Dáil committees are not the real thing

I BELIEVE Verona Ní Bhroinn, PRO for the Houses of the Oireachtas (‘All in the line of duty,’ Irish Examiner letters, February 9), completely missed the point in her response to my letter headlined ‘TDs and MPs: how they rate’ (Letters, February 1).

I know that committees play an important part in the parliamentary process. But a part is all they are; they are not a replacement for the Dáil. If the Dáil is in recess, then it is not sitting, even if its committees are in session.

In my letter I made the comparison between the sitting days of Dáil Eireann and the House of Commons.