Next Ceann Comhairle will be able to lobby

The next Ceann Comhairle will be able to lobby the Government on behalf of their constituents, it has emerged.

As the role will be elected by secret ballot, those who have signalled a desire to occupy the seat of Dáil chairman have faced charges on the election campaign trail that they would be of no use to voters.

However, the Irish Examiner has confirmed with the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission that while the Ceann Comhairle must not act in a political way, they are free to make representations on behalf of constituents.

The €157,540 a year post has taken on a fresh significance given it will be filled by secret ballot as opposed to nomination by Government.

Fine Gael Waterford TD John Deasy and Louth TD Fergus O’Dowd are the front- runners for the position, but Labour’s Willie Penrose and Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea’s names have also been mentioned.

It's all to play for as Election 2016 campaigns enter their final days https://t.co/qJKrzBNKHd (DOD) #GE16 pic.twitter.com/7lsAXaI5Wh

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 22, 2016

According to the Oireachtas, on assuming office and to ensure his unique role of presiding impartially over the proceedings, the Ceann Comhairle by tradition precludes himself from active participation in politics.

“However, he/she remains free to make representations on behalf of constituents. The Constitution recognises this unique role and provides for the automatic re-election of an outgoing Ceann Comhairle who wishes to be a member of the incoming Dáil,” the rule book states.

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Outgoing Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett last weekend launched a scathing attack on the Government’s plan to elect the chairman of the next Dáil by secret ballot.

He said: “I wasn’t elected by that system, therefore I feel you can do the job without having to go through all this secrecy. I would hate to think, but maybe I’m fooling myself, that at the end of five years people would say ‘Sean Barrett was biased’.

“Maybe I’m old-fashioned but the election of the Ceann Comhairle was always done in the open. Why not let us all walk up the stairs [of the Dáil chamber] and vote for X or Y, or whoever.”