‘Let’s give it a chance,’ says Independent Minister Shane Ross

The economic management council "is gone", new Minister for Transport Shane Ross has told the Dáil.

In his maiden speech as a Cabinet Minister, Mr Ross said the Taoiseach had given a commitment that the council, a controversial Cabinet sub-committee of the Government’s most senior Ministers – Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform – would no longer exist.

The Dublin Rathdown TD said the Independent Alliance made a decision that they would decide to enter government if they could extract or agree the terms they needed.

“We believe that in the last few weeks we have agreed a programme that would bring a radical change in Irish politics,” he said.

The Alliance had found it difficult to come down this road because they were so disparate.

He said people were sceptical about the new Government, but he said: “Let’s give it a chance. Let’s talk to each other.”

Mr Ross said he did not know what his powers were but he would try to introduce measures, including those suggested by the Opposition and he welcomed the idea of an anti-corruption agency, suggested by social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy during the Dáil debate on the new Cabinet.

He said the Government had done a U-turn on Seanad reform and there was already agreement within the all-party group on Dáil reform.

Mr Ross said: “There’s a certain amount of bankruptcy, not on this side of the House but on the opposition benches,” as he highlighted the sniping between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin.

New Minister for Communications and Climate Change Denis Naughten pointed out that this was the first Government with Independents in the Cabinet, since 1948 when a fellow Co-Roscommon man James Dillon was a member.

In his first speech as Minister, he said the Cabinet would have to include all views “right from Eamon Ryan to Danny Healy-Rae and that’s not going to be easy”.

Mr Naughten said he spent more of his 19 years in the Dáil on the opposition benches and he said there were very few Ministers who were prepared to deal with opposition TDs, but this Government would.

He said the new Government’s focus would include bringing life back to small towns. Mr Naughten stressed: “Collectively these towns matter just as much as the cities.”

Mr Naughten said he wanted to thank those who had contributed to the programme for Government. “We have now a partnership agreement across this House. Let’s try and make it work.”

New Minister of State Finian McGrath in a “super junior” role said it was a great personal honour and privilege to be appointed as Minister of State for Disabilities.

He urged the opposition to “open your minds and look at the detail” of the programme for government.

And he repeatedly stressed that the arrangement “was no grubby deal”. He would not be taking any lectures from people who “sat on their hands”.

Government was about using power “to have the kind of change we need in our society”.

He insisted this was a “very diverse Dáil but it is not fragmented”.

Outlining some of the agreements he had reached, he said the medical card would be extended to all children on domiciliary care allowance in budget 2017, a total of 10,000 children. “Do not call that a grubby deal,” he said, adding that a new cystic fibrosis unit for Beaumont Hospital was “no grubby deal”.

Mr McGrath said “the rights of people with disabilities will be at the heart of this government” and he said “we’re going to be radical. We’re going to be progressive. We’re going to be responsible.”