FG made right call on Coughlan’s US trip

WHY is Fine Gael being criticised for removing the Dáil pairing arrangement?

For years it has been used and abused by deputies mitch work or dodge awkward votes. Why should Education Minister Mary Coughlan attend a jobs conference in the US? Labour argued that since it was about jobs, the minister should be allowed to go. But this is same minister who wouldn’t lift a finger to save 400 jobs in Element Six, 1,100 in SR Technics and 600 in Waterford Crystal, among others. This is the same minister who wouldn’t do anything to save 2,000 jobs in Dell until she got a nice junket to the US in the government jet.

This is the same minister who did nothing about creating 500 maintenance jobs in Dublin airport.