TDs not pest pleased with infestation of mice, ladybirds and ants at Leinster House

Mice spotted 'scurrying along the skirting' of canteen during lunchtime

Pest controllers were called in response to an 'infestation' of ladybirds after a Leinster House staffer failed to deal with the problem herself, explaining she had been unable to suck them all up with a hoover.

Mice were spotted scurrying through a canteen in Leinster House during lunchtime last July, while a Labour TD reported his office was being invaded by insects the following month.

Pest controllers were also called in response to an “infestation” of ladybirds after a Leinster House staffer failed to deal with the problem herself, explaining she had been unable to suck them all up with a hoover.

Records released under the Freedom of Information Act also show authorities at the Houses of the Oireachtas considered deploying drones against troublesome seagulls after a bird got trapped in a courtyard.

However, a principal officer rejected this proposal on cost grounds, and it appears officials instead settled for erecting a sign instructing people not to feed seagulls in both English and Irish.

Last August, Labour TD Duncan Smith contacted management at Leinster House to report an incursion by “a significant number” of ants in his office, which he said had started to appear following construction works nearby.

“We have tried to locate where they are getting in but can’t,” he wrote in an email, which resulted in an “urgent” call to pest control service providers.

The insects were later identified as garden ants, and an insecticidal gel was used in Mr Smith’s office to eradicate the infestation.

In September, a librarian at Leinster House issued a warning about an influx of harlequin ladybirds as the insects began looking for somewhere to hibernate.

“They aren’t pests as such,” she acknowledged, but noted they were an invasive species, “so we need to clear them out to save our native ladybird population”.

She wrote in an email that the ladybirds “love” the shutter housings on old sash windows at Leinster House, where they can “bed down for winter”.

“Unfortunately, the pull-down window blinds that are fitted on all the windows mean we can’t open the shutters to hoover the ladybirds out,” she explained.

She contacted facilities management again a few weeks later, attaching photos of some dead ladybirds, reporting there were still “some flying about and some half-dead on the floor”.

In July, a horrified staffer reported mice had been spotted “scurrying along the skirtings” in the service officers canteen at Leinster House while she was eating lunch.

“As this is the place we all eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc, it would be very much appreciated if this matter could be dealt with urgently and a deep clean given to the entire room,” she wrote in an email to management.