Politicians needs holidays like everyone else

The Oireachtas will take its summer break at the end of this week. The reaction will be the same as it is every year. There will be lots of reports of, and discussions about, public outrage. Many radio discussions will be broadcast, which will light up with messages from the listeners. The opposition will demand that the place should sit for longer. There will be a call to sit right throughout the summer to pass one particular law or another, or to take action in respect of this or that current crisis.

The Government will – gingerly – hold the line on all this. They will emphasise that Oireachtas committees continue to sit throughout the summer. They will say that TDs and Senators will be busy working on their constituency and other business without a break. They will confirm that Ministers continue to work on their business just like any executive leading a large organisation would.

The views of the public will remain unaltered by those arguments. Walk into any pub this week, or less socially, drift onto any social media, and you will find comments speculating about whether they do any work at all, about how handy the job is, about how little the Dáil sits, about how empty the chamber always looks during those few short weeks when TDs bother to attend. They have all been heard before, even if the dial turns the noise up a little louder each year. A little louder, a little more angry even.

Whatever about the length of the recess, the suggestion that our TDs do no work is really one that has to be taken head on. There is, of course, a perfectly respectable argument to be had as to whether the work our TDs do is the right kind of work for them to be doing. But that is not the same as saying they do nothing.

Constituency work is often derided in this context, with some suggesting it has no value or is a diversion from their primary job as law makers. That latter point is one you often hear in the fancier parts of Dublin. This is a tad unfair. Representing a constituent who is being unfairly treated, or who does not have the means to advocate for their need, or who deserves to be heard for some grievance, is the life blood of representative politics. There is honour and importance in that and our TDs – from all sides – do it well. It is most needed by those with least power, which is why it is most often dismissed by those who have plenty. It is - and always must - remain part of the job.

But what comes with that is the reality that a lot of constituency work involves the making of representations which the TD knows full well will lead to nothing. A lot of it involves engaging with people – again and again – who the TD knows full well is asking every other TD in the constituency to do the exact same thing, producing multiplicity of effort but not necessarily better outcomes. Some TDs – fair to say – do not get the balance right when it comes to local and national matters.

But whatever your view of that work, rest assured, no TD stops it over the summer. They will be clearing constituency cases, they will be trying to read up on issues, most local, some national, they will be meeting groups in their area about all sorts, they will be checking in with party supporters. They will be out and about in their constituency, attending events which they need to go to both to avoid giving offence, but also more positively, to stay in touch with what is going on in their localities. That is not all jolly, by the way, because any TD who attends a festival in their constituency this summer will spend much of the time being collared by people who want a word about some problem or other.

Defending politicians has never been widely welcomed, and that is especially and increasingly so these days. But, truthfully, the best thing we could all do is encourage our representatives to go on an actual holiday. To actually switch off and take a real break. Politicians are human beings, flesh and blood, and their job is full on and high stress. Politicians from our part of the world have the additional layer of long journeys and constant meetings away from home leading to eating late and often not well. They do a job where there are very few places where they can switch off. If they are in the pub, for example, one word out of place and it is all over social media.

Politics is a hard and tiring job, whatever people say when they’re grumbling in the pub or online. Politicians don’t spend enough time with their family and friends and they should be able to do that with those most dear to them over the recess. They all had an election – bruising, tough – back in November, and then they had to run straight onwards from that. And I know some will say it took the Dáil a while to get its business in order, but if you think they were all chilling out and relaxing through that whole process, then you ain’t seen politics up close.

And if the human arguments don’t sway you, consider this: we need politicians to take a break. Because people who do take proper breaks make better decisions. They should all go off, switch off the phones and the social media, and relax and come back fighting fit.

Like any person in any job, they should take the break and come back feeling well and up for another year. That is in all our interests as it will allow them to work hard and wisely when they need to. We can have a different discussion then about the balance of time they spend on constituency case work and indeed on social media, but that’s another argument, for another day, after the summer holidays are over.