The body that provides printing services to TDs and senators says Dáil deputies may collect outstanding print jobs up to 24 hours after the Dáil is dissolved.
the Irish Independent recently alleged that 10 thousand calendars produced for Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae were dumped because a hyphen was missing from the deputy’s name.
The calendars were produced by the Houses of the Oireachtas which provide a printing facility for TDs and senators.
Michael Healy-Rae denies that the calendars were disposed of because of a missing hyphen or typo.
He says it happened because the Dáil had been dissolved, not because of typos.
Deputy Michael Healy-Rae says he ordered 10 thousand calendars on January 3rd, 2020 and that they were not prepared or ready to be collected until January 14th, the same day the 32nd Dáil was dissolved and a general election was called.
He says his office was informed by the Houses of the Oireachtas’s print facility that because of the Dáil’s dissolution, they were unable to collect the calendars as he was no longer a member of Dáil Éireann.
Michael Healy-Rae says after he was re-elected the following month, February 2020, he enquired again about collecting the calendars but was told they had been recycled, not dumped.
The Houses of the Oireachtas say their print facility isn’t available to outgoing TDs during the period when a Dáil is dissolved and a general election is called. Therefore, no new jobs are accepted from outgoing TDs with effect from the Dáil's dissolution. However, the Houses of the Oireachtas say that outgoing TDs may collect outstanding print jobs in the 24 hours after the day the Dáil is dissolved.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae, who's his father's parliamentary assistant, says their statement is accurate as per their records and outlines the series of events in relation to the printing of the calendars and the reason they were recycled.
