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FIANNA FÁIL’S SUGGESTIONS to limit the speaking times of smaller parties in the Dáil is an attempt to “silence radical or alternative voices”, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said today.
Under Dáil reforms last year, changes were made so that each political group is entitled to equal speaking time during the first round of any debate.
However, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin wants to pair up with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to reshuffle Dáil speaking times to reflect the numbers of TDs in a party.
Representatives from the Green Party, the Social Democrats, Solidarity/People Before Profit and the Rural Independents Group came together today to oppose the proposed changes to Dáil speaking times.
Speaking outside Leinster House today, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan TD said: “Fianna Fáil get a huge advantage. They’re the first to speak every time. They want more speaking time and less for smaller parties.
“We have already amended the rules to allow for a second round of contributors so that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers can get a chance to come in.”
They want to go further now and basically silence us.
Fianna Fáil want to change the system so that smaller parties would only have one or two minutes to make their point, Ryan claims.
“It is not possible to make any sort of meaningful contribution in such a short time and the proposals run counter to what has worked in this house for decades.”
Hayley Halpin / Twitter"It is an attempt to silence radical or alternative voices in the Dáil" - @RBoydBarrett pic.twitter.com/38t4tv85Wr
— Hayley Halpin (@HayleyHalpin1) June 20, 2017
Richard Boyd Barrett TD said:
This decision comes directly after the Corbyn result and it is an attempt to silence radical voices or alternative voices in the Dáil.
“What they want to do is reduce down the amount of time the smaller groups get in smaller statements or key debates,” he said.
A Fianna Fáil spokesperson told TheJournal.ie: “Fianna Fáil believes that speaking time in the Dáil should have some connection to the popular support enjoyed by each party or grouping in the General Election.
“Many parliaments across Europe use the D’Hondt method which allocates speaking time according to party size.
“Contrary to the accusation that we are trying to silence elected representatives, we believe that all TDs should have an opportunity to contribute to Dáil debates, including TDs who are elected on a party platform.”
Hayley Halpin / Twitter.@RBoydBarrett on proposals to give less speaking time to smaller parties pic.twitter.com/z2q66Wd7Cn
— Hayley Halpin (@HayleyHalpin1) June 20, 2017
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Let it snow let it snow let it snow ❄. I’m in Christmas mode lads
@George J Stephens: Ya right too .. Happy Christmas…
@Da Dell: couldn’t care less about COVID for the next few days. Happy Xmas one and all.
@George J Stephens: yes, a binge of Xmas movies and quality st. for me, for the next forthnight
This article just simply states that TheJournal.ie are officially mudguards for this inept government. At least the Greens have company now.
@LaoisWeather: . What gave you the idea that an article reporting how the system works is a ‘government mouthpiece’ ? Really feel sorry about your paranoia. Hopefully won’t ruin your Christmas. Stop reading is always an option if you get so worked up.
@LaoisWeather: oh dear… Oh dear.. Oh dear… You are stuck in the conspiracy algorithm.. Try to jump off… Its a soft landing and you won’t get hurt…. Jeeeeezzz…
@LaoisWeather: if it’s so bad how come you continue to leave inane comments on nearly every article?
@LaoisWeather: I thought it was a pretty good explanation of the system
@LaoisWeather: The article explains how pandemics are mapped to inform people, to educate even.
Yeah Im having a few but wtf. Is this all about the word backlog ? Once the word backlog is not used then its ok ? Delays in real-time data is ok because its normal etc .. so x day averages should be the measure etc. Withstanding the seemingly desperate attempt to ensure no ‘backlogs’ why is it daily case numbers that are stated and used in most official comms for this and that.
Also where does the 6000 cases in schools last week, stated in the Examiner come into those x day averages?
@Da Dell: I suspect they are added to the figures. That is about 857 a day.
Great stuff – it is good to see this property reported. Some people seem to think that the 6pm figures are cases detected that day. The process was explained last January but many people still see conspiracy where there is none. The lab figures are published for 11am (noon in summer) and anyone who has followed these knows that Tuesday figures tend to be Sunday’s raw lab data and tend to be the lowest of the week. The five day average is open to dispute as it does not allow for weekend variations but, with an incubation period of five days on average, it can be taken as a rough guide to the number of infected cases in the community that have not developed symptoms.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: the issue with the conspiracy types, and all those who won’t or can’t process factual data, is that they would be the last to read and try understand an article like this.
Easier to digest simple headlines that seem to make sense, or that *feel* right.
Also, some people desperately want something to be true, so will only seek out info that reinforces that viewpoint and will dismiss any contrary data, regardless of how true it is.
Thankfully Ireland is a well educated place and while forums like this may make it seem we have a lot of loons, that’s not really the case at all.
it’s an amazing coincidence that theres always been a big number after the announcement of restrictions.
@ed w: maybe because the restrictions are brought in because of a big jump in infections?
Great piece. Nicely written and easy to follow
So based on the numbers, and average household size, and even a significantly reduced number of social contacts in the last few weeks…..then, based on current HSE guidance, there should be a few hundred thousand people currently isolating. Doesn’t seem like that out and about the last week.
Ahhh lads please…now it all starting to make sense.
#ComfortablyNumb-LiveInBerlin.
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