Next Dáil to have up to 20 additional TDs

A snow covered Leinster house in Dublin, as forecasters issued a weather warning and said the bitterly cold snap will continue for the next four days.

The next Dáil will have either 18 or 20 additional TDs under plans to be rushed through the Oireachtas before the summer recess, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

While the new statutory Electoral Commission has indicated a range of between 171 and 181 TDs, senior Government sources have said the next Dáil will have 178 or 180 TDs — up from the current number of 160.