Key Reads:
- The Irish Times view: confidence remains in short supply
- Analysis: Just as politics gets angrier, governing is going to get harder
- Una Mullally: Michael Lowry gave two fingers to the public. Their message back to the Government is equally concise
- Listen: From Wexford trucker to Ceann Comhairle: Who is Verona Murphy
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy made a short statement to the House at the end of the debate. She thanked everyone for participating including those who opposed her.
“It is regrettable that the matter of speaking rights was unable to be resolved by consensus, despite 20 hours of full and frank discussion on the matter, despite my earnest efforts to mediate.
“It goes without saying that in the absence of consensus” those dissenting “are bound to be unhappy”.
“In conclusion, I wish to assure all members on all sides of this house, I bear no ill will, and my door is always open.
“I will continue to uphold my solemn declaration to vindicate the rights of all members and administer the rules chosen by members of this house, impartially and fairly alongside the independent loyal and hardworking staff of my office.”
Ms Murphy welcomed the vote of confidence in her, saying she bears no ill will to those who brought it and “her door is always open”.
A motion of confidence in Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy has been passed by 96 votes to 71.
The motion of confidence is now being voted on.
The votes are in and the Sinn Féin amendment to the motion of confidence has been voted down by 96 votes to 71 with two abstentions.
The vote has now been called.
Independent TD Sean Canney said if what happened in the Dáil last week happened in a pub, “you’d say people had drink taken”.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said it was “disproportionate to have a motion of confidence if the only issue is the way in which she took a vote”.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said “the first rule of democracy is being able to count”. She said that “if there is a vote we have to respect the outcome”.
She was worried about the position of the leader of the Opposition that “irrespective of the outcome of the vote her position is not tenable”.
This “sets a tone that we will not be able to come back from” and she called on the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to withdraw her comments.
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary said “we have to move on” and proceed with the business of the Dáil. He said there had been very good debates on two Bills last week and the Dáil “has shown that it can get on and get its work done. Let’s get on with that work.”
Now the Regional Independents are having their say, starting with Meath East’s Gillian Toole, who says she will support the Ceann Comhairle because the Clerk of the Dáil says she followed procedure.
She rounded on critics of the “Lowry independents”, pushing back on the description of her and other independents as “lackeys”, “underlings” and “intellectually inferior”.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said of all the things that happened in the Dáil “never during that time was a majority Government blocked from being formed like happened here on January 22nd”.
And “never before” have we had a vote of confidence in the Ceann Comhairle which he said was a “complete lack of proportionality from the Opposition”.
They had a problem with how Ms Murphy called a vote last week, a vote “which was an orchestrated attempt to not allow her to call it”.
He called for the vote to be accepted, the committees to be established and “let’s have an end to the coalition of chaos from the Opposition”.
Nobody objects to being heckled when making a speech because it is part of the democratic process but when somebody is prevented from making a speech “that’s different”, said Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
He said the row had gone on “too long” and he called on the Opposition to “accept the votes of the House”.
He warned against the efforts to shout down what was being said in the chamber and said “if we go down that route, we’re going to find politics in this country becoming as toxic as it is in other countries”.
The Minister also expressed concern that newly elected TDs “may think that this is the normal way to behave”. It was not his experience after nine years in the Dáil “that people are shouted down”.
Mr O’Callaghan said that if people did not respect the vote “we’re going to find ourselves in a very difficult position”.
He was not attributing blame to individuals as to why there are no committees. “There is a battalion of work that needs to be done” and as Minister for Justice he needed committees in place and opposition TDs holding him to account and “I’d ask that we do that as quickly as possible”.
Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins (Cork South West) says the affair has left a bad taste in the Dáil and is based on a “stinking bad deal”. He said Government parties rejected his party’s suggestions for policies because of their preference to sign up the Independents led by Mr Lowry.
“He wanted a blank sheet from Michael Lowry, full of nods and winks,” he said. As Mr Collins finished speaking, Michael Lowry arrived into the chamber.
His party colleague Richard O’Donoghue (Limerick County) said the Ceann Comhairle “rammed through” proceedings last week.
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín (Meath West) said the Government has “bullied through” new standing orders. He said his party asked for the Government to participate in mediation but that was refused.
