Law-makers take a lax attitude to attendance
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Monday September 22 2008
TDs paid a minimum wage of €100,000 are missing an average of one-in-five Dail votes -- a basic part of their job.
Ahead of the return of the Dail on Wednesday, figures compiled by the Irish Independent reveal TDs take a lax attitude to the law-making which governs the country.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen takes voting by his backbenchers so seriously that he warned TDs about turning up.
Despite the opposition forcing many of the votes, only one non-Government deputy appears on the list of TDs with the best voting records in the period since June 2007.
As an example of poor vote attendance, the passing of the Finance Bill attracted just 123 TDs, even though it is one of the most important pieces of legislation of the year.
The absence of 40-odd TDs is explained by the vote being taken at 1pm on a Thursday afternoon in March.
The list of TDs with the worst voting records includes Fianna Fail backbenchers Jim McDaid, Frank Fahey and Ned O'Keeffe. A number of Cabinet ministers and junior ministers are frequently absent but this trio are the only TDs on the Government side who did not have officially duties taking them away from the Dail.
Busy
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had the worst record but he was busy running the country and dealing with the Planning Tribunal over the past year.
Although Mr Ahern's plush new Dail offices cost €220,000 to renovate, as a former Taoiseach he is officially excused from voting, except for important votes.
On the opposition side, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, his deputy leader Richard Bruton and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore are often absent with party business.
When party leaders are taken out of the equation, the poor voting records of Fine Gael's Lucinda Creighton, Dinny McGinley and Shane McEntee, along with Sinn Fein's Arthur Morgan and Martin Ferris stand out. FG's Michael Creed was absent due to a hip operation.
The average turnout at votes over the course of the year is 82pc, meaning TDs are missing almost one-in-five votes.
But 19 TDs, mainly first-time Fianna Fail backbenchers, managed to turn up for the overwhelming majority of votes -- over 95pc in each case. The Green Party's backbenchers are also quite diligent in their voting patterns.
The only opposition party TD on this list was Labour's Jan O'Sullivan.
By missing less than one-in-five votes each, these TDs raised question marks over their colleagues on both sides of the House.
Government Chief Whip Pat Carey said those on official business are given a pass, but otherwise all TDs and ministers alike are supposed to show up.
Fine Gael whip Paul Kehoe said the only TDs with permission to miss a vote are those given "pairings" with ministers away on official business and these are shared out equally.
Green Party whip Ciaran Cuffe said it was important for people to turn up for votes. He said the opposition calling votes all the time can be a distraction to getting a days work done.
This year, the pay packet of our TDs hit an average of €122,000 per annum. No TD is paid less than €100,000. The salaries of our TDs have soared past the €20m mark, before generous expenses are even added into the equation.
After taking up office in May, Mr Cowen forbid Fianna Fail TDs to be absent from the Dail except when they are abroad on official business. He banned them from making private pairing arrangements with opposition deputies.
Acting on Mr Cowen's instructions, Mr Carey warned he will be keeping a record of any votes that may be missed by members and informing the Taoiseach of any missed votes.
Since this intervention, there has been a slight degree of improvement, but as it came near to the end of the Dail term, no pattern has emerged to prove the crackdown has worked.
In the interests of fairness, the study does not include the voting records of TDs who were absent for a long period of time due to ill health. Aside from three such TDs, Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue was also excluded as he doesn't vote, unless there is a tie.
Therefore, the results of the study incorporate the voting records of 162 of the 166 TDs.
- Fionnan Sheahan and Patricia McDonagh
