A LABOUR TD has lashed out at Fianna Fáil for not being able to provide a single TD during discussion on a bill they had themselves brought forward.

Shortly after discussion on the bill began this evening, not one Fianna Fáil TD was present in the Dáil chamber during discussion on the party’s Private Members’ Bill – which was voted down by 37 votes to 99.

The bill would have lowered the current legal limits on political donations, effectively making it impossible for corporate entities to make donations to political parties or politicians.

Clare-based Labour deputy Michael McNamara slammed the absence of all 20 of the Fianna Fáil TDs, saying their no-show “speaks volumes about Fianna Fáil’s commitment to reduce corporate donations.

“We can only surmise from the non-attendance of Fianna Fáil deputies in the chamber that they are not in agreement with the latest proposals.”

Fianna Fáil’s bill was supported by Sinn Féin and a significant number of independent TDs, but was opposed en masse by Fine Gael and Labour, who are preparing their own similar bill.