Government agrees to shorten Dáil holidays

THE Dáil will break for the summer recess one week later than planned after the Government last night took the unusual step of conceding to a call by the Labour Party to reduce politicians’ holiday time.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the house should sit for longer to discuss problems facing the economy and the fallout from the rejection of the Lisbon treaty which he described as “the biggest diplomatic challenge we’ve had since World War II”.

He said the country faces profound challenges which “make it unthinkable that this house would abandon its duty to meet in public session for the next three months”.