Minister for Children Norma Foley has said no one in Government knew in advance that Michael Healy-Rae was going to resign.
Healy-Rae, the former minister of state, resigned before voting no confidence in the Government on Tuesday and sharply criticising Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
He made his surprise resignation announcement during a debate on a confidence motion in the Government, going on to vote against his former colleagues. The Government won the vote by 92 votes to 78.
Despite last-minute efforts to sway the Independent Kerry TD by chief whip Mary Butler in the Dáil chamber, he indicated his resignation and charged the Government with having “let the people down”.
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“I don’t believe anyone knew in advance,” Foley told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland. It was a matter for Healy-Rae himself how he had “handled himself”, she said.
“We’d never like to see anybody walk away, but having said that ... the Government won that motion of confidence by a margin of 14 votes. I think that’s significant.
“We’re all very conscious that we’re in a time of global crisis, global turmoil. It’s at times like these that the country needs steady, secure, stable Government,” Foley said.
”You’re asking me, I suppose, in many respects, was I surprised by what happened? I was, in many respects, because 24 hours earlier, Michael did put out a video where he had said he endorses the [Government supports] package. He believes it was a very good deal for the people of Ireland, something for everyone, that he would be voting confidence in the Government. He would be voting confidence in himself, in effect, is what he had said.
“So I am surprised that he did what he did,” she said.
“In the formation of Government, there was an arrangement made with the Healy-Raes that would mean the two of them would support Government for the lifetime of Government – that did not materialise yesterday.”
Asked if Michael Healy-Rae had been told he would lose his role in Government if his brother Danny voted against the coalition, Foley said: “I think the world knows that when the arrangement was made with both Healy-Raes, it was a matter for two Healy-Raes to support Government – I think everybody knows that.”
Foley said she was not privy to any conversations with the men prior to the vote but said it would have been “helpful” to know in advance.
“Politics is unpredictable by its nature. People can make unpredictable decisions also at difficult and challenging times. Why that decision was made and how it was made is a matter for both Michael and Danny. I personally don’t have any quibble with either of the two of them.
“I regret to see them walking away. That’s a matter for themselves. I personally believe you govern in the good times and you govern in the bad times. You govern when there are challenges. You don’t expect every day to be seamless and rosy in Government.”
Foley said the vacant position in the Department of Agriculture would be filled following Cabinet discussion. She denied there was any discord within the Cabinet.
“This is a cohesive Government. This is a team in Government that is working right through a difficult international situation, but doing the work that needs to be done.”
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke also denied the resignation will damage the Government and that it did not understand rural Ireland.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage, the Longford-Westmeath TD said he knew the pressures people were under and that the Government had responded by bringing forward “the biggest package per capita by multiples in the EU now to support our citizens right around our country”.
Burke said the Government had not been weakened. “Firstly, we won the vote by 14. That’s a very significant margin for any confidence vote. Secondly ... actions have consequences. If that vote was to succeed last night firstly it would leave the country without a Government.
“The interventions people will be seeing over the next number of days would not be possible so you’d have a general election for a number of weeks,” Burke said.
“The Coalition is very resolute, it is very strong, it has a very significant margin but one critical thing is the quarter-of-a-billion intervention ... these are financial resolutions giving money back to people [while] the Opposition voted all over the place.”
On Wednesday, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said he agreed with Healy-Rae’s decision to resign.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, Gannon said Healy-Rae was an “on-the-ground” politician and his actions reflected the voices of the people who voted for him.
There was “a level of hurt” among the public – people were having to choose between heat or charging their electric wheelchair while the Government remained “aloof and arrogant” and had lost control, Gannon said.
An election would happen sooner rather than later, he added.
However, a non-party Kerry county councillor said it was a mistake for Healy-Rae to step down from Government.
Niall ‘Botty’ O’Callaghan, also speaking on Morning Ireland, said he understood Healy-Rae had to listen to the people who voted for him but said he thought it would have been better to “stay there”.
I would have said: stay in there and be a voice inside the House. Because the Government had the numbers,” O’Callaghan said.
“So I think people need to calm down a little bit and understand that this Government were elected and it was a democratic election.”
O’Callaghan said he did not think staying in Government would have had an impact on Healy-Rae’s political career.
“At the end of the day, you’re not going to go from 18,000 votes to not being elected in the next election. So I think it was more out of loyalty that Michael made that decision.
“It’s like having a star corner forward and putting him in corner back now. It’s disappointing. It’s disappointing for Michael. It’s disappointing for everybody in the county,” O’Callaghan said.
“I’m in the political game against the Healy-Raes. But they’re a machine. They’re an absolute machine, and it won’t stop. It won’t stop.”
The resignation raises questions about whether the position would go to a different Independent TD who supported the Coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, or to a member of those parties.
The Government may also choose not to fill the post to reduce the overall number of junior ministers and instead assign the responsibilities of the role to another Minister. – additional reporting: PA