He said the scenes last week were “disgraceful” saying it was “absolutely embarrassing” that it was broadcast internationally.
He said it was not possible for the Ceann Comhairle to hear anything. “The Dáil is an absolute disgrace currently,” he says, pointing out it has sat for 21 days since the election and no committees are functioning.
Dublin midwest TD Paul Gogarty (Ind) said some people want to use the Ceann Comhairle as a “trophy scapegoat” reminding people that he described the proceedings last week as “semi feral”, adding that some TDs could have won an Oscar for their outrage. “This is not right, we should get real,” he said.
Reporter Jack White spoke to members of the public, and former minister Eamon Ryan, to get their views on the ongoing row over Dáil speaking rights.
Fianna Fáil Minister of State Timmy Dooley said there could be a period of speaking time for parties who had sought and maybe expected to gain more and did not. “I know what that feels like,” he said.
But he said “there is an encumbrance on all of us to try and work for the betterment of the Irish people and we have a challenge now that’s greater than we might have expected” with the looming US tariffs.
He hoped the vote “would draw a line in the sand and will allow all of us to move on and allow the Opposition to do what they do very well” and to “hold the Government to account, identify the positives, the negatives and the failures”.
It “shouldn’t be about haranguing or barracking anyone”, he said.
Minister for Housing James Browne condemned “the reckless behaviour of the Opposition, the coalition of chaos, determined not to serve the people but to sabotage the democratic functioning of this House”.
Their constant disruption of the Dáil is “an attempt to undermine the very institution they came to serve”.
A motion of confidence in the Ceann Comhairle was an attack not on a person but on “the integrity of this institution”.
The Ceann Comhairle has conducted her duties “with fairness, impartiality and with respect for every member”.
Hitting out at the Labour Party he said they were “reducing themselves to being the acolytes of Sinn Féin. Once a party of principle, it is now lined up with populists and opportunists”.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said the dispute had not been about speaking rights at all.
“Let’s be honest. This has been about populism, about seeking a political opportunity that you hope and pray that you’ll be able to capitalise on,” he said.
The country faced serious challenges but the Opposition had chosen to prioritise this above all else.
“Sinn Féin have always been about Sinn Féin – Sinn Féin first, country second, maybe third but it’s all about you.”
He called on the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to “look at the manner in which your deputies treated the Ceann Comhairle last week, the level of hatred and vitriol, the abuse that she had to put up with”.
He hoped after 10 weeks of obstruction that Sinn Féin would “get back to do that work that you’re elected to do”.
It’s time we got back to a functioning Dáil said Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke.
There had been unprecedented disorder in the Dáil with “video recording, name calling and chanting you’d see at a far-right rally”.
There had been a significant opportunity cost over the last couple of months, with no European or Foreign Affairs committee or Tourism committee to deal with all the pressing issues that needed to be handled.
A series of speakers for the Opposition have continued to attack the Government.
Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly (Dublin Fingal West) has raised the Government’s failure to hit its housing targets, and goes on to say the price cannot be known for the Lowry group’s support without any deal underpinning it being published. “Is there no limit to the lengths this Government will go to to protect Michael Lowry and your grubby little deal”.
She says that the Ceann Comhairle has colluded in an absurdity and she suspects Ms Murphy knows that. She concludes by saying the whole episode shows that the Opposition can come together and act effectively when it needs to.
PBP’s Paul Murphy says the Government approach marginalises the rights of minority groups and the opposition, saying these rights were “deliberately, consciously, repeatedly” broken by Ms Murphy. He says the Government is engaged in “creeping authoritarianism”. “You’re right to be afraid about the prospect of street politics,” he says, “because it is street politics which will ultimately beat you”.
Tipperary South TD Seamus Healy says the independence of the Ceann Comhairle’s office was compromised by making it part of a deal between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. He says she favoured the Government decision.
Catherine Connolly (Ind – Galway West) says the Government has undermined Dáil reform and has been disingenuous in the extreme. “You rammed through changes, you placed the Ceann Comhairle in an indivious position,” she says. “All the time you’ve added to the growing distrust of people on the ground in relation to the political process,” she says.
Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP – Dun Laoighaire) says Ms Murphy has compromised her independence by partaking in the “grubby deal” of Government formation. “The Government don’t care about corruption and are quite willing to do anything in order to sustain themselves in power,” he says. “You are the ones subverting democracy and you cover that with utterly dishonest, knowingly dishonest claims” about speaking time, he says.
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman (Dublin West) says a principle has been undermined for “patronage” and that the Government is performing “political acrobatics” to keep its deal alive. “Last week in my view, the Ceann Comhairle did not uphold those principles in the even-handed way the Opposition expects”. He expresses the hope that there is a way forward to rebuild trust.
His constituency colleague Ruth Coppinger (PBP) says there was a “lot of hyperbole about arson and so on and so forth” on the Government benches. “Let’s be clear, there have been two days the Dáil has been disrupted,” she says, adding that the rest of the time has been “padded out”.
Back to the Government side, and chief whip Mary Butler is on her feet – taking swipes at Sinn Féin and dismissing suggestions of collusion between the Coalition and the Ceann Comhairle.
She said the Ceann Comhairle was shown no respect but verbal abuse, bullying and outrage. She said it was “embarrassing” and what they were seeing from the Opposition parties was “grandstanding, a populist stand and opportunism”.
She added: “You seem to think that confidence in the Ceann Comhairle is a selection at a pick and mix sweets display.” She said when the Government was formed the opposition tried to disrupt the process but “you lost”.
The Government put forward “modest changes” and it was put to the vote and “you lost”.
She claimed the ballot box only played “second fiddle to Sinn Féin’s “stated objective” to undermine the Dail DáilGovernment “and create mayhem”.
Ms Butler said the Government was about respecting the rights of deputies, democratically elected and “all of them”. She said “we take our direction from the people who voted for us”. The Government did not “take our orders from Belfast or anywhere else.”
Dublin North West TD Paul McAuliffe says the events of recent weeks were “pantomime”. He says the Opposition never seriously engaged and spent “more time on the plinth than around the table”. He says they have twice attempted to prevent the Dáil from taking a vote. “That is not the action of any democrat,” he said, and that there was a “co-ordinated attempt to shut down the democratic process”
“Like a drunken stag party, they cry fould, because they didn’t hear the call for last orders.”
Dun Laoighaire TD for Fine Gael Barry Ward says the discussion feels “genuinely insincere” and it feels like an attempt to “drag on this issue”. He says voters’ refrain is “get back to work, do the business of the people, stop haranguing each other”. He says the behaviour in recent weeks is “not OK, there’s nothing to justify it”.
“When the majority votes, you must accept that and move on,” he says. He claims that during behind closed doors the opposition effectively threatened the Government with chaos, which he describes as “the old Sinn Féin way”.
His constituency colleague Cormac Devlin (FF) says the opposition have chosen “theatrics” and a “stunt” to undermine the Government rather than address the challenges that lie ahead. “They respect democracy only when it suits them”.
Emer Currie (Dublin West, FG) says there is a “calculated web of chaos to undermine the legitimacy of Government”, saying Sinn Féin are “experts at blame and shame and little else”. She says the Ceann Comhairle’s decision that the Regional Independents could not be in Government and opposition at the same time was the right decision.
John Lahart (Dublin South West – FF) says those who “took a wrecking ball” to procedures in the house sit on the Oppostion benches. He says it is difficult to communicate the “visceral” atmosphere in the Dáil last week. “Nothing was audible in this chamber last Wednesday, just as nothing was audible on the day we gathered to elect a Taoiseach.”
Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan says that last Tuesday Mr Lowry was “triumphant” and had got all he wanted. “All this for a politician who was found by the Moriarty tribunal to be “profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking”.”
He is now reading – for the umpteenth time in this controversy- the many findings of the tribunal regarding Michael Lowry, Denis O’Brien and Ben Dunne. He also points out Mr Lowry personally sued the journalist Sam Smyth in what said was a “vindictive attempt” to ruin Mr Smyth.
“Today Micheál Martin are part of the re-establishment of Michael Lowry,” he says, arguing that they should have “shown him the door” but instead “identified him” as their preferred partner. He argues that the office of Ceann Comhairle being a bargaining chip undermined years of Dáil reform and that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste scuppered those same reforms.
