Recess showers goodwill on all men and women

Dail Sketch: It was the day before the Christmas recess and already a thin veneer of goodwill had settled on the House, like spray-on snow.

The development was expedited by the early departure of the Taoiseach, who was flying to London for talks about the North.

As usual on such occasions, the opposition was obliged to be nice to him.

Add the fact that yesterday was his last Dáil appearance before Christmas, new year and the EU presidency and Santa Claus himself could not have taken to the air with so many good wishes for the journey ahead.

Pat Rabbitte introduced a note of mild discord with a question about the mushrooming cost of consultants.

But even this was a seasonal gift to the Taoiseach, who likes nothing better than an excuse for making a list of the Government's achievements and checking it twice.

Yes, he agreed, consultancy fees were mushrooming, but this reflected the huge sums being spent on real projects and the need for specialist advice to ensure the taxpayer's money was wisely spent.

Then, before anyone could stop him, he was into one of his litanies, about roads, railways, Red Cow roundabouts and whatever you were having yourself.

Not even Joe Higgins disturbed his seasonal calm.

The Socialist Party TD evoked the Nativity story to illustrate the plight of some asylum seekers in the eyes of the Supreme Court.

"The child born in the Irish stable is a citizen," he said, "but the oxen have more security of tenure than their parents."

Generously, he didn't mention the asses, which have even more security given the Government's weakness for the equine industry.

But as he said himself, Christmas was a time for "generosity of spirit" and in this vein, he politely implored the Taoiseach to grant "these few thousand people" residency.

Mr Ahern replied that he did not want to give a "litany" of the Government's efforts in this area.

Which is normally the cue for him to do just that.

But clearly moved by Mr Higgins's own restraint, he said the deputy's suggestion could be "looked at".

The Social Welfare Bill 2003 was looked at for the last time yesterday, casting Minister Mary Coughlan in the role of a department store Santa, with Fine Gael's Michael Ring as an unruly child tugging her beard (metaphorically) to see if she was real.

To the end, the opposition railed against the "savage 16 cuts" which, they insisted, would see a lot of toys fall out of her sack this Christmas.

But the Government's stock response has been to point to the "tenner" on the pension and remind the Opposition of the "paltry" increases awarded by the Rainbow coalition.

The line was repeated by Ms Coughlan with a "Ho, Ho, Ho." Then jingle bells were heard in the Dáil, summoning deputies for a vote and the Bill passed the final stage 68-50.