Independent MEP for Connacht/Ulster Marian Harkin has defended her attendance record at the parliament in Strasbourg after it emerged Irish MEPs had one of the lowest rates of any representatives.
Analysis of the sign-in sheets at the parliament in Strasbourg showed Ireland's 13 MEPs had an attendance rate of 88 per cent, the sixth-lowest of the 25 member states.
Ms Harkin turned up least regularly of her Irish colleagues, at 74 per cent, while her constituency colleague, Fianna Fáil MEP Seán Ó'Neachtain had the highest record at 95 per cent.
Ms Harkin, who is also a Dáil deputy, said the statistics analysing the sign-in sheets did not reflect how much work a member of the European Parliament did.
"All that's required is to walk down the corridor, go into the parliament, sign your name. You don't have to sit down, you don't have to say a word, you don't have to do anything, and you can just walk out again," she said.
"So this isn't really about people's work rate or anything like that, it doesn't affect what they do or their impact on legislation. All this tells us is somebody spent 30 seconds walking into the parliament and putting their name down on the sheet of paper," she said.
But Mr Ó'Neachtain said it was important to attend the European Parliament as much as possible.
"I think that it's important that one attends as regularly as possible because that's where the electorate ordained us to go when they voted for us," he said.
PA