no need for so long. They should be back in the dail on thursday morning next week. That shud allow enuf time to get back to Ireland from all but the most far flung destinations. The Taoiseach and other main people in Cabinet are within several hrs flight of Ireland.

Equally bizarre are the letters sent out from TDs to constituents promising this, that and the other, yet the TD themselves never having heard about the issues or written the letter. So much for 'constituency' work when they have someone in the office doing all the constituency work for them.

This 12 day break is such a joke. Sends out the wrong message entirely, and hits all parties. Coupled with their long service thingamajigs and it really does degenerate into a farce. Christmas Break, Pats Day Break, then a break for Easter....before you know it, they're packing the bucket and spade and heading for the summer sun....

This may not be the case, hard working deputies, etc... but the perception out there is that these guys are in one big happy club, like Orwells Pigs in the Big House, and this indeed is causing more damage to politics in this jurastiction.