{"id":49777,"date":"2025-02-27T11:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/speaking-rights-plan-makes-a-mockery-of-dail\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T11:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:35:18","slug":"speaking-rights-plan-makes-a-mockery-of-dail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/speaking-rights-plan-makes-a-mockery-of-dail\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking rights plan ‘makes a mockery’ of D\u00e1il"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Opposition parties, including Sinn F\u00e9in, protested strongly against similar proposals last month and now they are doing so again<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Irish Opposition parties have criticised the latest bid to give D\u00e1il (Irish Parliament) speaking rights to Independent D\u00e1il members who are propping up the government.<\/p>\n

Some of those Independents – who supported and helped negotiate the Programme for Government<\/a> – want dedicated D\u00e1il time to hold ministers to account. <\/p>\n

But Opposition parties claimed that “would make a mockery of the functioning of the D\u00e1il” because Independents cannot scrutinise a government which they prop up.<\/p>\n

The Opposition insisted the plan was “utterly unacceptable and will not be tolerated”. <\/p>\n

However, the government argued that speaking rights rules must respect the mandate of “each and every” politician elected to the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It defended the plan, saying the Independents would be given their own time slots which would not take a single second away from Opposition speaking time rights. <\/p>\n

The row has been rumbling since January, when loud protests from Opposition parties led to turbulent scenes in the D\u00e1il<\/a>, which had to be repeatedly adjourned.<\/p>\n

The protests resulted in a delay to the re-election of Miche\u00e1l Martin as taoiseach (Irish prime minister), who had to wait until the next day to take up office. <\/p>\n

His Fianna F\u00e1il party won the most seats in November’s general election<\/a> but not enough to form a government on their own.<\/p>\n

In January Fianna F\u00e1il re-entered a coalition government with the Fine Gael party but this time, instead of the Green Party, they secured the support of several Independents. <\/p>\n

The arrangement means the coalition now has a comfortable majority in the D\u00e1il with which to vote its policies through. <\/p>\n

However, some of the those Independents, including Michael Lowry, Danny Healy-Rae, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole, sought to form a “technical group”.<\/p>\n

That proposal would have afforded their group speaking time and other rights from the Opposition benches.<\/p>\n

When the row first emerged last month, five Opposition parties came together to fiercely oppose the plan, describing it as “utterly farcical”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some members ‘can’t readily be categorised’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Former Fine Gael government minister Michael Lowry is among the Independents who are seeking additional speaking rights<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Now the government has come up with a revised plan to give regional Independents and government backbenchers new speaking slots every Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

If voted through, it would mean about 60 D\u00e1il members would be allowed to question the taoiseach and the t\u00e1naiste (Irish deputy PM) on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

Irish national broadcaster RT\u00c9 reported that the government defended the plan in a two-page document which was circulated to the D\u00e1il Reform Committee this week.<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 said the document stated that a” modern parliament is not necessarily made up of ‘government’ and ‘opposition’ members”. <\/p>\n

It added “there are members who can’t readily be categorised as such,” referring to Independents who support the government but do not have ministerial posts. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Yet another cynical attempt to manipulate’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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