The row over Dáil speaking rights for Opposition TDs supporting the Government has been portrayed as an overly “black and white issue” by Sinn Féin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
The political spat centres on Michael Lowry’s Independent group of TDs being allocated speaking time from opposition benches, given it has agreed to vote with the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Coalition Government.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Martin said he was not going to be “browbeaten” by the Opposition into “upending” long-standing principles around speaking rights for Dáil technical groups.
“It is not as black and white as has been articulated by some commentators and the Opposition,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
An Irish family’s Miami ordeal: ‘I was shocked by the heartlessness of Aer Lingus’
US-Canada relations turn icy: ‘Without this subsidy, Canada ceases to exist’
Marty Morrissey: ‘I’m an only child of an only child dad, and an only child mum. I’ve no aunts, uncles or first cousins’
Harris warns of ‘significant challenges’ for Ireland if Trump places tariffs on EU
“No political party can tell another group you can’t form a group. It’s a basic principle of freedom of association with the parliament, within the Dáil itself.”
There had been cases of opposition TDs supporting governments “in one shape or form” since 1932, he said. “No one ever said that the late Tony Gregory was a member of government, even though he supported a government at the time,” Mr Martin said.
Under the 2016 confidence-and-supply agreement Fianna Fáil were in opposition but had influence over the policy programme and budgets of the minority Fine Gael government, he said.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were just short of a Dáil majority after the last general election, which saw them strike a deal with several Independents to shore up enough support to comfortably pass legislation.
Mr Martin said TDs would be less likely to agree to deals to support future governments, if they lost out on speaking time in the Dáil as a result.
“What I’m saying in the next Dáil for example, if we were short four or five TDs, why would four or five opposition TDs surrender all their rights, in order to facilitate the formation of a government? So there’s a balance here to be worked out,” he said.
Opposition leaders have signalled they will not accept any compromise that would see Mr Lowry’s regional Independents group allocated time to speak during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil. Sinn Féin has been backed up in this view by the Labour Party, Social Democrats and People Before Profit.
“We are willing to negotiate a resolution to this, but not on the black and white approach that has been adopted by Sinn Féin,” Mr Martin said.
Seanad drama and the speaking rights impasse
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
