No plans to change procedures for absent MEPs

There are no plans to change procedures in the European Parliament when members fail to attend, a spokesperson for the office of the president has said.

Two of Ireland’s MEPs are among the five worst attendees since being elected to the European Parliament in May on a basic salary of €97,440 a year.

As a result, the average attendance record of the country’s 11 MEPs is the worst of all 28 EU countries.

Brian Crowley, serving his fourth five-year term in the parliament for Munster, has been undergoing extensive treatment in Cork University Hospital, according to his spokesperson. “However, he still does his EU work from his hospital bed and through his local and Brussels office while he is recuperating,” said the spokesperson.

Ireland’s Europe Minister, Dara Murphy, said there was no way for politicians either in the Oireachtas or the European Parliament to nominate a replacement if they could not attend.

A spokesperson for EP president Martin Schulz said there was no procedure for nominating replacements, the only alternative was to step down but they had not received an indication anybody was planning to do so.

Mr Crowley, 50, who is confined to a wheelchair following an accident in his teens, has been unable to attend any of the voting sessions in the monthly plenary sessions in Strasbourg since May, and his attendance for the previous five years was just under 50%.

Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan had the fifth worst attendance record of the 748 MEPs having voted in just 16.59% of roll-call votes since he was elected in May.

He has appeared in the parliament for a number of high-profile events, such as the hearing of the Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, but has been absent from committee meetings where MEPs do their most valuable work.

The former TD failed to return calls but told a number of radio programmes yesterday that his wife was not well after having a baby a few months ago.

MEPs who fail to attend miss out on the daily allowance of €304. Munster Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly voted in all roll-call votes.