Taoiseach Micheál Martin points to precedent and possible future cases in call for compromise
Michael Lowry is at the centre of an impasse over whether TDs who have agreed to support the Government can also receive allocated Opposition speaking time. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA WireSpeaking on Monday, Mr Martin said he was not going to be “browbeaten” by the Opposition into “upending” long-standing principles around speaking rights for Dáil technical groups.
There had been cases of opposition TDs supporting governments “in one shape or form” since 1932, he said. “No one ever said that the late Tony Gregory was a member of government, even though he supported a government at the time,” Mr Martin said. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were just short of a Dáil majority after the last general election, which saw them strike a deal with several Independents to shore up enough support to comfortably pass legislation.
“What I’m saying in the next Dáil for example, if we were short four or five TDs, why would four or five opposition TDs surrender all their rights, in order to facilitate the formation of a government? So there’s a balance here to be worked out,” he said.
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