The Daily Star Ireland
The Dáil reform committee deliberates this afternoon in an attempt to reach some resolution to the continuing dispute over whether a group, such as the Regional Independents, can be aligned with both the Government and the opposition.
Opposition parties have written in to say they will only accept a new technical group involving Michael Lowry if it is officially part of the Government, takes speaking time from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and does not participate in Leaders’ Questions or priority questions as opposition members.
It is, however, reported that the Government’s response came in the form of a “hybrid” proposal that would allow the Independents to operate flexibly between Government and opposition, affording them speaking rights during Leaders’ Questions and priority questions.
Despite such proposals, both sides remain at loggerheads, blaming each other for a failure to compromise.
The committee members have withdrawn to separate rooms, with Government representatives – including Mr. Lowry – in one and the opposition members in another, RTÉ News reports. Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy is shuttling between them, after a tense six-hour video meeting yesterday.
The physical session, which commenced at 11am, will be attended by representatives from all Dáil groupings tasked with finding a resolution to the dispute which saw heated exchanges last week during the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach.
Neither side has blinked yet. Mr Lowry has insisted that all non-ministerial members of the Regional Independents – himself, Barry Heneghan, and Gillian Toole – should be allowed to form a technical group with independent opposition TDs Mattie McGrath, Danny Healy Rae, and Carol Nolan. This would entitle them to Leaders’ Questions and priority questions in the Dáil.
Technical groups for any other entities other than the two big parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, are open to that – but only as part of the opposition, it says, arguing that this can be done without impacting on speaking time of existing opposition parties.
However, opposition parties have refused to shift from their position that the Independents must declare whether they are for the Government or against it. One opposition motion makes it clear that any technical group the Independents might establish can have only speaking time ceded from Government allocations – which would exclude them from Leaders’ Questions and priority questions. It is a condition unlikely to be accepted by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Regional Independents.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil has received legal advice from a senior barrister, Michael Cush, backing the view of Independents who are not ministers being entitled to opposition speaking rights. His legal advice upholds views that Ceann Comhairle Murphy was correct in initially granting speaking rights to the Regional Independents – a move staunchly opposed by opposition.
Cush’s view finds that Mr. Lowry and his group, being in excess of five without any ministerial appointments, constitutes a valid grouping under the Dáil standing orders.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin said earlier that discussions would continue to resolve the dispute over speaking rights. He criticized what he called “simplistic utterances” around the debate and said that legal advice had been commissioned by Fianna Fáil to provide clarity.
Mr Martin said the opposition TDs had supported governments throughout history without going into coalition, speaking at the sod-turning ceremony for the new €132 million GE HealthCare plant in Cork. He cited the 2016-2020 Confidence and Supply Agreement between his party and Fine Gael.
He repeated the Government’s determination to achieve a compromise: “We will work very hard to do that because we want the Dáil to work in an orderly manner. But I think fundamental principles have to be upheld as well and cannot be jettisoned in the interest of what I might consider short-term political goals.”.
The Taoiseach explained that independent groupings differ from political parties because they change with the term of every Dáil that gets elected. He said all TDs, whether backbenchers or otherwise, have basic rights to question the Government and hold them accountable.
He concluded by saying the debate is more complex and nuanced than the current political discourse would suggest.
