Michael Lowry and other members of his group who are not ministers are entitled to speak as members of the Opposition, according to legal advice commissioned by Fianna Fáil.
Amid a bitter political row over Dáil speaking time, which threatens to again overshadow parliamentary business next week, the advice backs up Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy’s view that Mr Lowry and his group are entitled to speaking time.
The advice, drawn up by Senior Counsel Michael Cush, outlines his view that “the views expressed by the Ceann Comhairle are correct”.
While the advice is likely to bolster the Government’s position, it is highly unlikely to defuse the row in its entirety, with the opposition having rejected what the Government believe is a compromise position that would allow the regional group speak in Opposition without any party seeing their time diminished as a result.
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However, the Opposition parties are firm in their view that this would violate an important parliamentary principle.
Mr Cush’s advice outlines that standing orders “make clear” that a group of at least five can be recognised as a technical group so long as it doesn’t contain ministers or a party which contains ministers.
“Mr Lowry’s group comprises more than five members none of whom are a Minister or Minister of State. It seems clear, therefore, that his group is properly recognised as such for the purposes of the standing orders,” the opinion reads.
It continues by outlining that standing orders – the rules under which the Dáil operates – dictate that such groups have rights recognised by standing order 164, including that “leaders in opposition” may put matters to the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions.
Leaders' Questions is seen as one of the most important events in the parliamentary week, enabling Opposition parties and TDs to challenge the Government.
The advice outlines Mr Cush’s view that standing orders “make a distinction between groupings which actively participate in Government through having within their number a minister or Minister of State and all other groupings including even those which may actively support the Government”.
The former, he writes, cannot be recognised as a group in the Dáil and the latter can.
“Once recognised as such a group enjoys the various rights summarised in standing order 164. Mr Lowry’s grouping appears to meet the requirements for recognition as a group.”
He continues by outlining that there may be “good policy reasons” why groups actively supporting Government ought to be recognised as having the same rights as those who oppose the Government.
“For example, it might be said that a grouping minding to support the Government, particularly in a time of political instability, ought not to be dissuaded from doing so by the perspective loss of speaking rights.”
Speaking in Cork, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there has been a lot “simplistic utterances” about speaking rights but said he is trying to help resolve the issue.
“We will keep talking. We want to try and resolve this,” he said.
He said the suggestion that you can’t support the Government and be in Opposition was “far too simplistic”.
“If you go back to 1932 and from then onwards, people from the Opposition benches have been supporting different Governments in different ways.
“For example, the confidence and supply agreement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael from 2016 to 2020 – if what Sinn Féin is saying, and People Before Profit are saying, that you can’t be in Opposition and support Government or be involved in discussions over the Programme for Government or the Budget, you would not have had a confidence and supply agreement.”
Mr Martin said that every effort was being made to reach a compromise.
“But I feel that fundamental principles have to be upheld as well and cannot be jettisoned in the interests of what I might consider short term political goals,” he said.
He also warned of the dangers of being “overly prescriptive” regarding speaking rights.
“If you are a member of the Opposition in five years time and you are elected and say a Government couldn’t be formed because nobody has a majority, well then if your from the Opposition side, you might well say ‘I am not going to support the establish of a Government if it means I lose all speaking rights or rights as an individual member’.”
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