Dáil dress code plan is no longer suitable

DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent

CHANGES TO the dress code for Dáil deputies have been taken off the agenda and the spectacle of TDs being carried out of the House for refusing to wear jackets will not materialise after all.

With the Dáil going into summer recess next Thursday, the draft schedule has no provision now for changes in standing orders requiring male TDs to wear “a tailored jacket and trousers and a collared shirt”.

The original proposal from Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett was agreed by a majority of party representatives at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges last week.

The Technical Group, including such dedicated casual dressers as Richard Boyd Barrett, Mick Wallace and Luke “Ming” Flanagan, reacted with quiet fury and open disbelief.

There was also general reluctance among the Coalition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, to proceed with the new code for TDs’ attire, which included a ban on the wearing of denim.

The view was taken that the media would “have a field day” if a member were removed from the chamber in his shirt-sleeves, protesting loudly that this was a huge distraction from our economic woes.

There was also a procedural defect, according to Leinster House sources, in that the proposal should have been made through the Dáil Reform Committee and not the procedures committee.

A further proposal from the Ceann Comhairle required that mobile phones be switched off completely before entering the chamber. “Interference from mobile phones is a discourtesy to other members, a distraction from debate and interferes with the recording of proceedings,” said a draft motion, now unlikely to see the light of day.

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