Almost five weeks have now elapsed since Micheál Martin became Taoiseach, while almost four months have passed since the general election was called, bringing to an end the 33rd Dáil. The relatively straightforward negotiations that led to the formation of this Government, along with its comfortable majority, might have inclined one to expect the new Dáil to be up and running by now.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
A dispute over speaking rights for a small group of Independents has stalled the process. The consequence is that the rules which govern the proceedings of the Oireachtas have yet to be agreed and committees have still not been established. As a result, matters which have given rise to justifiable public concern, such as controversies over spending at the Arts Council and the National Gallery, have not been subject to scrutiny by elected representatives. That is regrettable and should be addressed without further delay.
It is within the Government’s power to use its majority to force through its own preferred solution to the impasse, whatever that solution might be. That, however, would be an an inauspicious way to proceed. An agreed solution is required and the onus is on all parties to achieve it.
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In order to do that, both Government and Opposition must take some responsibility. The speaking rights issue may appear arcane to outside observers, but there was legitimate cause for complaint over the Government’s initial proposal to allocate Opposition time to Independent TDs who had previously been involved in negotiating the Government’s composition and legislative agenda. That proposition was both absurd and unjust. It also provided a useful rallying point for the Opposition, which took full advantage.
But the time has now come for both sides to devise an equitable solution that is proportionate to the scale of the problem and permits the Oireachtas to carry out its business.
This is a moment of geopolitical peril and economic uncertainty, with Ireland squarely in the front line of a potential trade war between Europe and the US. There are serious questions to be asked about the State’s capacity to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population, as well as its statutory climate obligations.
And the credibility of the Government parties’ promises to ramp up housing supply has been undermined since the election by data on last year’s performance.
These and many other matters deserve urgent scrutiny, debate and action by the legislature. The voters who elected 174 TDs to this Dáil last November have the right to expect nothing less. If those legislators fail to meet those expectations due to an unresolved squabble over what is a relatively minor point of parliamentary procedure, they will not be thanked.
