There will be an “accelerated timeline” for passing the Finance Bill in order to facilitate an early general election and it could take one or two weeks, according to Minister for Finance Jack Chambers.
The Coalition party leaders agreed on Monday night that the election will be held this year but there was no agreement on a date, or on when the election would be called.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has indicated his preference for a Friday and a Government statement said the leaders had agreed the “passage of the Finance Bill is the priority for the Government”, and that the committee stage of the Bill will commence on November 5th.
The Finance Bill brings in tax and other measures announced in the budget and it must be passed before the election if they are to take effect.
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Mr Chambers said on Tuesday that there will be a “a much more accelerated timeline in its conclusion in the Dáil and the Seanad than had previously been communicated”.
He said the previous timeline “doesn’t synchronise with the decision now to have a general election in 2024 so we’re working on an updated sequencing and scheduling of that”
Mr Chambers highlighted how the Bill is due at committee stage on November 5th and said “we’ll be agreeing a schedule within Government about whether that takes a week or a second week, but it can be accelerated.”
He said he has brought forward technical amendments and the Opposition will have an opportunity to submit their amendments by Wednesday of next week.
Mr Chambers was appointed as Fianna Fáil’s director of elections at the weekend.
On Monday night, the party’s Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill announced that he will not contest the general election.
Mr Chambers wished him well for the future and said he is not aware of any further retirements that may happen among sitting Fianna Fáil TDs.
He said the party is yet to confirm candidates in two constituencies – Tipperary North – where it had been expected that Mr Cahill would run – and Cavan-Monaghan where Niamh Smyth and Brendan Smith are the outgoing TDs and intend to contest the election.
Mr Chambers said Fianna Fáil is also finalising its tickets for conventions that have already happened “and we’re obviously trying to maximise our electoral strength and our tickets on the ground across existing constituencies”.
He said Fianna Fáil is “really ambitious as a party in growing our representation” and said it would be putting forward: “a really positive agenda on delivering more public services across the country” and “having a progressive tax policy”.
He also said: “We’ve really strong tickets across the country, high levels of incumbency, and I think a proud track record of taking on the biggest challenges in Government, in housing, in health, in education and in other areas of public policy which I think are central to many families across the country.”
Mr Chambers was speaking at a press conference where he announced the completion of the first transfer from the exchequer to the Future Ireland Fund.
The transfer of €4.05 billion represents 0.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Chambers said: “It demonstrates the progress we are making with both this fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. These two long term savings funds are a vital element of managing the State’s finances in a prudent and responsible manner over the coming decades.”
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