Aontú defends forming technical group with Independents to secure speaking rights

The move has angered the opposition members of the Dáil Business Committee, who have accused the TDs of attempting to be in Government and opposition at once

Peadar Tóibín said that, without the group, his party would have to 'beg, borrow, and steal the crumbs from the table'. File Picture: Brian Lawless

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has defended his party's decision to form a technical group with members of the Regional Independent Group.

Five of those Independents — Sean Canney, Noel Grealish, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Marian Harkin, and Michael Healy Rae — will be made junior ministers following their input into the drafting of the programme for Government. 

This leaves four — Danny Healy Rae, Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan, and Gillian Toole — out of a technical group and without automatic Dáil speaking rights.

That quartet and Carol Nolan will join with Aontú's two TDs to form a group from this week, a move that has angered the opposition members of the Dáil Business Committee, who have accused the TDs of attempting to be in Government and opposition at once.

That criticism has extended to Mr Tóibín with Sinn Féin's Johnny Guirke saying that he was "facilitating a stroke".

Mr Tóibín said that, without the group, his party would have to "beg, borrow, and steal the crumbs from the table".

"We wouldn't be able to hold the Government to account the way we do now without speaking time. Would they [the opposition] give us speaking time? Absolutely not.

We would be reneging on our commitment to the electorate if we were to put a gag over ourselves

"I had 18 months without speaking rights in the Dáil before the last and it's impossible. The only way to resolve this is to change the system completely."

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

The decision led to a row at the Dáil Business Committee last week, and was sent to Ms Murphy for adjudication. 

Members of Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, and People Before Profit are arguing that the regional Independents and Mr Healy Rae had drafted the programme for Government and, as such, could not be considered opposition politicians.

Long-standing prcedent

In a letter sent to members of the committee, Ms Murphy said the Houses of the Oireachtas Service had advised that recognition of groups was covered under standing orders and that there is 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 is "completely bogus". He said the 2016 agreement states that Fianna Fáil's abstention on key votes was not support for the Fine Gael Government and that this is 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, it 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 his party's legal advice is that the recognition of the group would not be in line with standing orders.