Dail sat average 1? days a week since election, says Green TD

The Dáil has sat an average of 1½ days a week since last year's general election, Mr Dan Boyle (Green Party, Cork South Central) told the House.

"The time spent in session contrasts badly with the expectations of the many people who elected us to this chamber," he said. "Much of the legislation we are passing is being dealt with spasmodically. Some 12 Bills are being guillotined this week, which is the equivalent of the number of Bills we passed last autumn."

Mr Boyle was among the Opposition deputies who strongly opposed yesterday's adjournment of the House until September 30th.

"The Dáil's schedule of sitting days compares very badly with other parliaments in Europe and elsewhere.

"We are among the worst, if not the worst, parliament in terms of attendance and processing legislation," he said.

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said she had been in the House since 1981 and Oppositions had always opposed the adjournment while governments proposed it.

She said the remaining weeks of July provided an opportunity for parties and Oireachtas committees to meet and engage with each other free from the business of the chamber.

"The fact we do not meet in plenary session does not mean members are not working," said Ms Harney.

"Most people will be here and very few people in politics take more than two or three weeks holidays. Few people take more than the month of August off and we all know that. We should all say that and not pretend it is otherwise."

The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, warned that the credibility of the House would continue to suffer as long as it failed to order its business in a manner more commensurate with modern times and the workload it had to deal with.

He said that while the House sat late into the evening, it did not detract from the "minimal sitting days, the duration of the summer recess and the unnecessary taking of additional weeks on the pretext of St Patrick's Day and Easter \ is damaging to the credibility of the House".

Mr Rabbitte said he did not believe there was any conviction on the Government's side about the necessity to maintain the reputation of parliament.

"The reputation of the House has been diminished in recent years for a variety of reasons, but the least defensible one is the fact that we are not prepared to adapt to modern times and do our business like other parliaments," he said.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Kenny, said that the Dáil should return on Tuesday to discuss outstanding issues of importance.

"Given the publication yesterday of the public finance figures, the number of job losses in recent weeks, and the number of Bills and reports that have not been discussed either by the Dáil or its committees, the Dáil should not adjourn today until the end of September."

Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Sinn Féin, Cavan-Monaghan) said the Dáil should sit for a greater part of the year to give deputies the time to perform the roles and responsibilities which had been entrusted to them.

"We should continue next week and it is interesting that many members will be present because committees are sitting," he said.

The Government won the division to adjourn until September 30th by 69 votes to 48.