Dáil speaking rights: Opposition withdraws voting pair arrangements as row rumbles on

Vivienne Clarke

The opposition is to withdraw its voting pair arrangements as the Dáil speaking time row rumbles on.

The move is in response to the Government parties forcing through a motion at the Dáil Reform Committee, which would see extra speaking slots created for Government-supporting Independents, as well as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers.

The voting pair system in the Dáil normally sees opposition TDs abstaining on a vote if a Government TD has urgent business or is unwell and unable to attend.

Opposition leaders have renewed their calls to meet with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste to resolve the row.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said it was up to the Government to resolve the Dáil speaking rights issue.

Ms Bacik said opposition leaders and whips had decided to withdraw voting pairings in response to "the Government's continued attempts to what can only be described as a stroke".

"[The Government] are seeking to redesignate members who are clearly in Government, that is Michael Lowry and his colleagues, they're seeking to redesignate them as opposition," she told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne,.

"This is an issue that I deeply regret for having spent so much time on. Yesterday in the Dáil I raised housing. The previous day I spoke about Ukraine, about the triple lock, about public health nurses, about water quality.

"There's so many pressing issues for communities around the country. We want to get on with Dáil business. We want to get on with holding the Government to account. It is clear the Government, since its formation, has been seeking to pull a stroke.

"This this is up to the Government to resolve."

Ms Bacik said opposition leaders had been calling on the Tánaiste to meet with them urgently "to ensure that we can address matches because there's still time to pull this matter back."

It was now time "for clear heads and for a calm approach to resolve the matter, to look at how we can ensure that, absolutely, backbench Government TDs should have speaking time and I think they do currently. And let's expand the levels of Government speaking time for backbench TDs.

"But let's not make a mockery of the whole procedures by saying the Government are in opposition. You can't be in Government and in opposition."