SINN FÉIN HAS removed Meath West TD Peadar Toibín as chair of a Dáil committee after he did not vote with the party on legislating for the X Case.

Toibín has been stripped of the chairmanship of the Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions, effective immediately.  He will keep the party whip and remains the party spokesperson on enterprise.

Toibín said he was disappointed by the move, but added that he had anticipated the disciplinary action after he did not sign the Sinn Féin motion to introduce legislation for the X Case and was absent when the vote took place in the Dáil chamber at the end of November.

Party whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh said Toibín’s actions were a serious breach of party rules.

Toibín said he remains a Sinn Féin TD and is fully committed to the party.

“While I have strong personal opinions on the issue of legislation in relation to the X Case, I am on record as accepting that my recent actions were in breach of the Sinn Féin whip and that I anticipated disciplinary action,” he said.

The Meath West TD has said that he believes the X Case judgment was flawed, and spoken about how he respects his party’s position on legislating for the X Case but said that he has “different personal views” on the matter.

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