What is at the heart of this issue?
From an early stage on Wednesday, it became evident that trouble was on the horizon. At the heart of the chaotic scenes is a conflicting interpretation of the Dáil rules around speaking time.
Under the standing orders of the last Dáil, Opposition TDs who band together in a technical group of at least five TDs can avail of various rights not open to individual TDs or government backbenchers. These technical groups have regular opportunities to quiz the taoiseach during set pieces such as Leaders’ Questions.
This time is vitally important for smaller parties and Opposition members as they try to hold the government to account. This row grew legs when Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry – who is the convener of the Regional Independent Group (RIG) that helped to get a government deal over the line – and other members of the RIG tried to set up a technical group to get more speaking time.
Lowry and other RIG members who didn’t get ministerial roles were part of this effort. The other members are Dublin Bay North TD Barry Heneghan, Meath East TD Gillian Toole and Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae. Other members of the group included Aontú TDs Peadar Tóibín and Paul Lawless, Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath and Offaly Independent Carol Nolan. Mr Tóibín and Mr Lawless left the group amid the chaotic scenes on Wednesday.
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So what’s the problem?
The issue is that those Regional Independent Group TDs have clearly said they are supporting the government. Last week, when the group announced that a deal was done with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which involved a number of its members becoming either super junior ministers sitting at cabinet or ministers of state, Mr Lowry said that they would support the new government on the good days and the bad days.
Privately, members of the RIG say they secured concessions in the programme for government in return for their support. The impression they have given is very clear: that the RIG are supporting government, and in turn they make up the numbers that create a vital majority.
A key rule of setting up a technical group to secure that all-important speaking time is that members must be in opposition to form a technical group – or at least that was the interpretation of one side.
So what happened? How did this come to a head?
Numerous meetings were held between the whips of the Opposition parties, Government parties and the Regional Independent Group on Wednesday to thrash this out. After multiple meetings at which agreement could not be found on how to proceed, Michael Lowry said shortly before 4pm that they had found a way through.
He said a Dáil reform committee would consider the issue around standing orders and speaking rights, and that this committee would meet at midday on Thursday. The idea was that all of this would be thrashed out by this committee, and allow the election of Micheál Martin to continue.
All TDs gathered in the Chamber to get proceedings under way, but it was not to be. Opposition parties were not happy to continue without a guarantee from the Government that their speaking time would not be eaten into it by the RIG.
Government sources said the faith between all sides had soured as they believed the Opposition had set out with the intention of stopping Mr Martin’s election, something the Opposition rejects. All sides must now try to find a way through the stalemate if a repeat of those chaotic scenes is to be avoided.
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