“Clearly a deal has been done,” he says, with Mr Lowry able to exercise influence over the HSE Capital Plan and the National Development Plan. He asks the Government to outline exactly how the deal for Independent support will function. “We expected fair procedures from the Ceann Comhairle,” he says, saying he does not want to personalise the vote but that a vote was ignored on the Order of Business and that fundamentally undermined the democratic process.
(As an aside, Verona Murphy is not in the chair, with the motion debate being chaired by Leas Ceann Comhairle John McGuinness. The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, has also left the chamber – something several Opposition deputies have remarked on)
Sinn Féin chief whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn takes to his feet, again returning to Michael Lowry’s role as “kingmaker”, saying he has “boasted” that he elevated Ms Murphy to the Ceann Comhairle’s position. He says Micheál Martin was “doggedly determined” to do a deal with Mr Lowry, and was “not one bit interested” in doing a deal on Government formation with either Labour or the Social Democrats.
Mr Mac Lochlainn is also reiterating his and Sinn Féin’s view that the votes taken last week changing standing order, and the run up to them, were procedurally deficient. He says a “wrecking ball was driven through” standing orders. “Shame on you for elevating Michael Lowry as a kingmaker and for putting his nomination into the chair and driving a wrecking ball through our standing orders,” he says. “Don’t lecture us on morality.”
A succession of Cabinet ministers have now spoken for the Government:
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is accused the Opposition of wanting to have it both ways – seeking to safeguard democracy and disrupt the functioning of the Dáil. “That is at the heart of the fundamental inconsistency of the Opposition here today,” he says.
Mr Donohoe said a vital element of democracy is respect for rules and adherence to them – even when you do not agree. “To stand over here, to contest there is behaviour under way where the Ceann Comhairle has not been impartial, does a disservice to the traditions that have served this state well”.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers says the debate has been characterised by “vitriol, barracking and obstruction” as well as attempts to “shift Ireland to a really disruptive and divisive politics”.
He points to the need to establish Oireachtas committees and also to the troubling economic background to the speaking rights row. “The economic threats we face require all of us to work together” on behalf of voters, he says.
Minister for Arts and Culture Patrick O’Donovan is next to speak. He says scene on the opposition benches was reminiscent of something out of Harcourt Street at three or four AM, concluding the Opposition were a “disgrace”.
He is focusing most of his ire on the Labour Party, saying of all parties they should remember what happened to their former leader Joan Burton in Jobstown – saying the party has joined in behind Sinn Féin as a “silent little lamb”.
Minister for Higher Education James Lawless again returns to the theme of threats to the Irish and global economy. He is drawing a line from Boris Johnson proroguing parliament through to the January 6th Capitol riots to the disruptions in the Dáil. He says it is “apt” the vote is being held on April Fool’s Day. He says the opposition is composed of “shouting Shinners” and “junior partners” including the Labour Party which he says is “enthralled by a militant tendency” and “ran away from Government”. He says the final part of the Opposition is the “Social media Democrats” which he describes as a “fundamentally unserious party”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that nobody knew why the Government had gone to
“such lengths” for Michael Lowry. “Why do they insist that you can be in Government and in opposition at the same time?”
She said they do not know “what the secret, grubby deal the Government negotiated” with him.
The “Lowry lads and lassie are now be regarded as both Government and opposition”.
They would see a “shame set piece” on Wednesday in the Dáil, “a new other members’ question slot, a sort of theatrical Government”.
The Government had rammed through changes last week in a way that was “simply not acceptable”.
Ms Bacik said the Taoiseach’s attitude had become “increasingly touchy” and “patronising”, accusing the Opposition of “subverting democracy, even of being arsonists today, getting deeply offended if we question his motivation”.
He was insisting the issue was about a change to benefit Government backbenchers and give them more speaking time. But the reality is that they would “lose out” to the Independent group.
Ms Bacik said the Ceann Comhairle should enjoy bipartisan support and be impartial but that had not happened.
Labour TD Ciarán Ahern says it is disheartening to speak on a motion of confidence in the Ceann Comhairle and is “entirely regrettable” the office has been used as a “bargaining chip” in Government formation talks – at the same time Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were purporting to be engaged in talks on formation with Labour, he says.
