Row erupts over regional independent group's opposition status

Members of the Regional Independent Group Michael Lowry (centre) and (left to right) Gillian Toole, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Noel Grealish, Barry Heneghan, Marian Harkin, and Sean Canney speaking to the media at Leinster House in Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Opposition parties are expected to jointly submit a rejection of the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy's decision to allow members of the regional independent group sit in the opposition benches.

Ms Murphy last week wrote to politicians informing them that it was her belief that members of the group which had negotiated the program for government should be allowed now sit in the opposition and ask questions as opposition politicians.

The proposal would see Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan, and Gillian Toole join with Àontú's two TDs as well as Danny Healy Rae and Carol Nolan to form a technical group which will have Dáil speaking time. 

The regional group’s five junior ministers — Seán Canney, Noel Grealish, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, Marian Harkin, and Michael Healy-Rae — will resign from the group and sit on the government benches, leaving the remaining four without a Dáil grouping and, therefore, without automatic right to speaking time.

The decision led to a row at the Dáil Business Committee last week, and was referred to Ms Murphy for adjudication, with members of Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, and People Before Profit arguing that the regional independents and Mr Healy Rae had drafted the program for government and, as such, could not be considered opposition politicians.

In a letter sent to members of the committee, Ms Murphy said that the Houses of the Oireachtas Service had advised that recognition of groups was covered under standing orders and that there was long-standing precedent to support the establishment of the new group. 

Ms Murphy pointed to the 2016 Confidence and Supply agreement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

However, members of the opposition have said this argument is erroneous.

People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said the comparison was "completely bogus". He said that the 2016 agreement stated that Fianna Fáil's abstention on key votes not indicative of support for the Fine Gael government and that this had been spelled out in the agreement.

"They (the regional independents) are clearly in government. There's simply no comparison."

Likewise, Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan said that his party does not accept the Ceann Comhairle's position.

"Fianna Fáil was not part of that government, they didn't secure ministries, so it's erroneous to draw a line between the two. There's no shortage of speaking time for government backbenchers - in fact, they frequently don't use it. The government controls the schedule. This is a ploy by some independents to play both sides of the fence."

Labour TD Duncan Smith said that his party's legal advice is that the recognition of the group would not be in line with standing orders.

“The Labour Party has prepared a draft submission to the Ceann Comhairle based on our internal legal advice which contradicts the advice provided to the Ceann Comhairle and confirms that we have clear legal grounds to object to any attempt to create a purported entitlement of Government supporters to eat into Dáil time that is allocated to the Opposition.

“We have circulated our draft submission to other opposition parties for their views, and believe that a joint submission from Opposition parties would be appropriate.” 

Sinn Féin TD for Meath West, Johnny Guirke, has called on Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín to "come out of hiding" and explain why he is "facilitating a stroke".

“The disgraceful proposition of the group of so-called independents, who authored and negotiated this Programme for Government, then sitting on the opposition benches is a charade that could not happen were it not for the support of Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín.

“It is the job of the opposition to hold the government to account. Technical groups are formed by members of the opposition.

“Yet Peadar Tóibín is debasing himself by forming a technical group with this group of chancers who are not opposition; they have offered up their unflinching support for the incoming government."