Taoiseach Micheál Martin has rejected Opposition claims that the Government is delaying the formation of Oireachtas committees to protect the Independent group led by Michael Lowry.
During the ongoing row on Opposition speaking rights for the Independents, Mr Martin said the Dáil could debate legislation on the issue in plenary session and summarily push it through without going through committee stage.
The row erupted over calls by the Lowry group to have the same speaking rights as Opposition parties while supporting the Government.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald claimed the Dáil is effectively “in cold storage”. Four months after the election, no committees are in place and the Government’s legislative priority is “to get more money for junior Ministers”, she said.
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She claimed “the Government’s priority is to placate Deputy Michael Lowry and his underlings with the pretence and fiction that they can carry out Opposition functions here in the Dáil”.
[ Government’s speaking-rights stroke is hardly an existential threat to democracyOpens in new window ]
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the Ceann Comhairle ruled “on the Lowry lads’ status that they are not a technical group in opposition”.
The Government, rather than the Opposition, is delaying the formation of the committees, she said.
The Opposition is abiding by the Ceann Comhairle’s ruling, but the Government wants to change it, she said, adding that the Opposition has not seen the details of the proposed changes.
“Apparently, it will be pushed through to a vote by the Government next week. In the meantime, committees cannot be formed because the Government is looking to change things.”
Independent Barry Heneghan sought to speak, but Leas-Cheann Comhairle John McGuinness said: “I cannot call Deputy Heneghan. He is not a member of the Opposition so he cannot be called.”
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said the Dáil has only sat for 17 days since the general election 110 days ago. He called for an extra day’s sitting this week and next “so that we can actually get about the work that is necessary in this country”.
Mr Martin insisted the Government is not holding up the establishment of the committees “in any shape or form”. He called on the Opposition to “agree to the formation of committees, and not get in the way of them being formed.
“Government is getting on with it. We will continue to do what we have to do with regard to decisions,” he said.
“We should be passing legislation. We can do it by plenary session if we have to and we will in terms of legislation that will come forward.
“We will pass it through the House. If Opposition deputies do not want to form committees and want to be a barrier to the formation of committees, that is their business,” Mr Martin said.
