said it should be recalled on April 29: “We have managed to sit for 32 days since the beginning of the year.”

Mr Rabbitte claimed the Taoiseach wanted to stay out of the House as frequently as possible and whenever he could.

Fine Gael, the Green Party and Sinn Féin supported Labour in its bid to reduce the Dáil’s Easter recess.

However, Tanaiste Mary Harney defended the three-week adjournment and insisted it was not excessive. She said the House would be in recess for the equivalent of two “Dáil weeks” and, during that time, committees would sit.

Ms Harney said that the House had passed 15 bills during the current term.