By Enda Kelly
The speaking rights row in the Dáil has been one of the more obtuse political scandals, given its origin in Dáil procedure. However, fundamentally it is an attempt by the government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Lowry’s Lackeys to avoid scrutiny from the opposition – and is a real attack on democratic norms.
The nub of the issue is the fact that a group of independent TDs led by the disgraced Michael Lowry, who helped to create the programme for government, have been given a massive chunk of the speaking/question time that the opposition had to scrutinise the government.
This was done by ramming through new ‘standing orders’, the rules by which the Dáil operates, to create a section of TDs called “other members”, which includes those independents who are supporting the government, as well as FF and FG backbenchers.
Not surprisingly, a major focus rightly has been on Michael Lowry – the architect of whatever deal the independents have to support the government. The Moriarty Tribunal described Lowry’s actions in procuring a state contract for billionaire Denis O’Brien as “profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking”. His evident influence on this government is a real indictment of it.
Having their cake and eating it too
These are the people who want to take up opposition time – used to hold the government to account. They want to have their cake and eat it too, and the government and Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy (who was part of this group of independents) have conspired to allow them.
These are not people in opposition. For example Barry Heneghan TD, one of the independents who was elected in Dublin Bay North, mainly due to his message of being a voice for change. He has voted with the government repeatedly, including disgracefully voting against a motion from Sinn Féin to ensure that the state can never introduce water charges. In essence, these TDs want to pretend to be in opposition while supporting the government at every turn.
Some quick bullet points in relation to what is being lost to appease Lowrys Lackies:
- Interventions to oppose the Dáil’s order of business have gone from one minute to 30 seconds.
- Leaders questions, where the opposition was able to question the government, has been opened to allow government TDs to raise questions.
- These TDs have been given one priority question directly to the ministers.
- There have been two sessions of eight minutes for “Other Members’ Questions”.
- Taoiseach Questions have been dropped from two days a week to down to one, to account for these extra slots.
Suppressing accountability
These speaking slots have been an opportunity for Socialist TDs to bring up issues that wouldn’t be brought up otherwise. Ruth Coppinger repeatedly brought up abortion directly to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar when he was trying to hide behind waiting for the Citizens’ Assembly report in 2016. Mick Barry used it to force the state to answer for the disgraceful trans healthcare in this country.
This decision means that these key questions and attempts to make the government answer for its continued cruelty will be lessened. And all this to appease a man that the Taoiseach himself stated should resign after the findings of the tribunal report came out in 2011. Consistency has never been one of Martin’s strong suits.
Sycophantic questioning
We have had two sessions of Other Members’ Questions so far. In this week’s session we had the riveting spectacle of FF TD Ryan O’Meara politely ask the Taoiseach would Uisce Eireann feel a sense of urgency to deliver for housing.
He then complemented the Taoiseach on how good his answer was and how they will definitely deliver housing. It is rare that those in power are ever fully held accountable for their decisions and their continued failures. In reality, Taoiseach Questions is one of those few times, and a loss of that one session is significant.
We need to call this what it is: a fundamental attack on accountability and democracy in this country. The state is getting ready to make unpopular decisions and they want to have as little scrutiny as possible.
This of course is a part of the wider attack on democracy by the Irish state. The disgraceful treatment of Palestine activists by Gardaí over the last few weeks showcases a serious turn towards repression of dissent. Because of this, now more than ever we need to unite and fight back against this brutal system.
