Mary Lou McDonald was surprised the Taoiseach was surprised until she realised he was merely pretending to be surprised when it wasn’t really a surprise to him at all, while Ivana Bacik wasn’t at all surprised that Leo Varadkar was surprised because it was definitely a surprise, “I think it’s fair to say”.
But then, the Sinn Féin leader was deeply suspicious of Government claims that Tuesday night’s announcement of a temporary shutdown at Tara Mines in Navan, where 650 people are employed, had caught everyone by surprise.
Yes, she heard Simon Coveney, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, say on Morning Ireland that this news came out of the blue, “but is that really the case?” wondered Cabra’s answer to Miss Marple.
And how could the Government have been so unaware of the mounting pressure on the company when the situation was widely known locally and when one of her own TDs wrote to a Government minister weeks ago warning about possible job losses in Navan?
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[ Tara Mines and Navan: a near-50-year historyOpens in new window ]
But they were completely aware of what was happening, protested the Taoiseach.
“There has been ongoing engagement with the company for quite some time.” In fact, he visited the mine himself last year with local Minister of State, Damien English.
Many meetings over many months as the mining operation struggled with rising costs amid concerns for its future, confirmed Leo.
Mary Lou pounced.
“So. So this then wasn’t a matter of surprise! You set out what seems to me a very extensive range of engagements with the mine and various ministers.”
Caught, bang to rights.
Having established the facts, it was clear to her that the Government knew all along about serious problems in Tara Mines.
Had the Leinster House authorities known she was going to solve this particular whodunnit during Leaders’ Questions on Wednesday they could have summoned TDs to the library for the big reveal.
Instead, Mary Lou McMarple had to solve the mystery in the Dáil chamber.
“I am at a loss as to why you are feigning surprise,” she told the Taoiseach.
The company may have ‘done the sums’ but the same can’t be said for Government which hasn’t done its sums or done its work, Mary Lou retorted
He was at a loss as to why she thought he was faking it.
“The announcement did come as a surprise,” he stressed. “It probably came as a surprise to the management locally as well.”
Unlike the problems at the mine, which he has known about for months.
So while it was no secret that the company was under pressure “there was no indication that this was going to happen in the way it did – all of a sudden”.
The Taoiseach then Leosplained to Mary Lou about how business works. He told her when costs rise and a product falls in value the company producing it “has to do the maths”.
Which is what Tara Mines did when the price of zinc plummeted.
The company may have “done the sums” but the same can’t be said for Government which hasn’t done its sums or done its work, she retorted.
And for the second time in the same session, the Leader of the Opposition confessed to being “at a loss as to understand why” the Government acted in a particular way.
She couldn’t work out why it left it too late to intervene when warning signs were flashing for months.
This time, though, Mary Lou wasn’t at a loss for long because she solved the mystery in the next sentence.
It’s a pity the Meath West TD’s temporary elevation had to happen on such a dark and worrying day for Meath
“That strikes me as a minister, or ministers, asleep at the wheel.”
Meanwhile, a white-haired man wearing a plaid shirt sat silently in the prime visibility spot next to the Sinn Féin leader as she took the Taoiseach to task for “feigning surprise in a scenario that, in fact, you said was not surprising at all”.
It was the Sinn Féin deputy for Meath West, Johnny Guirke, one of the party’s lesser-spotted Dáil performers. Johnny is the TD who wrote to the Government warning about the precarious situation in Tara Mines.
It’s a pity his temporary elevation had to happen on such a dark and worrying day for Meath.
Deputy McDonald’s response to the situation in Navan, where many workers found out through the media that their jobs are gone indefinitely, was to go in hard on the Government for failing to avert the crisis.
The Taoiseach accused her of trying to exploit “really bad news”.
He felt her approach to the issue was “disappointing”.
She felt the fact he let it happen was “disappointing”.
What is he going to do about it?
He pointed out that being aware that a problem exists doesn’t mean a Government “can save every job and every business in the country”.
Cue more Leosplaining as he repeated that zinc prices have gone way down in value.
“And what happens when the price of the service or product you produce goes down?”
“I’m not stupid, Taoiseach. I can grasp that,” snapped Mary Lou.
Ivana Bacik, expressing Labour’s solidarity with the Navan workers, also extended unexpected solidarity to Leo Varadkar when agreeing that the announcement of the lay-offs “was a surprise, I think it’s fair to say, and a shock, indeed”.
Deputy Bacik went on “to raise two constructive proposals from Labour and SIPTU” aimed at strengthening supports and protection for workers who find themselves laid off in a Tara Mines type of situation.
Constructive proposals?
There will be no feigning of surprise if that approach catches on across the floor at Leaders’ Questions
