Members of Parliament who are absent for a whole parliamentary day without leave of absence shall be liable to an administrative penalty of €50, a motion which will be debated in parliament today establishes. 

The measure will apply to all MPs including ministers and parliamentary secretaries. 

The penalty will be paid to the Clerk of the House, who may also demand it as a civil debt.

The motion also says that MPs will be excused from service in the House or on any committee of the House when they have leave of absence from the Speaker.

Members who are on business related to the House, the parliamentary group or on official party business, and ministers and parliamentary secretaries on government business and MPs who accompany them, will be  excused.

It will be the duty of the whips to inform the Speaker of those MPs who are to be considered excused.

MPs who are sick or are subject to an extraordinary circumstance will be excused, after producing evidence which will have been approved as such by the Speaker.

‘Parliamentary Day’ is defined as meaning “a day during which parliamentary work is carried out and which consists of a sitting or more of the House and of Parliamentary Committees.”

The Opposition has said it will back the proposal and it will make other proposals for changes to standing orders, including the introduction of Prime Minister's question time and removal of parliamentary privilege (see separate story).