No need for Dáil to adjourn early for repairs– Ceann Comhairle

Repair works to be carried out in Leinster House would not require the Dáil to adjourn early for the summer holidays, Ceann Comhairle Seán O Fearghail has said.

He told the House on Thursday that no decision had been made on the length of the holidays.

“That is a matter for the House to decide,’’ he added.

Opposition TDs had raised the briefing given to the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night that the Dáil would rise on July 7th and return later than usual due to renovations to the building.

This would mean a three-month summer holiday.

Fianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan said reports from the Fine Gael meeting seemed to confirm that the House would rise on July 7th.

“How can that be justified with the amount of work that needs to go before the Dáil?,’’ he added.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, who was taking the Order of Business on the Government's behalf, said the length of the summer holiday was a matter for the Dáil.

The new Oireachtas business committee would be established in the coming weeks and would consider the issue, she added.

She said any discussion on dates at the moment was “speculation’’.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald suggested TDs could meet in the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin if work had to be done in the Dáil chamber.