Kenny says parties should agree reforms on way Dáil works

Taoiseach Enda Kenny last night told the Fine Gael parliamentary party that he would propose the establishment on Thursday of an all-party committee to agree immediate reforms to the way the Dáil operates.

The new committee should include representatives of all parties and groupings in the new Dáil, Mr Kenny told the Fine Gael meeting, and it should begin immediately “in parallel with the ongoing efforts to form a stable government”.

Fine Gael will finalise the party's own political reform proposals, presented to last night's meeting by Dublin TD Eoghan Murphy, and submit them to the committee.

The commitment to Dáil reform comes after Mr Kenny held meetings with Fine Gael Ministers and with his newly elected TDs on Wednesday, in advance of the meeting of the Dáil on Thursday.

The Taoiseach sought the views of senior and junior Ministers about options for government at a lengthy meeting this afternoon, said sources. It was agreed that contacts with Independents and small parties would continue, and the possibility of a coalition with Fianna Fáil – floated by the Taoiseach in meetings with Independent deputies in recent days – was also discussed.

However, sources present at the meeting discounted the prospects of any immediate contact between the two biggest parties.

Later, a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party approved the plan to begin work on Dáil reform immediately.

The meeting also heard a call that any coalition agreement involving Fine Gael should be approved by a special ardfheis of the party, and some criticism of Ministers for leaking to the press.

The Taoiseach told the meeting that while the country needed stable government, Fine Gael would not seek power at any cost.

Momentum

Mr Kenny is attempting to pick the party off the ground in the wake of the general election and instil some forward momentum as attention turns towards the formation of a government.

However, Fine Gael is still reeling from the disastrous general election result. And opinions differ widely within the party on the best way forward.

Privately some TDs are critical of the perceived rush towards a grand coalition without first taking the views of the parliamentary party into account.

Rotating

There is also criticism of reports that Fine Gael would offer up a rotating taoiseach and an even split in cabinet seats in such an arrangement with Fianna Fáil. Insiders say this misunderstands the nature of the gesture. It was not a negotiating tactic, but a political manoeuvre designed to put pressure on Micheál Martin.

Fine Gael wants to shunt some of the responsibility for providing a government on to Fianna Fáil – and, therefore, most of the blame for a second election should no government ensue from discussions over the coming weeks.

Minority

However, there is an appreciation among some Ministers that there may come a point at which Mr Kenny’s interests and the interests of the party diverge. For some of them, that point is if and when the party leader seeks to put in place a minority Fine Gael government.

Opposition to this option is hardening in the party – not least because it is seen as Fianna Fáil’s preferred outcome.

One Cabinet Minister emphasised: “We definitely don’t want a minority government at the mercy of Fianna Fáil.”

There is no organised threat to Mr Kenny’s leadership in the short term. In the medium term, however, few Ministers or TDs believe his leadership can continue.