Dáil 'dress code' proposal revoked, for now

Proposals for a new Dáil dress code have been taken off the table.

The plans, put forward by the government, had called for TDs to wear 'business attire' in the Dáil.

For the men, that would specifically have meant “a tailored jacket and trousers, and a collared shirt”.

The original proposal was agreed by a majority of party representatives at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges last week.

Most of those opposing the dress code came from the Technical Group of TDs.

Dun-Laoghaire representative Richard Boyd-Barrett was opposed to the dress code.

"When I actually looked at the dress code that they were proposing; they were suggesting that we wear 'business attire'," Mr Barrett said.

"I thought that was pretty interesting: why does the Government think that public representatives should look like businessmen? Businessmen are part of our society, but they're certainly not the majority of our society.

"There are lots of other ordinary people in society who are not business people and it maybe tells you a little bit about who the Government thinks they represent."