Tag Archives: Dail

Scenes outside the Dail last night following Enda Kenny’s apology on behalf of the state to the women that worked in the Magdalene Laundries.

Earlier: ‘I, As Taoiseach…Deeply Regret And Apologise Unreservedly To All Those Women’

From top: Angela Downey, whose mother was a survivor from Good Shepherd; Gabrielle O’Gorman, who was incarcerated at the Sean MacDermott magdalen laundry, escaped but subsequently caught and then brought to another laundry in Limerick; Maureen Sullivan, and sisters Mary McManus and Kathleen Jannette, who were in Stanhope Street; Marina Gambold, Maureen Sullivan, Mary McManus, Kathleen Jannette, Steven O’Riordan, Geraldine Cronin and Julie McClure; Diane Croghan, Josephine Meade, Mary Smith and Kathleen Jannette; Mary McManus and Maureen Sullivan and  Mary McManus, left, and Kathleen Jannette.

(Mark Stedman/Photocall)

Political scientist  Jane Suiter quotes Trinity College Dublin political scientist Dr Gail McElroy from the Constitutional Convention in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co Dublin, this afternoon.

Read more of Dr McElroy’s media myth-busting research on female representation in Irish politics here.

It includes some nice easy-to-read statistical analysis, like this:

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

 

Dáil Walkout By Opposition Over Gaeltacht Bill (David Richardson, InsideIreland)

What do you mean you didn’t ‘order them’?

Summary of recommendations for Dáil constituencies

1. The number of members of Dáil Éireann should be 158.

2. There should be 40 constituencies of which 11 will be 5-seat, 16 will be 4-seat and 13 will be 3-seat.

3. The county of Cork, including Cork city, should form the five constituencies of Cork East (4-seat, unchanged), Cork North-Central (4-seat), Cork North-West (3-seat), Cork South-Central (4-seat) and Cork South-West (3-seat, unchanged).

4. The counties of Sligo and Leitrim with some population from south Donegal and from west Cavan should form a 4-seat constituency called Sligo-Leitrim.

5. The rest of the county of Donegal should form a 5-seat constituency.

6. The rest of the county of Cavan with the county of Monaghan should become a 4-seat constituency.

 7. Dublin city should largely form the five constituencies of Dublin Bay North (5-seat),
Dublin North-West (3-seat), Dublin Central (3-seat), Dublin South-Central (4-seat) and Dublin BaySouth (4-seat).
Dublin outside the city should largely form the six constituencies of Dublin
Fingal (5-seat) and Dublin West (4-seat); Dublin Mid-West (4-seat, unchanged) and Dublin South-West (5-seat); Dublin Rathdown (3-seat) and Dún Laoghaire (4-seat).

8. Galway West with some population from south Mayo should remain a 5-seat constituency.

9. The rest of the county of Mayo should form a 4-seat constituency.

10. The county of Roscommon with population from east Galway should form a 3-seat constituency called Roscommon Galway.

11. The rest of the Galway East constituency should form a 3-seat constituency.

12. The county of Kerry should form a 5-seat constituency. The county of Limerick should form a 4-seat Limerick City constituency and a 3-seat constituency to be called Limerick County.

13. The county of Waterford, including Waterford city, should form a 4-seat constituency.

14. The county of Offaly with some population from north west Tipperary should form a 3-seat constituency.

15. The rest of the county of Tipperary should form a 5-seat constituency. The
county of Laois with some population from Kildare should form a 3-seat constituency.

16. The rest of the county of Kildare should form a 4-seat and a 3-seat constituency.

17. Eight other constituencies should remain unchanged
Carlow-Kilkenny (5-seat), Clare (4-seat),
Longford-Westmeath (4-seat),
Louth (5-seat),
Meath East (3-seat),
Meath West (3-seat),
Wexford (5-seat), Wicklow (5-seat).

Dail Constituency Report (PDF)

INDEPENDENT TD Mick Wallace will put half his €92,000 Dáil salary towards repaying the €2.1 million Revenue debt of his construction firm MJ Wallace Ltd.

In an emotional personal statement to the Dáil about his tax affairs and under-declaration of VAT, the Wexford TD apologised for “an error of judgment” and said he would “not defend the indefensible. The company understated its VAT liability and we were wrong to do so.”

Penitent mode offline…

Engaging passive aggressive mode…

Mr Wallace also apologised “to the members of this Dáil for bringing any dishonour on a profession which hardly needed it”.

Zing!

Previously: Mick Wallace’s Statement

Wallace to pay half Dáil salary to Revenue (Irish Times)

(Photocall Ireland)

Last week, the Oireachtas ‘tested plans’ to use the heavily fortified Dublin Castle as an ‘alternative venue’ in case of an ’emergency’.

Officials at the Houses of the Oireachtas have confirmed the exercise was part of its “business continuity management” plan in case the Dáil Chambers suddenly become unavailable.

The plan involves using the ceremonial rooms, such as St Patrick’s Hall, as a Dáil chamber, while connecting rooms could be used as temporary bases for political parties.
IT equipment has also been tested to see if it could replicate the computer systems used in Leinster House and print out official documents for the smooth running of the Dáil.
But what kind of emergency might prompt such a move?

“It could be any unforeseen event,” said one official, declining to speculate further.

Dáil ready to pull up drawbridge if unforeseen emergency arises (Irish Times)

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Ruairi Quinn’s Mystery €1,400 mileage Claim: Minister says He Drove 5,100kms but his diary shows only 1,000km (Ken Foxe, Mail On Sunday)

Meanwhile, over on NAMA Wine Lake is the first part of an examination of TDs pay and benefits by

…examining the salaries, allowances, benefits, perks and entitlements paid to our politicians in our bankrupt country. Part One details most of the financial rewards on offer and is largely derived from Oireachtas in house publications

On top of the basic salary of €92,672 a TD can claim a range of expenses such as

When any members attend certain so-called “parliamentary assemblies” eg the OSCE, they can claim hotel expenses, a subsistence allowance plus up to 80% of the allowance for “casual entertaining”
A Parliamentary Assistant
Up to €41,092 per TD for secretarial assistance, PR, IT and training
Free parking in central Dublin
Gym
Subsidised restaurant
Private Members bar at Leinster House with subsidised drinks
Free tax advice service
Free language lessons
Postage – 1,500 free postage items per month for TDs and 1,000 for senators
Free unlimited fixed line telephone calls
Max of €750 every 18 months to buy a new mobile phone

All of them are, of course, worth every penny and more. You couldn’t possibly expect them to run the country and be kept awake at night with money woes.

Apparently all our expenses claims get eaten by Chompsky.

Thanks DD

Previously

(Photocall Ireland)