Returning to the role of Michael Lowry, he says the State has spent significant sums investigating “corrupt dealings of the Ceann Comhairle’s political patron”, he points to Mr Lowry’s conviction for tax offences and says he has used so-called SLAPPs – strategic lawsuits against public participation.
He says the message is that Mr Lowry was welcomed back into the fold in the guise of “political pragmatism”.
He says the Government is “rehabilitating Michael Lowry and ignoring the very serious findings against him,” via a deal which “demands this house” and “demeans the office of the Ceann Comhairle”.
He says the manner of the business conducted last Tuesday “fatally undermines” faith in the Ceann Comhairle.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is now on her feet, saying there has been a “concerted and co-ordinated” campaign by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to “run roughshod” over the democratic structures of the Dáil – and saying the Ceann Comhairle “led the charge”, and “actively and enthusiastically” fulfilled the Government’s bidding, acting “like a loyal minister under political instruction from the top” – “acting as the government’s Ceann Comhairle, signed, sealed and delivered” by Michael Lowry.
The rule book was ripped up, she says, in a departure which made a “mockery” of the Ceann Comhairle’s oath.
“This isn’t a mere technicality, this is fundamental to how opposition hold Government to account,” she says. Ms McDonald argues that accountability has to be ensured and the interests of the people protected.
The Ceann Comhairle not only undermined the democratic structures of the Dáil, she says, but “demolished it”, outlining three main criticisms:
Firstly, the failure to hold a vote on the Order of Business when one was sought
Secondly, the failure to hold the usual Questions on Promised Legislation slot following the vote, which she says is evidence Ms Murphy was “hell-bent” on getting the Government’s motion over the line.
Thirdly, she says the Ceann Comhairle in error put an amendment, rather than the Government motion, to a vote. “All of this was done to cheers of approval and a chorus of approval from the Government benches”.
She calls this “shameless” co-operation “brazen, arrogant and on display for all to see”. She says due to procedural issues, matters set to be conducted tomorrow – the contentious new ‘other members’ speaking slot – have “no standing”.
Ms McDonald says the opposition would be doing the people a grave disservice were they to lie down in the face of actions which she says have been “neither impartial nor independent” and have left the Ceann Comhairle’s position “in tatters”. She reiterates the main point of the opposition, saying Ms Murphy needs the support and confidence of the opposition – which she does not have.
“Cui bono? Who benefits?,” asks Ms McDonald, moving on to the role of Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry, who convened the group of Independents supporting the Government. “Those dogs on the street know they are in the Government camp,” she says, saying Harris and Martin “sought to organise a delusion” that they were not. “This is the very farce that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to ram through to protect their grubby deal.”
Ms McDonald says Mr Lowry made it clear that putting Ms Murphy in as Ceann Comhairle was instrumental to the deal. Quoting an interview with the Tipperary North TD on local radio, she says he outlined how he worked to get Ms Murphy elected and then to negotiate the Independents role in Government.
“Nobody with any respect for the position of Ceann Comhairle would ever have been party to such a disgraceful arrangement,” she says. She is now returning to the findings of the Moriarty tribunal and Mr Martin’s previous description of Mr Lowry as a “rogue politician”. “What does Michael Lowry have over Micheál Martin, or Simon Harris for that matter, what debt is owed to him that you are willing to tear down the integrity of the Dáil just to keep him sweet,” she says.
Ms McDonald says the “bubble has truly burst” that the Government’s move was to enhance the rights of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil backbenchers, who she says will get four times less speaking time than the Independents. The Dáil will never be the same, she says, quoting Micheál Martin’s words back to him, but not because of what the Opposition has done – but rather because of the Government’s actions.
“These deals preserve the status quo and ensure that workers and families are pushed to the back of the queue,” she says, adding that Ms Murphy “moved heaven and earth” to protect it last Thursday.
“Michael Lowry gives two fingers to the Irish people, we will not accept the Ceann Comhairle doing the same,” Ms McDonald concludes, saying she is not fair, not impartial, and must go.
Parliamentary correspondent Marie O’Halloran has this write up of Tánaiste Simon Harris’s comments:
Tánaiste Simon Harris said “we must have a Government that functions effectively and in the interests of the people”.
