Mayo deputy slams government: "TDs get more holidays than junior infants"

MAYO'S Aontú TD, Paul Lawless, has slammed the government's decision to suspend the Dáil for yet another two weeks after Micheál Martin’s expected re-election as Taoiseach, calling the move 'outrageous' and 'completely unforgivable'.

Speaking today, Deputy Lawless expressed his frustration: "It is now nearing two months since the people of this country went to the polls.

“I was elected with a mandate of nine and a half thousand votes, yet today is my first opportunity to speak in the chamber. It shouldn't take two months to form a government, and then a further two weeks before the Dáil sits again.

“TDs get more holidays than junior infants get!"

Deputy Lawless criticised the government for ignoring the pressing needs of Irish citizens, saying: "I was elected by the people of Mayo who have become frustrated with the way rural Ireland is being neglected.

“I was elected by farmers who are neck deep in debt, by patients on endless hospital waiting lists, by parents who have watched all their children emigrate, by young couples who can afford neither rent nor groceries.

“I take my new job very seriously and am eager to get to work - to challenge the government on their failings and to offer solutions."

The new government has faced backlash for prioritising further holidays when there are so many crises faced by the people that we need the Dáil open and engaged in, he said. Since the Dail was dissolved on November 8 we now can count on one hand how many days we will have sat by February 5.

Deputy Lawless stated: "Any Dáil sitting so far has been for the purpose of ironing out procedural issues and deferring future Dáil sittings far into the future. It’s unacceptable and undemocratic that the Dáil hasn’t sat properly yet, and it’s completely unforgivable that the first thing the new government did was vote to give themselves another two weeks of a holiday."

The Dáil will now sit on February 5, adding yet another delay to a system already plagued by delays, he continued. Housing is delayed, hospital beds are delayed, waiting lists stretch endlessly - and now, even debating solutions in the Dáil chamber is delayed.

Deputy Lawless put it bluntly: “If delays were a sport, this government would take home gold. It’s time to stop running from the problems and start tackling them head-on.”