Dáil summer holidays - Excuses for long break ring hollow

MERCS, perks, fat salaries and index-linked pensions - what more could Government politicians desire? Three months holidays every summer, naturally.

As TDs decamped for 12 weeks in the sun yesterday, the seasonal row erupted over the length of the break.

But despite Opposition calls for shorter holidays, the Government voted down a Green Party proposal to have the Dáil return from its summer sojourn at the start of September.