He said it was surely now “incumbent on us surely
Mr Harris said the message of the people is that TDs should “stop shouting roaring and hollering, turn up for work and do the job.”
They were debating a confidence motion that would only have one outcome at a time of crisis.
Accusing Sinn Féin of having a record of “putting party interest before national interest” he said he was sorry to see other Opposition parties “going down that same populist route at a time of crisis”.
The Government wanted to work with the Opposition parties. And amid the shouting he arranged a briefing for them on the US trade tariffs and trading terms and “we’ll be providing further updates on a regular basis”.
He added that “the time for shouting, hooting and hollering” is over.
Mr Harris said officials were subjected to “a bitter and aggressive cacophony and an atmosphere of hostility and anger. It was utterly embarrassing and I would call on those who engaged in such behaviour to apologise to the staff of this House”.
Separately ushers had to intervene between two members of this House. “It isn’t good enough”. He said they could disagree but they should never “descend to the levels of disrespect and discourtesy which have been on display in recent times.”
He said the Ceann Comhairle had found in the opposition’s favour. Then a further proposal was put to a vote of the business committee and was approved by a majority.
But this time the Opposition did not like the result so “they came for the Ceann Comhairle’s head. This is straight out of a populist playbook.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has opened proceedings, saying it is “profoundly regrettable” that things have reached this point and rounding on the Opposition for “wild accusations” and the “blockading” of the democratic process. He says the core demand is that the “minority have the right to import mob politics into this chamber”.
It’s a full throated attack on the Opposition from the Taoiseach, who he says are trying to “manufacture” a claim that Verona Murphy failed in her duties. He says that “the arsonists are demanding that we censure the fire brigade”.
He defends the government’s approach, saying no rights are being infringed and that the new approach will ensure the Opposition have speaking rights outsized to their mandate. He is driving for the Opposition, and Sinn Féin in particular, who he says are pushing a strategy of total Opposition. “The impact of the new strategy has been seen here every day,” he says. “Day after day it has become harder to be heard if Sinn Féin want to have a go”.
He says the Opposition made the Ceann’s job “almost impossible” and it should be acknowledged that the majority of the Dáil supported the motion reforming speaking rights. He speaks of how the “new aggression” from the Opposition has spread into other areas, including the allegation that new deputies have been subject to “verbal abuse” by supporters of Opposition parties.
Turning on Labour and the Social Democrats, he calls them “junior partners” to Sinn Féin’s efforts. He says Opposition “extreme rhetoric” and “mob disruption” of the Dáil “must not be normalised”.
“The attack on the Ceann Comhairle is very much part of a pattern,” he says, claiming “extreme parties” are trying to undermine confidence in the political system. “You will not succeed in imposing rule by minority”.
“The strategy of aggression and disruption will fail,” he says, promising the Government will “work day and night” to make the Dáil work
Short version of this opening contribution: the Opposition, and Sinn Féin in particular, is acting aggressively and in bad faith, and putting the political culture and functioning of the Dáil at risk.
Meanwhile, Cormac McQuinn has a dispatch from a post-Cabinet press conference with Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, who spoke about the looming confidence motion.
Cormac reports:
Mr Donohoe said: “my main focus and the focus of the Government is the up to 80,000 jobs that could be affected as a result of the tariffs that could be applied by the United States tomorrow.”
He has previously set out how it is possible that between 50,000 and 80,000 jobs that would have been created or retained will not be due to the trade war.
In reference to the planned additional Dáil speaking time twice per week for Independent TDs that support the Coalition and Government backbenchers Mr Donohoe continued: “The choice is eight minutes or 80,000 jobs.
“That’s the choice. And I believe the focus of the Dáil is better placed on issues that can affect jobs, that can affect the number of homes we can build in the future, and can affect the future of our economy, as opposed to the kind of behaviour we’ve seen on two different occasions since the Dáil came back.”
While the vote on Verona Murphy’s future is a foregone conclusion, one of the outstanding questions is how the fallout from the multiple blow-ups over the speaking rights controversy will affect proceedings in the Dáil.
There was a hint of this in the vote on the Order of Business – where the Dáil votes on the proposed agenda for the week. By tradition, the Opposition calls a vote on this – partially because it gives their party leaders another short speaking slot to criticise the Government.
