Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No. I have been asked by a number of Members in my party to object to the fact Topical Issues has been removed from the Order of Business. I would point out that, over a 70 day period since Easter, the Dáil has only met on 18 days. Therefore, the time for Deputies to raise issues of significant concern has been extremely restricted and limited by dint of how the Government has ordered the affairs of the House in the past two months in particular, and this applies to Topical Issues, Leaders' Questions, Questions to the Taoiseach and so on. There has been, to a certain extent, a shutting down of the Dáil. I believe it is a deliberate strategy that the Taoiseach has been following for some time. The less time he spends in the Dáil, the better, from his and the Government's perspective in terms of media management, spinning and so on. That is my sense of it. Many Deputies wanted to raise Topical Issues and felt that provision should have been made for them in order to enable them to raise issues of topical concern.

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