Dáil ‘a joke’ as €112m spend passed

The Dáil was branded “a joke of a parliament” after a planned €112m spend next year for TDs and senators was pushed through without any debate.

As it rose for Halloween holidays, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil it would have a chance to debate the Oireachtas budget — an average spend of €500,000 for every TD and senator — when it returns on Nov 6.

However, as the budget was voted and passed on a Government majority yesterday, the opposition questioned the point of holding what was described by Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley as “a retrospective debate”.