Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, leader of the Rural Independent Group has hit out at Government changes to the Dáil schedule next week.
The Dáil will return from the two week Easter recess on Tuesday April 9th and the major item on the agenda is the appointment of a new Taoiseach as Leo Varadkar will formally resign on Tuesday.
The vote to appoint Simon Harris(Fine Gael) will take place and then there is expected to be a cabinet reshuffle as new ministers are appointed to portfolios held by Fine Gael.
The outgoing and incoming Taoiseach and newly appointed Ministers must visit the President at Aras an Uachtarain to receive their seals of office.
Deputy McGrath is critical of plans to pause other Dáil business for most of the 3 days to deal with the appointments.
Deputy McGrath says there are urgent matters that need attention and questions why the Dáil did not return earlier to deal with the appointments.
The Dáil will now commence at 10.30am on Tuesday instead of a 2pm start as first planned.
Deputy McGrath accuses the coalition of being “out of touch with the reality on the ground” and asserts that “the removal of critical agenda items such as Leaders’ Questions and Topical Issues is a disservice to public concerns.”
The Newcastle based TD is also renewing his call for a general election to be held as soon as possible
