LAST UPDATE | 21 Jan 2025

SOME MEMBERS OF the Regional Independents will be granted Opposition speaking time in the Dáil from tomorrow on a provisional basis. 

This will be the case until the matter is adjudicated by Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy.

Separately, it has emerged this afternoon that Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath has been permitted to join the Regional Independents’ technical group.

This afternoon, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the other TDs who make up the five Opposition technical groups in the Dáil have made a joint submission to the Ceann Comhairle opposing the Regional Independent’s bid to be classed as a technical group. 

The submission, seen by The Journal, argues that the Regional Independents who participated in government formation talks are supporting government by their own admission and therefore cannot be considered Opposition members.

The Dáil will return tomorrow for the first time after the Christmas break. It will sit for one day but then take another week off. 

The week off is to allow the incoming government ministers to adjust to their new departments and is customary after every general election in Ireland.

Opposition TDs have blasted the week off as a joke. 

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said it was a “ridiculous delay considering all the serious issues we face” while People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett made the point that it will be almost three months since the Dáil did any work by the time TDs return properly in early February.

The row over speaking time for the Regional Independents erupted last week, with Opposition parties describing the bid by some Independents, who are supporting the new government, to be classed as a technical group in the Dáil as ‘a farce’.

• Explainer: What is this Dáil row about the Regional Independents and speaking time?

The Dáil’s business committee, which oversees how the Dáil operates and is chaired by the Ceann Comhairle, met today. 

During the meeting, Murphy confirmed that the group will be granted Opposition speaking time on a provisional basis until a final decision is made. 

It is unclear when a decision may be issued, with the business committee not due to meet again until after the Dáil returns in February.

Some Opposition members have expressed frustration at what they see as a delay in the process. 

The receipts

The seven-page submission to the Ceann Comhairle highlights a number of publicly made statements by TDs  Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan and Danny and Michael Healy-Rae which the Opposition TDs argue shows they consider themselves to be in government. 

Specifically, they highlight comments by Lowry in which he talks about the “fantastic result” secured by the Regional Independents in government formation talks. 

They also note this statement from Lowry: “It gives us a comfortable majority in the Dáil and allows us to get on with the work now of governing, and to give a stable and steady Government and to make the decisions that are needed in the public interest”.

Statements from Barry Heneghan are also included, specifically comments he made on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM last week, in which he talks about “having a voice in government” and influence over government policy”. 

They also note that Heneghan said: “There’s a lot I want to do that I wouldn’t be able to achieve if I was in Opposition.”

The submission concluded by saying the group will “strenuously object” to an attempt to create an entitlement of government supporters to eat into the Dáil time that is allocated to the Opposition.

“At its simplest and bluntest, on this most basic of issues members of the Dáil cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds,” they wrote.

Late on the eve of the vote for Taoiseach, Michael Healy-Rae posted a video on social media in which he said that he and his brother Danny Healy-Rae would both be voting for Micheál Martin.

The Kerry TD also said that he and his brother would be representing the electorate “from within government”.

“If the late Jackie Healy-Rae was here, he would be saying we done the right thing on this occasion. We’re on the field and the game is on.”

Tomorrow both my brother Danny and I will be voting for Micheál Martin to become Taoiseach, in this video I explain why. pic.twitter.com/87TRdL9Kxi

— Michael Healy-Rae (@MHealyRae) January 21, 2025

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit have all called for Aontú and Carol Nolan – who are part of the technical group but have not committed to supporting the government – to leave the group. 

When asked by The Journal if the three TDs could join People Before Profit’s technical group, leader Richard Boyd Barrett responded: 

“That thought hadn’t occurred to me. I mean, I wouldn’t be jumping out of my skin to have Aontú in our group.”