House of horrors on Friday 13th

The utter contempt which the people of this country were subjected to yesterday

The point being made by opposition parties, who colluded in calling a quorum, knowing it could not be met by government TDs, was that Friday sittings of the House are pointless unless ministers or the Taoiseach can be quizzed on issues.

It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that enough deputies are available to make up a quorum of 20 people. Yesterday, when the bell rang for almost 15 minutes, instead of the usual three, to signal a quorum was needed, all the Government parties could muster were 11, including the Taoiseach.