Four of Clare’s seven Oireachtas members had a below average attendance record this year.
A record of Dáil and Seanad attendance shows while one TD and one senator were present at their respective Houses of the Oireachtas on nearly every sitting day, the majority of Clare’s national representatives came in at the bottom half of the attendance table.
Members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann record their attendance in Leinster House with a key fob or by manually completing a sign-in form for the purpose of receiving Travel and Accommodation Allowance.
In order to receive this allowance, members verify their attendance on 120 days across a calendar year.
Members aren’t required to record their attendance in Leinster House and as such, could be in present in the Dáil, Seanad, at committees or on other business on days when they haven’t signed in.
Regulations allow for attendance records to be altered for ill health reasons, attendance by a member abroad or elsewhere in the state in the performance of his or her duties as an office holder and extraordinary circumstances determined to be “good and sufficient and could not have been foreseen”.
In the period of January to June, there were 62 designated sitting days for Dáil Éireann.
As he was on a leave of absence for medical reasons from March 2023 until his recent resignation, former Clarecastle Fine Gael TD Joe Carey’s figure has been amended and appears as a full attendance record.
Meelick Deputy Cathal Crowe was only absent on two days when the Dáil was sitting, clocking in on 60 occasions, while Kilrush TD Violet-Anne Wynne was present on 47 sitting days and Scariff Independent Michael McNamara, who was elected to the European Parliament on June 13th and thus ceased to be a TD on that day, appears on the Dáil record of attendance 46 times.
Moving over to the Seanad, Ennistymon Senator Martin Conway had a near-perfect attendance record as he was present on 56 of the 58 sitting days in the period, while Inagh Senator Róisín Garvey attended on 48 days and Tulla Senator Timmy Dooley was present on fewer days than any other senator in this county, turning up on 45 occasions.
Attendance is also by members of both Houses of the Oireachtas for other days when members are present for duties, including non-sitting days on which committees may have sat.
Timmy Dooley was recorded as being in attendance on 31 additional days, Martin Conway was present on 30 and Róisín Garvey logged 21 days.
Michael McNamara had more additional days recorded on the system than any other Clare TD with 19, while Cathal Crowe had 18 and Violet-Anne Wynne had just four.
The median number of days a TD was recorded as attending Dáil Éireann in the period was 56, meaning Violet-Anne Wynne and Michael McNamara were both below the average.
For senators, the median was 50 – a number both Róisín Garvey and Timmy Dooley failed to reach.
