Government being 'authoritarian' and trying to 'suppress opposition' over speaking time row
Vivenne Clarke
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barret has accused the government of being authoritarian and of trying to undermine democracy with plans to change standing orders on Dáil speaking time.
The government had the speaking time in the Dáil, he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
“They decide the majority of the Dáil schedule and they can effectively, with their majority, push through anything they want in the Dáil. The one thing that is a check on untrammelled power and means there's a bit of accountability, is the ability of the opposition to ask questions.
“What the government's proposal will do is mean that Lowry and Healy-Rae groups who negotiated the programme for government, who are supporting the government, who are a part of the government, who have ministers in the government, will also then eat into the speaking time, the committee positions and the resources available to the opposition to hold the government to account.
"It's a stroke of unbelievable proportions, and it fundamentally strikes at democracy and the right of the public to have the government held to account by the opposition.”
Mr Boyd Barret said that the government had more time than the opposition during any debate in the Dáil. “So government backbenchers, including the Healey-Rae and Lowry groups, should take their time from the government, who will have the majority of the time.
"They shouldn't take it from an opposition that is already in a minority, and whose ability to hold the government to account will be further diminished and reduced if this goes through. And that means the questions the public want asked of this government will be less able to be asked by the opposition.”
However, Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan said it was not true that the government had more time than the opposition. He pointed out that during a recent Private Members discussion on special education, 100 minutes of the 120 minutes time was allocated to opposition speakers.
“All of these discussions that are currently taking place, all arise from the Ceann Comhairle’s ruling at the very beginning of this Dáil, a ruling which I agree with, that fundamentally that the Standing Orders as currently constructed, do not support independents who have formed government or formed part of government to be in the technical group as said in the standing order.”
Mr Geoghegan said that he did not think any member of the Dáil wanted to see a repeat of the “screaming and shouting” in January.
“That was a hideous moment. And as someone who was just recently elected to the Dáil, it really was a terrible vista that I hope we never see repeated in the Dáil.
"So what has to happen is that the business committee on Wednesday are going to meet. They are going to deliberate on the submissions that have been made on both sides. I hope a consensus can be arrived at. I think that will certainly be preferential.”