Today was no different/ While doing so, Sinn Féin again challenged the validity of last week’s proceedings, with chief whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn saying they were “illegitimate” because of procedural failings on behalf of Ms Murphy. There were some interruptions from the Opposition benches, with the Ceann Comhairle twice having to get to her feet to assert her authority. Sinn Féin also used a new provision of the Standing Orders (the validity of which they dispute, but anyway) to move an amendment, with Cork North Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoighaire using this mechanism to back a call from the Social Democrats to put time aside for the Dáil to discuss tariffs.
Meanwhile, Labour needled backbench Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs who apparently are furious that Regional Independents will get more time in the new and contentious ‘other members’ slot than them, while Ruth Coppinger had a pop at Dublin Bay North’s Barry Heneghan, who has sought to move his seat in the Dáil in the aftermath of being caught in the crossfire of Michael Lowry’s infamous ‘two fingers’ moment.
What to take from all that?
Firstly, nothing approached the disorder seen last week nor threatened the proceedings of the Dáil.
Secondly, it seems that the Opposition is going to lob issues at the Ceann Comhairle for her to figure out in real time. Think of this as throwing sand in the gears of proceedings.
Thirdly, it seems the Opposition is going to continue to take rhetorical potshots at the Government and their aligned independents at every opportunity – seeking to undermine the legitimacy of the arrangements and remind everyone of the problems they have with it.
Fourthly, the vote that was ultimately taken was comfortably won 95-72, reminding everyone that the government’s majority is more than healthy, notwithstanding the lingering bitterness.
There appears to be a cessation in major battles for the time being, but these sort of skirmishes might become a feature as the Opposition seeks to keep the pressure up on both the Government, the Regional Independents, and the Ceann Comhairle.
Confidence vote in Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy to be taken at 6.30pm
Harry McGee writes: The Government expects the motion of confidence in Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy will be easily passed after a two-and-a-half hour debate this afternoon.
As expected, the Government on Monday brought forward an amendment that essentially changed the Sinn Féin motion of no confidence into a Government motion of confidence.
This will allow the Government to control the debate, by opening and closing it.
Most TDs who spoke to The Irish Times on Monday were of the view that the bitter rows and acrimony of last week would not be repeated.
However, one Opposition TD said it would be “tense”. Another said it would be firm from both sides but not a noisy row.
As expected, the Opposition has tabled an amendment that notes that under Standing Order (rule) 10, the Ceann Comhairle must retain the confidence of both Government and Opposition members.
“That the Ceann Comhairle no longer retains the confidence of opposition TDs of this House”," it states.
The debate will focus on two separate themes.
The first is the way the Ceann Comhairle handled the debate last Tuesday, if she mis-stepped and if was there a reason behind that. The Opposition are obviously of the view that she sided with the Government, either through accident or design. The Government, and she, deny that.
Clerk of the Dáil Peter Finnegan published a report on Wednesday of last week that concluded Ms Murphy had complied with the proper procedures when deeming the changes to the Dáil Standing Orders (rules) were carried, without putting it to a vote.
A Sinn Féin analysis of the video recording of the proceedings last Tuesday has stated that there was a clear request from a TD that a vote be taken. It has maintained that Ms Murphy had not followed proper procedure in refusing the request. It is likely, also, that the request was not heard by her when deeming the motion to have been carried.
The second theme will hark back to the circumstances behind her appointment. It was obviously one of the preliminary confidence-boosting measures for the Lowry group of Regional Independents in the early days of government-formation negotiations with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. What were the other elements of the deal?
Cian O’Callaghan of the Social Democrats and Michael Collins of Independent Ireland have both pursued this line since January. Obviously there was some kind of arrangement hammered out with the Lowry group in relation to speaking rights.
The debate will begin at 3.55pm with the vote taken at 6.30pm.
Unsurprisingly, the Opposition whips dissented from the Government decision to amend the motion when the business committee met yesterday.
The new technical group, known as Other TDs, will have its first opportunity to speak as a distinct group during the debate today.
In advance of the vote, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has said his party’s two TDs will abstain in the confidence vote.
“There is no doubt that Verona Murphy made mistakes on that day. But the people complaining of those mistakes are the people who made the working environment impossible last Tuesday,” said Mr Tóibín in a statement.
