Just under a third of the country’s TDs miss every vote in the Dail and the non-attendance of politicians is getting progressively worse.

An analysis by The Times of the voting records of the 173 TDs elected during the existing Dail shows 29 per cent on average either absent or abstain from each vote.

TDs with high absentee rates include Lucinda Creighton, the Renua Ireland leader, who has missed more than 580 Dail votes – more than 70 per cent.

Others who fail to vote on a regular basis include Michael Lowry, the independent TD, who has also missed 70 per cent of all votes over the past five years. Willie O’Dea, of Fianna Fail, and Willie Penrose, of the Labour Party, have not voted