McGrath may oppose both candidates in taoiseach vote

Independent Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath has said he may oppose all nominations for taoiseach in Thursday's Dáil vote if there is no deal for a minority government agreed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

“There has to be a written agreement on how a minority government will function,” Mr McGrath said. “There is a small number of issues to agree on, including how they would handle budgetary and confidence votes.”

Mr McGrath, a member of the Independent Rural Alliance, said yesterday it was time this week for the two parties to agree on the make-up of a new government. "If this is not in place by Thursday, I might vote against Enda Kenny and Micheál Martin."

His warning illustrates the growing annoyance and frustration with the delay in forming a government among the 15 Independents whose support is being sought by Mr Kenny and Mr Martin to become taoiseach.

Meanwhile, members of the Independent Alliance – Shane Ross, Dublin Rathdown; Finian McGrath, Dublin Bay North; Michael Fitzmaurice, Roscommon-Galway; Seán Canney, Galway East; Kevin Boxer Moran, Longford-Westmeath and John Halligan, Waterford – will meet today to discuss their response to policy documents issued by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

“A number of issues we raised were not included in the documents,” Mr Ross said. “We will be making some counter-proposals.” The alliance wants an agreement providing for the passage of three budgets.

Mr McGrath said while the group had made no decision on how it would vote, he believed it would be the last time he would abstain if they decided to do so on Thursday. “This process has gone on long enough,” he added.

Mr Halligan has raised the lack of a 24-hour cardiac unit at Ardkeen Hospital in his constituency as a deal-breaker when deciding whom to support for taoiseach. Waterford had suffered disproportionately, given it was the only hospital in the State without that kind of service, he said.

Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae said he and his brother, Danny, would decide on Thursday how they would vote. “I would hope there would be a deal by then,” Mr Healy-Rae said. “I would like to think the two parties are adult enough not to spend €40 million we do not have on an election we do not want.”

Mr Healy-Rae did not rule out Fianna Fáil securing enough support to form a minority government, although he thought it unlikely because of the Dáil numbers. He has consistently dismissed being influenced in how he might vote by the fact that his late father, Jackie Healy-Rae, was once a prominent Fianna Fáil councillor and activist.

Roscommon-Galway Independent TD Denis Naughten, who has been tipped for a ministerial post in a government involving Independents, said the two parties must agree on how a minority government would work. In a statement, he said it was pointless for the Independents to engage in further talks until the two parties had settled a number of issues between themselves.