do they know it’s not Christmas?
senator hits out at ‘outrageous’ time off for seanad
SENATORS are enjoying another seven days worth of holidays, giving them a huge five-week Christmas break.
The politicians enjoying lucrative salaries of close to €70,000 – before generous expenses are added – will not formally sit again until next Tuesday afternoon.
Some senators do want to work this week – with Labour’s Ged Nash saying it is “outrageous” the Upper House stands suspended while the country braces itself for Brexit and battles a chronic homeless problem.
TDS returned to the Dail yesterday after rising for their own Christmas break on December 19.
The senators sat one extra day on December 20, meaning by the time they come back next week it will have been almost five weeks since they last had to come into the Seanad. The Houses of the Oireachtas press office told the Irish Mirror some senators have been back at work this week attending joint Oireachtas committees with TDS.
But the committee schedule is very light this week.
Yesterday there were only three sitting, with two of them in private.
Mr Nash wants to get back to business straight away, adding: “We’ve a very active Brexit committee in the Seanad I’ve been involved in from the get-go.
“But I think it’s outrageous given the challenges we have in society at the moment in terms of homelessness, in terms of health waiting lists, in terms of the significant number of people we’ve seen on hospital trolleys, the second chamber of our national parliament is not sitting this week. I’d prefer to see it sit.
“We’re all busy in our constituency offices and busy doing our work on behalf of our constituents but I think it’s important the Seanad sits at the same time as the Dail.
“And I think the reason it is not meeting this week is the Government essentially hasn’t given us any business to deal with.
“I think that’s a poor reflection on the Government and the amount of legislation the Government is dealing with at the moment.
“We have probably a record low number of pieces of legislation during this term.”
A spokesman for the Houses of the Oireachtas said: “The Seanad is not returning a week late, it is returning as scheduled.”
The reason it is not meeting this week is the Government hasn’t given us any business ged NASH YESTERDAY