That's the way to cut the waste: take an extra week's holiday - at full pay

DÁIL SKETCH:IT'S ABOUT reform, we're told; greater productivity and more efficiency.

Trimming the fat, cutting the waste. Getting more for less. Making the tough decisions. So how does the Government demonstrate this? It makes a really tough choice and decides – more time off for the Dáil.

And it certainly won’t be unpaid leave. Brass neckery and cute hoorism haven’t gone away, you know.

The official Oireachtas diary, established before the summer, states that the Dáil will return on Wednesday, January 13th, after the Christmas recess.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny had heard a rumour, however, that the date was being changed to January 19th, almost a week later, and he asked the Taoiseach what was the story.

Brian Cowen deftly deflected the political football.

“On the question of when the recess will be, that will be decided on Thursday. It would be our intention to return on a date sooner than any of those over the past 15 years.”

The debate moved on to other issues but Labour leader Eamon Gilmore brought it back.

He wasn’t sure he heard the Taoiseach give a date. “The date that you indicated to the House that we would be returning – would you just clarify?”

The Taoiseach could not name the date.

“We intend to come back on a date that would be prior to dates we’ve come back in recent times in the last 10 or 15 years.”

But then he added “the third week of September” before correcting himself and saying “the third week of January”.

He added that “there’s no need to greet it by acclamation”, the implication being that the Opposition will be happy too.

Of course they will vote on the issue tomorrow and there will be the usual row about coming back late but the Opposition knows that the Government has the numbers and will be happy enough too.

There are some who say the country will be spared the “hot air” of all those overpaid politicians.

And the Government will insist that January 19th is still earlier than previous years – which it is, because it is usually the last week in January. They are returning a week earlier than in recent years but still a week later than is listed in the Dáil calendar.

Enda Kenny had earlier pursued his party’s economic proposal that cutting welfare for the blind, the carers and the disabled would save the exchequer €108 million but they could have cut that amount by cutting the quangos. He came back to the banks.

The Government, he roared, “has pumped billions of euro into a black hole of banks and has allowed people with pensions of more than €100,000 to walk away untouched”.

The Labour leader shouted that the Government didn’t give a curse about those on social welfare.

The Taoiseach, however, rounded on them both and shouted back that they were back to “polemics”.

There was no simple way to get the country out of trouble.

“It requires the Government to have a bit of gumption and determination to do it and that is what we are prepared to do.”

Extra time off for the Dáil – that shows gumption all right.