Taoiseach Bertie Ahern ruled out the Dáil sitting in plenary session for more days in the week and for longer terms.
Dismissing a proposal by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore as "poppycock", the Taoiseach said: "I heard it 30 years ago, and if I am still alive I will hear it 30 years from afar.
"If we want real reform, we can do it, but if it is reform whereby the whole Dáil, in its entire structure, has to meet from Monday until Friday, I can tell the deputy, not until the cows come in here and sit on the chairs will he see that."
The House currently sits from Tuesday to Thursday, with lengthy recesses, including a three-month summer break.
Mr Gilmore accused the Green Party of having little impact in the area of Dáil reform.
"Its general election manifesto proposed that the Dáil should sit for 45 weeks per year, including Monday afternoons and on Fridays up to lunchtime, from 9.30am to 7pm, a total of 180 days in the year. The published Dáil schedule shows that from September 26th, when we came back, to July 3rd, 2008, when the House is due to rise for the summer, we will have sat for 93 days, which is approximately 20 days fewer than the average sitting time in the late 1980s, when I entered the House, and the early 1990s.
"As a practical suggestion towards Dáil reform, why do we not come back in the second week of January? Why are we not due to come back until the end of January? As is the case in many of the parliaments, like those in whose visitors' galleries the Taoiseach has been sitting, why do we not continue sitting until late July? Why do we not come back until late September after the summer recess? Why are we not back by mid-September at the latest? "
Mr Ahern said they could have sessions on Mondays and Fridays covering reports on issues, but every time that was suggested, the Opposition insisted on a full sitting.
"That ends the debate. They are not going to get that. Deputy Gilmore lives in the Dún Laoghaire area and I live in Drumcondra, and it is handy for us, but a lot of other deputies are seven hours away from here. It is just not possible to be toddling in here on Mondays and Fridays. They have to get elected and serve their constituencies. "
