The Government is to force through a vote of confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris on Wednesday in a bid to defuse the risk of a debate on disabilities during the final week of presidential campaigning.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said on Tuesday that his party would next week table a no-confidence motion in Mr Harris over controversies in Children’s Health Ireland and waiting times for scoliosis surgery.
Such a motion is usually replaced by a motion of confidence in a minister put down by the Government.
Late on Tuesday, party whips were informed that the Coalition will put down a confidence motion in Mr Harris at 1.12pm on Wednesday, with a vote to follow at 3.30pm.
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The move comes amid concern among some in the Coalition that lengthy Dáil debates on the Government’s disabilities record could dominate coverage in the days before the vote for the presidency next Friday.
Ministers are protected from facing more than one confidence motion in a six-month period.
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There is some frustration in the Opposition ranks that Mr Tóibín announced his intention to put the motion down on Tuesday, with such motions usually submitted on a Friday for inclusion in the Dáil’s business the following week.
In so doing, one Opposition TD suggested a gap had been left open which would allow the Government to bring the vote forward. “If his tactic was to cause them difficulty in the presidential election, he should have waited until Friday,” the TD said.
The Dáil business committee was informed of the schedule change on Tuesday evening.
However, the Coalition will be moving forward wording of Mr Tóibín’s planned no-confidence motion, which does not have to be submitted until Friday.
While this would not prevent the Government from acting and putting its own motion down, sources suggested Aontú could change tack and use its Dáil time next week to put down a motion of no confidence in the entire Government rather than Mr Harris as part of a bid to keep disabilities central to the final week of campaigning. Were this done, it would lead to two confidence debates on the same topic in two weeks.
It comes as Independent candidate Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys enter the final 10 days of the campaign, trading blows on the future of the Special Criminal Court and other matters.
Ms Humphreys came under pressure from the family of Shane O’Farrell, the 23-year-old Monaghan man killed in a hit-and-run in 2011. His mother, Lucia O’Farrell, told RTÉ Radio she was unhappy with extent of the former Cavan-Monaghan TD’s advocacy on behalf of the family, who were seeking support for their campaign seeking justice for their son.
She said Ms Humphreys did not attend a vigil at Leinster House for Mr O’Farrell, and even though the two women spoke about the case, the then-TD never voted for a public inquiry into the death. Ms Humphreys has said she made representations to ministers following conversations with Ms O’Farrell.
Meanwhile, former Green Party cabinet minister Pippa Hackett has joined her former party colleague Brian Leddin in criticising the party’s strategic direction and backing of Ms Connolly for the presidency.
Ms Hackett, who unsuccessfully sought the Green Party leadership last year, told The Irish Times she felt the Greens should have “stayed out of it altogether”.
While Ms Hackett’s criticisms were primarily strategic, she said she shared concerns around Ms Connolly’s positions articulated by Mr Leddin, who has resigned from the party, in an article in The Irish Times on Tuesday.
However, the party’s former Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe backed Ms Connolly, saying she was the “best person” to articulate challenges around climate and housing and the “best candidate for the job”.
“I think there is strong support for Catherine’s candidacy [within the Green Party]. I will indeed be voting for her and I’ve campaigned for her,” he said.
