COUNTY Limerick politician Richard O’Donoghue has hit out at the lengthy Christmas recess for the new Dáil, which has only sat once since it was elected on November 29 last.
Following General Election 2024, TDs took their seats in the Oireachtas on December 18 and aren’t due to meet again until next Wednesday (January 22).
Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue voiced his disapproval at such a break for elected representatives, who voted 88 to 71 in favour of the lengthy Christmas break.
Deputy O’Donoghue, Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinivan, and newly elected Labour TD Conor Sheehan were the local TDs to vote against the five-week break at Leinster House.
Ahead of the Christmas break, Deputy O’Donoghue came down hard on the duration of the break, saying that his own construction business would be back at it as early as January 6, unlike the Dáil chamber.
“Most businesses around this country are working. What is wrong with this chamber coming back to work? This is the division between real workers and real business and this chamber. The government is afraid to come back to work early. Why not come back on 15 January and get the work done?,” he asked Dáil members.
“Everyone else in this country is going to be working. Why can we not have this house working? That is what I stand for — the working class people in this country.”
Deputy O’Donoghue says he has already returned to the Dáil for some committee works, and his constituency office has been open since last Thursday.
