House leader rejects call for Seanad to sit next week

OPPOSITION DEMANDS that the Seanad sit next week were rejected by House leader Donie Cassidy.

He said that senators deserved “a good holiday and a good break”.

He added: “We will all be back in early September when we can take up the difficulties the nation is experiencing to see how we can assist in that regard.

"We will also debate the referendum due to take place on October 2nd, which will be of crucial importance." Fine Gael Seanad leader Frances Fitzgeraldaccused the Government of seeking refuge in the Oireachtas recess.

“There is much important, unfinished business to be done in this House,” she added.

The House would not be in session to discuss the recommendations of An Bord Snip Nua, she said.

“The implementation plan for the Ryan report was meant to be published in July,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

“Again, that report should be discussed in this House.” She said that the Seanad was adjourning at a time when thousands of people were losing their jobs and the unemployment rate was fast approaching 15 per cent.

Ronan Mullen(Independent) said that the House should be discussing the exclusion of new applicants to the fourth round of the rural environment protection scheme.

“It is odd that the Seanad will not assemble even for a short period in the coming weeks to discuss a report as significant as that of An Bord Snip Nua,” he added.

Ivana Bacik(Independent) said that recent days had shown the need for more sitting time.

“Yesterday, we saw the Criminal Justice Bill being railroaded through the House,” she added.

She said that the Seanad should sit next week to discuss the report of An Bord Snip Nua.

Jerry Buttimer(FG) said that given the issues to be discussed, there should be some explanation as to why the House was adjourning.

“Why can we not sit until the end of July?,” he added.

Joe O'Reilly(FG) said that the Seanad should show a particular type of leadership.

“We need to take extraordinary action as we are not in ordinary times,” he added.