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LAST UPDATE | 21 Oct 2024
THE THREE COALITION leaders have agreed that a general election will be held this year.
After the two-hour long meeting of the three party leaders at Government Buildings this evening, no date was agreed.
A government spokesperson said:
“The three party leaders have agreed the general election will take place in 2024. The three leaders have agreed the passage of the Finance Bill is the priority for the Government. The committee stage of the Bill will commence on the 5th of November.”
Sources have stated that all stages of the Finance Bill could be completed by 7 November or thereabouts.
It is understood that the three-week campaign could mean an election on 29 November or a four-week campaign with a polling day on 6 December. Polling day on 22 November is understood to be too tight a timeframe for legislation to pass and an election campaign to get underway.
As the seemingly never-ending speculation continues to drag on, Taoiseach Simon Harris said today that “there’s going to be a general election this year”.
Speaking to reporters alongside Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman this morning, Harris prefaced his statement by saying: “There’s no great mystery in relation to this.”
He said the Government is going to “conclude its work”, making reference to pieces of legislation that have yet to be passed. He said this would be done in “an orderly manner”.
“I’m not going into the speculation of the day of the election… I have to keep some small element of surprise for you”, he told the media.
Harris made specific reference to the Finance Bill, saying: “I wouldn’t fancy knocking on someone’s door and saying, sorry, we forgot to pass the USC cut or we forgot to change the inheritance tax because we rushed to have an election”.
“We need to get through that Finance Bill,” he said, adding that “there is also, I believe, a need to set housing targets” because they “kick in” from January next year.
“There is a number of other pieces of legislation” to be dealt with, he said.
“So let’s do that and then let’s, in an amicable, orderly fashion, then have a general election,” the Taoiseach said.
Finance Minister Jack Chambers said today that he will bring forward the Finance Bill to ensure the budget measures are underpinned with legislation, stating that clearly an election is going to happen before Christmas.
“That will require me to change the sequencing of the Finance bill from the 5 November so it synchronises with the election date. And obviously I’m open and prepared to do that to make sure that all the measures we set out in budget 2025 are enacted,” he confirmed.
Harris said yesterday he believes the Government will “amicably agree a time period” for the election when the coalition leaders hold their weekly meeting today.
“I’ve been very clear though that I’m going to do it in a respectful manner,” he said.
O’Gorman added to the expectation last week, saying he’d like to see the election held on 29 November.
Táinaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin told reporters in Cork today that he believes the election will be fought “on issues”, rather and along traditional party lines, making reference to how votes have recently transferred between “centre-ground parties”.
“Each party will campaign individually with their individual priorities and identity,” Martin said.
He said there will not be any “formal pacts” but added that, based on previous recent elections, “transfers are fluid”.
Speaking to reporters while campaigning yesterday, Harris said he didn’t want to “surprise” his coalition colleagues.
“It is my prerogative obviously under the constitution to seek that dissolution,” he said.
“The Government works well and I want it to come to an amicable end and I am really looking forward to seeking a mandate from the people of this country and asking them to allow me to continue as their Taoiseach.”
Harris’ comments come in the wake of the surprise announcement by Fine Gael Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys will not be contesting the next election.
The Taoiseach said Fine Gael are confident they will hold Humphrey’s Cavan-Monaghan seat and that there has been interest from a number of individuals in taking her place on the ticket.
Despite Humphreys becoming the 18th Fine Gael TD to announce they will not be running, the timing would still appear advantageous for the Government parties as Sinn Féin continues to grapple with a number of ongoing controversies.
With reporting by Jane Matthews, Niall O’Connor and Christina Finn
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The funniest part is where it says “should Chinese export approval be achieved “ do they know what they are getting. They should be begging us to deal with them. We are leagues ahead of everyone for the quality beef and lamb we produce. In a starving world for the huge nation of China to think they can come in and see if we meet their standards is insulting. They should come in and we tell them what to pay take it or leave it. The farmers should also be able to say how much and not Kepak. Brexit is on our doorsteps. We don’t want to be in a crappy deal after that lands.
@Martin McFly: The Chineese are good at making chips but I am not sure if they could eat them
@Martin McFly: The Chinese population is 1.4 billion people. We have 5 million. It’s not a good idea to tell the country that could hover up the entire production of sheep meat in Ireland in one fell swoop as to how to go about their business.
China is the worlds 3rd largest importer of sheep meat and we are the worlds 5th largest exporter. The UK is 2nd in that category. With Brexit, we need other markets to rely on. If we were relying on your attitude the Chinese would turn around and tell us to piss off.
BTW what country buys any goods form anyone else without first seeing how they are produced. A lot of retailers over the years did this and it came back to bite them in the ass when it emerged that the £50 shirts they were selling were made by workers in sweatshops on £1 an hour.
@CBD HeavenSent: Hitherto, China have a model of producing at minimal cost without any regard for human rights, animal rights or the environment. This has been proven true in their past envoys. They often copy production systems and just make products themselves at home or elsewhere. With the ridiculously high standards we have in beef and dairy farms in europe, why do we even entertain the Chinese? Leave it to the US, UK, etc.
@Monty Donotno: Well why don’t you go up to the farmers and their families whose livelihoods depend on Chinese exports and tell them that they shouldn’t be selling their product to the Chinese.
There’s a bunch of farmers outside that meat plant in Roscommon so wander up there and tell them that they should stop feeding the Chinese lads and find another way to earn an income for their families.
Let me know how you get on.
@CBD HeavenSent: most sensible arguement I have heard on this topic in a long time. This is the real world after all.
@CBD HeavenSent: what do you think they’ll say? The way the Irish produce their beef is below standard. We’ll have to go somewhere else. Nope son. They need every bit. As cheap as they can get it, and all of Britain’s too post Brexit. That doesn’t put us in the weaker position at the table. They don’t get to make the call on how much. They need the product, we can always find and will always find new customers. Having been in business for over 20 years , dealt with, and been to China they do things their way. Sub-standard, few regulations,and massive greed at the top. Companies working for a communist regime and give peanuts back to the people. So yes, tell them what we want for our rare, superior product … or get the boat.
@Martin McFly: Depending in how low the GBP goes, it might be very hard to compete with Britain on price. China doesn’t ‘need’ beef/lamb, they ‘want’ beef/lamb. If British standards equal ours (as they probably do thanks to the EU), and the Yen ends up with more purchasing power in Britain than Ireland it’ll get pretty hard to convince them to buy our meat, never mind getting to demand a price.
@CBD HeavenSent: no need for the small minded “why don’t you go up there and tell them..” Why would I? I’m making the point, we produce a high cost product, and the Chinese in general want a race to the bottom like much of the world in price and ultimately quality. I’m not an anti-trade communist or something.
A great bunch of lads.
Irish meat is v.expensive in the shops now. I was trying out chicken for a long while but you get tired of that. I try to mimimize meat intake partly because i feel it is over-priced. Meat is expensive and farmers have a point….
@Aire Dezamba: If you think that it’s too expensive then try producing it yourself and see how you get on, looking forward to hearing from you.
@John Mc Donagh: why would she try to produce it?
@Cormac Ó Braonáin: Yes, producing a chicken of your own would be terribly expensive.
@Kieran Woods: you did catch that she was using the chicken example as an expense relief, yeah!?
have your say